Paul's "persecution" of the early Christians?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

The committee that wrote it did an amazing job without computers to keep track of the various threads.

Actually, they did a shitty job given the number of contradictions, duplications, and flat out lies.

There are some contradictions, usually detected by comparing various versions.  But you keep ignoring the purpose of the stories, which is to illustrate the results of following and ignoring the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 34:12-28.  The stories don't have to be real events to illustrate the points of the Ten Commandments.  For instance, a person should be able to read a story and say that it illustrates the effects of following or disobeying the First Commandment or the 4th, or the 10th Commandment or any of the others.  

Now get real.  In the stories where there is only one or two characters in a scene and there's a lot of dialogue who in the hell do you think would have been there to observe those events and to record all of the dialogue?  The biblical stories are no different than any other story.  They are fiction!!!  And that includes the ones that make reference to  real people and to actual events (yes, there are several of them in the Bible).  But all of the dialogue is fiction.  

Where the committee did an excellent job was in constructing an epic story and in weaving a lot of threads into a complete fabric.  It's the gold standard for fairy tales.  When you read the Noah and the ark story you should be thinking about how it illustrates the First Commandment and not about the absurdity of actual water covering the entire planet over the highest mountain.    When you read the story about the wise men visiting baby Yeshua and bringing him gifts you should be thinking about the 4th Commandment and how he was redeemed and recognized as a deity by strangers from distant lands.  That shows that his appeal will be universal even if he did call Gentiles dogs and swine.  And who are his biggest fans today?  Gentiles.  Jews hate him just like they did when he first appeared in the story.