The law of Moses" included three separate groups of laws, composed by different hands at different dates and enlarged since. Exodus 20-23 went back, in part, to customary law under the pre-exilic kings; Deuteronomy to the authors of the book of the law c. 720-620, which had also been expanded since; Leviticus 11ff. to the priestly authors during the sixth century BC. There were serious gaps, obscurities and contradictions in this law, which was never one person's code so much as the amalgamation of disparate earlier writings."
     - Robin Lane Fox, The Unauthorized Version

Moses legislated concerning the sacrificing of animals.

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge you conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
     - Hebrews 9:13-14

"The doctrine of vicarious atonement is...foreign to it [Mosaic Law]: a symbolic scapegoat might carry the sins of the people away into the wilderness, but no individual could or should cleanse another person of guilt by allowing himself to be punished instead. On this point the Mosaic tradition emphatically differs from the Christian. But it should be remembered that the Mosaic code includes the command to 'love thy neighbor as thyself' and to assist the widow, the fatherless and the stranger. Moses would not have put it this way, but the Mosaic view was that love should co-exist with justice but not corrupt it."
     - David Daiches, Moses - Man in the Wilderness

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all..."
     - James 2:10

"It is abundantly clear from this that James and his followers in the Jerusalem movement saw no contradiction between being a member of their movement and being a fully observant Jew; on the contrary, they expected their members to be especially observant and to set an example in this respect. The corollary of this is that they did not regard themselves as belonging to a new religion, but as being Jews in every respect; their belief that the Messiah had come did not in any way lessen their respect for Judaism or lessen their fellowship with other Jews, even those who did not share their Messianic belief."
     - Hyam Maccoby." The Mythmaker"

"They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee."
     - Paul quoted in Acts 26:5

"The Pentateuch states that all are equal, that no person may oppress or exploit another, that all have the right to be free and be independent masters of their own fate. Jewish Christians believed in the laws of the Pentateuch and struggled for the application of these laws in daily life, struggling against an oppressive establishment which argued against and did not keep the social laws.
"Paul preached against material independence, against social security, against freedom from oppression and exploitation. What he preached was the political ideology of an oppressive establishment."
     - Manfred Davidmann, "Origin of Christianity and Judaism"

"All authority comes from God, so that rulers (those who are in a position of authority) have been appointed by God. Hence let every person submit to those who rule. It follows that whoever resists the rulers resists whom God has appointed and those who resist rulers will be punished, for rulers do not terrorise those whose conduct is 'good', but those whose conduct is 'evil'.
Pay all those in authority what they demand, taxes, revenues, respect, honour."
     - Romans 1-3, 7

"This brought him [Paul] into conflict with Jewish Christians and with the mostly Jewish Christian communities and he was unsuccessful in changing their beliefs and practices. He then concentrated on gaining converts from gentiles (people who are not Jewish) who presumably knew nothing or little about the laws of the Pentateuch and who would thus be more likely to follow his teachings without arguing about its content."
     - Manfred Davidmann, "Origin of Christianity and Judaism"

(2) Discharged from the Law

"So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith."
     - Galatians 3:24

"...Paul had a high regard for the Law. However, he realized (through God's teaching) that the law was only the means of pointing people to the Savior who cleanses us from sin and serves as our atonement. In The Old Testament it was the same...the law revealed sin and the blood sacrifices were to 'cover' those sins."
     - J. Carlton

"For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."
     - Romans 3:20

"I would never have known the sin in my heart - the evil desires that are hidden there -if the law had not said, 'You must not have evil desires in your hear'. But sin used this law against evil desires by reminding me that such desires are wrong and arousing all kinds of forbidden desires within me! Only if there were no laws to break would there be no sinning."
     - Romans 7:7-8 (Living Bible)

According to Paul, Christ's law is contrasted with Mosaic Law:

"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?"
     - 2 Corinthians 3:6-8

