The Origin of Pauls Religion

d that was dominant in Biblical criticism at that time. This book represents a complete disproof of many of these theories. Machen’s critiques are devastating. By so thoroughly destroying the naturalistic theories that were forced onto Christianity in an effort to discredit it, Machen not only discredits these theories, he strongly affirms the orthodox tenets of the historic Christian faith in a very scientific manner. Machen, with ruthless logic, systematically tackles several main thrusts of criticism and finds each of them wanting to the extreme. In the process, Machen discredits efforts to separate the religion of Paul from the religion of Peter, and thereby discrediting the view that the Christianity of Jerusalem and the Christianity of the dispersion were somehow different. The author brilliantly shows that in an attempt to 'demythologize' the Bible, naturalistic scholars are engaging in a great deal of myth-building themselves.