How did teachings of paul of tarsus change Christianity?

Answer 1

Both Peter and Paul taught that it was not necessary for non-Jews to take on the obligations of the Jewish law when they became Christians.

Initially this meant that within Christianity there was one group that accepted the obligations of the Jewish law (the Jewish Christians), and another group that did not accept these obligations (the non-Jewish Christians).

Although we do not have enough evidence to be definite, it is likely that this situation continued until after the Jewish war of AD 66-70, and the destruction of the temple. At that point there was another crisis, since the Jews could no longer offer sacrifice. This led to a strong desire by the Jews to rebuild the temple.

The book of Hebrews addresses this question, and clearly argues that it is not appropriate for Jewish Christians to continue to offer sacrifice. One could conclude that they were being urged not to look for the restoration of the old sacrificial order.

Nevertheless, even after AD 70, it is likely that most Jewish Christians continued to observe the Jewish law in other respects, since this was the practice under which they had been raised. Indeed, there is nothing in Christianity that prohibits the continued observation of the Jewish law (apart from the law of sacrifice), as set out in the Old Testament, provided the Jewish law is interpreted in the light of the New Testament.

Answer:

Paul's teaching's helped 'form' the relationship between those who called themselves Christians and those who were still rooted in second temple Judaism. Paul had been entrusted with a Jewish message for the whole world, and part of the way in which the message was to get out was by his embodying in himself the outreach of Israel's one true God to the wider world of the Gentiles. Paul was a highly educated man who lived, worked, thought, and wrote within a complex and multiply integrated world. Paul argued, very masterfully, that God has one family, not two, and that this family consists of all those who believe in the gospel. Faith, not the possession of the Torah, is the badge that marks out this family, the family which Paul defined as the people of the Messiah.

Answer 2

Paul's teachings didn't change Christianity. Paul's teaching was consistent with the teaching of the other apostles Paul wrote in more depth than the other apostles.