Evidence · Case 10 · Islam
Paul, Letter to the Philippians, chapter 2
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
The hymn in Philippians 2:6-11, widely regarded as older than the letter that quotes it, describes Jesus as existing in the form of God before taking on human likeness. This puts a very high view of Jesus within a couple of decades of the crucifixion.
Sources
Objections & responses
- Muslims hold that Paul corrupted Jesus’s message. Isn’t citing Paul to a Muslim citing the alleged corrupter?
Yes, and Paul’s credibility has to be established before he is cited, which is what the next claim in this case does. The argument there is that Paul’s message was checked against and endorsed by the Jerusalem apostles who had known Jesus, that he reports his own conflict with Peter freely, and that the creed he quotes in 1 Corinthians 15 predates him. If Paul invented the divine, risen Christ, the people best placed to say so never did. Read that claim first, and then come back to Philippians 2.