Transcript Acts and Paul`s conversion

Book of Acts
“Gospel of the Holy Spirit”
• The Sanhedrin tried to stamp
out the Jesus Movement
– Saw the Followers of the Way as
dangerous to Judaism as they
knew it
– The Way challenged the
• Interpretation of Torah
– Jesus brought new interpretation
of Torah
– Interpretation of the prophets
» Jesus fulfills the prophecies
– They saw it as replacing over
1000 years of Jewish tradition
• The apostles were arrested by the Jewish authorities because
they strongly challenged Jewish tradition
• Were considered blasphemers
• Authorities did not want to be accused of killing Jesus
• Wanted to put Peter and others to death
Yet there was one Sanhedrin Member who
saw things differently:
• Rabbi Gamaliel, who
– urged the Sanhedrin
• not to stone Peter and the apostles
– argued
• There have been other movements
before
• They died out
• If this one is from God it will last
• Wait and see
• Thus Peter and the
Apostles were spared
• When it came to
Stephen, however,
– His words in the
synagogue of the
Freedmen (former
Jewish slaves) incensed
its followers
• They accused him of
– Blasphemy vs.Moses &
God
– Speaking vs. Temple &
Law
The Life of Stephen hdt.
And for all his effort, Stephen
Gets
stoned.
The first Christian martyr.
A persecuted
church
• Despite Gamaliel,
the Sanhedrin
remained wary of
and threatened by
the followers of Jesus
– Continued
arresting/persecu
ting the disciples
– some Christians
fled to Antioch,
Damascus and
other cities to
avoid persecution
in Jerusalem
• Paul was a Pharisee
• Was sent to Damascus to arrest
Christians
• From Tarsus
• Witnessed Stephen’s death with approval
– probably perceived Jesus’ crucifixion
as something scandalous.
• By persecuting the apostles, Paul was
probably familiar with the “basic views of
the Christian faith.”
• He started persecuting the new
movement in Jerusalem.
• As he states it, he was “violently
persecuting the church of God and was
trying to destroy it.”
• He was persecuting the church not
because he was part of the Roman
Empire but because of his “zeal for the
tradition of his ancestors.”
Saul comes to the
picture as a
Persecutor
Paul’s conversion reading
After the conversion
• The disciples do not trust Paul
• They think is he pretending to
be Christian to get to them
• Paul proves himself to the
disciples
• Preaches outside the temple
• Gets beaten for being a
Christian
• Paul finally meets the apostles.
• Most Jews did not accept Paul
or his message
• PAUL’S CLAIM TO APOSTLESHIP
READING
Paul’s Claim to Apostleship
• Paul is commissioned to
preach to the Gentiles
• Paul was chosen by God
among the apostles to fulfill
the proclamation
announced in the scriptures
and not being performed by
the other apostles
– which consists on saving all
people including the Gentiles.
The Conflict
•
•
Paul perceives a danger emerging from
the heart of Christianity, not from the
Gentiles who converted but from the
“circumcised,” the Jews who became
Christians.
The Way is divided into two groups:
1.
2.
•
•
Circumcised: Jews who converted to the
Way
Uncircumcised: Gentiles who converted to
the Way
As a result, the circumcised Christians
perceived Paul’s gospel as inferior
Paul understands that Jesus was “a
servant of the circumcised,” and that
Peter as well as the other apostles
have been commissioned to go to the
circumcised.
• Paul was well received by the
Gentiles, contrary to the Jews
who rejected him.
– This might be one reason
why Paul stayed with the
Gentiles.
• Paul is judged by the apostles
because he is the one allowing
the Gentiles to worship God
without converting to
Judaism, and without
observing the Jewish
traditions.