Why Human exceptionalism?

Why Human Evolution Happened Only Once: The Question No One Has to Answer

 

Denyse O'Leary

Last time out, I asked, why, if information about chimpanzee behavior is supposed to provide insight into human behavior, nothing similar to human evolution ever happened to chimpanzees. This fact deserves more attention than it gets: It is a giant explanatory gap. Not only did chimpanzees not put a man on the moon, they would never have imagined it as a goal. The second gap is much bigger than the first.

So when we look at explanations for human cultural evolution, we find unfortunately the same problems as we did with physical evolution, like bipedalism and throwing projectiles accurately. It never happened to any other life form.

And we get only trivial explanations. For example: Human evolution is said to be driven by art, cooking, sexual selection, and/or baby slings. Cooking, in particular, made digestion easier and freed up the extra energy our ancestors needed to grow bigger brains," maybe spurring evolution by cooking meat. Others say that eating fish and reptiles made the difference. Fluctuating environment gets a mention.

We are told that but for fresh pastures, "we would never have loosened up enough to learn to speak" (like cows do?). Also that baby apes' arm-waving or monkey lip-smacking provide insight into how humans acquired language. Fatherhood, others tell us, made us human because "A father who recognized his son in a neighboring group would be less likely to strike out against him, which would open the way for larger tribal networks." But, according to other sources, early man ate children (which might somewhat reduce the sense of child loyalty?), depending on who you ask, or else he ateGrandma -- or would have except that she looked after the children (provided he didn't eat them first, presumably).

Somehow, none of this (assuming it happened) ever had the same effect for any other species. If a coyote ate his grandma would it matter?

It is the question no one answers because it has been set up as the question no one has to answer, even though it is the key question. Start by insisting that absolutely everything is a big accident, and we never have to ask why it only happened to us.

Researchers were "very shocked" by recent new genes that form a distinctly human brain," appearing five to seven million years ago. Actually, it hardly matters. Much that we learn in passing about the human brain doesn't fit the materialist view very well because the brain is plastic. Remember the psych lab experiments on people whose corpus callosum, joining the right and left hemispheres, had been split (as a treatment for severe epilepsy), whose right hand apparently didn't know what the left hand was doing? When that defect occurs naturally, as opposed to surgically, the subjects apparently do know such things because their nervous systems simply form other connections. So, motivation matters, unless it is short-circuited.

Yet still a signal floats above the noise. Consider those primitive peoples who have not yet developed words for numbers. When tested, they did about as well as Europeans in geometry, which researchers say suggests that "our intuitions about geometry are innate." So the human mind does not, strictly speaking, evolve. It is rather cultivated in one direction or another. But these stories, and many others like them, fall down the memory hole reserved for inconvenient discoveries. The noise around human evolution resumes as before.

One recent walk on the wild side is worth noting just for what it shows about how little we really know -- and how much we are willing to believe. Much publicity was given in 2013 to the idea that the differences between humans and chimpanzees arise from humans' hybridization with pigs.

You think this is a joke? Well, yes, but in the current science press it isn't. That is, "humans are probably the result of multiple generations of backcrossing to chimpanzees, which in nucleotide sequence data comparisons would effectively mask any contribution from pig." This hypothesis, offered by geneticist and hybridization specialist Eugene McCarthy, incidentally reveals facts about human anatomy not usually offered as evidence by the proponents of the 98-percent-chimpanzee thesis, who don't seem to be interested in defending themselves against the following thesis:

The list of anatomical specializations we may have gained from porcine philandering is too long to detail here. Suffice it to say, similarities in the face, skin and organ microstructure alone is hard to explain away. A short list of differential features, for example, would include, multipyramidal kidney structure, presence of dermal melanocytes, melanoma, absence of a primate baculum (penis bone), surface lipid and carbohydrate composition of cell membranes, vocal cord structure, laryngeal sacs, diverticuli of the fetal stomach, intestinal "valves of Kerkring," heart chamber symmetry, skin and cranial vasculature and method of cooling, and tooth structure. Other features occasionally seen in humans, like bicornuate uteruses and supernumerary nipples, would also be difficult to incorporate into a purely primate tree.

In the face of inevitable controversy over such an idea (pigs?), science news site Phys.org doubled down on it, offering further support:

Under the alternative hypothesis (humans are not pig-chimp hybrids), the assumption is that humans and chimpanzees are equally distant from pigs. You would therefore expect chimp traits not seen in humans to be present in pigs at about the same rate as are human traits not found in chimps. However, when he searched the literature for traits that distinguish humans and chimps, and compiled a lengthy list of such traits, he found that it was always humans who were similar to pigs with respect to these traits. This finding is inconsistent with the possibility that humans are not pig-chimp hybrids, that is, it rejects that hypothesis.

Curiously, in 2009, when a similar idea was suggested for caterpillars in the National Academy of Science's publication PNAS, Scientific American promptlydubbed PNAS the "National Enquirer" of the sciences.

