Paul's "persecution" of the early Christians?

[Jehanne]

Huggy, the story told in Acts ( a book of historical fiction, btw) is that "Paul" was on his way to Damascus.

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Acts

Damascus was a Greco-Roman city, a long way from Jerusalem, and part of the so-called Decapolis which was a loose confederation of similar Greco-Roman towns under the aegis of the Roman governor of Syria.  The notion that some smelly little jew from Jerusalem could go to another city in the Roman empire and kidnap Roman subjects  to drag them as prisoners back to Jerusalem has always been extremely amusing.  I imagine the local city magistrate would have made short work of "paul."

But, it makes for an excellent story, which is what the early gospels and Acts were all about. The early Paul was also a storyteller, as were his later incarnations.

---

If he were a rapper, he;d have written both of those lines as 

You gave me an idea...

"The Fresh Paul of Bel Air"

West of side of Tarsus, born and raised
Persecuting is how I spent most of my days
Maxin’ relaxin killin Peter’s faction
One day I was on the road to Damascus
Up in the sky, Jesus said “You’re no good.
Why you startin’ trouble in my neighborhood?”
After one little massacre, God went cray
He said, “You’re movin in with Peter and James in Judea”

You need to make a YouTube video! At least 1K in ad money!!

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Israel had been annexed by the Roman empire, thus making the Jews subjects of Rome.

Ah, I misread, for some reason I was thinking the op was referring to Paul persecuting Roman citizens; but nevertheless, how do you explain Jesus who was also a roman subject being able to be arrested by the Sanhedrin?

The term is "federalism"; it's why the Empire lasted as long as it did.

[Minimalist]

I’ve never actually met Minimalist but, I just had a vision of him on my way to New Orleans. I’ll now pretend that I’m an authority on all things Minimalist and go on to write books about things I think he said and did. God help you if you don’t believe me for, you’ll burn in Hell fire if you don’t.  That...is what Paul sounds like to me.

Right.  But only if you assume that "paul" was not a later invention, too.

[John V]

He was rejected, by lots of people, but some of the folks who he was corresponding with were hundreds of miles away from him, and we're simply unwilling and/or unable to vet his claims.

Seems like they would have had sufficient knowledge of Roman operations to know that Paul's claim was impossible. You're sitting here 2,000 years later and know it. Didn't these people know that the Romans would have never allowed such a thing?

[The Grand Nudger]

Who are "they" supposed to have been...........?  It would be useful to know.

[Jehanne]

He was rejected, by lots of people, but some of the folks who he was corresponding with were hundreds of miles away from him, and we're simply unwilling and/or unable to vet his claims.

Seems like they would have had sufficient knowledge of Roman operations to know that Paul's claim was impossible. You're sitting here 2,000 years later and know it. Didn't these people know that the Romans would have never allowed such a thing?

The majority of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-...02192bbfb3

Over 90 percent of people in ancient Rome could not read or write, and so, were easily duped, just as they are today.

Regardless, Paul's claim is preposterous and did not happen. But, to those who wanted to believe, it made for excellent story-telling. Perhaps they imagined Paul to be some larger than life person, kind of like we would imagine a superhero.

[Minimalist]

He was rejected, by lots of people, but some of the folks who he was corresponding with were hundreds of miles away from him, and we're simply unwilling and/or unable to vet his claims.

Seems like they would have had sufficient knowledge of Roman operations to know that Paul's claim was impossible. You're sitting here 2,000 years later and know it. Didn't these people know that the Romans would have never allowed such a thing?

Considering that you are a supported of the WLB that statement drips with irony.  Why should they have had a clue when you don't?

[John V]

Seems like they would have had sufficient knowledge of Roman operations to know that Paul's claim was impossible. You're sitting here 2,000 years later and know it. Didn't these people know that the Romans would have never allowed such a thing?

The majority of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court Justice:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-...02192bbfb3

Over 90 percent of people in ancient Rome could not read or write, and so, were easily duped, just as they are today.

Regardless, Paul's claim is preposterous and did not happen.  But, to those who wanted to believe, it made for excellent story-telling.  Perhaps they imagined Paul to be some larger than life person, kind of like we would imagine a superhero.

Seems like they would have had sufficient knowledge of Roman operations to know that Paul's claim was impossible. You're sitting here 2,000 years later and know it. Didn't these people know that the Romans would have never allowed such a thing?

Considering that you are a supported of the WLB that statement drips with irony.  Why should they have had a clue when you don't?

I think we all have a pretty good idea of who can and can't arrest us. 

[vorlon13]

Apostle Paul retconned Jesus, why wouldn't church poohbahs subsequent to Paul have retconned Paul ??

(and give Jesus another whack while they are at it!!)

[Cyberman]

Ah, I misread, for some reason I was thinking the op was referring to Paul persecuting Roman citizens; but nevertheless, how do you explain Jesus who was also a roman subject being able to be arrested by the Sanhedrin?

Midichlorians.

[Godscreated]

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.

You were being told that Paul was a Roman citizen, you didn't listen. There was a difference in being a Roman citizen and a Roman subject. Roman citizens had many rights, Roman subjects had few to none. The Romans were having enough trouble with the Jews at the time to worry about a man persecuting his own people, to them this amounted to help rather than a problem. Jesus being a Roman subject was by manipulation able to be arrested by non-Roman citizens and tried and found guilty outside a Roman court. Pilate himself found it easier to allow the Jews to fight among themselves because it distracted them from rebellion against the Roman Empire.

GC