Full text of Acts 22:
1 “Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.” 2 When they heard him speaking in their own language, [fn1] the silence was even greater.
3 Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. 4 And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. 5 The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.
6 “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
8 “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, [fn2] the one you are persecuting.’ 9 The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.
10 “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’
“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’
11 “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. 12 A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. 13 He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!
14 “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. 15 For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. 16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’
17 “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. 18 I saw a vision of Jesus [fn3] saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’
19 “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’
21 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”
22 The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” 23 They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.
Paul Reveals His Roman Citizenship
24 The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious. 25 When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer [fn4] standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”
26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27 So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.
28 “I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”
Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”
29 The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.
Paul before the High Council
30 The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. [fn5] He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.

Footnotes:
22:2 Greek in Aramaic, or in Hebrew.
22:8 Or Jesus of Nazareth.
22:18 Greek him.
22:25 Greek the centurion; also in 22:26.
22:30 Greek Sanhedrin.

In Acts 23, Paul defends himself before the divided Sanhedrin, is rescued (again) by the Roman commander, and after a plot on his life is discovered, is sent to the governor, accompanied by a large force of Roman soldiers.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Act&c=23&v=1&t=NLT

Full Text of Acts 23:

1 Gazing intently at the high council, [fn1] Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”
2 Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. 3 But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! [fn2] What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
4 Those standing near Paul said to him, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”
5 “I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.’ [fn3] ”
6 Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”
7 This divided the council—the Pharisees against the Sadducees— 8 for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. 9 So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.” 10 As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.
11 That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”
The Plan to Kill Paul
12 The next morning a group of Jews [fn4] got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. 14 They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”
16 But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul. 17 Paul called for one of the Roman officers [fn5] and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”
18 So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20 Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. 21 But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
22 “Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. 24 Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.” 25 Then he wrote this letter to the governor:
26 “From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
27 “This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety. 28 Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him. 29 I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law—certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. 30 But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.”
31 So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris. 32 They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea. 33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix. 34 He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.
35 “I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters. [fn6]

Footnotes:
23:1 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 23:6, 15, 20, 28.
23:3 Greek you whitewashed wall.
23:5 Exod 22:28.
23:12 Greek the Jews.
23:17 Greek centurions; also in 23:23.
23:35 Greek Herod’s Praetorium.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Act&c=23&t=NLTP&x=13&y=6

Wow I love the decision to post this part. Makes you understand how this book whipped millions of peasants into a fury against those evil Jews.

Santa, the Bible is unique in that it tells things like it is--problems between Paul and Apollos, for example; and in Acts 24, today's Bible reading, the Roman governor's desire to get bribe money from Paul, in addition to the Jews from Asia Minor's fury against those evil followers of the Way. Let's not forget that Paul, Jesus, Peter, and all the apostles were Jewish, shall we? Oh and btw, Christianity is Jewish--that's right. Here's the passage in Acts 24 that tells us so: 14 “But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people."
In Acts 24, Paul is on trial before the Roman governor, Felix, who will keep him imprisoned for two more years.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Act&c=24&v=1&t=NLT

Christianity is not Jewish, if it was Paul wouldn't call everyone who stepped on his foot a Jew. And it is moot. I am just saying passages like these show how a pack of Christians could easily be riled up to kill nearby Jews. Its just the beauty of the book right? Just full of fresh and frank stories that tell things "as they were."

A passage by the way, that you think is so beautiful in its frank description of murderous jews you post it here in hopes of converting someone.

And stop saying you are Jewish. YOU ARE NOT JEWISH. Your religion does not follow Jewish law so therefore you are no Jewish. Its simple. Paul might have been Jewish and followed Jewish law but you are not and you do not follow it.

Are you even reading these passages? Who's trying to rouse up mobs to kill whom in these passages? Those responsible--Paul included--call themselves Jews because they are the high priest and other officials, and they're speaking with the Roman authorities. But the root word, Judah, means praise, and since those who follow the Jewish Messiah praise Yahweh God, we can certainly claim that the "religion" we follow is Jewish, although the early Jewish religious leaders called it a cult--as we saw in Acts 23 and 24. Some members of the high council believed, however, such as Nicodemus. And anyway, that's the wonder of the book of Acts--that now gentiles can be a part of praising God along with his chosen people, Israel.

