Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Paul Factor
    The Paul Factor
    The Paul Factor
    Ebook125 pages2 hours

    The Paul Factor

    By Forrest Davis

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    There is a Paul Factor cloud that hovers over the New Testament that deserves at least a conversation. Pauls conversion to Christianity occurred 37 years after Jesus death and resurrection and although Paul never met Jesus in person, he nevertheless went on to personally define Jesus and Christianity for most of the Christian world. On one occasion Paul made no bones about what he perceived to be his authority. According to him, he was given absolute and total latitude to carry out a mission that apparently he himself defined when he stated in Col. 1:25:

    I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.

    The wording of that authority has no resemblance to the authority also given to Paul by Jesus Spirit on the road to Damascus. The following is what Paul said Jesus initially told him:

    To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins. (Acts 26:18)

    If those were the instructions actually given by Jesus, then that is the only authority Paul had and it was very specifically (and only) intended to bring repentance to the Gentiles by teaching them to love God and to love others. Even though Paul went on to correctly teach many things about God and His word, he also took it on himself to (As he would then later describe it) FULFILL that word. However, when he fulfilled it, he generously changed some of it, then added to it and then took away from it. Since Paul assumed to have such authority, whatever he decided to teach was to be the fulfillment of the word. Ultimately, that fulfillment would give his perception of spirituality priority over the written word and eventually (in todays culture) came to discount most of it altogether.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJun 19, 2014
    ISBN9781496915818
    The Paul Factor
    Author

    Forrest Davis

    He was raised in a traditional Southern Baptist family who were very active in attending and supporting their local Church. In fact, Church attendance took priority over most all other family activities. Considering his extensive protestant background with its specific definition of Christianity, not much of his early training is reflected in his present concepts and conclusions about the bible, God, the church, prayer, or even the definition of Christianity itself. He has authored three other books critiquing Christianity as it is taught and practiced: A View From The Pew, Let Us Create God In Our Own Image and Ole Wives Tales and Church Doctrine. It is interesting that his books reflect an evolution of opinion over a ten year period on such subjects as “The Trinity” as well as the definition of just who Jesus was and the stated purpose of His mission. He explains this as being the result of a continued “seeking” of the truth. He also sees it as examples of being able to emerge from what one has been taught to a new understanding based on scripture. Over time, the studies that went into writing those first three books led him to what he believed to be an inescapable conclusion discovered in the contradictory writings of Paul. This current book, “The Paul Factor” is reflected in each of his other writings, which over time just naturally came together to be an unexpected conclusion to all of his searching. That search had led him to question specific scripture which revealed how Paul and other individuals ignored what Jesus taught and how they reversed Jesus’ instructions, which had the affect of putting men in charge of Institutional Christianity and subsequently in charge of those seeking God through Jesus.

    Related to The Paul Factor

    Related ebooks

    Philosophy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Why, God, Why?

      Sep 7, 2021

      Why, God, Why?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Mar 18, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Parables Of Jesus

      Jun 16, 2023

      The Parables Of Jesus
      4 min read

    • Article

      Around The World

      Dec 26, 2022

      Had you lived in any of the many ancient Greek city-states you would have become familiar with the Greek gods of mythology since these gods were often featured on their coins. The Romans not only borrowed and renamed these gods, but also depicted the

      18 min read

    • Article

      Why Everyone Is Talking About JENNETTE McCURDY

      Mar 5, 2023

      Our Books Editor Wade Sellers gives us his fave picks for the week! On the cusp of Jennette's Australian tour, Woman's Day unpacks why the former child star's memoir has struck such a chord with the world… Fame is brutal, and fame seems to be excepti

      2 min read

    • Article

      How Should We Respond To Celebrities Coming To Christ?

      Dec 30, 2019

      If you’ve been following the news lately, you will have noticed a significant wave of celebrities who are turning to Christ. In what is referred to as a massive spiritual movement, the sinful city of Hollywood is turning more and more stars away from

      5 min read

    • Article

      What Gospel Are You Sharing?

      Apr 13, 2020

      What Gospel Are You Sharing?
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Power That Stops Violence

      Sep 11, 2018

      Today’s contributor explores the biblical example of Saul’s transformation and how it speaks to God’s ability to heal violent intent.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Worldview?

