# More important to Christianity: Paul of Tarsus or Constantine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 25, 2002, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567 "2002-11-25T01:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fishcrawford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85f322/32.png) [@fishcrawford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishcrawford)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/1 "2002-11-25T01:04:16Z")
I’d say Paul. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/2 "2002-11-25T01:31:15Z")
me too. (this is a Great Debate so far, huh?) ---
**Author:** ![PARbrowser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PARbrowser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PARbrowser)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/3 "2002-11-25T01:46:28Z")
I’m not sure there is any need for a debate but rather a clarification. Paul was absolutely vital to the establishment of Christian doctrine and church protocols. Constantine was vital to the implementation and legal existance of Christianity. Can we really consider one to be more important than the other? ---
**Author:** ![fishcrawford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85f322/32.png) [@fishcrawford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishcrawford)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/4 "2002-11-25T01:49:50Z")
I guess we have to. I need to for a test on Tuesday lol. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/5 "2002-11-25T02:42:52Z")
Theology - Paul Wide Acceptance - Constantine Personally that makes Paul more important. If I was a christian, I honestyl could care less if it was widely accepted or not. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/6 "2002-11-25T03:01:53Z")
Well, let’s see – Paul was instrumental in defining the theology of the early church; he went on several missionary journeys spreading the Gospel throughout much of the Roman Empire; he wrote about half of what became the New Testament; he was instrumental in the inclusion of non-Jews to the covenant. Constatine was important too; but Christianity had already survived a coupla centuries before he came around to it. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/7 "2002-11-25T03:37:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I need to for a test on Tuesday lol. Oh, a _test_. Well, the most important single Christian ever was Waldo P. Higginbotham, an eccentric 19th Century Welsh-German immigrant to California who wrote the entire Bible (all 102 books of it, from Genesis to the Apocalypse of St. Fred of the Serious Munchies), supposedly having channeled it all from an alien being named Xizor who appeared to him in the form of a lemur. Before the Bible existed, of course, there was no such thing as Christianity. (Which is why it’s a lie to claim this is a “Christian nation”, since the United States was founded decades before Christianity even existed.) Since Higginbotham’s time Christianity has grown to be the second-largest religion on the planet, with over 7 billion adherents, second only to the Rastafarians. Be sure to put all that down on your test! (Use both sides of the paper if you have to.) ---
**Author:** ![NO\_FREEWILL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@NO\_FREEWILL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NO_FREEWILL)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/8 "2002-11-25T04:34:18Z")
I don’t think it was paul I would say Ringo. ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/9 "2002-11-25T12:57:24Z")
Paul, the apostle. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/10 "2002-11-25T14:11:41Z")
Hmm, Paul the Apostle? Why do you say him? The Paul that spread christianity, according to the historical accounts I have seen actually never met Jesus. If these are two seperate people, how is Paul the Apostle more important? ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/11 "2002-11-25T14:29:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*Hmm, Paul the Apostle? Why do you say him? The Paul that spread christianity, according to the historical accounts I have seen actually never met Jesus. If these are two seperate people, how is Paul the Apostle more important? \*\* Paul called himself an apostle in his epistles, and this was apparently accepted by some of the Twelve. Remember, Paul’s conversion was motivated by his vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/12 "2002-11-25T15:56:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*Hmm, Paul the Apostle? Why do you say him? The Paul that spread christianity, according to the historical accounts I have seen actually never met Jesus. If these are two seperate people, how is Paul the Apostle more important? \*\* Uh, Constantine never met The Big J either. Haj ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/13 "2005-07-10T12:36:59Z")
If Christianity was not widely adopted, you probably wouldnt have heard of it 2000 years later. Constantine is the most important to the very existence of Christianity today. There were a thousand “Pauls” of the day and thousands more fledgling religions and sects. Plus, there is no physical proof that Paul actually wrote most of the New Testament. Our earliest physical copies date hundreds of years after Paul supposedly wrote them. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/14 "2005-07-10T12:58:23Z")
Heck, Paul was more important to the development of Christianity than Jesus was. If we only went by what Jesus preached while he was alive, Christianity would be not much different from Judaism. It was only Paul’s visions and commentary of what Jesus said after he was dead that enabled Christianity to appeal to folks outside of Judaism. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/15 "2005-07-10T13:57:15Z")
Gosh, speaking of rising from the dead, this thread is a good example. I wonder how **fishcrawford** did on his test? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/16 "2005-07-10T14:24:24Z")
I thought this debate my be dull. Quite the contrary…it’s **riviting** here goes…eenie… meenie… mienie… moe … Definitely Paul ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/17 "2005-07-10T15:10:58Z")
Verifying data… one potatoe, two potatoe, three potatoe, four… yep!! It’s Paul alright. I love research 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-important-to-christianity-paul-of-tarsus-or-constantine/138567/18 "2005-07-10T16:29:21Z")
Well, since the OP has long (been) departed and the current comments are not really carrying forward the thesis, I’m going to drive a stake through the heart of this undead thread. (Anyone who wishes to may open their own thread on the topic, providing appropriate cogent analysis and citations, of course.) [/Moderator Mode]