Rewrite: Those responsible call themselves Jews because they are the high priest and other Jewish officials, and they're speaking with the Roman authorities. Paul also calls himself a Jew, so when he accuses "the Jews" of trying to kill him, he's not referring to the people (of whom he is one), or the religion (which he embraces), but rather about the Jewish religious leaders. That should be clear from the context.

I will grant you that evil people who called themselves Christians have taken passages out of context and used them to justify their own actions against Jews--Hitler in particular comes to mind. But don't forget that the Nazis were trying to institute a state church, one that killed resisters (Dietrich Bonhoeffer for one example) and that even tried to get books that sounded too "Jewish" taken out of the Bible. Those men were not Christians in the true sense of the word. Your point is well taken, but any writing can be twisted around to be used for something that is not intended. And God is going to have something to say about that on the Judgment Day.

Full text of Acts 24:
Paul Appears before Felix
1 Five days later Ananias, the high priest, arrived with some of the Jewish elders and the lawyer [fn1] Tertullus, to present their case against Paul to the governor. 2 When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented the charges against Paul in the following address to the governor:
“You have provided a long period of peace for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. 3 For all of this, Your Excellency, we are very grateful to you. 4 But I don’t want to bore you, so please give me your attention for only a moment. 5 We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes. 6 Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him. [fn2] 8 You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.” 9 Then the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true.
10 The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my defense before you. 11 You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago to worship at the Temple. 12 My accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor stirring up a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city. 13 These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing.
14 “But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.
17 “After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people and to offer sacrifices to God. 18 My accusers saw me in the Temple as I was completing a purification ceremony. There was no crowd around me and no rioting. 19 But some Jews from the province of Asia were there—and they ought to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me! 20 Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high council [fn3] found me guilty of, 21 except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”
22 At that point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then I will decide the case.” 23 He ordered an officer [fn4] to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.
24 A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” 26 He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him quite often and talked with him.
27 After two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.


Footnotes:
24:1 Greek some elders and an orator.
24:6 Some manuscripts add an expanded conclusion to verse 6, all of verse 7, and an additional phrase in verse 8: We would have judged him by our law, but Lysias, the commander of the garrison, came and violently took him away from us, commanding his accusers to come before you.
24:20 Greek Sanhedrin.
24:23 Greek a centurion.

In Acts 25, Paul stands trial before the new Roman governor, Porcius Festus, and again in front of King Felix and his wife Drusilla.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Act&c=25&v=1&t=NLT#

they didn't "call themselves" Jews, they were identified by whoever wrote the testament as Jews. Not officials who tried to kill Paul, but Jews who tried to kill paul. i think these were hardly taken out of context by people who used them later to stir up packs of christians. The whole point of this passage is paul explaining how the jews gave him such a hard time. I read every word, I think the question is are you even reading the passages. If you were I doubt you would have posted them here.

And what do the Nazis have to do with this? Christians killed millions of Jews throughout history without any Nazi ideology. And then again how much of the Nazi success in inciting the population against the jews stemmed from their ability to tap into christian anti-semitism based on passages like this? who knows... I know its a well accepted historical fact however that latent christian antisemitism from such cultural events as passion plays provided fertile ground.

"The next morning a group of Jews [fn4] got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. "

Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. 21 But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him.

And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.

So inspiring that Paul could survive those evil Jews.

"packs of Christians."

I didn't know we moved in packs.

lol.

what do you call groups of people hunting down other people to kill them? I think packs is a perfect term for such animals.

No, I understand. Nothing defensible about that, certainly.

The term itself just struck me as somewhat funny and a little ironic when I read it, is all. Actually, the whole post is a little ironic. Objecting to lists of past wrongs and characterizing them by religion is both what you're objecting to and what you're doing.

I'm sorry? I suppose the alleged mistreatment of one societal malcontent truly was justification for centuries of murder. It is truly equivalent for me to bring up the murder of millions over the alleged mistreatment of one. Obviously the testimony of paul about what almost happened to him at the hands of wily jews is equal to millions of murders in the name of passages like these. How dare I.

Lets not even notice that I never said a damn thing about christians today or christians in general. I objected to very real acts that were committed because of passages like this. Do you deny that jews were persecuted by Christians because of passages posted above?

"Do you deny that jews were persecuted by Christians because of passages posted above? "

No, and it was wrong.

"Lets not even notice that I never said a damn thing about christians today or christians in general. "

And Paul does? You were just as specific as he was, and just as unspecific.

I believe I said Chrstian peasants, that's far more than Paul does.

but in doing so I obviously was not anywhere near comprehensive enough because nobles, knights monarchs and clergy were all responsible.

