[Resettozero]

You may not be a Pharisee but St Paul was a Pharisee before AND after his conversion.

You just won't let up on this tricky point, whatever the importance of it is.

Paul was a Pharisee as I once was a Southern Baptist, but am no longer practicing as such. You offer no inkling of what point it makes when Saul clearly became Paul and began to preach Christ (new creation Paul)...not Pharisaical teachings of the LAW (old Saul of Tarsus)!

Paul's prior knowledge remained intact but his perspective had drastically and completely changed from his former beliefs of his keeping the Hebrew laws in order to gain acceptance with God.

[pgyanke]

You just won't let up on this tricky point, whatever the importance of it is.

I can get a little fixated when people dodge and weave.

Paul's prior knowledge remained intact but his perspective had drastically and completely changed from his former beliefs of his keeping the Hebrew laws in order to gain acceptance with God.

Thank you. THAT is the point. St Paul and all of the Apostles taught from the perspective of their Jewish tradition. Jesus didn't abolish the Law, He fulfilled it. It's not that it wasn't holy and of God, just that it was fulfilled and it's strictures were no longer required. Too many people throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is a Jewish history. It is not evil. It is the parent to our own faith. What remained was the essence of the Law which is love of God and man. St Paul was not ashamed to proclaim himself a Pharisee because of his belief in the resurrection. We may no longer be under the strictures of the Mosaic Law... but that doesn't mean it wasn't still instructive for our faith in God and His ways.