Abstract: Paul’s authentic letters and Acts often differ significantly in their representation of the same events. This article elaborates on two problems associated with accepting only Paul as a valid source for making reconstructions of his interaction with other people. First, Paul has important information gaps that Acts plausibly fills up. Second, at certain spots Paul seems to distort historical realities that are more believably represented by Acts. Seven conflicts in which Paul was involved, including some with the Jerusalem church, are analysed to establish the development of Paul’s religious ideas and some of the predicaments he was in. Using formal analysis, I then argue that Paul’s version of Christianity, despite the vehemence of the disputes, followed quite naturally from his involvement with the earlier community of followers of Jesus.
See:
Anthropological Research 