The Question of the Greek New Testament

[Huggy Bear]

The stories about "paul" being a roman citizen are hilarious in their own right.  He claims to have been born a roman and all of a sudden the sentries tremble in his presence?  Then,  teh damned joos plot against him -just like they did against jesus.... those fuckers!  Of course, because the super apostle deserves no less, and despite various civil disturbances and outright war in the region......The Evil Empire is so kind as to provide "paul" with hundreds of soldiers, complete /w cavalry to escort him out of the jurisdiction saving his neck (that the authors expected anyone to believe that Rome would do such a thing for any reason..let alone some crackpot claiming to be roman- is hard to understand) - he even gets a boat........  This only sets the stage.  

It really shouldn't be so radical, proposing that such a man never existed, that such events never took place.  The claim to roman citizenship is, itself, a magical claim.....it takes an awfully uncritical mind not to notice how ridiculous the narrative, and thus the claim..actually are.  That's one of the more amusing things about the NT, to me.  Even the seemingly mundane describes supernatural events.  

Let's put this plainly. No soldier, ever, gave a fuck what some rando claimed, and Rome never devoted a full combat unit to protect said rando from the local authorities -which theythemselves established and supported-.  This story, the claim to "pauls" citizenship.......is a narrative device.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_citizenship

• The right of immunity from some taxes and other legal obligations, especially local rules and regulations.[4]
  
• The right to sue in the courts and the right to be sued.
  
• The right to have a legal trial (to appear before a proper court and to defend oneself).
  
  
• The right to appeal from the decisions of magistrates and to appeal the lower court decisions.
  
• A Roman citizen could not be tortured or whipped, nor could he receive the death penalty, unless he was found guilty of treason.
  
• If accused of treason, a Roman citizen had the right to be tried in Rome, and even if sentenced to death, no Roman citizen could be sentenced to die on the cross.
  

Paul was punished without receiving a trial which was his right as a Roman citizen,

Acts 16
37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

Of course they were scared, because they could be brought up on charges themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero

Cicero received the honorific "Pater Patriae" for his efforts to suppress the conspiracy, but lived thereafter in fear of trial or exile for having put Roman citizens to death without trial.