Clearly, the standard of evidence for hypotheses about human evolution favors less parsimony than for butterfly evolution.

And it goes downhill from here.

The God Of Israel

Israel’s Essential Knowledge of God

Certainly any worshiper must know his God. This is essential in any religion, but emphatically so in the religion of the God of the Bible. So exactly who is this God?

Israel and Judaism has always taught that God is one person only, Jehovah, the Father. Christendom began teaching in the 4th century A.D. that God is three persons who are all equally the one God.

God does not change (Malachi 3:6). He is the same now as he has always been. He revealed himself to many individuals as recorded in the Bible. So how did the first Bible writer, Moses, reveal God to His Chosen People, Israel? There can be no argument that the first 5 books of the Bible (the writings of Moses) revealed God (through God’s own direction and commandment) as a single person with the personal name of Jehovah.

Then, later, the Book of Joshua was written. Search through it as you may you will not find anything that clearly shows that God is anything other than a single person with the personal name of Jehovah! 

These 6 books were the word of God for God’s chosen people for hundreds of years. In fact, if we carefully examine all the Old Testament, we find the same thing: There was never any indication that God was anything but Jehovah, the Father in heaven, the Creator of all. 

(“That all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah...is God; there is none else.” 1 Ki. 8:60, ASV. “You alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme charge of all the earth.” Ps. 83:18, LB. “I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God.” Is. 45:6, LB.)

For thousands of years this has been the great distinction of the chosen people of the God of the Bible. They have always known that their God is one person only. Not only has the divine word itself (given to them alone) made this clear, but all the other writings, teachings, comments, etc. by their scholars, teachers, etc. throughout the ages have always confirmed this.

How can this be if the trinity doctrine that God is three persons is true? A people must know their God. The God of the Bible was very careful to inform his people of the things that would lead to eternal life and eternal destruction. He made his name known to them alone. God does not change. So how is it that for thousands of years God’s chosen people have always known that God is one person, Jehovah, the Father alone? 

How is it that knowledge of God’s “plurality” was never noticed until hundreds of years after Jesus’ death (and many years after the Apostles’ deaths, of course) when Christendom was adopting the trinity doctrine? How come the “evidence” for the trinity in the OT are things that most respected OT Hebrew scholars view with scorn (even most trinitarian Hebrew scholars of Christendom refute their significance)? For example, the insistence by some trinitarians that the OT word for God, Elohim, is plural to indicate the plurality of persons within the “Godhead.” This is not merely ludicrous to respected Hebrew scholars, but an example of downright disgraceful “scholarship”! (See the ELOHIM study.) 

The God of Judaism

“Judaism, rejecting alike the Trinity and the Incarnation, believes in a single universal God....” - Britannica, p. 166, Vol. 13, 14th ed.

“Jehovah was recognized by all the Jews as the Highest Master of their Fate, the only True God.” - The Story of Mankind, p. 29, Hendrik Willem Van Loon, 1940, Pocket Book Edition. Cf. Jeremiah 10:10 and Jn 17:1, 3, KJV, ASV, NASB, RSV; Ps. 83:18. 

Jehovah was the Father only [never Son, Firstborn, Only-begotten, etc.] to the Jews. - Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; Is. 63:16; 64:8, etc., ASV. Famed first century Jewish Historian Josephus tells us, 

“[Moses] represented God as unbegotten [unlike the Son of God, 1 Jn 4:9, KJV, ASV, NKJV, NASB], and immutable, through all eternity.” - Josephus, p. 630, Kriegel Publications, 1978. 

And Philo, the famed early-first century Jewish philosopher, 

“represents Jehovah as a single uncompounded Being .... the Father and Creator of the universe” - p. xx, The Works ofPhilo, Yonge, Hendrickson Publishers, 1993. 

In Judaism 

“God was worshipped as a single personal, universal benevolent force, a loving Father-God whose care was for the well-being of his children, the human race.” - p. 5, The Portable World Bible, The Viking Press. 

It is absolutely unbelievable that Jesus and his Apostles taught the trinity or even suggested that Jesus was God Almighty! There is no certain or undisputed scriptural authority for such a belief in New or Old Testament. The writings of the Christians of the first two centuries did not teach such a thing but consistently taught that the Father, alone, was the Almighty God - (See pp. 109-111, A Short History of the Early Church,Boer, 1976, Eerdmans Publ.). 

The belief that Jesus is God and that God is three equal persons had to be forced upon most of Christendom starting at 325 A. D. at the Council of Nicaea - see HIST study. But the Jews never changed their knowledge of God. No one but the Father (Jehovah alone) has ever been God for them. The introduction of any other knowledge of God is treated as the worst of blasphemies. And so it was that Jewish writers didn’t even begin attacking Christendom for such a terrible blasphemy until after Christendom began to adopt a God ofthree equal persons during the 4th century A.D.

