If you really care about the truth, Paul went out seeking believers in Crist and had the authority to arrest them and put them in jail for one reason only, these believers were breaking the law, the real question should be, What law were they breaking? Everyone believes it had something to do with that person's belief, perhaps they just simply believed Jesus was the Messiah, remember this is a belief, Jesus Himself went about saying He was that Anointed One they were seeking, None of the Pharisee's had any authority to arrest Him and put Him in jail however they did try to stone Him for blasphemy, Jesus committed no offence or crime or sin that He could be put to death for, what Jesus was actually doing is no different from today in what we would call freedom of speech, NO ONE can be arrested or persecuted for their beliefs, it takes an act or acting on the belief that allows one to be put in jail, to the Jew back at that time in order to be put to death or imprisoned, an act had to have happened, either be caught in adultery or caught worshipping a false idol or caught or witnessed by others committing a murder, even at the time of Jesus trial there was no evidence of Him having ever committed a crime, He was sentenced to death to appease the people, the persecution Jesus suffered was NOT by the common man but religious zealots, no different from today. Early believers were NOT arrested and persecuted based on their beliefs that Jesus was the Messiah but on what they acted on that they believed Jesus had taught, Paul also wasn't looking for these believers in any city, he was scouring the land outside of the city where the believers took refuge or let's just say where they were hiding. Why were they hiding? They were hiding because they knew they were breaking the law, what law were they breaking? Now remember it was not just a man and a woman but a man and a woman that had a child or children, also these people were not a few, a few would pose no threat to the system, you got to also factor in what form of punishment they received after they were thrown into jail, a death sentence? Could have been if they were committing any of the sins that were punishable by death, adultery would have been one, murder another, I'm ruling out a man lying with a man or a animal or a relative or any other crime that would merit a death sentence but what I can't rule out is a child rebelling against his father, another scenario I can't rule out had to do with slaves and slaves running away from their masters simply because we all know what Jesus said about being slaves to man but I doubt a slave at that time would be the person as God told the Jews to treat them well, they really wouldn't have had a good reason for running away, the other scenario seems more likely where Jesus said He didn't come to bring peace but a sword and where this would take place, A father against son and so forth, In what way and for what reason? The reason is the Law of the Fathers and if you don't know this law your going to not understand what I'm about to say but I believe Jesus is responsible for what we call " Love marriages" as opposed to " Arranged marriages ", a young man and woman that the law wouldn't allow them to be married unless it was the will of the fathers which without a doubt if it pertained to a daughter the father could not only keep them apart but also fine the man if her father refused to give her to him, why would a father do that? No doubt he didn't see that man worthy of her but why? I think as any other fathers would think with a daughter what their first choice would be for their daughter and I can assure you it wouldn't be a poor man that the father doesn't see any potential in, it wouldn't matter to him how she felt about the man, it was his choice to make, period, NOW the crowds Jesus preached to outside of the city, who were they? there were thousands of them, both men and women, now based on age and who draws a crowd when they speak and who gathers to listen if it's not politically motivated that would have drawn the attention of the Pharisee's and other religious leaders or rulers, it would be safe to assume these people were not old people nor married people like fathers and mothers that had jobs to do, this generation had spare time like the youth of today that go to concerts or large gatherings in public schools, keep this in mind too which is one of the things the Savior would do that was to " Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children". This didn't happen in one day but has happened over time but not without it costing someone or others a lot of suffering when it began, just as one man suffered to free the slaves, Martin Luther King, and many others that believed in him suffered UNTIL that day came where they became free, now take this into consideration, Romeo and Juliet, then factor in this, LOVE, and the power of it, a love so great one would be willing to die for the other or even be put into jail for, I can easily see where a young man and woman that were in love but forbidden to be with each other running away and because of this law Paul had the authority to go out and find them and bring them back and put them in jail, my thought is how MANY of them were persecuted before the fathers had a change of heart and began to let the son and the daughter make the choice of whom they desired to marry instead of it being the will of the fathers, for years I have researched this trying to find the origins of where and how love marriages began, always coming to a dead end but originating somewhere in Europe, possibly among the gentile nations but more likely among the Jewish nation and spreading from there, although it's still not permitted for a Jew to marry a gentile by the Jew because of Moses law which by the way if at that time there were any Jews that had married a gentile, it wouldn't have been according to their law and would have been rejected regardless if the two were in love with each other, what I do know about the law and it's intentions, there's ONE law that overrules it and that is called the Law of Love but it has to be between a man and a single woman and not any of these forbidden sex acts the new testament calls fornication, adultery, rape, incest, same sex, animal sex or prostitution and whoredom spoken of by the prophets which you can't confuse just because they look the same, a prostitute and a whore are alike only in this way, they both have MORE than one lover, a man with a single woman where he is her only lover is NOT forbidden in the law, by law it didn't matter if the man was married or not if he had more than one lover, he just called her his concubine, that's a different issue no one seems to want to take up but she existed in Jesus time and before Him and after Him only the translators use the word " wife" for her which creates so much confusion, anyway just seen this video and like others just wanted to give others something else to think about

