Paul was widely known among locals as a zealous Pharisaic Jew. Right?
• …Gal 1:14 — “I was advancing in Judaism beyond… contemporaries… zealous”1
• …Acts 23 — “[to Jews] My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees”2
• …Acts 26 — ”all Jews know… willing to testify… [I was a] Pharisee… strictest”3
Paul's parents were devout Hebrew-speaking Jews. Right?
• …they were from Gaschala.1
• …Paul boasts he was “a Hebrew born of Hebrews”.2
• …Paul lived near Syria.3
• …Paul “descended from Pharisees”4
Paul enjoyed a high standing among other prominent Jewish leaders. Right?
• …Paul could expect (and recieve) the high priest’s personal endorsement.1
• …Paul could be commissioned by chief priests to persecute Christians.2
Right?1
• …Acts 22:3-5 — “a Jew,… educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law, being zealous.”2
• …Paul displays the exegetical tendencies of a highly trained Jew.3
In religious ferver, Paul zealously persecuted Christians. Right? (See Full debate
• …Gal 1 says Paul was famously violent
• …1 Cor 15 says Paul “persecuted”
• …Phil 5 says Paul zealously persected
• …1 Tim says Paul was violent
• …Acts 7 says Paul “heartily” endorsed their death
• …Acts 9 says Paul threatened murder
• …Acts 9 & 26 says Christians feared his violence
• …Acts 22 says the coucnil testifies to Paul's violence
• …Acts 26 says Paul voted in Christian deaths
Even while Christian, Paul’s categories of thinking flow from a Jewish background.
Right?1
• …Paul was rigidly monotheistic.2
• …Paul framed his commision as a Jewish prophetic calling.3
• …Paul framed his mission to Gentiles as Jewish prophecy fulfillment.4
• …Paul felt humanity exists as “Jews and Gentiles”.5
• …Paul calls himself a Jew (still).6
• …Paul accepted Jewish floggings for Jews.7
• …Paul circumcized Timothy.
• …Paul says converts “turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God”.8
• …Paul says we are all children of Abraham.9
Right? [Forthcoming]