First Christians Were Within Judaism

It is certain that the Chosen People with the unique One-Person God would not have tolerated for one second any man in their midst who claimed to be God. Nor would they have allowed anyone to live among them who taught that their one God was “three persons”! 

And yet Jesus taught among them as one of them for three and a half years. His Apostles taught among them for another 50-70 years![1] 

"The believers in Jesus as the Messiah first preached to fellow Jews, so that the first Christians were pious Jews withinthe synagogue.” - The Story of Israel, p. 28, Levin, Putnam Publ.

“Henceforth, the group [first century Christians] had to reassure itself of its new identity through weekly celebrations in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection, even though its worship in the synagogues and the temple was already distinctive.” – p. 85, Christian Beginnings, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.

“Except for the belief in Jesus as the Messiah, there was little that was radically contrary to Judaism in the teachings and practices of the Christ sectarians [a sect of Judaism].” - p. 87,The Jews: Biography of a People, Teller, Bantam Books, 1966.

“Consequently, the Early Church was primarily Jewish and existed within Judaism. The development of Christianitywithin Judaism and its progress to Antioch is described by Luke in the first twelve chapters of Acts.” - p. 59, Christianity Through the Centuries, Cairns (trinitarian), Zondervan, 1977. 

“In its earliest phase, the Christian movement had its center in Jerusalem, where it took shape not as a new religion but as a sect or grouping within the parent body of Judaism. .... That they saw themselves simply as Jews, as a renewed Israel, is made clear by the fact that they were faithful both in attendance at the temple and in obedience to the Law; and this being the case, they lived in peace with the religious authorities in Jerusalem.” - p. 23, A History of the Christian Church, 4th ed., Williston Walker (trinitarian), 1985, Macmillan Publ. 

“In this period [1st century A. D.] churches were still regarded as synagogues, whose members .... professed monotheism [belief in the one God] in the same terms as did the Jews. They used the Hebrew Scriptures [‘Old Testament’], and they took messianism, the eschatology (even angelology), and the ethics of Judaism for granted...” - pp. 121-122, The Rise of Christianity, W. H. C. Frend (trinitarian), Fortress Press, 1985. 

     “The roots of the Christian Church reach back deeply into the history of Israel. ‘Salvation,’ said Jesus, ‘is from the Jews’ (John 4:22). .... The earliest church was wholly Jewish, her Savior was a Jew, and the entire New Testament was probably written by Jews.” .... 

     “The baptisms recorded in Acts were all done in the name of Jesus only. It is this confession [only] that distinguished Christians from Jews. Belief in God was assumed [the God of the Jews, YHWH, the Father alone] and was not therefore a matter of special confession. As the gospel spread to the Gentiles, the name of God, especially as Creator, was added.” - pp. 3, 75, A Short History of the Early Church, Boer (trinitarian missionary and scholar), 1976, Eerdmans Publ. 

“Jesus of Nazareth was well versed in the religion of his fathers and dedicated ... to worship of ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,’ Jehovah, who was now seen as the one God, omnipotent ruler of the universe and loving fatherof mankind.... Racially and religiously Christ was born, lived, and died a loyal Jew, He sought merely to ... widen his people’s understanding of the merciful, loving, Father-God whose Lordship was attested by the Jewish spiritual leaders who preceded him.” - The Portable World Bible, The Viking Press, pp. 228, 230. 

If there had been any new knowledge of God being understood by this new Christian sect of Judaism, there would have beennothing else ever talked about by the Jews whenever they discussed the Christians. Even the claim that Jesus was the Messiah would have been completely overshadowed! Instead, the Christians remained a sect of Judaism for many years. The falling out between Christianity and Judaism occurred after Bar Kochba terribly persecuted them for not recognizing him as the Messiah and joining in his revolution against Rome.[3]  BUT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT A DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGE OF GOD! This simply could not be if there was even a rumor that Christians believed anyone but the Father alone (Jehovah) was God! This greatest of all blasphemies in the eyes of the Jews would not have taken second place to anything else!

“It is at this point [after Nicaea, 4th century A. D.] that the gulf between the Church and the Synagogue opens before us in all its depth and significance .... The teaching of the divinity of Jesus Christ is an unpardonable offence in the eyes of Judaism.” - The Jewish People and Jesus Christ, Jakob Jocz. 

“Only gradually did the Christian understanding of Christ and the Spirit evolve to the point where it was incompatible with any Jewish understanding of monotheism, and this process was only finalized in the fourth century C.E.” - p. 104,Aspects of Monotheism, “Jewish Monotheism and Christian Theology,” by John J. Collins (Catholic professor of Hebrew Bible at Chicago Divinity School), 1997, Biblical Archaeology Society.