      Dec 30, 2022

      Worldview?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Aug 19, 2019

      Thank you for your wonderfully illustrated Biblical series of articles that you regularly publish. I find that I can’t concentrate like I used to, and love the short, precise, and factual articles. I have learnt so much from reading them. I was fasci

      7 min read

    • Article

      Renew Your Mind

      Aug 26, 2022

      Many years ago I met a missionary in Hong Kong. He had a razor-sharp mind and a tender heart. I immediately knew I wanted to learn from him. His home was filled with books. While we were talking, he walked over to a bookcase, pulled out a thin paperb

      3 min read

    • Article

      Radiance

      Dec 30, 2022

      Radiance
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Paul Factor

    3.5/5

    165 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A quick, fun read with a fairly original premise (at least, one that hasn't been done to death). My chief complaint is that I wanted to know more; I feel as though we hardly get to know the characters, and that there are some potentially very interesting pieces of information that we are not privy to. On the one hand, if the biggest complaint about a book is that there isn't enough of it, most authors would gladly take that. On the other, On the other, since we hardly know these characters, it's hard to care about them, or to get very engrossed in the story.There was potential here; the book is by no means bad, but it could have been quite good.
    • 4/5
      A cosmic event causes the co-inhabitants of planet earth to leap suddenly forward in intelligence. Everyone is suddenly stratspherically smarter, even the animals. How would society cope if everyone were suddenly a genius, and the dumb beasts of burden no longer dumb. Would society as you know it tear itself apart and descend into anarchy. . . . can there be any future for a world of super-intelligent beings?The writing style has dated somewhat, however this remains a fascinating classic of science fiction.
    • 4/5
      I read this many years ago during a week-long vacation at my grandma's, and I recall sneaking out every afternoon to the library to read another chapter or two. I was a teenager, so I can't vouch for the quality of the writing with my current understanding, but I can say that the core of the story has remained with me until today, and every now and then I recall aspects of it. It was a fascinating read.

