LEXINGTON, Va.: - The head of the history department at Virginia Military Institute suggests that the Apostle Paul faked his conversion and was really a spy for the Romans.
Col. Rose Mary Sheldon of VMI, presented her thesis last week at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC. It was based upon research that she did as co-author of “Operation Messiah: St. Paul, Roman Intelligence and the Birth of Christianity“.
According to her theory, Paul faked his conversion on the road to Damascus so he could infiltrate Christian congregations and report to Rome on the suspicious new group. She notes that Paul’s interaction with Roman officials was remarkably friendly, and that in his letter to the Romans, he urges Christians to obey the authorities.
Response: This comes from the ‘head’ of the VMI history department? Wow, VMI has a storied and respected past but this research does nothing for its current credibility.
Col. Sheldon may know something about the history and procedures of spying, but is woefully ignorant about New Testament scholarship and the writings of Paul. She will not be able to find even one NT scholar or student who will agree with her theories. They are crack-pot to say the least.
One major hole in the theory is in the timing of it all. When Paul went to Jerusalem following his conversion he was not well received by the Christian community–In fact, the Apostles sent him packing. After that, Paul spent 9 years making tents for a living in Tarsus before Barnabus brought him to Antioch and another couple of years before he was recognized and sent with Barnabus on their first missionary trip.
Nine years is a very long time, a fake would have gone back to his old job with the Sanhedrin or teaching in the Temple–lots better for a scholar than making tents.
Also, a fake would never be able to write Romans, I Corinthians, Galatians, or any of the genuine Pauline corpus. These writings are part of the very foundation of the Christian religion and loaded with genuine theological teaching, and innovation that continues to inspire Christian scholars 1,900+ years later.
One of his earliest writings totally contradicts Roman thought and culture which divided the world between Roman citizens and slaves. Paul writes in Galatians 3:26–28:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
That one passage ended up being the basis for transforming all of Western culture and society. It was contrary to the traditions and thinking of the Jewish culture that Paul was raised in and was in definite opposition to the 1st century Roman world view. So much for 007 Paul. Anyway you shake it or stir it– it makes no sense. *Top
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