Totally amazing...just found the videos. I'm grateful for the manner of explanations that have helped me understand. ONLY GOD's grace that I found the lessons!!

Thank you very much for your kind words!

These videos are so so helpful!! I am so grateful, thank you very much!

Dr. Holmes! I am back in Greek this semester. Thank you for having these videos available!

Great! So glad to hear it!

Thank you for uploading this video. I am currently taking Greek and your lecture made more sense to me than what I learned in class. Thank you!

Does "eis" change the gender of "ton propheton"; I thought that the article indicates that it's masculine in the first declension?

Please share material

Nice video but aren't you mispronouncing "doxai?" You are saying Dohxa. Shouldn't it be pronounced dahxa? Since it's an omicron not an omega?

Thanks for your videos just found this channel and like the before you read.. series! Subscribed! Hope your having a great day!

Your charts are great and easy to comprehend

This video was extremely helpful. I'm in Summer Greek and I am struggling!

Thanks Dr. Chris. That was excellent

I believe that may have been one of the added reasons for persecuting the church but not the only. I don't remember where I read this but someone made the comment that in Paul's mind worshiping Jesus was a for of idolatry and Paul new that Israel was punished by God for their idolatry and was sent into captivity so Paul may have thought he was saving the Jews from that fate again. Just a thought.

thank you so much!

The English pronunciation is very heavy!

Thank you for your in depth review. It was very informative and I look forward other videos.

For the life of me, I can't understand why, for beginning students, they don't omit the smooth-breathing mark and let them deal with it later. It seems like needless complication where Greek's already complicated enough! And it bugs me when Greek teachers pronounce the accent on the wrong syllable; I mean, it's right there to see. My Greek instructor, who has a masters in the classics, does it all the time and I have to grit my teeth. My Greek Orthodox priest NEVER makes that mistake!

"Paul was a zealous Pharisee and held the Commandments past (sp) down by Moses as his source for living." This to me is an uncomplicated and accurate explanation of why Paul persecuted Christians of the Church. I'm unsure that he had the authority conferred upon him to persecute the Church as an entity but did, certainly persecute the Believers so much as to terrorize them. Not only did he view the conduct of the Believers as violators of Mosaic law, but their very well-received teachings also threatened the religion (graceless salvation by law-keeping) to which he was committed. Nuff said. END OF SAUL'S PERSECUTION Then upon meeting the risen Christ while traveling for persecution of those holding "false" religious views, he became convinced of a major change in God's administration of the world from Jews only via Mosaic law only (as taught in the gospels); FIRST to authentic Messiahship of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:20-23) then to Globel evangelism and salvation (I Cor. 9:22) and divine grace (I Corinthians 15:10) expressed by His new Lord Jesus by this Jesus' perfect life, death burial and resurrection. I Corinthians 15:1-4. John catches up on this in his 1st Epistle at 2:1-2.