      If a more modern reference may help others what to expect, I could say that the short story "Understand" by Ted Chiang (of "Story of Your Life"/"Arrival" fame) was quite reminiscent of this book, for me.
    • 4/5
      This book may be dated but its questions are not.
    • 4/5
      USA, New York, ca 1955Indeholder kapitlerne "Det begynder ...", "Besynderligere og besynderligere", "Dyrenes oprør", "Rædselen", "Vi er alene, Joe", "Det nye menneske", "Den talende gorilla", "Forbundsfæller", "Den følsomme", "Rumskibet", "At dræbe sine venner", "På rejse i universet", "Livet begynder", "Hjemme igen", "Kvinden".Jorden bevæger sig udenfor et kegleformet felt, der udgår fra mælkevejens centrum. Feltet har de sidste 60 millioner år virket svagt hæmmende på en række natur"konstanter". Den akkumulerede virkning af at hæmningen nu er væk er størst på komplicerede kemiske systemer som fx celler og i særdeleshed nerveceller. Over en periode på nogle dage bliver alle folk pludseligt meget kvikkere og de højere dyr ligeså. Folk, der før har været sinker, bliver nu som normale folk var før. Husdyr begynder at lukke slåer og båse op og stikke af.En landbrugsmedhjælper Archie Brock går fra at have svært ved at køre bil til at tænke over hvor langt væk stjernerne er. Archies arbejdsgiver John Rossman tager afsted, fordi han ikke længere kan se meningen med at spilde tiden på sin fritidsgård. Archie bliver tilbage og holder gården ved lige. En kanin fanget i en fælde finder ud af at slippe ud. Højt begavede folk som fysikeren Peter Corinth, der er gift med den almindeligt begavede Sheila, finder at de selv er i stand til at tænke superavancerede tanker, som deres ægtefæller slet ikke forstår. En hel del bliver grebet af en ny religiøs sekt "Tredie Baal".Sheila forstår ikke engang de tanker, der opstår i hendes eget hoved og bliver syg af det. Takket være den avancerede lægekunst bliver hun rask, men med en IQ som før forandringen.Peter Corinth og kollegaen Nat Lewis tager en tur i det første hastigt byggede FTL rumskib og tænker sig ikke helt om. Derfor kommer de indenfor det hæmmende felt igen og har en skræmmende tur indtil de kommer ud igen og kan forstå hvordan de styrer rumskibet.Archie Brock er stadig udenfor det nye samfund, der langsomt tegner sig, men i stedet for at indgå som et lille tandhjul, vil han hellere være herre i eget hus og han får et lille landbrug til at køre med hjælp fra sin meget kloge hund Joe, to tilløbne chimpanser Jimmy og Mehitabel, en elefant Jumbo og en tidligere åndssvag. Men Archie er den klogeste i husholdningen og han kan næsten ikke klare at slagte får, selv om han ved at de ikke er blevet bevidste på samme måde som hestene og grisene.Administratoren Felix Mandelbaum er med til at organisere verden igen efter forandringen. Manuelt arbejde er ikke i høj kurs, så automatisering er en stor del af løsningen. Men de virkeligt begavede vil noget mere og de bliver ikke på Jorden. Deres rejser i FTL rumskibene har vist at der er masser af liv på andre kloder, men at der ikke ser ud til at være nogen på et højere stadie end menneskene.Så de vil ikke være guder eller bestemme over andre, men gerne af og til give en hjælpende hånd.Sheila ender med at søge til Archie, for Peter har forandret sig alt for meget i forhold til hende.Glimrende ide til en historie og tilpas med forklaringer til at det virker overbevisende, i alt fald så længe man sidder med bogen i hånden.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite stories of all time. Read it as a teenager. Re-read it with a girlfriend I wanted to share it with a decade later. I want to re-read it again just thinking about it -- soon. I wish there were a sequel that went into more depth with some of the characters (both human and animal).
    • 2/5
      I have got to start checking publication dates. There are some interesting questions to think about in book, but they are wrapped in a story, the bulk of which reads as so dated, sexist, and from a very limited and privileged point of view, that I found it difficult to slog through.
    • 3/5
      I thought this was a book from the late 70's and was surprised to find it dates originally to 1954. The concept of the story is really out there - all life on earth has had intelligence suppressed because of a field the solar system has been passing through while we rotate around the galaxy. Now we are moving out of it and then, one day, it no longer is influencing the planet. This is intelligently written science fiction from the golden age. The story clearly is set in the 50's and it feels 50ish but tries I think to rise above that to a more modern way - the 50's elements seen from now are like reading historical fiction whereas the story itself tries to stretch to bigger ideas. It can't quite do that since among other things it has a guy smoking a cigar on a starship. The story plays out better than I expected as mankind worldwide (and animalkind worldwide!) deals with a huge growing boost in intelligence. There was a lot of gobbledygook here and there and the attempts for a scientific explanation of why intelligence had been suppressed was pretty silly to me. What I liked were some of the personal stories of how people reacted to a changed mental state and how the world was going to change. This part of the book, the bulk of it, was hit and miss - the story revolving around the man attempting to keep running a farm I liked a lot - glimpses of other people were intriguing - the New York City stuff, and the central focus on a particular scientist pretty much not interesting at all.We could have a lot of fun with animals throwing off the yoke and taking on man. There is a bit of fun like that but the story primarily goes other ways. So there's no rise of the rats, or insect takeovers or good dogs gone bad. This book gets an OK from me. I did like the ending.
