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Subject: Corpus-Paul
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- From: "Hyam Maccoby" <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk>
- To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Subject: Re: rights of extradition
- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 17:46:05 +0100
Both Jeffrey and Mark assume that Paul, having the
backing of the High Priest, also had the backing of the Sanhedrin. But
there is ample evidence, from NT alone, that the High Priest did not control the
Sanhedrin: he was outvoted at the trials of both Peter and Paul by a
Pharisee majority. Though the HP acted as chairman of the Sanhedrin, he
was much distrusted by the Pharisees because of his Sadducee affiliation, and on
occasions when the Pharisees had the majority (which was admittedly not always)
his proposals were always liable to be overruled.. On the present occasion
of Paul's mission to Damascus, we are told that he had the backing of the HP
(Acts 9:2), but the Sanhedrin is not mentioned.
There is also every reason to suppose that the Sanhedrin would not have supported Paul,s mission to persecute the Early Church. The alleged trial and condemnation of Jesus before the Sanhedrin in all probability, never took place. It is is omitted completely from the Fourth Gospel, and the acquittal of Peter, Jesus' chief disciple, indicates that Jesus himself would have been acquitted, if the HP had ever succeeded in bringing him before the Sanhedrin. The reason for the HP’s opposition to Jesus and to the EC was not
religious but political. As a Roman-appointed official, the HP opposed all
threats to the Roman Occupation, and Jesus' messianic claim constituted such a
threat (which is why Vespasian afterwards sought out and killed all
descendants of David , including relatives of Jesus, that could be found
(Eusebius, Hist. 3:12; see also Eusebius Hist. 3;19-20).
The Early Church was not regarded as a threat to Pharisee
Judaism. This is shown very plainly by Gamaliel's defence of Peter (Acts
5). There is interesting confirmation of this in the story of Paul’s
visit to Damascus. Having been converted to the EC, Paul was sheltered by
Ananias in Damascus. Ananias was an open supporter of the EC, yet he was a
devout observer of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews of that place
(Acts 22:12).. This shows quite conclusively that the EC was not regarded
as a breakaway movement, but as a legitimate faction within the accepted
framework of Judaism.
The conclusion is that when Paul was persecuting the EC, this was not
because he was at the time a zealous Pharisee (as he claimed later). By
this time (as I argue in THE MYTHMAKER) he had ceased to be a Pharisee and had
become a supporter of the High Priest’s political campaign against the
EC.
Hyam Maccoby
Hyam Maccoby
Research Professor Centre for Jewish Studies University of Leeds LS2 Direct lines: tel. +44 (0)113 268 1972 fax +44 (0)113 268 0041 e-mail: h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk
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-
rights of extradition,
Jeffrey B. Gibson, 09/10/2001
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- RE: rights of extradition, Richard Anderson, 09/10/2001
- Re: rights of extradition, Mark D. Nanos, 09/10/2001
- Re: rights of extradition, Hyam Maccoby, 09/11/2001
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