For a while, I’ve been putting off writing this. However, instead of trying to make the perfect post, I’ve decided to make the minimal post necessary to explain the idea. The idea of making the perfect, long post is tantamount to attempting to control the outcome of the conversation, something that definitely isn’t going to happen anyway. I could instead just start it and hope that others generate ideas off it, perhaps better ones than I would have thought up alone.
Basically, it could be considered a spin on Doherty’s presentation, in two ways that make it significantly different.
(1) The “Middle Platonism” thought by Doherty to lurk in Paul’s writing is abandoned as an explanation of Paul. Instead, Paul does not have anything but a popular Jewish and/or Hellenistic conception of God, spirits, and the world. Paul’s beliefs about Jesus do not regard them as timeless and ideal but as occurring in time (even recently) and with a body, in places.
(2) Some bits of Paul’s writings are considered to be interpolated.
Let’s unpack this just a little.
(Nota bene: there could be many other differences with Doherty. This discussion focuses only on Paul.)