    • 4/5
      There was so much potential here that never quite came to be. For instance, the animal intelligence could have been played out more. Also, transitions were almost non-existent. You would follow one character, then go onto another, then come back to the first at a later time with no explanation of whatever came of the previous scenario. The concept was interesting enough that It kept my attention, which is hard to do these days.
    • 4/5
      Posit a galactic field that reduced our ability to think. We develop our intelligence & technology under the influence of that field & then we move out from under its influence. Suddenly everyone on the planet doubles their IQ. What would happen to our civilization, to the everyday people? That's the basis that Anderson uses for this book & it's well done.
    • 5/5
      Fun read about a world where suddenly every creature becomes a factor more intelligent. More than science this novel is about culture and society. How do animals of varying intelligence, and humans from different backgrounds, react? How does this change the relationship between humans and animals? Does civilized society become more structured or disordered? What happens to science, philosophy and religion?These are the questions Brain Wave asks, and they are important ones. At less than 200 pages and always captivating, this novel could easily have been extended. As it is, I still consider it a remarkable work by a great storyteller.
    • 3/5
      When the earth emerges from an inter-galactic inhibitor field that had slowed neural activity and limited intelligence for earthly life forms for millions of years, everyone starts getting crazy-smart. Farm animals get too clever for fences, people of below-average intelligence attain high-level genius IQs, and people of normal and above-average intelligence...well, they get a little too smart for their own good. This story raises some interesting questions about what it means to be human, and the importance of intelligence relative to other human qualities. Overall, though, I found the premise much more compelling than the actual execution. The characters are all so thin that it's hard to care much about what happens to them. Moral: Maybe inhumanly clever and logical people don't make for such a great novel.
    • 5/5
      As an earlier reviewer mentioned, the premise, that everyone and every animal on earth, suddenly finds themselves exponentially smarter, could have been an excuse to write a Utopian novel. Instead, Anderson explores the pressures placed on society both from the intellectual below, as those that once performed menial labour now finding it impossible to tolerate, and from above, as those that were already highly intelligent find themselves losing their humanity.Either of these scenarios could in turn have been the plot of mediocre dystopian novel; but instead everyone muddles along surprisingly realistically. While most of the characters lack the depth that this premise deserved, the depiction of Archie Brock, a retarded man now raised to what was formerly genius level (in particular, the opening scene, when he realizes how far away the stars must be), raise the book to the level of a masterpiece.
    • 4/5
      I'd first heard of Brain Wave via a reference in Stephen King's The Tommyknockers. Once I heard the synopsis for this book, I just had to read it. What if overnight, every living being on the Earth got smarter?The book opens with a rabbit reasoning its way out of a trap. Animals figure out that they don't like their place in the food chain. Everybody working a menial job decides it is beneath them and society collapses.I was very impressed with the book. Anderson examines the good and the bad ramifications of super-intelligence. Not everybody sees it as a boon. Not every psyche is stable enough to handle the change. It would have been so easy to use super intelligence as an excuse to write a Utopian novel, but that is not at all what the author does. Instead, he follows several characters to give a more panoramic view of the changes that take place.My only disappointment with the book was that it seemed too short. The book clocks in at a hundred and sixty-five pages, but the ideas in the book really deserved more space to spread out. I put that down to the time the book was published (mid-fifties) rather than lack of vision on Poul Anderson's part.Very much worth a read. A clever and well written book that leaves you with some things to ponder. It's a shame this book isn't more well known.
    • 5/5
      "The speed of light as measured may only be a local phenomena." The Earth moves out of a field that retarded intelligence, raising the intelligence level of every thinking creature, including Man. Anderson explores the pros and cons of increased reasoning power, as domestic animals leave their pens, and society collapses. The weakest point is the portrayal of the now beyond measurement intelligent humans; even Anderson has trouble trying to envision how these beings might act. Still a classic of science fiction.

