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A casual look at Paul's credentials…
It seems that Christians don't care much for human life. Paul killed one of the most famous deacons in early Christian history and nobody is bothered. It seems that killing anyone for religious reasons can be very easily forgotten if the killer becomes a Christian. Here we have Paul the Pharisee of Pharisees working as a hit man for the ruling Sadducee party. This in itself is very odd to swallow. The Pharisees didn't get along with the Sadducees. Maybe Paul used to be a Pharisee to the Pharisee and a Sadducee to the Sadducees… That must explain it!
Paul was actually casting his vote of approval to have Stephen stoned to death and he was also making all the necessary arrangements to expedite the process. He was a notorious hit man for the temple authorities. He didn't seem to have had any scrupulous to sneak into any foreign country to kidnap and bring to Jerusalem any Jew he didn’t like, either.
Acts 26:9 (NIV) "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put MANY of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
It is impossible to believe that Paul suffered more than any of the people that he persecuted. I just can’t stop thinking of the many broken homes, and the many dead husbands that were no longer providing for the basic needs of the children. Who knows how many hungry children went on begging on the streets of Jerusalem because Paul had MANY righteous parents killed, beside Stephen.
Paul is not writing a single word of grief about being a killer in the past. Anything that Paul did before was in ignorance, he says. As a Pharisee, he probably cast a stone or two, too. Although, I don't believe that the image that is given in the NT about the Pharisees is a truthful one. Paul never said to cast any stone, but he did make all the necessary arrangements so the stoners would do the killing of the righteous ones more efficiently.
Paul brags in his testimony to King Agrippa that he really put MANY righteous people to death. I wonder if any Christian ever stops to question Paul’s cold bloody testimony to King Agrippa. I cannot detect a trace of regret, remorse or grief here or anywhere else in the NT about all those hideous crimes that Paul did against the righteous Jews that he had killed. So if the Almighty forgave Paul, doesn’t Paul need to express a little remorse of what he was doing before? All that Paul seems to say is, "Hey, I didn't know what I was doing" or "I did it in ignorance. So I'm excused. Isn't grace wonderful?"
To top it all we have Paul’s own statement that he is the one actually completing the dose of suffering levied on Jesus to do his “redemptive” work. Although nowhere in the Scriptures is stated that there is a measure of pain and suffering that the messiah has to go through to secure the redemption for anyone. Actually the Scriptures say all the opposite. They say that nobody can secure the redemption for his brother at any price.
Psalms 49:7 * No man can redeem the life of another or give to Elohim a ransom for him--
8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.
According to Paul he says Jesus measure of suffering was truncated. In fact, Even Pontius was surprised to learn that Jesus died so quickly on the “cross.” He knew about crucifixions and he was left speechless that Jesus died so quickly. He couldn't believe it!. So he asked the Centurion if it was true that Jesus is dead already. Judging by all the chit-chat that Jesus had with everybody around himself while on the cross he only complained of thirst. This is what stubborn documented evidence sheds.
Mark 15:43 (NIV) Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
Paul is drawing a lot of attention to himself as a sufferer for the Christian cause. Although, he is not on record ever expressing any regret for all the pain and suffering to the many children whom he left orphan, and also the many helpless widows of the righteous men that he helped to put to death. We don't know what kind of reparation he made to all the innocent victims of his killing rampage so the Christians could learn a lesson on how to imitate Paul. Paul is telling all the Christians that they should imitate him. If that is the case then anyone having participated actively in the "final solution of freeing the world of all the Jews" and who later became a "born again" Christian can excuse himself without any apology or reparation to any Jew because he was doing it in ignorance.
Paul never seemed to have made any formal reparation to the widow of Stephen and his children. I only wonder how many members in Stephen's family were affected by Paul's vicious conduct. A deacon like Stephen is a "family man of one wife and children." He must have ruled his household in an exemplary manner in order to qualify as a deacon, and so on. So it is obvious that Paul left MANY orphan children in his killing rampage. Hopefully Stephen's widow was not too young. Paul has some words of instruction for the MANY widows that he left behind in his ignorance, too. He is not teaching any reparation here, either. Only "saving" grace.
1 Timthy 3:12 (NIV) A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
1 Timothy 5:11 (NIV) As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.
12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.
13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
Paul is saying that whatever he did in his Pharisee days that he thought to be worth anything now it is cow manure to him. So is probably any credit that Paul scored in doing Stephen's death and the MANY other righteous people that he dragged to prison for punishment and death. There is not one single statement in the NT saying that Paul is SORRY or that he has any remorse for having done any of that. I wish to see one single statement of remorse. Paul is simply making statements that whatever he did before was bull's manure. If I may paraphrase Paul he is simply saying that in the past he did a lot of killing activity, but now he is a hand picked man for this "labor of love." So Paul lets bygones be bygones, no sense in crying over spilled milk, amazing grace how sweet it sounds, and so on. So let's pretend that there was no "holocaust."
Phillipians 3:8 (KJV) Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] DUNG, that I may win Christ. --- NOTE: The words in brackets are not in the mss!
It all goes well with Paul's idea of grace. Hey, but this is not the standard that Paul is imposing on others.
1 Timothy 3:7 (NIV) He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
All these rules didn’t exist before Paul put together Christianity. He actually made up all these rules himself.
Galatians 1:18 (NIV) Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19 I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.
