9/2/26:
Looks like I've hit something, but hard to say what it IS. Anyway, I wrote a little about religion on this blog. Here's a little more.
For the last several months, or perhaps longer, I've watched a few religious oriented movies on Tubi. There is also something that I discovered on Amazon Prime, called blank-out (forgot it , drat it). Discovering the Apostle Paul, I think it was.
Firstly, about the Video series:
Link to the
Discovering Apostle Paul documentary series:
Now, here's an AI generated post on the Apostle Paul:
The Apostle Paul
There was a 1986 TeeVee series on the Apostle Paul shown on Amazon Prime video. So, once again, I get the idea of asking AI. This time, I used the Brave AI, which is Free, as opposed to the GAB AI, which I pay a small monthly fee to access.
Question for Brave AI:
Discuss for me please, the historical and religious figure of the Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus
Answer
Paul the Apostle, originally known as **Saul of Tarsus**, was a pivotal first-century Christian missionary and theologian who transformed Christianity from a Jewish sect into a global faith. Born around **5–10 CE** in **Tarsus, Cilicia** (modern-day Turkey), he was a **Roman citizen** and a devout **Pharisee** trained under the rabbi **Gamaliel** in Jerusalem. Initially a fierce **persecutor** of early Christians, believing the new movement threatened Jewish law, his life changed radically during a visionary encounter with the risen **Jesus** on the road to **Damascus**. This conversion led to his blindness, healing by **Ananias**, and his commissioning as the **Apostle to the Gentiles**.
Paul’s missionary journeys across the **Roman Empire** established key Christian communities in cities such as **Philippi**, **Corinth**, and **Ephesus**. He argued that **Gentile** converts did not need to adhere to strict **Jewish law** (such as circumcision), a stance solidified at the **Jerusalem Council**. This theological shift helped separate Christianity from Judaism and emphasized salvation by **grace through faith**. His **13 epistles** in the New Testament form a significant portion of Christian scripture, addressing core doctrines like justification, the resurrection, and the nature of the **Church** as the body of Christ.
Paul’s legacy extends beyond theology; he is often regarded as the most influential figure in Christianity after **Jesus** himself. His strategic use of **Roman citizenship** to appeal to **Caesar** allowed him to spread the gospel widely and protect his mission. Blending **Greco-Roman rhetoric** with **Jewish scriptural exegesis**, Paul’s writings laid the intellectual foundations for Christian doctrine and influenced Western philosophy and human rights concepts. He is traditionally believed to have been martyred in **Rome** around **64–67 CE**.
Question: Elaborate
Answer:
## The Man Before the Road
Saul of Tarsus was born into a privileged, bilingual world. Tarsus, in modern-day southern Turkey, was a major Greco-Roman intellectual center — a fact Paul himself references in Acts 21:39, where he reminds a Roman tribune that he is "a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed strictly according to our father's law." This dual identity — Roman citizen, Hellenistic-educated, and rigorously trained in Jewish Torah — would define his entire ministry. He was also a Pharisee of the sect of the Pharisees (Acts 26:5), meaning he belonged to the most law-observant and politically influential Jewish group of the era.
His occupation was tent-making (Acts 18:3), a modest trade that likely provided financial independence for his later travels. He was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, "keeping the garments of those who killed him" (Acts 7:58) — a detail that underscores how deeply embedded he was in the apparatus of persecution.
## The Conversion in Detail
The conversion narrative appears three times in Acts (chapters 9, 22, and 26), each with a different audience and emphasis. The core sequence:
- **The encounter:** As Saul traveled to Damascus (roughly 130 miles / 210 km northeast of Jerusalem, a six-day journey) with letters from the Sanhedrin authorizing him to arrest Christians, "a light from heaven flashed around him." He fell to the ground and heard the voice: *"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"* When he asked who was speaking, the reply was: *"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting"* (Acts 9:4–5).
- **The blindness:** Saul was struck blind. His companions, who heard the voice but saw no one, led him by the hand into Damascus.
- **The three days:** In Damascus, on a street called Straight, at the house of a man named Judas, Saul remained blind and fasted for three days — a period of profound spiritual crisis and reorientation.
