ABSTRACT
Saul of Tarsus, whose Greek name is Paul, is the major character. Saul begins as a circumcised Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, who is a Pharisee well versed in Jewish law. Paul, by developing the Jewish religion further, became its destroyer. His success was certainly due mainly to the fact that through the idea of salvation he laid the ghost of the feelings of guilt. Paul repeats the injunction against homosexuality but extends it to women. As for the ungodly, Paul writes, "God gave them up to degrading passions. Paul strongly opposes active resistance to political authority, and even passive resistance is questionable. It is unreasonable to judge Paul's views about slavery by twenty-first century standards, or even the way his writings were used in the nineteenth century. There were arguments sanctioning slavery in the Hebrew Bible as well, but Paul's arguments, especially his letter to Philemon, were often used to support it.