Paul's reputation is not too flattering, except when Paul sets the record straight for himself. Good thing that he is telling us that he is not lying so we can believe him. Anyway, who said that Paul was forgiven? Did I missed Judgment Day? According to HaTorah, the ONLY way to make atonement for the shedding of innocent blood is by shedding the blood of the murderer. Paul doesn’t make any comment about it in relation to his own testimony. If the Nuremberg trials were conducted according to the Christian standard set by Paul no Nazi would be found guilty of killing any Jew because they all claimed to have done it in ignorance following orders. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Numbers 35:33 * "`Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Paul was actually casting his vote of approval to have Stephen stoned to death and he was also making all the necessary arrangements to expedite the process. He was a notorious hit man for the temple authorities. He didn't seem to have had any scrupulous to sneak into any foreign country to kidnap and bring to Jerusalem any Jew he didn’t like, either.
Acts 26:9 (NIV) "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put MANY of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
It is impossible to believe that Paul suffered more than any of the people that he persecuted. I just can’t stop thinking of the many broken homes, and the many dead husbands that were no longer providing for the basic needs of the children. Who knows how many hungry children went on begging on the streets of Jerusalem because Paul had MANY righteous parents killed, beside Stephen.
Paul is not writing a single word of grief about being a killer in the past. Anything that Paul did before was in ignorance, he says. As a Pharisee, he probably cast a stone or two, too. Although, I don't believe that the image that is given in the NT about the Pharisees is a truthful one. Paul never said to cast any stone, but he did make all the necessary arrangements so the stoners would do the killing of the righteous ones more efficiently.
Paul brags in his testimony to King Agrippa that he really put MANY righteous people to death. I wonder if any Christian ever stops to question Paul’s cold bloody testimony to King Agrippa. I cannot detect a trace of regret, remorse or grief here or anywhere else in the NT about all those hideous crimes that Paul did against the righteous Jews that he had killed. So if the Almighty forgave Paul, doesn’t Paul need to express a little remorse of what he was doing before? All that Paul seems to say is, "Hey, I didn't know what I was doing" or "I did it in ignorance. So I'm excused. Isn't grace wonderful?"
To top it all we have Paul’s own statement that he is the one actually completing the dose of suffering levied on Jesus to do his “redemptive” work. Although nowhere in the Scriptures is stated that there is a measure of pain and suffering that the messiah has to go through to secure the redemption for anyone. Actually the Scriptures say all the opposite. They say that nobody can secure the redemption for his brother at any price.
Psalms 49:7 * No man can redeem the life of another or give to Elohim a ransom for him--
8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.
According to Paul he says Jesus measure of suffering was truncated. In fact, Even Pontius was surprised to learn that Jesus died so quickly on the “cross.” He knew about crucifixions and he was left speechless that Jesus died so quickly. He couldn't believe it!. So he asked the Centurion if it was true that Jesus is dead already. Judging by all the chit-chat that Jesus had with everybody around himself while on the cross he only complained of thirst. This is what stubborn documented evidence sheds.
Mark 15:43 (NIV) Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.
Paul is drawing a lot of attention to himself as a sufferer for the Christian cause. Although, he is not on record ever expressing any regret for all the pain and suffering to the many children whom he left orphan, and also the many helpless widows of the righteous men that he helped to put to death. We don't know what kind of reparation he made to all the innocent victims of his killing rampage so the Christians could learn a lesson on how to imitate Paul. Paul is telling all the Christians that they should imitate him. If that is the case then anyone having participated actively in the "final solution of freeing the world of all the Jews" and who later became a "born again" Christian can excuse himself without any apology or reparation to any Jew because he was doing it in ignorance.
Paul never seemed to have made any formal reparation to the widow of Stephen and his children. I only wonder how many members in Stephen's family were affected by Paul's vicious conduct. A deacon like Stephen is a "family man of one wife and children." He must have ruled his household in an exemplary manner in order to qualify as a deacon, and so on. So it is obvious that Paul left MANY orphan children in his killing rampage. Hopefully Stephen's widow was not too young. Paul has some words of instruction for the MANY widows that he left behind in his ignorance, too. He is not teaching any reparation here, either. Only "saving" grace.
1 Timthy 3:12 (NIV) A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
1 Timothy 5:11 (NIV) As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.
12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.
13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
Paul is saying that whatever he did in his Pharisee days that he thought to be worth anything now it is cow manure to him. So is probably any credit that Paul scored in doing Stephen's death and the MANY other righteous people that he dragged to prison for punishment and death. There is not one single statement in the NT saying that Paul is SORRY or that he has any remorse for having done any of that. I wish to see one single statement of remorse. Paul is simply making statements that whatever he did before was bull's manure. If I may paraphrase Paul he is simply saying that in the past he did a lot of killing activity, but now he is a hand picked man for this "labor of love." So Paul lets bygones be bygones, no sense in crying over spilled milk, amazing grace how sweet it sounds, and so on. So let's pretend that there was no "holocaust."
Phillipians 3:8 (KJV) Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] DUNG, that I may win Christ. --- NOTE: The words in brackets are not in the mss!
It all goes well with Paul's idea of grace. Hey, but this is not the standard that Paul is imposing on others.
1 Timothy 3:7 (NIV) He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
All these rules didn’t exist before Paul put together Christianity. He actually made up all these rules himself.
Galatians 1:18 (NIV) Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19 I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.
Paul's reputation is not too flattering, except when Paul sets the record straight for himself. Good thing that he is telling us that he is not lying so we can believe him. Anyway, who said that Paul was forgiven? Did I missed Judgment Day? According to HaTorah, the ONLY way to make atonement for the shedding of innocent blood is by shedding the blood of the murderer. Paul doesn’t make any comment about it in relation to his own testimony. If the Nuremberg trials were conducted according to the Christian standard set by Paul no Nazi would be found guilty of killing any Jew because they all claimed to have done it in ignorance following orders. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Numbers 35:33 * "`Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
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