"[Rosemary] Ruether (1974) argues that Paul, under gnostic influence, conceived of the Torah as a means of demonic rulership over the fleshly man of the dying age, whereas freedom from the Torah signifies freedom from the evil powers for the spiritual man of the coming age. Thus Judaism, or the Israel of flesh, is superseded by Christianity, the Israel of spirit. Although Paul speaks warmly of the Jews, whose covenant remains intact, and of the Torah as 'holy, just and good' (Rom. 7:12), he nevertheless focuses, in chapters 9-11, on the fact of Jewish disbelief."
     - Paul Harvey

"While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit."
     - Paul in Romans 7:5-6

(3) An Apostle to the Gentiles

After fleeing Egypt to the Promised Land, the "chosen people" maintained their distinct identity by calling themselves as Israelites in contradistinction to stateless people of similar ethnic origin referred to as the "Hapiru"by the Egyptians.

Whereas the religion of the first temple built by Solomon has been termed Israelite, "the religion of the second temple should be termed Judean religion, just as the people who practiced this religion (even outside Judea) were known as Judeans [ ioudaioV]."
     - The Compete Gospels, Robert J. Miller, Editor (1994), p. 195

"In a first century context people of Hebraic lineage maintained a clear distinction in their mind between 'Israel' and ioudaioi. So Paul, without any contradiction, can maintain that God's eternally chosen people is Israel (Rom 11:1,25) while arguing that Christ destroyed the ethno-religious distinction between ioudaioi and Greeks. Even the Qumran covenanters living in the Judean wilderness and recruiting their membership from Judean households regarded themselves the remnant of Israel rather than Judah; hence, the author of the Zadokite document could maintain: 'At the end of the age...there shall be no more attachment to the house of Judah' (CD 4.11)."
     - Mahlon H. Smith (Orion)

This "analysis is reinforced by the fact that during his revolt Bar Kokhba's title was 'Nesi Yisrael', and that the coins that Rome minted after the suppression of the 66 - 70 CE revolt bore the legend 'Iudaea Capta'. In addition of course, the fact that Jesus is referred to as a Galilaean does not exclude him from membership in the people of Israel, although he might not be one of the Judaeans."
     - Lewis Reich (Orion)

"And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."
     - Isaiah 49:6

"Salvation and 'the kingdom' was being presented only to the Jewish nation initially. Christ even warned his disciples to go only to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel'."
     - J. Carlton

"These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'"
     - Matthew 10:5-6

This particular admonition is found only in Matthew which scholars believe was written exclusively for Jewish audiences. A number of other sayings mostly unique to Matthew talk of spreading the Gospels only to Jews and reveal an anti-Gentile (pagan) bias:

"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel....It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
     - Matthew 15:24, 26

"And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"
     - Matthew 5:47

"...And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."
     - Matthew 18:17b

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."
     - Matthew 6:7

"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." [criticizing anxiety about clothes and food]
     - Matthew 6:32; (Luke 12:30a)

"Some scholars argue that Jesus confined his work to Judeans, with the consequence that the mission to the gentiles is to be understood as a Christian overlay...A restricted mission [however] was not characteristic of Jesus (he apparently had considerable contact with gentiles and went into foreign territory on occasion) but reflects the point of view of a Judaizing branch of the movement."
     - Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels

"NOW it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fadus's government."
     - Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk XX, Ch V, Sn 1

"...Prior to Paul's appearance on the Christian Jewish scene, we see the name of Theudas who had claimed to be a messiah. History tells us that this Theudas was killed approximately the year 46 C.E."
     - Miryam Nathan, "Acts, the Jews and the Torah"

It was also during this period that the sons of the original Zealot leader, Judas of Galilee, were slain.

"Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus; he was the son of Alexander the alabarch of Alexandria...Under these procurators that great famine happened in Judea, in which queen Helena bought corn in Egypt at a great expense, and distributed it to those that were in want, as I have related already. And besides this, the sons of Judas of Galilee were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the Jews...The names of those sons were James [Jacob] and Simon, whom Alexander commanded to be crucified."
     - Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk XX, Ch V, Sn 2

"If we assume that Christianity began in the year 33 C.E., then we can conclude that prior to the entrance of Paul, post-crucifixion Christianity was in existence for some 13 years. Paul fills in the rest, in the book of Galatians. Galatians 1:18 indicates that the time between Paul's calling and his first visit to Peter (Cephas) was 3 years. He did not see any of the other apostles at that time except James, the brother of Jesus."
     - Miryam Nathan, "Acts, the Jews and the Torah"

"But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother."
     - Galatians 1: 15-19

"This gentile mission actually began in the synagogues of the Jews who were dispersed across the Mediterranean by both the accidents of war and the search for economic opportunity. It created conflict almost instantly because the ones who responded to Paul's preaching tended to be first the gentile proselytes, who lived on the edges of the synagogues, and secondly those Jewish members of the synagogue community who had become weary of the burden of Jewish cultic practices that impeded their abilities to live in their gentile world profitably and comfortably. So the primary effect of the gentile mission of Jews like Paul and other was to siphon off from the synagogues both the pool of potential gentile converts to Judaism and the more liberal elements of their own Jewish community."
     - John Shelby Spong, Liberating the Gospels, p. 48

The Law, Paul wrote, was a stumbling block for Jews to have faith in the Holy Spirit.

"What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall; and he who believes in him will not be put to shame."
     - Romans 9:30-33

Paul was deliberately provocative towards the Jews - in order to "save some of them".

"Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, 'I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.' Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.' But of Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people'.
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them."
     - Romans 10:19-21, 11:13-14

After increasing hostility from Jewish authorities in Asia Minor, Paul and Barnabus concentrated on converting Gentiles.

"Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth."
     - Acts 13:46-47

Controversy Within the Movement

"Conceptions of the messianic orientation of the Jerusalem church based on the foundational revelation of Jesus' resurrection, as well as conceptions of the role, authority and positions of its leading members are likely to reflect the internal disputes and competing claims for legitimation of individuals and communities engaged in a mission to Gentiles beginning in the late forties and the decade of the fifties....This view of a foundational revelation to the leaders of the community in Jerusalem ascribing to them a superior authority and status may turn out to be in large part a diaspora version of beginnings in the homeland designed to support a mission to Gentiles among different factions of Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Hellenistic cities of the diaspora."
     - Merrill Miller, "Beginning From Jerusalem..."

"Now, while Peter was in Rome, a highly successful work among Gentiles was developing in Antioch, which had begun with the witness of some 'men of Cyprus and Cyrene', and had resulted in 'a great number' believing. Barnabas, himself a Cypriot, was sent down from Jerusalem , and he in turn sought the help of Saul, then at Tarsus (Acts 11:19-30). The development of Gentile work created enormous tensions between Jerusalem and Antioch, and these may well have been the cause of Peter's leaving Rome. Agrippa was dead, and with the church involved in the greatest crisis of its history, the chief of the apostles may have seen it as his duty to leave his own important work in order to tackle the situation. In any case we find Peter in Jerusalem in 46, when Saul and Barnabas brought the famine relief."
     - John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke (1991), p. 169

"Galatians 2:1 states that it was another 14 years before Paul went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and so we have a total of 17 years prior to the the meeting [with the apostles]. If we take the first 13 years as noted above, of pre-Pauline Christianity, and add the 17 years between Paul's vision and the Jerusalem Council meeting, we see that Christianity had a solid Jewish foundation of three decades -- thirty years -- before the question of admission of Gentiles was considered!"
     - Miryam Nathan, "Acts, the Jews and the Torah"

"Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage -- to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you."
     - Paul in Galatians 2:1-5

In his letter to the Galatians, "Paul speaks of Peter initially eating with, and therefore expressing sympathy towards, uncircumcised Gentiles, but then receiving a visit from 'certain friends of James' who ask him to abandon his pro-Gentile stance, which he dutifully agrees to 'for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision' (Galatians 2:12). Incensed at Peter's shameful volt-face, Paul tells us:"
     - Ian Wilson, Jesus, The Evidence

