#159 – Paul Made Christianity

Faith Lab

Nate Hanson

Tim Mackie, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, Faith And Doubt, Resurrection, Humble Skeptic, Mike Licona, Biblical Scholarship, Christian Faith, Bible Podcast, Old Testament, Ancient History, Church History, Gary Habermas, Bible Evidence, Rebecca Mclaughlin, Theology, Alisa Childers, Reconstruction, Faith Deconstruction, Philosophy, Christianity, Shane Rosenthal, Apologetics, Scripture, Early Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, N.t. Wright, Gospel Reliability, Jesus, Deconstruction, Bible History, New Testament, Biblical Scholars, Society & Culture, Richard Bauckham, Francis Chan, Historical Jesus, Bible Study, Christian Podcast

4.6 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bonus ep 1 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-what-is-123011688 Bonus ep 2 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-did-paul-125106095 Why does Paul’s voice dominate the New Testament? How did his letters become so central to Christian theology, and what happens when we begin to question that authority? Are all the Pauline epistles actually written by Paul? What if the Paul we know today is a constructed figure—reshaped by the church over time to fit emerging doctrines? And what about the voices that didn’t get amplified—texts like James or the Didache that present a very different version of the Jesus movement? Nate and Shel explore how canon formation, authorship debates, and theological evolution all intersect in the story of Paul, and why rethinking his role might change how we read the entire Bible. (Paul Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email contact@almostheretical.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes and aftershows 2. All full-length, ad-free episodes 3. Access to Heretical Together (our private community of 350+ listeners) Become a member: almostheretical.com/premium Chapters 00:00 The Battle of the Texts 04:08 Paul's Authentic Letters 07:22 The Gospels and Their Influence 12:40 The Book of Acts: A Retrospective 28:25 The Jerusalem Movement's Legacy 29:19 The Jesus Movement vs. The Christ Movement 35:11 Understanding the Oral Tradition and Textual Limitations 41:23 The Impact of the Jewish-Roman War on Early Christianity 45:36 Exploring Alternative Early Christian Texts 48:20 The Canonization Process and Its Implications 53:31 Paul's Dominance in Early Christianity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey friends, quick note before this episode starts. This is Nate speaking in 2026, and what you're
0:05.4	about to hear comes from an earlier chapter of this podcast when it was called Almost Heretical.
0:10.7	That show ran from 2018 until 2025 and got 2 million downloads. That chapter was me processing
0:17.6	doubt and deconstruction out loud. I wasn't trying to tear Christianity down. I was
0:22.6	honestly trying to understand what I still believed and whether the Christian story actually held up.
0:27.5	As the show progressed, I genuinely thought it was leading to the end of Christianity for me.
0:32.9	These past episodes, like the one you're going to hear today, they don't always represent what I think
0:38.0	today and where I am on different issues now. I chose to leave them up because they captured the
0:42.7	real journey I was on, and I hope they offer honesty for those who are still in the middle
0:47.4	of deconstruction, hope for those who can't see a way forward, and perspective for churches
0:52.7	or friends walking alongside people who are
0:55.3	doubting. I kept deconstructing, and to my surprise, that process led me back to Christianity
1:00.6	in a brand new way. Looking seriously at the historical evidence, especially around the first
1:05.8	century New Testament writers and the Gospels, it gave me far more confidence than I ever had before. I came to believe
1:12.0	these weren't myths or legends, but eyewitness-based accounts of something real, something really
1:18.0	significant that happened in history. So today, the show continues on as Faith Lab, where I talk
1:24.4	with scholars and experts about why they think Christianity can be trusted,
1:28.5	not as blind faith, but as confidence grounded in the evidence that I kept running into.
1:34.1	If this work has been helpful to you, supporting the show really does make a difference.
1:38.4	I do this show alongside a full-time job and also raising three kids, because I want as many people as possible to see that
1:46.0	Christianity can be trusted on the basis of real evidence. When you support the show, you get
1:51.1	ad-free episodes, access to our private community, and bonus episodes where I reflect on the
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