Paul's "persecution" of the early Christians?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

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And, so, you believe that Jesus went to Jerusalem, got a whip, went into the Temple, overturned tables, and chased people around, and the Roman and Jewish authorities did nothing???

 Many times the Jewish religious authority wanted to do something with Jesus and did not because they feared what might happen. The Romans gave little thought to this event, they tried to stay away from religious events to prevent further trouble with the Jewish people. By the way I do not remember any account saying He chased anyone around, I believe you are adding to the story for dramatic purposes, it's no wonder you and the other atheist think the Bible was corrupted by inconsistent retelling because it's all you know how to do to try and prove a point. Get things straight.

GC

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Aren't you overlooking the symbolism of one of the disciples cutting off the high priest's servants ear to the story in Genesis 3:24 (NLT) = "After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

Yeshua is depicted as the tree of life and when the disciple cut off the servant's ear he was acting like the cherubim who was guarding the tree of life in the Garden of Eden after Adam & Eve had been expelled. And you will notice that the Yeshua incident also takes place in the garden of Gethsemane.  So the later story is a repeat of the first story.  

When the disciple cut off the servant's ear he symbolically prevented the servant from hearing the message from the tree of life.  But Yeshua had mercy on the one who would do him harm (also repeated in numerous passages) and gave him an opportunity to hear the message of eternal life.  

The thing to remember when reading the biblical stories is that even if they seem illogical and ridiculous they are all based on the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 34:12-28 and that they are all related to other stories in the Bible.

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 You are correct in a way you do not see or understand the Bible is like a fine woven tapestry, it's all related. However your thought on Peter cutting off the ear of the servant and the angel guarding the Tree of Life just doesn't mesh. You are also using a paraphrased Bible that is made for easier reading and not necessarily totally accurate. I have the NLT and enjoy reading it but study more accurate translations.

GC

If Yeshua isn't the tree of life referred to in the fairy tale then who is it, Satan?

And the fairy tale doesn't name the disciple who cut off the servant's ear so where do you get the idea that it was Peter who did it?

While some Bible versions do omit whole verses they all present the same basic fairy tale. And all of the current English versions use modern words and phrases.  And how do you know your favorite version is accurate?  Do you compare it to the original Latin master copy of 692 A.D.?