"When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch...I opposed him to his face, since he was manifestly in the wrong."
     - Galatians 2:11

"...Modern theological studies suggest that the New Testament's two letters of Peter, the second speaking unctuously and unconvincingly of 'our brother Paul...so dear to us' (2 Peter 3:15), were most likely forged in Peter's name by some pro-Pauline writer, and that other letters attributed to Paul, notably the Pastorals, were fabricated to create a false impression of harmony. Recent computer tests have clearly confirmed what theological scholars have long suspected, that whoever wrote Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus was not the person [indisputably Paul) who wrote Galatians, Romans and Corinthians."
     - Ian Wilson, Jesus, The Evidence

Because Paul refused to compromise, the apostles gave him the exclusive mission of converting gentiles while they would continue amongst the Jews.

"And when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised..."
     - Galatians 2:9

"In Gal. 2:9 NRSV, Paul describes James, Peter and John as 'acknowledged pillars'. The literal translation of the Greek is 'those who seem to be pillars'. But Paul was fully aware of their status. He was being sarcastic. The best translation I have come across is NEB which has 'those reputed pillars of our society'."
     - Ron Price (CrossTalk)

Still, while the gentiles need not be circumcised, they were expected observe the purity regulations governing the Jewish followers.

"But for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and form blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."
     - James quoted in Acts 21:25

(2) Faith vs Works

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewal in the Holy Spirit."
     - Community Rule 1QS 3.4-5

"We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified."
     - Galatians 2:15-16

"Paul developed "Abraham's 'Righteousness', being 'sons of God' through faith, and Jesus' being 'cursed by the Law' in Galatians 3-4. 'You keep special days and months and seasons and years', which he calls 'weak and beggarly' (Galatians 4:10-11)."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance."
     - Proverbs 28:10

"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
     - Paul in Romans 1:17

"If Righteousness is through the Law then Christ died for nothing."
     - Paul in Galatians 2:21

"His [James'] position on 'works counted' or 'reckoned as Righteousness' is made clear in the letter attributed to his name and the riposte it contains to the Pauline position on Abraham's faith in Romans and Galatians."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

The Letter of James was "written in Syria possibly around 100 C.E., it indicates the continuing importance of James of Jerusalem in terms of ethics and offices. It criticizes misinterpretations of Paul's teachings."
     - John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant (1991)

"What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled', without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead."
     - James 2:14-17

"...The letter in Jame's name in the New Testament...in responding to some adversary who believes that Abraham was justified only by faith, states that by making himself 'a friend of man', this adversary has turned himself into 'the Enemy of God'."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,', and He was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."
     - James 2:20-24

(3) The Tongue is on Fire

"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
     - 1 Corinthians 9: 20-25

James castigates "the 'Man of Emptiness' as not knowing 'that a man was justified by works' and 'faith without works is dead'. The actual language in James 3:5-9 is extensive and substantial, but its gist is: 'The Tongue is a wicked world all to itself'. No one can control the Tongue'; that is, it spouts..."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature [or wheel of birth], and is itself set on fire by hell [Gehenna]. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God."
     - James 3:5-9

"There is the particularly noteworthy stress on 'Lying', a theme one finds across the spectrum of Qumran literature, in particular where the opponents of the community or movement responsible for these writings are concerned."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"[Blessed is he who walks] with a pure heart and who doesn't slander with his Tongue. Blessed are they who hold fast to her Laws and do not hold to the ways of Evil. Bless[ed] are they who rejoice in her and do not overflow with the ways of folly. Blessed are they who ask for her with clean hands and do not seek her with a deceitful [heart]. Blessed is the man who grasps hold of Wisdom and walks in the Torah of the Most High and directs his heart to her Ways and restrains himself with her disciplines and always accepts her chastisements and doesn't cast her off in the misery of [his] affliction[s] nor forsake her in a time of trouble, nor forget her in [days of ter]ror, and in the Meekness of his soul, doesn't despise her..."
"...Guard against the stumbling block of the Tongue...lest you be convicted by your lips..."
     - Beatitudes 4Q525 Frag. 2 2.1-6, Frag. 14 2.26-27

