Acts 8:3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church;[a] entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.(A)
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- 8:3 Saul…was trying to destroy the church: like Stephen, Saul was able to perceive that the Christian movement contained the seeds of doctrinal divergence from Judaism. A pupil of Gamaliel, according to Acts 22:3, and totally dedicated to the law as the way of salvation (Gal 1:13–14), Saul accepted the task of crushing the Christian movement, at least insofar as it detracted from the importance of the temple and the law. His vehement opposition to Christianity reveals how difficult it was for a Jew of his time to accept a messianism that differed so greatly from the general expectation.
Acts 9:13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
13 But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones[a] in Jerusalem.(A)
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- 9:13 Your holy ones: literally, “your saints.”
Acts 22:4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.(A)
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1 Corinthians 15:9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 For I am the least[a] of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.(A)
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- 15:9–11 A persecutor may have appeared disqualified (ouk…hikanos) from apostleship, but in fact God’s grace has qualified him. Cf. the remarks in 2 Corinthians about his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16; 3:5) and his greater labors (2 Cor 11:23). These verses are parenthetical, but a nerve has been touched (the references to his abnormal birth and his activity as a persecutor may echo taunts from Paul’s opponents), and he is instinctively moved to self-defense.
Galatians 1:13-14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
13 [a]For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,(A) 14 and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions.(B)
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- 1:13–17 Along with Phil 3:4–11, which also moves from autobiography to its climax in a discussion on justification by faith (cf. Gal 2:15–21), this passage is Paul’s chief account of the change from his former way of life (Gal 1:13) to service as a Christian missionary (Gal 1:16); cf. Acts 9:1–22; 22:4–16; 26:9–18. Paul himself does not use the term “conversion” but stresses revelation (Gal 1:12, 16). In Gal 1:15 his language echoes the Old Testament prophetic call of Jeremiah. Unlike the account in Acts (cf. Acts 22:4–16), the calling of Paul here includes the mission to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles (Gal 1:16).
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.