Love the video. I am not Christian but delving into the Bible out of academic interest. I'll definitely watch more of your videos. Thanks

Friend, study mid acts dispensationalism.

Truth Revelation 12:14-17 The woman (the Bride of Christ) is “given two wings of a great eagle,” meaning she is safely taken into “her place,” where she will be protected for “a time, and times and half a time [3½ years], from the presence of the serpent” The serpent was in form of either her mother or her ex husband. She and Christ moved away for 3.5years no contact from them Even though Satan will spew “water out of his mouth like a flood,” to try to get at the woman, he will not be successful (verses 15-16). In this passage, the concept of a “flood” represents tears and heart break from them taking 2 children away from her causing her to fall in a big depression. They waged war against Christ and his Bride. Satan then goes to “make war with the rest of her [the woman’s] offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” They (The Brides mother, Ex & his family) deceived the 2 children and made them believe & think that their mother and Christ were evil. The 2 children believed them and continued to hurt them. Signs above and as below❤️

And what religion was he???? Before he persecuted the church??

This is complete and utter nonsense. Paul never persecuted Christians.

Really good video, just about to start Exodus!!!! Thankyou brother

Dr. Holmes thank your for sharing your insights for success in this course. I found them very useful in helping me organize my weekly calendar.

Your answer to "why Paul persecuted the church?", shows two things that you don't understand. One, he did not persecute the church because Jesus was hung on a tree. Paul was a zealous Pharisee, and held the Commandments past down by Moses as his source for living. The Jews could not fully comprehend the Scriptures that their Messiah was coming or how to recognize Him. This was the Power of God to hide their understanding of the Christ being prophesied in Scriptures. Secondly, Paul persecuted those who believed in Jesus.. They were an Assembly called out by the Word of Truth, and the Spirit was given to them to believe Jesus was the Christ. Paul did not elude to Jesus hanging on a tree as his reason to persecute the followers of Christ. Paul simply was ignorant of his actions following after his forefathers. Paul explains this very reason in his epistles as to "why Paul persecuted the followers of Jesus". 1 Tim 1:13, says, Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecuter, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. See also, Acts 23:6, Rom 11:1, 2 Cor 11:22, and Phil 3:5 -8.

Interesting video. I have not heard this theory before. What I would say, it is more likely that it has more to do with Deuteronomy 13, and Shaul believed that those of the Way, taught against the commands given through Moses, in which they were to stone them. This is the reason for the stoning of Stephen, but we know those who bore witness against him were baring false witness, lying about Stephen and those of the Way. Those same men lied about Shaul in the same way, saying he taught against obedience to Torah, in which Shaul said they were liars, and he said in Romans 3, those who say such things are deserving of their condemnation. A second point is what you said concerning Torah, the Messiah and righteousness. Torah, by definition, is righteous. It literally means that which is right according to God, and it should be pointed out that the Messiah IS the Torah made flesh. The Way, the Truth, the Life and the Light, are defining words of the Torah throughout Scripture. So when Yashua Messiah said He is all these things, He is in fact claiming to be the Law made flesh. He is our Savior, and obedience to Torah is obedience to Messiah, and is how we physically walk out our faith. To walk contrary to the Torah and to teach others to do so is to teach lawlessness and that the Messiah died so that we may live in sin, the false doctrine of Israel found in Jeremiah 7:10- you come into this house called by My name and declare we have been delivered (saved) to commit these abominations (sin). To walk in Him and to walk like Him, one must learn (Disciple) the Torah and walk it out. It is the New Covenant in His blood.

Google Slides that correspond to the material in this lecture: docs.google.com/presentation/d/17ZS-Z8YtkzRRkYztTFDfzcRMhfFmBAqLyROzhzI48JQ/edit?usp=sharing

Here are the slides from this session: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gwivtB34irmKSlq0UvJElBQURjZf9gDTW9Nk_irIu-k/edit?usp=sharing

Google Slides available here: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-AusSCLWsH2P3Nhub1YT53jixBSI4SQbY7qNn5baVwY/edit?usp=sharing