"In texts such as these ma'as [meaning to 'reject' or 'deny'] is always used to portray the activities of the ideological adversary of the Righteous Teacher, the 'Liar'/'Spouter' who 'rejects the Law in the midst of the whole congregation' or the parallel activities of those archetypical 'sons/servants of Darkness' who do likewise."
The Damascus Document condemns those 'who enter the New Covenant in the land of Damascus, and who again betray it and depart. Shortly thereafter, the document speaks of those 'who deserted to the Liar'."
"As delineated in some of the pesharim, these last ['sons of Belial' or 'sons of Darkness'] together with 'the Liar' are responsible for the destruction of the Righteous Teacher."
Correspondingly, Paul characterizes "the Hebrew 'archapostles' - presumably including James - as disguising themselves as 'Servants of Righteousness' and 'apostles of Christ', when in fact they are 'dishonest workmen and counterfeit apostles'."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles."
"And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about. For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. "
     - 2 Corinthians 11:4-5 and 11-12

"Emphasizing 'Truth' and at the same time parodying the position of everyman according to his works...he [Paul] revealingly insists, 'he does not lie', thus demonstrating his awareness of the currency of these kinds of accusations at this time.."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"But whatever anyone dares to boast of - I am speaking as a fool - I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman - I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death."
"The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not."
     - 2 Corinthians 10:22-23 and 11-31

Judgment at Pentecost

"And certain persons, having come down from Judaea, taught the brethren, If ye shall not have been circumcised according to the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved. A commotion therefore having taken place, and no small discussion on the part of Paul and Barnabas against them, they arranged that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others from amongst them, should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. They therefore, having been set on their way by the assembly, passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, relating the conversion of [those of] the nations. And they caused great joy to all the brethren."
"And being arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly, and the apostles, and the elders, and related all that God had wrought with them. And some of those who were of the sect of the Pharisees, who believed, rose up from among [them], saying that they ought to circumcise them and enjoin them to keep the law of Moses."
     - Acts 15:1-5 (English Darby Bible)

"The last column of the Damascus Document tells of "a convocation of those who 'dwell in camps' on 'the third month' - in Judaism, Shabu'ot 'the Feast of Weeks'; in Christianity, Pentecost. The purpose of the convocation would appear not to be to celebrate the revelation and descent of the Holy Spirit, and by implication the abolition of the Law in favor of more Pauline, Gentile-oriented doctrines and devices as in Acts 2:1ff. It is rather to curse all those who depart in any manner from the Law or 'the Torah of Moses'."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"And 'boundary markers were laid down for us.' Those who cross over them, you curse. We, (however), are Your redeemed and 'the sheep of Your pasture'. You curse their transgressors while we uphold (the law)'.
     - An Excommunication Text 4Q266 Frag. 18 5.12-14

(The Excommunication Text is part of the exhortation and set of rules known as the Damascus Document.)

"...Paul in Galatians 3:11-13...'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law' by becoming 'a curse' or 'cursed' (by the Law) himself. To explain or show how this could be, he cites Deuteronomy 21:3 to the effect that a man hung upon a tree is 'cursed'....Therefore, this Messiah has, by taking this 'curse' upon himself, redeemed Paul, and for him and Christianity following him, all mankind as well."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"For all those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law'. Now it is evident that on one is justified before God by the law; for 'The one who is righteous will live by faith'. But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, ' Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'. - in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
     - Galatians 3:10-14

(2) Ritual Purification

"Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry in order to make my own peoples jealous, and thus save some of them."
     - Romans 11:13-14

