How are Paul's epistles different from the Gospels?

A:Paul's epistles are a different literary style, being written as quite formal letters in the Greek style of Paul's day, whereas the gospels are written more or less in the style of epic biographies. However, there are important differences between Paul's understanding of Jesus and that provided in the gospels.

When Paul mentions the Jerusalem Church, its leader seems to be James, to whom Paul defers. Paul seems to consider himself Peter's equal and portrays Peter as a pillar of the church, but not its leader. This seems at odds with Matthew's Gospel, which says that Jesus would build his church on Peter.

Paul indicates the belief that the resurrection of Jesus was synonymous with his ascension, spiritually or bodily, to heaven. Apart from the original version of Mark, all the gospels have the risen Jesus appear to the disciples, and Luke's Gospel says that he rose to heaven on the evening following his resurrection (amended in Acts to forty days after the resurrection).

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul said that Jesus died and was buried, rose again according to the scriptures, then was seen by Cephas, then the twelve, then by more than 500, most of whom were still alive, then by James and all the apostles, and finally by himself. There are some important differences here compared to the gospel account written some years later. Some of these are the reference to Cephas (Peter) as outside the 'twelve', the reference to being seen by twelve when Judas should have been excluded, then the strange reference to the 'apostles' who are not the same group as the 'twelve'. Moreover, Paul seems to equate the appearances to the others and to himself, such that it would seem that all the appearances were purely spiritual, not physical. Clearly, Paul had an entirely different understanding of the appearances of the risen Jesus than would come down to us in the gospel account.