And although he
claimed to have had a vision on the road to Damascus, that
change his allegiances, many of the Jewish leaders never
accept his sincerity. Paul was not well respected nor trusted,
he did not communicate well, and he was difficult to
get along with.
Some of Paul's contemporary
antagonists claim that he had no Pharisaic training
or background; he was the son of a Gentile, who
converted to Judaism in Tarsus, came to Jerusalem
when an adult, and connected himself to the High
Priest. Upon failing to make any advances in
the established faith, he broke ties and conspired
to start a new religion.
This information is not considered to
be factual history by any historian. Rather, it is
second hand hearsay, basically "gossip". It
does, however, give us some valuable insight into
how others, at the time, felt about Paul.
In reality, we can tell from Paul's
writings that he DOES have a background in both the
law and Jewish traditions. It, however, is
equally apparent that those who copied and
translated his writings did not.
So when Paul refers to Israel (the
Ten Tribes) having their eyes blinded and rejecting
God, it was misunderstood as being Jews who's eyes
were blinded for not recognizing Yeshua as Messiah
and God. When Paul Says that a Gentile is not
required to be circumcised or in other ways adhere
to the law of Moses, (a position held by ANY Jew,
even today) it is misunderstood to mean that Jews
should not be circumcised or observe the Mosaic law.
Acts 21:20
...They glorified the Lord and
said to him, "You see, brother, how many
thousands of Jews there are which believe; and
they are all zealous of the law.