Don't you think its a little harder to be specific when you are talking about systematic murders over the centuries than paul could have been? Just a thought. Unless of coure you have a list of names you want me to exclude

Can someone get me up to speed on what y'all are arguing about?

yes, why the fuck Mujus would decide to post a passage from the New Testimate whos morale, in short, is that God helped Paul escape evil Jews.

That a good enough explanation?

Oh. Yeah okay thanks. Maybe he can balance it out by quoting from Hebrews next time lol.

Incidentally, SC, I don't know if you noticed, but Mujus is just going sequentially through the book of Acts. There wasn't some big "decision" in choosing to post this passage.

As for saying "Christian peasants" -- no you didn't. You just said "Christians," twice, in your long post. See how easy it is to be generic about stuff like this?

To answer your question -- no, it wouldn't be easy to be specific. It was a lot of different groups. Ditto for Paul. It wasn't just one time or one group of people, as the passage makes clear. Of course, again, you're right, it was far from all the Jews, and other parts of the story make that very clear. I'm just saying that, given that you've been engaging in the same kind of language, you should possibly be more understanding of his doing so. Of course, I can understand being bitter about the passage since was so abused to hurt your people.

"Incidentally, SC, I don't know if you noticed, but Mujus is just going sequentially through the book of Acts. There wasn't some big "decision" in choosing to post this passage."

Well if he just incidentally posts an ugly portion of your bible I guess I'm just glad chance allowed him to expose its ugliness.

"As for saying "Christian peasants" -- no you didn't. You just said "Christians," twice, in your long post. See how easy it is to be generic about stuff like this?"

I sure did, you can see it below. Additionally as I said, I believe I have more latitude when there is literally no way to include every type of christian who persecuted jews throughout the period and plenty of ways for paul to specify which group tried to kill him.

"Wow I love the decision to post this part. Makes you understand how this book whipped millions of peasants into a fury against those evil Jews.

"Ditto for Paul."

Ditto for paul? He had one group of Jews try to kill him. Does he get specific? No, they are just jews. Not that it matters, its probably all made up anyway.

Santa, you ignore any points that don't meet your preconceived notions of justice and injustice, so I'm not going to argue with you. The full text of Acts 25 makes very clear--again--that this is a particular group of Jews that are out to get Paul. If you had read the previous chapters you would see that he has been attacked by other groups as well. Jesus too was put to death by the Romans, even though Pontius Pilate *agreed* that he was innocent of all charges, and finally put him to death for the crime of being the King of the Jews.
Full Text: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Act&c=25&t=NLTP&x=6&y=2
Paul Appears before Festus
1 Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem, 2 where the leading priests and other Jewish leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul. 3 They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way). 4 But Festus replied that Paul was at Caesarea and he himself would be returning there soon. 5 So he said, “Those of you in authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your accusations.”
6 About eight or ten days later Festus returned to Caesarea, and on the following day he took his seat in court and ordered that Paul be brought in. 7 When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t prove.
8 Paul denied the charges. “I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,” he said.
9 Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”
10 But Paul replied, “No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews. 11 If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will go!”
13 A few days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, [fn1] to pay their respects to Festus. 14 During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him. 16 I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves.
17 “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. 18 But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected. 19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive. 20 I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem. 21 But Paul appealed to have his case decided by the emperor. So I ordered that he be held in custody until I could arrange to send him to Caesar.”
22 “I’d like to hear the man myself,” Agrippa said.
And Festus replied, “You will—tomorrow!”
Paul Speaks to Agrippa
23 So the next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in. 24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem. 25 But in my opinion he has done nothing deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.
26 “But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no clear charge against him. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I might have something to write. 27 For it makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges against him!”

Footnotes:
25:13 Greek Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived.

Also, Santa, I would think that there have been enough atrocities committed against Jews throughout history that you don't need to go inventing one in Paul's words in this case. Really.

Again Mujus refuses to acknowledge the seamy side of his religion. I guess ignoance breeds strength of faith.

"Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”"

“King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem."



How many pogroms launched by such lines? What is the use of this book? What lesson are we supposed to get from this passage Mujus? how about you explain it?

Finally, Santa, lest there be any doubt that the Bible teaches that Jesus came to save the Jews first, here's a passage from the book of Hebrews, one of many that show that the Jews are God's special people, in the New Testament as well as the Old:
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had [fn7] the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, [fn8] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=Hbr&c=2&t=nltp