If the trinity or the divinity of Jesus had been taught or believed by the first Christians, the schism between the Jews (who considered such a teaching “an unpardonable offense”) and Christians would have been immediate, irrevocable, and incredibly intense. But that is not what caused problems between the first Christians and the Jews. 

The Jewish belief that the parting of the ways came not at Stephen’s martyrdom but after Bar Kochba’s war against Hadrian [132-135 A. D.] is now gaining ground. Previously there had been no event sufficiently striking to sever the ties.Christians frequented the synagogues: they were still aJewish sect. But Bar Kochba was hailed by Aqiba as the Messiah. This the Christians could not condone and they stood aside. .... The Jews regarded the Christians as renegades: the Christians would not fight for Aqiba’s Messiah. The die had fallen and there was no recalling the past. - Encyclopedia Britannica, p. 167, Vol. 13, 14th ed. [See the 'Bar Kochba and the Christians' study.]

- - - - - - - - - - - -

It was the generation following the destruction of the Temple which brought about a final rupture between Jews and Christians .... In the third rebellion against Rome [132-135 A.D.], when the Christians were unable to accept bar Kochba as their Messiah, they declared that their kingdom was of the other world, and withdrew themselves completely from Judaism and everything Jewish. The alienation process was completed. Judaism and Christianity became strangers to each other .... A wall of misunderstanding and hate was erected by the narrow zealotries of the two faiths. [pp. 152, 153, Jews, God and History, Max I. Dimont, A Signet Book, 1962.][3] 

Now examine this essential cornerstone teaching of the Jews since the time of Moses: the Shema of Deut. 6:4, 5 as rendered in the trinitarian Living Bible. 

“O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might.” 

Yes, Jehovah, the Father alone (Jn 8:54), was God. God’s chosen people were commanded to love and worship only him.

“I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God.” - Is. 45:6, Living Bible. 

Jesus and his Apostles believed and taught the very same truth (of course they would not contradict the Holy Scriptures): Jesus was asked, 

“‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ Jesus replied, ‘The one that says, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord[Jehovah] our God is the one and only God. And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.”’” - Mark 12:28-30, Living Bible. 

After Jesus’ death the first writings available to Christians (certainly long before John’s Gospel was written), in addition to the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) were the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Search them as carefully as you can. You will not find any new knowledge concerning the identity of God Almighty, the only true God. He is still the Father in heaven - -- alone. Can we really believe that thousands of God’s spirit-anointed Christian followers of the first century lived and died without being taught that God is “really” a three-persons-in-one God? In fact, the entire New Testament (including those writings that came much later than the very first Gospels - including the Gospel of John) still do not teach a trinity nor even that Jesus is the only true, almighty God. How can this most essential, cornerstone teaching of Christendom not be in the Holy Bible? 

Some might say that just as the identity of the Christ was not revealed until the first century A. D. so the identity of God was not fully revealed until 325 A. D. (or 381 A. D. when the Holy Spirit was added to the creed). At that time a small minority of the Bishops present (but powerfully encouraged and supported by the pagan Roman Emperor with the backing of all his power and authority) decreed at the Council of Nicaea that Jesus was fully God with the Father. - see the HIST study. 

Ah, but the knowledge of who the Messiah was simply wasn’trequired for salvation until Jesus was on earth. At that time it was revealed with abundant clarity, emphasis, and repetition. (See Luke 2:11; 4:41; Mark 14:61, 62; Matt. 16:16; John 1:41, 42; 4:25, 26; 20:31 for a few of the many straightforward examples.) The knowledge of who God is, however, has always been essential to God’s people and has been known clearly and emphatically from the time of Moses at least (as shown in Deut. 6:4 among many others). 

The God who wants no one to be destroyed has clearly and emphatically revealed who he is from the very beginning. Yes, the eternal God who does not change (Malachi 3:6) has been clearly known to his people for thousands of years as Jehovah, the Father! - - 

“JEHOVAH .... This is my name forever.” - Ex. 3:15, NEB, ASV, MLB, NIV, RSV. “Jehovah, ... (This is my eternal name, to be used throughout all generations.)” - LB. 

It should also be apparent to most people that theidentification of the promised Messiah is in no way contradictory to the knowledge previously given to the Jews from the time of Moses up to the time of Jesus! 

However, the “revelation” (finally “recognized” long after all scripture had been completed) of three persons being God is a direct contradiction of the knowledge revealed to and understood by the people of God for thousands of years. 

If the trinity knowledge is true, God actually misled his people in an essential, life-saving area of knowledge for generation after generation for no reason whatsoever! How incredible that He would have chastised them so grievously for even relatively minor paganisms borrowed from their neighbors and completely ignored such a perversion of the basic, essential knowledge of God! Surely (if the trinity were true) His prophets would have been correcting the single Person “error” for thousands of years! 

