Re: Paul, a Pharisee??
Helen Willis (hhiwater@mail.bright.net)
Fri, 14 Mar 1997 09:45:03 -0800
[JEF]
For more reasons to suspect that Paul was NOT a Jew and/or a Pharisee
I recommend reading "The Myth-Maker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity"
by Hyam Maccoby (Harper & Row), 1986.
For one thing, what would a Pharisee be doing working as a hacket man
for the High Priest, a Sadducee?
For another, Damascus was an Arab republic so an order to arrest
Christians in Damascus from a Jewish High Priest (who actually had no
authority outside of Jerusalem) would be illegal and not recognized by the
Jews in Damascus let alone the Damascus civil authorities.
Maccoby also clearly shows how Paul's reasoning is more Gentile than
Jewish. Any comparison with Rabbinic writings clearly puts Paul to shame.
Helen:
The points about him working for the high priest is good. It would seem to be
a extension of the same problem that runs all the way through the gospels.
The Sanhedrin, which should have been presided over by Gamaliel, Pharisee,
grandson of Hillel, well documented outside of the NT as a good and
compassionate man, acts in the gospels as a rabid dog pack funtioning at the
bidding of the Sadducee high priest. It is not historically logical.
Helen Willis
hhiwater@bright.net