Was the Apostle Paul a Fraud?

I'm a big fan of the apostle Paul. I don't get all this talk of Paul being a misogynist fraudster who lied and cheated and who hijacked Christianity and all that. The way I see Paul, he was an overworked and underpaid preacher, the patron saint if you will of overworked, underpaid preachers everywhere who work as welders and mechanics during the week in order to keep the lights on in the church.

Paul's theology was flawed, IMO, but then, I think it's very rare indeed that you'd encounter a person who lived like Paul did and who still found time to really work out a massive theological work. Paul was on the road constantly, living hand to mouth, working a trade, and handling squabbles and questions for a widespread network of tiny emerging churches.

There's only one reason why Paul became the incredibe influence on Christian history, and that is that he tried hard to live as Jesus lived, and he wrote letters. Since what Paul preached, Paul lived, his letters clearly bore enormous weight as artifacts of the earliest Christians, and because they addressed the practical as well as the theoretical, they appealed to a wide cross-section of humanity.

Ordinary people can read Paul's letters as though Paul were their own preacher, helping them deal with their own practical situations. Preachers can read Paul's letters and get tips on how to handle the unruly parishioners as well as learn how to be loving, and to be beloved. And theologians can dig as deep as they like into Paul's puzzling pronouncements on the delicate balance of predestination and the role of Christ in the salvation of humanity, and publish massive commentaries. And skeptics can question his every move, poring through the epistles for sure signs that yes, indeedy, Paul was human.

I really like Paul. He's one of the most transparent people in the entire Bible, and he's still a puzzle. It don't get better than that!