thread: 2006-09-08 : Picky-choosy religion, 3 views
On 2006-09-18, Sydney Freedberg wrote:
Ralph, you've obviously read a lot more about the life of Saint Paul than I have; I'm impressed and need to check out some of those books sometime.
On the "in defense of Saint Paul" note, though, let me emphasize the basic fact that, until Emperor Constantine (300 something AD) Christians not only lacked the power to persecute others, but were in fact frequently persecuted and driven underground themselves. Certainly Saul of Tarsus (Paul's name before conversion) was a kind of religious policeman for the corrupt Temple hierarchy, very much on the line of "disagree with me and I'll kill you"; equally certainly, he gave up that power when he converted, and went from being secret policeman to dissident.
I honestly can't think of any passage in the letters of Paul that advises persecution of non-Christians, which doesn't necessarily mean he was particularly tolerant, but which does make perfect sense given that he was writing practical advice to congregations around the Roman world (many of which he'd founded) at a time when none of those congregations had the power to persecute, and all of them risked persecution.
Now, of course, I may be forgetting a passage—references welcome! But I'd advise people, myself include to read (re-read) Paul: If you bear with the sometimes gleefully convoluted phrasing (Torah scholar + Hellenistic philosophy = brain hurty), there's a great deal of love and compassion there.