Peoples "is an expression used in the jargon of Roman law to refer to petty kingdoms in the eastern part of the Empire."
"...Paul in Romans 11:13 uses this key word 'peoples' to describe himself and the people to whom he is addressing his missions."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"As for every person who rejects these Judgments (which are) in keeping with all the Laws found in the Torah of Moses, he will not be reckoned among all the sons of His Truth, for his soul has rejected the Foundations of Righteousness. For rebellion, let him be expelled from the presence of the Many. The Priest commanding the many shall speak against him. He (the Priest) is to stand and say, 'Blessed are You, You are all, everything is in Your hand and (You are) the maker of everything, who established [the Peo]ples according to their families and their national languages. You 'made them to wander astray in a wilderness without a Way,' but You chose our fathers and to their seed gave the Laws of your Truth and the judgments of your Holiness, 'which man shall do and thereby live'."
     - An Excommunication Text 4Q266 Frag. 18 5.5-12

"The language parallels...increase the connections between the process of excommunication being referred to in this text and the subject of the 'Lying Spouter'/'Comedian' in other texts."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"[...before the Priest commanding] the Many, and he freely accepted his Judgment when He said by the hand of Moses regar[ding] the person who sins inadvertently, 'let such a one bring [his] sin offering [or] his guilt offering.'
     - An Excommunication Text 4Q270 Frag. 11 1.116, 4Q266 Frag. 18 5.1-3

"And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law."
     - Acts 21:17-20 (English Darby Bible)

"It is worth noting that at the time of his final Pentecost visit to Jerusalem, James imposed a similar purification procedure on Paul in the Temple. Here, in the words of Acts 21:21-24, Paul was publicly to exhibit that he was 'still walking in the Way and keeping the Law'."
     - Robert Eisman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

"They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe he customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law."
     - Acts 21:21-24

When asked to purify himself for seven days - thereby demonstrating the unjustness of the allegations and his continued adherence to the Law - he readily consents to do so."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them."
     - Acts 21:26

Paul's Imprisonment and Escape

"According to the 'Habakkuk Commentary', the 'liar did not listen to the word received by the Teacher of Righteousness from the mouth of God'. Instead, he appealed to 'the unfaithful of the New Covenant in that they have not believed in the Covenant of God and have profaned His holy name'. The text states explicitly that 'the Liar...flouted the Law in the midst of their whole congregation'. He 'led many astray' and raised 'a congregation on deceit.' He himself is said to be 'pregnant with [works] of deceit.'"
"...Despite his exculpatory self-purification, Paul continues to inspire enmity in those 'zealous for the Law' - who, a few days later , attack him in the Temple."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"Then he who was expelled must leave, and whosoever eats with him or asks after the welfare of the man who was excommunicated or keeps company with him, that fact should be recorded by the Mebakker/Overseer according to established practice and his judgment will be completed."
     - An Excommunication Text 4Q266 Frag. 18 5.14-18

The Rescue of Paul 15th C. Relief

Felix and the Sicarii
Antonius Felix, one of Claudius' ex-slaves was procurator of Judaea at the time. When Nero became emperor in 54 C.E., Felix had "launched a campaign against the Zealots and their sympathizers. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were crucified or imprisoned."
     - Peter Connolly, Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth

"This Felix took Eleazar the arch-robber [rebel], and many that were with him, alive, when they had ravaged the country for twenty years together, and sent them to Rome; but as to the number of the robbers whom he caused to be crucified, and of those who were caught among them, and whom he brought to punishment, they were a multitude not to be enumerated."
     - Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, Bk II, Ch XIII, Sns 2-3

"Felix's campaign drove the Zealots underground, but the struggle was continued by the Sicarii."
     - Peter Connolly, Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth

The term "Sicarii" was used by Josephus when referring to the founding of the Zealots by Judas of Galilee. It is probable that the Sicarii constituted the more fanatical terrorist faction of the movement.