- **Ananias:** A disciple named Ananias received a vision from Jesus instructing him to go to Saul. Ananias was initially terrified, knowing Saul's reputation. He laid hands on Saul, Saul's sight was restored, he was baptized, and he received the Holy Spirit.
- **The commission:** Jesus told Saul he was chosen "as a witness of what you have seen of me, and I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:15). This commissioning as the **Apostle to the Gentiles** was the single most consequential theological decision in early Christianity.
A scholarly nuance worth noting: some commentators (notably R.C. Lenski) argue that the *conversion* proper — the internal acceptance of the gospel — was completed in Damascus through Ananias's ministry, not on the road itself. The road was the moment of *conviction*; Damascus was the moment of *faith*.
## The Four Missionary Journeys
Paul traveled an estimated **10,000 miles** (16,000 km) by land and sea over roughly 14 years, moving through what is now Turkey, Greece, Syria, and Israel. His journeys are recorded in Acts chapters 13–28.
| Journey | Approx. Dates | Route | Key Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| **First** | c. 46–48 CE | Antioch → Cyprus → Pamphylia → Galatia (Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe) | Confrontation with the sorcerer Elymas in Paphos; conversion of the proconsul Sergius Paulus; Paul stoned and left for dead in Lystra |
| **Second** | c. 51–54 CE | Antioch → Galatia → Troas → Macedonia → Achaia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth) | The "Macedonian Call" vision at Troas; the first European convert, Lydia, in Philippi; Paul and Silas imprisoned and freed by earthquake; the famous **Areopagus sermon** in Athens; 18 months in Corinth |
| **Third** | c. 53–57 CE | Antioch → Galatia → Phrygia → Ephesus (3 years) → Macedonia → Achaia → Jerusalem | Three years of teaching at the school of Tyrannus in Ephesus; the riot of the silversmiths; final visit to Jerusalem |
| **Fourth** (implied) | c. 60–62 CE | Rome → Spain? | Alluded to in Philemon 22 and
2 Timothy 4:21; the destination "Spain" is speculative |
The **Jerusalem Council** (Acts 15, c. 49 CE) was a watershed: Paul and Barnabas presented the case that Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised or keep the Mosaic law. The council agreed, issuing a decree requiring only abstinence from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, and blood — a decision that effectively separated the Christian mission from Jewish legal obligation.
## Theology: The Architecture of Paul's Thought
Paul's 13 epistles (the earliest surviving Christian texts, written before any of the Gospels) develop a theological system of extraordinary density. The major pillars:
**Justification by Faith.** This is the backbone of Pauline theology, especially in Romans and Galatians. Paul argues that no one — Jew or Gentile — can be declared righteous before God by keeping the Mosaic law. "A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16). His proof text is Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham was justified by faith *four centuries before* the law was given at Sinai, so the law cannot be the basis of salvation. This doctrine would later become the central slogan of the Protestant Reformation (*sola fide*), though Paul's own context was a dispute with "Judaizers" who insisted Gentile converts must also be circumcised.
**Grace.** Closely tied to justification: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). Grace (*charis*) is unmerited divine favor — the radical claim that God's acceptance of sinners is not earned but freely given.
**The Church as the Body of Christ.** In 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, Paul develops the metaphor of the Church as a single body with many members, each with different functions but united in one Spirit. This was a revolutionary social vision in a world rigidly stratified by class, gender, and ethnicity: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
**The Resurrection.** In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the most extensive early treatment of the resurrection, calling it "the firstfruits" of a general resurrection to come. He even lists the order of appearances of the risen Jesus, making his letter a key historical source for the post-crucifixion events.
**The Law and the Spirit.** Paul does not simply discard the Torah. Rather, he argues the law served as a "tutor" or "guardian" (*paidagōgos*) leading people to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Spirit fulfills what the law could only point toward: the internal transformation of the heart.
## The Epistles: A Literary and Historical Corpus
The thirteen letters attributed to Paul (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon) were written between roughly 48 and 67 CE, making them the **oldest Christian documents in existence** — predating the earliest Gospels by at least a decade or two. Scholars generally agree that seven of these (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon) are authentically Pauline; the remaining six (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus) are debated, with many modern scholars classifying them as "Deutero-Pauline" — written by later followers in his name and style.