If Jesus or any of his followers were to have taught a three-in-one God or even that Jesus was God incarnate, the Jews would have driven them out immediately. They certainly would not have been tolerated as a sect of Judaism for so many years as they were. And, if, by some incredible miracle, they had been allowed to live among and teach other Jews, there would have been nothing that would have been talked about more than the incredible, new, most blasphemous conception of God that these people were trying to introduce. 

The writings of the Jews of these times would have spoken of very little else in connection with this new sect. And the New Testament would have spent the major portion of its teaching on this “trinity” concept, especially when attempting to communicate with fellow Jews. But there is no such record among the Jews, among the Gentile historians and philosophers, nor in the record of the New Testament, nor in the writings of the Christians of the first two centuries![4] - See the CREEDS study.

This makes the statement about the easy “acceptance” of the new trinitarian “revelation” by the very first Christians found in the highly-praised, highly trinitarian New Bible Dictionaryabsolutely ludicrous! If not so tragic, it would be laughable: 

“What is amazing, however, is that this confession of God as One in Three took place without struggle and without controversy [even without comment] by a people indoctrinated for centuries in the faith of the one God, and that in entering the Christian church [the early first century Jews] were not conscious of any break with their ancient faith.” - p. 1222, second ed., 1984 printing, Tyndale House Publishers (trinitarian). 

Yes, this would be more than just “amazing,” if these people really did understand and accept a new Three-in-One God! The complete lack of any struggle, the complete lack of Jewish attacks on this most blasphemous concept imaginable to them, the complete lack of any teaching or defense of this concept by those first Christians, and the complete lack of any contemporary comment on this incredible new teaching all combine to make the trinitarian idea that this concept was known and believed by the first Christians absolutely impossible! 

No, the God of the Bible remained, as should be expected, completely unchanged from the time he revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush: “Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:15, ASV, NEB, LB, MLB). This is exactly the same God revealed by Jesus and his Apostles. 

“Jesus replied [to the Jews], ‘Your trouble is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and don’t know the power of God.... have you never read in the book of Exodus about Moses and the burning bush? God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, and I am the God of Isaac, and I am the God of Jacob.”’” - Mark 12:24, 26, LB. 

Immediately after that statement by Jesus one of the scribes came up to Jesus and asked, “Of all the commandments which is the most important?” And, as we saw above, Jesus answered by quoting that all-important declaration of the identity of the true God that all Jews have held sacred for over 3000 years, Deut. 6:4: 

“The one that says, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord [Jehovah] our God is the one and only God. And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.’” - Mark 12:28, 29,Living Bible. 

This Jehovah is the Father, the only true God (Jn 17:1, 3 - “Father,.... This is eternal life: to know thee who alone art truly God.” - NEB). Jehovah is the God of Jesus (Micah 5:4; 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:17; Rev. 3:12). Jesus is not Jehovah (Ps. 110:1; Acts 2:34-36; Micah 5:4; Is. 53:10; Ps. 2:2; Acts 4:24-29 - see footnote for Micah 5:4 in The NIV Study Bible). Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, but not God Himself. 

The footnote for Mark 14:61 in the trinitarian NIVSB tells us that “Son of God” as applied to Jesus here 

“would seem not to refer to deity but to royal Messiahship, since in popular Jewish belief [then and now] the Messiah was to be a man, not God.” 

Therefore, God’s chosen people (even those many who became apostate) have never known their only true God to be a “multiple person God.” Since the faithful followers of God's word have always worshiped only a single person named Jehovah, their Father in heaven, it puts the burden of proof squarely on the shoulders of trinitarians. Where is the overwhelming, crystal clear proof that somehow all of Israel (from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Moses to David to Isaiah to Malachi to Jesus) was always mortally wrong in their knowledge of the very God who revealed himself to them? [See 'Trinity Challenges' study]. The “proof” offered by trinitarians is always specious, vague, and/or ambiguous (see the DAVID and REDEF studies). 

- “... the Lord Jesus shall be revealed...in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God....” - 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. 

..............................................................................

Acts21-25NWT(2013 Edition)

21 After tearing ourselves away from them and putting out to sea, we ran with a straight course and came to Cos, on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Pat′a·ra. 2 When we found a ship that was crossing to Phoe·ni′cia, we went aboard and sailed away. 3 After coming in sight of the island of Cy′prus, we left it behind on the left side* and sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 We searched for and found the disciples and remained there for seven days. But through the spirit they repeatedly told Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.+ 5 So when our time there was over, we left and started on our way, but they all, together with the women and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said good-bye to one another. Then we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their homes.

7 We then completed the voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptol·e·ma′is, and we greeted the brothers and stayed one day with them. 8 The next day we left and came to Caes·a·re′a, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelizer, who was one of the seven men,+ and we stayed with him. 9 This man had four unmarried* daughters who prophesied.+ 10 But after we had stayed there for quite a number of days, a prophet named Ag′a·bus+ came down from Ju·de′a. 11 And he came to us and took Paul’s belt and tied his own feet and hands and said: “Thus says the holy spirit, ‘The man to whom this belt belongs will be bound like this by the Jews in Jerusalem,+ and they will give him into the hands of people of the nations.’”+ 12 Now when we heard this, both we and those who were there began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered: “What are you doing by weeping and trying to weaken my resolve?* Rest assured, I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”+ 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we stopped objecting* and said: “Let the will of Jehovah* take place.”