"When the country was purged of these, there sprang up another sort of robbers in Jerusalem, which were called Sicarii, who slew men in the day time, and in the midst of the city; this they did chiefly at the festivals, when they mingled themselves among the multitude, and concealed daggers under their garments, with which they stabbed those that were their enemies; and when any fell down dead, the murderers became a part of those that had indignation against them; by which means they appeared persons of such reputation, that they could by no means be discovered. The first man who was slain by them was Jonathan the high priest, after whose death many were slain every day, while the fear men were in of being so served was more afflicting than the calamity itself; and while every body expected death every hour, as men do in war, so men were obliged to look before them, and to take notice of their enemies at a great distance; nor, if their friends were coming to them, durst they trust them any longer; but, in the midst of their suspicions and guarding of themselves, they were slain. Such was the celerity of the plotters against them, and so cunning was their contrivance."
     - Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, Bk II, Ch XIII, Sns 2-3

"They were called the Sicarii because of the short curved daggers (sicae) which they carried under their garments. During festivals they mingled with the crowd and stabbed those who were suspected of Roman sympathies."
[Two decades later the Sicarii would make their last stand at Masada.]
"Naturally the rising tension produced a crop of Messiahs. Felix dealt with them in the usual Roman way by sending in the cavalry. The most famous of these Messiahs was an Egyptian Jew who led his followers on to the Mount of Olives claiming that God would throw down the walls of Jerusalem and hand over the city to him."
     - Peter Connolly, Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth

The Lynch Mob

"But there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews more mischief than the former; for he was a cheat, and pretended to be a prophet also, and got together thirty thousand men that were deluded by him; these he led round about from the wilderness to the mount which was called the Mount of Olives, and was ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that place; and if he could but once conquer the Roman garrison and the people, he intended to domineer over them by the assistance of those guards of his that were to break into the city with him. But Felix prevented his attempt, and met him with his Roman soldiers, while all the people assisted him in his attack upon them, insomuch that when it came to a battle, the Egyptian ran away, with a few others, while the greatest part of those that were with him were either destroyed or taken alive; but the rest of the multitude were dispersed every one to their own homes, and there concealed themselves."
     - Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, Bk II, Ch XIII, Sns 5

"Shortly after this Paul seems to have been involved in a riot on the temple platform and was arrested by the Roman garrison from the Antonia. The centurion in command thought Paul was the Egyptian."
     - Peter Connolly, Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth

"'Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins [Sicarii] out into the wilderness?'"
     - Acts 21:38

"According to the existing text, Paul, before the Romans can trundle him off, protests he is a Jew of Tarsus and asks permission to address the crowd who had just been trying to lynch him....Paul then expatiates on his Pharisaic training under Gamaliel (a famous teacher of the time), on his initial hostility towards the 'early Church', on his role in the death of Stephen, on his subsequent conversion....[This] provokes the crowd to new ire."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"Rid the earth of this man! He is no fit to live!
     - Acts 22:22

"This is the man who preaches to everyone everywhere...against the Law....This roused the whole city: people came running from all sides; they seized Paul and dragged him out of the Temple, and the gates were closed behind them. They would have killed him if a report had not reached the tribune of the cohort that there was rioting all over Jerusalem."
     - Acts 21:28-31

Rescue and Removal to Caesarea
"The cohort is called out - no fewer than six hundred men - and Paul, in the nick of time, is rescued, presumably to prevent civil upheaval on an even greater scale."
"Paul is arrested and put in chains - on the initial assumption, apparently, that this is a leader of the Sicarii, the Zealot terrorist cadre."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"I...The Romans carry Paul off to 'the fortress' - presumably the Antonia fortress, the Roman military and administrative headquarters....Torture, by Roman law, could not be exercised on any individual possessing full and official Roman citizenship - which Paul, having been born of a wealthy family in Tarsus, conveniently does. Invoking this immunity, he escapes torture, but remains incarcerated.
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

Josephus gives us an indication of just how volatile the political situation was at this time and just how dangerous it was for those thought to be Roman sympathizer:

"...For a company of deceivers and robbers got together, and persuaded the Jews to revolt, and exhorted them to assert their liberty, inflicting death on those that continued in obedience to the Roman government, and saying, that such as willingly chose slavery ought to be forced from such their desired inclinations; for they parted themselves into different bodies, and lay in wait up and down the country, and plundered the houses of the great men, and slew the men themselves, and set the villages on fire; and this till all Judea was filled with the effects of their madness. And thus the flame was every day more and more blown up, till it came to a direct war."
     - Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, Bk II, Ch XIII, Sns 5

Note that these tactics were identical to those used used by Judas of Galilee and the Sicarii in 4 B.C.E.

