In 2027, I intend to do a sermon series about “Why We Believe What We Believe.” I was talking to our Youth Pastor about the challenges to faith our students face, and he said that it’s not so much “Genesis isn’t real”, or “You can’t trust the manuscripts”, like it was when we were kids. He said they are specifically going after 2 Peter,* for instance, as a way to discredit the canonicity of the entire Pauline corpus.
Obviously I can’t defend the entirety of Paul in one article, but I was curious what the “kids” might be hearing. So I went to YouTube and typed “Casting Doubt on the Apostle Paul.” The second video I watched asserted that it was Paul, and Paul alone, who offered Christianity to the Gentiles. The rest of the New Testament, according to this presenter, was entirely to the Jews. It was said so sincerely and so assertively, I would have believed it… had I not remembered the sheet dream! Remember the sheet dream? Who had that dream? Was it Paul? Was it Paul that met with Cornelius? Was it Paul that led Cornelius to the Lord? Was it Paul that baptized Cornelius’ household? No, it was Peter! The YouTubers whole point can be defeated with one passage, but when I’m watching on my phone, who is there to remind me?
Pray with me for God’s protection from these wolves!
Pastor Scott
*2 Peter 3:15-16
Grace Notes 