Can't agree and your statement claiming "atonement" was some type of pagan error, doesn't hold water. All throughout the Old Testament we read where God had set up the Priesthood and what they were to do when it came to the sacrificing of bulls and goats, lambs or pigeons...the sacrificing of blood. Even Mary and Joseph offered up an atonement sacrifice. Luke 2:24
I mean you say Jesus and his Disciples preached one message but they rejected Paul's message of atonement through Jesus blood and substitution. How is it therefore that Peter declares what Paul preached as "scripture"? 2 Peter 3:16 And if Peter wasn't in agreement with atonement of sins message by Jesus blood how is it that Peter states in 1 Peter 1:19,
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
I won't deny that Paul's impact and his understanding greatly effected the status quo. It did...but you're suggesting he had led the church away in error and there was nothing much less of the truth of what you'd consider the true gospel. Funny how Jesus himself therefore didn't take measures to correct it. Do we see anywhere where the Holy Spirit gave any visions, dreams or revelations to pull the church back from believing Paul?
Do we see anywhere where Peter, James and John rebuke Paul as some heretic? No...they received him as a brother. Now yes there was the issue of circumcision that they had struggles with but they even had a meeting in regard to it and worked it out. But nothing of the main Apostles calling him a heretic or someone in great error. That seems to be what you're suggesting Paul was.
For those who accepted the original gospel of Jesus, repentance, a change of heart and behavior, salvation by faith and the responsibility that goes with it going forward, the blood of Christ wasn't needed. Atonement and blood sacrifice is an "old idea" imported into the Jesus movement by sacrifice minded Jews. Man just has a difficult time comprehending something for nothing (Fatherly Love), to be forgiven by Love, to experience forgiveness by forgiving others without any birds or bunnies being killed in exchange. That's why the compromise, short cut atonement gospel was "appealing" to people who were already somewhat familiar with the idea but had never been taught the more rigorous Gospel of The Kingdom of Heaven by Jesus.
BTW, Peter began preaching the resurrected Christ on the day of Pentecost. The death and resurrection was the most spectacular, most recent miracle of the Jesus story. So naturally that's what Peter felt inspired to focus on. The old ways were soon forgotten about in light of the spectacular events and resulting human speculation about the meaning of those events.
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament ,set up by holy men, was a Pagan ideology, it evolved as Judaism evolved. ALL religions around the world have had similar sacrificial components. Animal sacrifice and genital mutilation are substitutes for earlier forms of sacrifice such as human sacrifice, child sacrifice. etc.
Jesus taught a change of heart rather than mere rituals and traditions. The religious authorities didn't like that any more than their ancestors in the priesthood like Isaiah excoriation of the whole insincere sacrificial system.
Isaiah 1
1The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.[
a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
21 See how the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her—
but now murderers!
22 Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,
partners with thieves;
they all love bribes
and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow’s case does not come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.
25 I will turn my hand against you;[
b]
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old,
your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called
the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”
27 Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the Lord will perish.
29 “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire.”
