Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

Consider this:

Acts: 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Acts 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

If this had happened in our local community today, would Saul be labeled a terrorist?

A thought to ponder.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

:lol amen. Funny how God uses the last people one might expect to further the kingdom. Christ chose Judas, for a reason, for example. Saul is just another in a long line of choices that make little sense to us, possibly starting with the first Saul.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

I believe that Paul was a part of the temple security, those devout Jews that helped keep the temple safe.

He obviously was a high up in the temple hierarchy because of the authority given him was given to him for a reason. He had earned it, he had made his bones.

Paul was an extremist, even by the most conservative of estimation.

Paul most likely had had some dealing with Jesus for two reasons.

1. Jesus asked him on the road to Damascus if it was getting hard for him to kick against the pricks. This speaks of a continuous dealing with from God.

2. Paul quotes Jesus in ACTS 20 35. The problem is that this is recorded by no other gospel writer. Paul possibly heard this from Jesus with his own ears while following Jesus with some of the other pharisees.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

One man's terrorist is another man's civil servant.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

:lol yup

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

So you think Saul was acting on the orders of the higher temple authority to do what he was doing, and considered it part of his job?

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

True. Paul certainly terrorized the church, which was why Ananias was afraid to let him come to his house, until the Lord changed his mind.

I think that this question prompts a bigger discussion, in that we must be led by the Spirit in all that we do, and how to be sensitive to what the Lord might be trying to do in the midst of an evil and dangerous situation.

Consider this scenario today. An armed and dangerous terrorist is in your town pulling people who are Christians out of their homes, and wreaking havoc wherever he goes. If he came to your door, what would you do? Invite him in for coffee and prayer? Or meet him weapon to weapon?

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

Or flee?

Fleeing was what Christians chose in that scenario, and that was how the gospel was spread.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

Saul was an authorized agent of the state, of the Temple in fact. A lone madman is a different story, I think.

A lone nut going around killing people wouldn't last long in my neighborhood regardless of what I chose to do. ;)

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

That's true. Saul did have the backing of the Pharisees for doing this. That is most likely why people chose to flee instead of fighting back.

A lone madman wouldn't last long in our neck of the woods either...

But generally you see these kind of people showing up at places where guns aren't carried, so the likelihood of them coming to a neighborhood such as ours or yours is not too high.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

The sad truth is that our society generates psychopaths; but they rarely go out in blazes of glory. They are much more likely to smile in your face. While one might think mayhem is on the rise, long-term violent crime is way down; which is likely a good reason to pump up the ratings on it.

People die. Lots more people than in CA died in lots more heinous ways yesterday--they just weren't as marketable. All of these threads about death and destruction don't reflect reality, so much as marketing. Gun sales are at new highs. Christian Heroes are meeting for pre-service security briefings at church. :lol yikes

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

Soon the pre-service security heroes will conduct active shooter exercises. :D

About 5 years ago in my former workplace we had training for active shooter in premises.
Once every six months, our safety trainer went thru the offices and shooting people with a toy gun, anyone who did not took cover was counted as a casualty.
He always managed to shoot the security guards first. :D

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

i see satan laughing with delight at those who call themselves "Christian" while their minds are consumed with such things.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

I think of the missionaries around the world who have gone into difficult places to share the gospel. I doubt you would read of great revivals if they carried guns to kill the people they were trying to reach with the gospel.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

True, but they went abroad, willing to suffer consequences, as they felt a specific call to do so.

It is a different story with day to day living in our world, here.

Remember what happened to the pastors' (pregnant)wife a couple of weeks ago?

He went to the gym, then came home to find his wife dead.

He trusted God so much, that he failed to lock the front door?

We are living in a real world of wickedness, and it is getting more depraved, contrary to what the preterists are telling us.:nod

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

I wonder if all of these "supersaints" that want Christians to disarm and trust God, lock their doors or believe in doctors, police, military, etc.?

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

personally i reject all of those, but i know that i'm kind of extreme. However, i also reject this fear of death thing, and suggest the pastor's wife is in a better place now. Yes, he has suffered a terrible personal loss, but you suggest that somehow God was abrogated here? Iow her life was not in God's hands? She should have had more fear for her life? Please, tell us then, how could she have added one minute to her life?

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

please. you introduce a division here--"preterists"--that has no bearing on the subject. Or at least you have not shown it. Also, you repeat that "things were better yesterday than they are today," which Scripture rejects. You want evil, move back to the Dark Ages. 100 years ago, it was considered acceptable to torture a bull to death to "tenderize the meat." There is no statistic you can quote that suggests evil is increasing--nevermind the fact that it denies Scripture.
This is fear-mongering.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

[QUOTE=shazeep;1409348]personally i reject all of those, but i know that i'm kind of extreme. However, i also reject this fear of death thing, and suggest the pastor's wife is in a better place now. Yes, he has suffered a terrible personal loss, but you suggest that somehow God was abrogated here? Iow her life was not in God's hands? She should have had more fear for her life? Please, tell us then, how could she have added one minute to her life?[/QUOTE]



The man locking the door.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/pa...rt-doc-150836/

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

Rather.....reality mongering.:nod

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

What you chose to answer in each post is telling, imo. You took the easy way out, twice. By all means, judge by what you see, then, and disregard Scripture when it suits you.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

i mean, pardon me, but aren't you essentially advising me to fear evil?

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

In the old west there were plenty of preachers who carried guns.
There are even pictures of preachers with rifles.
apparently they had no problem preaching while having a rifle in their wagon.

Re: Was the Apostle Paul a former terrorist?
 

THE WRATH OF GOD (1972)
Cast
Robert Mitchum as Van Horne
Frank Langella as De la Plata
Rita Hayworth as Senora de la Plata
John Colicos as Col. Santilla
Victor Buono as Jennings
Paula Pritchett as Chela
Directed by
Ralph Nelson
From a screenplay by
Nelson
Music by
Lalo Schifrin
Photographed by
Alex Phillips Jr
Based on the book by
James Graham
Western

111 minutes

| Roger Ebert
September 18, 1972 |
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There's a scene in a 1968 movie called "Five Card Stud" where Robert Mitchum plays a preacher with a gun hidden in his Bible. Dean Martin, who is the local terrorist, notices that Mitch has the Bible upside down. "If that IS a Bible," he says, "read it. If that ain't a Bible, drop it."


WATCH NOW

Well, you can't win 'em all. But you can come better prepared the next time, which is what Mitchum does in "The Wrath of God." This time, he's a priest with a gun concealed inside his Bible. And when the bad guys make him drop the Bible, he falls back on his reserves: a switchblade in his cross. He is no ordinary priest.



LOL