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===Pauline Epistles===

===Pauline Epistles===

The collection of letters written by Saint Paul discuss Jesus and are the earliest sources on him. Paul was not himself an eyewitness of Jesus until after the resurrection, but was a contemporary of the life of Jesus and personally knew intimately Jesus’ own family members such as James the brother of Jesus (leader of the Jerusalem church) and closest disciples of Jesus, especially Saint Peter and John. Paul's letters are pastoral writings meant to address the needs of particular Christian communities, and as such they are not aimed at providing biographical narratives of Jesus’ life.  Nonetheless, they do mention Jesus, especially his death and resurrection, but also the Last Supper, and they quote Jesus or reference his teachings.  At times Paul qualified his own teachings by stating, “I say, not the Lord”, indicating that he knew Jesus’ teachings.

The collection of letters written by Saint Paul discuss Jesus and are the earliest sources on him. Paul was not himself an eyewitness of Jesus until after the resurrection, but was a contemporary of the life of Jesus and personally knew intimately Jesus’ own family members such as James the brother of Jesus (leader of the Jerusalem church) and closest disciples of Jesus, especially Saint Peter and John starting around 35 or 36 AD, near the time of the crucifixion (30 or 33 AD). Paul's letters are pastoral writings meant to address the needs of particular Christian communities, and as such they are not aimed at providing biographical narratives of Jesus’ life.  Nonetheless, they do mention Jesus, especially his death and resurrection, but also the Last Supper, and they quote Jesus or reference his teachings.  At times Paul qualified his own teachings by stating, “I say, not the Lord”, indicating that he knew Jesus’ teachings.

Some mythicists have proposed that Paul refers to Jesus as a celestial, rather than earthly being, which is another concept that is universally rejected by modern historians. Nevertheless, such a hypothesis can be discarded, because all of the information given to us from Paul about Jesus during His earthly ministry refer to specific, earthly events, that are unknown in ancient Judaic literature to have any precedence in celestial or supernatural regions. For example, throughout Paul's letters see that he was aware of numerous things about the teachings and life of Jesus:<ref name="cb" />

Some mythicists have proposed that Paul refers to Jesus as a celestial, rather than earthly being, which is another concept that is universally rejected by modern historians. Nevertheless, such a hypothesis can be discarded, because all of the information given to us from Paul about Jesus during His earthly ministry refer to specific, earthly events, that are unknown in ancient Judaic literature to have any precedence in celestial or supernatural regions. For example, throughout Paul's letters see that he was aware of numerous things about the teachings and life of Jesus:<ref name="cb" />

|  Invective against the Jewish leaders (Mattthew 23:29-38) || 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16  

|  Invective against the Jewish leaders (Mattthew 23:29-38) || 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16  

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|  Word of the Lord concerning his return and contains several echoes of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13) || 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 refers to a

|  Word of the Lord concerning his return and contains several echoes of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13) || 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17  

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|  Details on the Last Supper (e.g. bread and wine inLuke 22:19-20) and was subsequently betrayed || 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

|  Details on the Last Supper (e.g. bread and wine inLuke 22:19-20) and was subsequently betrayed || 1 Corinthians 11:23-25