15 Now after these days we prepared for the journey and started on our way to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caes·a·re′a also went with us, taking us to Mna′son of Cy′prus, an early disciple at whose home we were to be guests. 17 When we got to Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly. 18 But on the following day Paul went in with us to James,+ and all the elders were present. 19 And he greeted them and began giving a detailed account of the things God did among the nations through his ministry.

20 After hearing this, they began to glorify God, but they said to him: “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the Law.+ 21 But they have heard it rumored about you that you have been teaching all the Jews among the nations an apostasy from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to follow the customary practices.+ 22 What, then, is to be done about it? They are certainly going to hear that you have arrived. 23 So do what we tell you: We have four men who have put themselves under a vow. 24 Take these men with you and cleanse yourself ceremonially together with them and take care of their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to the rumors they were told about you, but that you are walking orderly and you are also keeping the Law.+ 25 As for the believers from among the nations, we have sent them our decision in writing that they should keep away from what is sacrificed to idols+ as well as from blood,+ from what is strangled,*+ and from sexual immorality.”*+

26 Then Paul took the men the next day and cleansed himself ceremonially along with them,+ and he went into the temple to give notice of when the days for the ceremonial cleansing would be completed and the offering should be presented for each one of them.

27 Now when the seven days were about to end, the Jews from Asia, on seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and they seized him, 28 shouting: “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our Law and this place. And what is more, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”+ 29 For they had previously seen Troph′i·mus+ the E·phe′sian in the city with him, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 The whole city was in an uproar, and the people came running together and seized Paul and dragged him outside the temple, and immediately the doors were closed. 31 While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the army unit that all Jerusalem was in confusion; 32 and he immediately took soldiers and army officers and ran down to them. When they caught sight of the military commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33 Then the military commander came near and took him into custody and ordered that he be bound with two chains;+ then he inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 But some in the crowd began shouting out one thing, and others something else. So being unable himself to learn anything for certain because of the disturbance, he commanded him to be brought to the soldiers’ quarters. 35 But when he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for a crowd of the people kept following, crying out: “Do away with him!”

37 As he was about to be led into the soldiers’ quarters, Paul said to the military commander: “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He said: “Can you speak Greek? 38 Are you not, then, the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a sedition and led the 4,000 dagger men out into the wilderness?” 39 Then Paul said: “I am, in fact, a Jew,+ of Tarsus+ in Ci·li′cia, a citizen of no obscure city. So I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 After he gave permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned with his hand to the people. When a great silence fell, he addressed them in the Hebrew language,+ saying:

 

 

22 “Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense to you now.”+ 2 Well, when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent, and he said: 3 “I am a Jew,+ born in Tarsus of Ci·li′cia,+ but educated in this city at the feet of Ga·ma′li·el,+ instructed according to the strictness of the ancestral Law,+ and zealous for God just as all of you are this day.+ 4 I persecuted this Way to the point of death, binding and handing over to prisons both men and women,+ 5 as the high priest and all the assembly of elders can bear witness. From them I also obtained letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to bring those who were there in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 “But as I was traveling and getting near to Damascus, about midday, suddenly out of heaven a great light flashed all around me,+ 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me: ‘I am Jesus the Naz·a·rene′, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now the men who were with me did see the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me. 10 At that I said: ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me: ‘Rise, go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything it is appointed for you to do.’+ 11 But since I could not see anything because of the glory of that light, I arrived in Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me.

12 “Then a man named An·a·ni′as, a devout man according to the Law, well-reported-on by all the Jews living there, 13 came to me. He stood by me and said to me: ‘Saul, brother, regain your sight!’ And that very moment I looked up and saw him.+ 14 He said: ‘The God of our forefathers has chosen you to come to know his will and to see the righteous one+ and to hear the voice of his mouth, 15 because you are to be a witness for him to all men of the things you have seen and heard.+ 16 And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized, and wash your sins+ away by your calling on his name.’+

17 “But when I had returned to Jerusalem+ and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me: ‘Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness concerning me.’+ 19 And I said: ‘Lord, they themselves well know that I used to imprison and flog in one synagogue after another those believing in you;+ 20 and when the blood of Stephen your witness was being spilled, I was standing by and approving and guarding the outer garments of those doing away with him.’+ 21 And yet he said to me: ‘Go, because I will send you out to nations far away.’”+