The letters were not originally composed as theology textbooks. They were **pastoral correspondence** — responses to specific crises in specific churches. The Galatians were being pressured to adopt circumcision; the Corinthians had factional disputes, sexual immorality, and confusion about resurrection; the Romans were a church Paul had not yet visited but wanted to prepare for his planned mission to Spain. This situational character gives the letters an immediacy and urgency that pure systematic theology rarely achieves.
## Suffering, Imprisonment, and Death
Paul's ministry was marked by relentless hardship. In 2 Corinthians 11:23–27, he gives a staggering résumé: "In labors more abundant, in beatings no less, in deaths often. Five times I received from the Jews the thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been adrift. On the road often, in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own people, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the wilderness, in danger at sea, in danger from false brothers."
He was imprisoned in Philippi (where the earthquake freed him and Silas), in Caesarea (where he was held for two years under Governor Festus), and in Rome (where he was under house arrest for two years, writing what are called the "Prison Epistles"). Tradition holds that he was executed by beheading in Rome under Nero, around 64–67 CE, likely during the persecution following the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE. His Roman citizenship would have spared him the crucifixion reserved for non-citizens, making beheading the method of execution.
## Legacy
Paul the Apostle is, by most scholarly and confessional accounts, the single most influential figure in Christianity after Jesus himself. His letters constitute roughly a third of the New Testament. His theological framework — justification by faith, grace, the universality of the gospel, the Church as a trans-ethnic body — shaped every subsequent Christian tradition, from the early Church Fathers through the Reformation to modern evangelicalism. His method of using Roman infrastructure (roads, ports, legal rights) to spread a religious message across the Mediterranean was, in a sense, the first act of global religious communication. And his personal trajectory — from the church's most zealous enemy to its most zealous apostle — remains the paradigmatic narrative of conversion in Western culture, so much so that a "Damascus moment" is now a common idiom for any sudden, transformative change of mind.
9/1/26:
This is one of the most sympathetic posts that I've think I've ever written about anyone. However, I don't believe Barnhardt is any "Paula" Revere. This is absurd. She knocks the American Founding. She's no patriot. I definitely recall that she wrote that the American system has sunk to the bottom like the Titanic. Well, to me that is a bit premature.
She seems to be about one thing, the Catholic Church. I don't find any fault with that, although I'm no Catholic. Nor Jewish. Nor any organized religious denomination.
I DO believe that Jesus is Lord. I think the Lord is badly served.
This blog isn't about religion. I believe the Lord helps those who help themselves. That's a concept that seems alien to all too many people these days. There's way too many who'd rather listen to people who want to destroy us, as opposed to listening to people who want to help. Knowing who is true and who is false is an important thing to know. My "pearl of great price" is the truth. Take that as you will.
12/24/14: The original post follows:
Some of
this is very chilling. She fills in some blanks that I didn't know about.
For instance, she says she wasn't audited until she did her Koran burning video. In other words, it was a politically motivated audit that occurred
before she declared a tax strike.
Another chilling disclosure is that her books were clean, yet they still kept coming after her. She does say that they came after her
after she declared a tax strike. Even so, what's chilling about it is where is the basis for the IRS to continue to come after her if she has been financially ruined already? Is it not also politically motivated? How much money can she owe the IRS if she's already been ruined by their previous audit that found no tax liabilities were due?
She presents herself in such a way, if you find her credible enough, as a modern "Paula" Revere, who is warning us about the advancing oppression of a regime that will crush all opposition and all dissent. She is, again if you find her credible enough, as someone that the Rush Limbaughs out there pretend to be. She's taking it on the chin for you so that you can be forewarned, and can do all that you can to defend yourself against what's coming soon for YOU.
Personally, I think her tax strike was a mistake. Otherwise, she is quite credible to me. Even a tragic figure.
Think the Rush Limbaughs out there will take her story and push it to the front row and center? Not a chance. Rush pretends to be Paul Revere, but Paul Revere risked his neck for the cause of freedom. Rush won't risk his show, nor his millions for the sake of Ann Barnhardt, who is really doing the job that he pretends to do.
Note on update of 9/2/26: This video isn't available. Why not? I have no idea.