    Book preview

    The Paul Factor - Forrest Davis

    5XQabook_preview_excerpt.htmlZے8L?L*eORvQWpG$t K}9'(:b]"qIw/ſ<74umldK.޸jiØ0V 7amO4vo Y] PjaRo>zwckw„hhǨbol7#6 =wf95OɇV7vP>mus! ə>'G~իOg'''{O;|zq?h2ZM6pL??a9tҹTe jkqX*wљ&TNֵmePnu$c ۍ*u|] &300Gv?:W4K6gomK~ӋwuBc cZ,\ޔP(WBrk &ߖ< ĹJ0tb߯wdlyX*8{< cUҽi]6z n]R[Ӻq!S`ʧIՅ6׾ߋ0zǷy}i V(^ 4U#H Hip=~olbO}8[h8 "1:um@o|aJ7`>T&>%6o!?3v7`l}rs -싫e_\n]6b|ϓ!:SKLm,S_36s{4lt _ITF1fg1ڵM7\"mml /GbEL:x Mt.Z̀c&"[Fz-4 XQ 8s6[`Px6AOV5eCK{rph1iQ-CWIz[dƊAEAjL'+yGruAxs̹3.rV@A @ݖ1XXI"dk:C8wӳ 0xlj%a_;o˲^g"Nn\pq*{"LǑ׳A /-l}#ClIQȀqV<̄ }C;@B*Y̦$H& D$a1*5fnL@/BlյʅB 9:)XB&|gˏSϑ^ +;` z&'UCSJ<olIX̡<m`:Ž'sWyt&P//k t-}n!.b֒f m=$!-kId L0G5A<(Qe]Kw GrM?Y_`w.ސv@A0Hc A*i,2Cg&n_J15lf g!Cer6\%(,Xb!:0(GYbFPIÕJA `b]@.bv5u$%0Kg~O!`ԺhX%H ؿNAwnlj )ɡb}E ೮ $ӶYNU|Ρ/Zjc5EPF݆THЇMxB+yAv*Q6u_-zT'?kďԛʾ 4pg=lesB@,ͯ(;‚8[ׯ H$q^\gYoYge AɸRVv7Fb:ʟ6:BWbFʹ4azN\?p琁cO?MPaX?_KJ-衢t0.Iq5v`P J 3:c÷ @%#P|w1:1aa"?R; [E$QX)6A`WF^p$N$QD={rN'#ܼP4#=CD( B7 I հYyh h߈A/0[Ӭx ըX`q6ɚ@(2#V2Hat#N4Ҋ)0;s27Hufih2; GCFѽav(prj~Tnh]n*$U%%+}6Nq)?7Æ( raPP^H"!h5qqؤAbrkޤo FKY9PFp\F"HS{IȘ1fw5䚥MRohxМPp–j a>!xr)Aټ ]\h VH͘Z-F#E-%υa1؍GnES'@vOlJbhe|5VD'`$E#uſ܇m ) gዣ%҆\ @$jb,t20ɳ§xH_YVc- `&BaW1b%GdzE?XZFFcfp {6&U`?MtnY연_.r{M9jQ̞-35, I%o(0d%b'P!,t0Dt[JRcbe+d,H{=|;r)3V$ۙ\%-q2Ƿp/}lk PϠMkY>T*9Tw!Fx +#BARyIt0l\K*Ve/ ر}4%"G5f7UJHc.=BĖFh<1LHVk#т*_N|6NҁRN[hDs%ԡ֘Z~"ѯs:OG=U~B7uI Z߲ўE:U# "Mxs,_0EQI{Pa'1jWYtLx\j:]@Ƞ+EkӲ<'TJj@0\"bHٹ"&%4'wT63;IQ,f/a B`]ɌmH |{nY@&ek2^6C2 yͣF$|z^7b$1.G opP%Ǐ R`}Tm0 p b ͡.)6b+ݛ BVY3X[/4~p%wXpIZU P-_@kT%a9]n_g`9OZTn$ Mݦ)t`7r4'WOhqeʡ&C;uGdA}Cں8 kz|AfE$x/\Q+jOɔxVX!=Og \7} dK.u$KY5,4$Ae*|#ڳ>,I)Z 1sn+umRh?:Y :qD nEYZ  0ڽy5N|{MN%"Bi`6o #y+7ƍ( J-v3λȾUcZhwUnCǀZ9gzEMj#]ԵoO,+Z%9ciTz^٫clhޅI%qz$q#Q ,݅SjV;G-N/֣ϳs0WdR(ocqHI%2ądQlN6zrE6X4H7P:\k &:<AhԢ7aK)ǘdyʶ"B_ilI<,}7T0>kF ]LHG!{i2t+:2l|}*t,`S "7P`>` :@J']@mlRrﾇ91R(GwG% 쥕 ܳaY(y1.[å?R9X:ɤ# `4T4X3 B'(9l"PoZ1`bVC t7 r;԰d~ ¡PV!$uTM%y8f?В<ӯ$2ڜXr;xXzzr:zr;gXoSjP|RU<Z}`؅"CK\C`-1(vPf3 J&g]zO XK=O?*OƇ};66 ݤ1kh {fq2ζ"dSI$ʵRR sLRlw-|MIeMIZ)2V:3_,XY#b1`6#.J<t罭3xz7WIll-yqP\?HIU[ۆV/V)%Sz)
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1