22 Now they kept listening to him down to this word. Then they raised their voices, saying: “Take such a man away from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” 23 Because they were crying out, throwing their outer garments about, and tossing dust into the air,+ 24 the military commander ordered Paul to be brought into the soldiers’ quarters and said that he should be interrogated under scourging, so that he could learn exactly why they were shouting against Paul this way. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whipping, Paul said to the army officer standing there: “Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman* who has not been condemned?”*+ 26 Well, when the army officer heard this, he went to the military commander and reported it, saying: “What are you intending to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 So the military commander approached and said to him: “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said: “Yes.” 28 The military commander responded: “I purchased these rights as a citizen for a large sum of money.” Paul said: “But I have them by birth.”+

29 Immediately, therefore, the men who were about to interrogate him under torture backed away from him; and the military commander became afraid when he realized that he was a Roman and that he had bound him in chains.+

30 So the next day, because he wanted to know for sure just why he was being accused by the Jews, he released him and commanded the chief priests and all the San′he·drin to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand among them.+

 

 

 

23 Looking intently at the San′he·drin, Paul said: “Men, brothers, I have behaved before God with a perfectly clear conscience+ down to this day.” 2 At this the high priest An·a·ni′as ordered those standing by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him: “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Do you sit to judge me according to the Law and at the same time violate the Law by commanding me to be struck?” 4 Those standing by said: “Are you insulting the high priest of God?” 5 And Paul said: “Brothers, I did not know he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You must not speak injuriously of a ruler of your people.’”+

6 Now Paul, knowing that the one part was made up of Sadducees but the other of Pharisees, cried out in the San′he·drin: “Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee,+ a son of Pharisees. Over the hope of the resurrection of the dead I am being judged.” 7 Because he said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was split. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is neither resurrection nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees accept* them all.+ 9 So a great uproar broke out, and some of the scribes of the party of the Pharisees rose and began arguing fiercely, saying: “We find nothing wrong in this man, but if a spirit or an angel spoke to him+—.” 10 Now when the dissension grew great, the military commander feared that Paul would be torn apart by them, and he commanded the soldiers to go down and snatch him from their midst and bring him into the soldiers’ quarters.

11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said: “Take courage!+ For just as you have been giving a thorough witness about me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”+

12 When it became day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than 40 men who formed this oath-bound conspiracy. 14 These men went to the chief priests and the elders and said: “We have solemnly bound ourselves with a curse* not to eat anything at all until we have killed Paul. 15 So now you together with the San′he·drin should inform the military commander that he should bring him down to you as though you want to examine his case more thoroughly. But before he gets near, we will be ready to do away with him.”

16 However, the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush they were planning, and he entered the soldiers’ quarters and reported it to Paul. 17 Paul then called one of the army officers to him and said: “Take this young man to the military commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he brought him and led him to the military commander and said: “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The military commander took him by the hand and withdrew privately and asked him: “What do you have to report to me?” 20 He said: “The Jews have agreed to request you to bring Paul down to the San′he·drin tomorrow, as though they intend to learn more details about his case.+ 21 But do not let them persuade you, for more than 40 of their men are waiting to ambush him, and they have bound themselves with a curse* neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed him;+ and they are now ready, waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the military commander let the young man go, after ordering him: “Do not tell anyone that you have informed me of this.”

23 And he summoned two of the army officers and said: “Get 200 soldiers ready to march clear to Caes·a·re′a, also 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, at the third hour of the night.* 24 Also, provide horses for Paul to ride, to take him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter with this content:

26 “Claudius Lys′i·as to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings! 27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but I came quickly with my soldiers and rescued him,+ because I learned that he is a Roman.+ 28 And wanting to find out the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down into their San′he·drin.+ 29 I found him to be accused about questions of their Law,+ but not charged with a single thing deserving of death or prison bonds. 30 But because a plot against the man has been made known to me,+ I am at once sending him to you and ordering the accusers to speak against him before you.”

31 So these soldiers took Paul+ according to their orders and brought him by night to An·tip′a·tris. 32 The next day they permitted the horsemen to go on with him, but they returned to the soldiers’ quarters. 33 The horsemen entered Caes·a·re′a and delivered the letter to the governor and also presented Paul to him. 34 So he read it and asked what province he was from and learned that he was from Ci·li′cia.+ 35 “I will give you a thorough hearing,” he said, “when your accusers arrive.”+ And he commanded that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.*

 

 

24 Five days later the high priest An·a·ni′as+ came down with some elders and a public speaker* named Ter·tul′lus, and they presented their case against Paul to the governor.+ 2 When he was called, Ter·tul′lus started accusing him, saying:

“Seeing that we enjoy great peace through you and that through your forethought reforms are taking place in this nation, 3 at all times and also in all places we acknowledge this, Your Excellency Felix, with the greatest thankfulness. 4 But that I may not detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly in your kindness. 5 For we have found this man to be a pest,*+ stirring up seditions+ among all the Jews throughout the inhabited earth, and he is a spearhead of the sect of the Naz·a·renes′.+ 6 He also tried to profane the temple, so we seized him.+ 7* —— 8 When you examine him yourself, you will find out about all these things of which we are accusing him.”