"In the meantime, a group of angry Jews, forty or more in number, meet in secret. They vow not to eat or drink until they have brought about Paul's death."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"If it is a matter deserving death, then they shall watch him and he shall not ever come back."
     - An Excommunication Text 4Q266 Frag. 18 4.1.8

"...The would-be assassins, according to Acts, are thwarted by the sudden and opportune appearance of Paul's hitherto unmentioned nephew, who somehow learns of their plot. This relative, of whom we know nothing more, informs both Paul and the Romans. That night, Paul is removed, for his own safety, from Jerusalem. He is removed with an escort of 470 troops - 200 infantry under the command of two centurions, 200 spearmen and 70 cavalry. He is taken to Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judaea, where he appears before the governor and Rome's puppet king, Agrippa.
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

There was even a major disturbance in Caesarea during this period as Jews and hellenized Syrian contested ownership of the city.

"And as Felix came once into the market-place, and commanded the Jews, when they had beaten the Syrians, to go their ways, and threatened them if they would not, and they would not obey him, he sent his soldiers out upon them, and slew a great many of them, upon which it fell out that what they had was plundered. And as the sedition still continued, he chose out the most eminent men on both sides as ambassadors to Nero, to argue about their several privileges."
     - Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, Bk II, Ch XIII, Sns 5

In the Hands of the Romans
"While in Caesarea [for two years], he [Paul] hobnobs in congenial and intimate fashion with the Roman procurator, Antonius Feliz...He is also intimate with the procurator's brother-in-law, Herod Agrippa II, and with the king's sister - later the mistress of Titus, the Roman commander who will destroy Jerusalem and eventually become emperor."
     - Baigent and Leigh, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception

"The Roman government complex where St. Paul was said to have been imprisoned for two years and later stood trial has been identified among the ruins of the Mediterranean port city of Caesarea..."
"Yosef Prat, in charge of excavations, said a Latin inscription found at the site offers compelling evidence that a large unidentified complex of buildings was the Praetorium - the seat of Roman government. It includes a palace, luxurious bath-house and large courtyards. Archaeologists also found a room with a mosaic bearing the words: 'ADIVIORIB OFFICI CUSTODIAR.' One Israeli scholar read this to mean: 'I came to this office - I shall be secure.'
"Porat said it shows the room was part of a government administrative complex, and it may have dealt with 'internal security'."
     - The Daily Telegraph, September 12, 1997

"In 60 C.E., when incoming procurator Festus indicated that he was willing to hand Paul over to the Sanhedrin for trial, Paul declared himself a Roman citizen and demanded trial before Nero."
"That Paul was not born a Roman citizen is certain. Most likely he was granted denization papers about 48 CE by Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, whom Paul converted to Christianity and whose name he thereafter adopted (Acts 13:6-12). Paul's prudence in concealing his Roman status for a decade was confirmed by the consequences of his enforced revelation. Jacob [James] had barely tolerated Paul to begin with. At the news that Paul had accepted citizenship from the hated occupying power, Jacob in effect excommunicated him. Envoys were sent from Jerusalem to convert all of Paul's Christian communities to Nazirite Judaism. All cooperation between the Nazirites and Paul's gentile followers ceased, and the way was open for a Christian (John Markos was a Nazirite) to write the Gospel of Mark (as it was later called), which all but repudiated Jesus' Jewishness."
     - William Harwood, Mythologies Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus

"We have little information about the rest of his [Paul's] life, but it is certain that later on he suffered martyrdom in Rome itself, the sentence being carried out by beheading in view of his citizen status.
     - Luigi Pareti, The Ancient World

Despite doctrinal differences within the early church, both Gentiles and Jews suffered persecution and shared the same expectation - that a heavenly host led by the Messiah would wreak vengeance on their enemies.

"This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering-- since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."
     - 2 Thessalonians: 5-10