power.48 In context Paul narrates in considerable detail his harsh treatment of those who confessed the name ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. All of it was to no avail in the face of the authority of the risen Lord, whose utterance recalls the advice of Gamaliel, ‘If their counsel is of God, you shall not be able to resist them, and you may perhaps be found fighting against God’ (Acts 5:39). Correspondingly, in this account Paul describes his emotions as he persecuted the church: ‘I was out of my mind with rage
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