Chapter 2 is full of theological and historical unpacking of the gospels and Pauls letters. Judging from Pauls letters Wills shows that Paul argued, ridiculed and comforted at the same time. He lived as a man on a mission. His relationship to Jesus suggests that he spent much time in trainingand study before he traveled though. Wills takes us through a long journey of quotes by Paul and how they reflect similar things Jesus said. He points out that Pauls captions of 'Jesus' saying is probably closer to what was actually said because he wrote 20 years before any of the gospels were written.
Paul's interaction with the other apostles, though strained and sometimes tense, provided him with enough knowledge to proceed in basing many theological arguments on the words of Jesus. Paul probably didn't quote Jesus verbatim any more than the gospel writer did but he obviously understood the message Jesus had. It is many times missed and distorted but Paul taught the message of love, just as Jesus had. His letters have been taken out of context many times and abused by naive hermeneutics.
Quote from Chapter 2:
Those who say that Paul was an alien spirit superimposed on that of a loving Jesus do not see that they both taught the same message of love. (54)
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You quoted this:
"It is many times missed and distorted but Paul taught the message of love, just as Jesus had. His letters have been taken out of context many times and abused by naive hermeneutics."
Is this out of the book or your opinion? Either way, did they give specific examples of Paul being distorted? I don't see how anyone could miss that Paul taught love. Also, Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews so as a youngster he had tons of training in 'theological' issues before he started writing.
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