9 With that the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were true. 10 When the governor nodded to Paul to speak, he answered:

“Knowing well that this nation has had you as judge for many years, I readily speak in my own defense.+ 11 As you can verify for yourself, it has not been more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem;+ 12 and they found me neither arguing with anyone in the temple nor stirring up a mob, either in the synagogues or throughout the city. 13 Nor can they prove to you the things they are accusing me of right now. 14 But I do admit this to you, that according to the way that they call a sect, in this manner I am rendering sacred service to the God of my forefathers,+ as I believe all the things set forth in the Law and written in the Prophets.+ 15 And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection+ of both the righteous and the unrighteous.+ 16 Because of this I always strive to maintain a clear* conscience before God and men.+ 17 Now after quite a number of years, I arrived to bring gifts of mercy+ to my nation and to make offerings. 18 While I was caring for these matters, they found me ceremonially cleansed in the temple,+ but not with a crowd or causing a disturbance. But there were some Jews from the province of Asia 19 who ought to be present before you to accuse me if they actually have anything against me.+ 20 Or let the men here say for themselves what wrong they found as I stood before the San′he·drin, 21 except for this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘Over the resurrection of the dead I am today being judged before you!’”+

22 However, Felix, knowing quite well the facts concerning this Way,+ began to put them off and say: “Whenever Lys′i·as the military commander comes down, I will decide these matters involving you.” 23 And he gave orders to the army officer that the man be kept under arrest but given some freedom, and that his people be allowed to attend to his needs.

24 Some days later Felix came with Dru·sil′la his wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and listened to him speak about the belief in Christ Jesus.+ 25 But as Paul talked about righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come,+ Felix became frightened and answered: “Go away for now, but when I have an opportunity I will send for you again.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would give him money. For that reason, he sent for him even more frequently and conversed with him. 27 But when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and because Felix desired to gain favor with the Jews,+ he left Paul in custody.

 

 

 

 

25 Therefore Festus,+ after arriving in the province and taking charge, went up three days later to Jerusalem from Caes·a·re′a. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews gave him information against Paul.+ So they began to beg Festus 3 as a favor* to send for Paul to come to Jerusalem. But they were planning to ambush Paul and kill him along the road.+ 4 However, Festus answered that Paul was to be kept in Caes·a·re′a and that he himself was about to go back there shortly. 5 “So let those who are in power among you,” he said, “come down with me and accuse him if, indeed, the man has done something wrong.”+

6 So when he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caes·a·re′a, and the next day he sat down on the judgment seat and commanded Paul to be brought in. 7 When he came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing against him many serious charges that they were unable to prove.+

8 But Paul said in defense: “Neither against the Law of the Jews nor against the temple nor against Caesar have I committed any sin.”+ 9 Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews,+ said in reply to Paul: “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be judged before me there concerning these things?” 10 But Paul said: “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews, of which you are also becoming well-aware. 11 If I am really a wrongdoer and have committed anything deserving of death,+ I do not beg off from dying; but if there is no substance to the accusations these men have made against me, no man has the right to hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to Caesar!”+ 12 Then Festus, after speaking with the assembly of counselors, replied: “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you will go.”

13 After some days had passed, A·grip′pa the king and Bernice arrived in Caes·a·re′a for a courtesy visit to Festus. 14 Since they were spending a number of days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying:

“There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix, 15 and when I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought information about him,+ asking for a judgment of condemnation against him. 16 But I replied to them that it is not Roman procedure to hand any man over as a favor before the accused man meets his accusers face-to-face and gets a chance to speak in his defense concerning the complaint.+ 17 So when they arrived here, I did not delay, but the next day I sat down on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. 18 Taking the stand, the accusers did not charge him with any of the wicked things I had expected concerning him.+ 19 They simply had certain disputes with him concerning their own worship of the deity*+ and concerning a man named Jesus, who was dead but who Paul kept asserting was alive.+ 20 Being at a loss as to how to handle this dispute, I asked if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be judged there concerning these matters.+ 21 But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision by the August One,*+ I commanded him to be held until I should send him on to Caesar.”

22 A·grip′pa then said to Festus: “I would like to hear the man myself.”+ “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.” 23 So the next day A·grip′pa and Bernice came with much pompous show and entered the audience chamber together with military commanders as well as the prominent men in the city; and when Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus said: “King A·grip′pa and all you who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish populace have petitioned me both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.+ 25 But I perceived that he had done nothing deserving of death.+ So when this man himself appealed to the August One, I decided to send him. 26 But I have nothing certain to write about him to my Lord. So I brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King A·grip′pa, so that after the judicial examination has taken place, I might have something to write. 27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner and not also to indicate the charges against him.”