Yeah there's a lot to talk about. I think however that if Paul didn't exist, Christianity would have remained a Jewish cult.

Paul was the Don Draper of the 1st century. He effectively took an illiterate desert people's religion and molded it in such a way where it would be approachable to the gentile and educated Roman citizens.

He was a Greek Jew who understood the gentile world. And he made fantastic stories. Iirc in his earliest letter, which became one of the Bible books I don't remember which, there was nothing about immaculate conception or the 3 day resurrection, or the 3 wise men, etc

But adding all that stuff adds to the legend and mythology and it helped really spread the religion.

I think in a lot of ways, Paul is the founder of Christianity. Of course, Jesus is important. He must have been a fascinating figure in his time. Pontius killed thousands of Jews a year, but we really only talk about one.