Pauline Christianity
Pauline Christianity refers to the form of Christianity associated with the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the Apostle Paul in the Pauline epistles. Most of orthodox Christianity relies heavily on these teachings and considers them to be amplifications and explanations of the teachings of Jesus. Marcion of Sinope, a 2nd century theologian excommunicated as a heretic in 144, asserted that Paul was the only apostle who had rightly understood the new message of salvation as delivered by Christ.
Others perceive in Paul's writings teachings that are radically different from the original teachings of Jesus documented in the canonical gospels, early Acts and the rest of the New Testament, such as the Epistle of James. Opponents include the Ebionites and Nazarenes, Jewish Christians who rejected Paul for straying from normative Judaism.
The term is generally considered a pejorative by mainstream Christianity, as it carries the implication that Christianity is a corruption of the original teachings of Jesus, as for example in the belief of a Great Apostasy as found in Restorationism.
Read more about this topic: Origins Of Christianity
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“There is the Christianity of tenderness. But ... it is utterly pushed aside by the Christianity of self-glorification: the self-glorification of the humble.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)