(February 4, 2018 at 9:57 pm)Jehanne Wrote: Paul claims to have persecuted the early Church, but, to me, his claim seems rather dubious. After all, Paul was not a Roman official or a member of the legions, and given Roman federalism, it seems unthinkable to me that Paul, a mere Roman citizen, could harass Roman subjects? It seems that not only the Roman authorities, but the local ones under Roman governorship, would object, strongly, to such behavior. Some will cite 2 Corinthians 11:24 where he states, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.", but this claim is also odd, given Paul's Roman citizenship.
It seems to me that the story of Paul's persecution of the early Church was invented, and was (and is) pure myth.
So...why wasn't he rejected out of hand, as everyone knew how the Romans operated?
