April 07, 2006

Acts 5:17-42 A Cooler Head Prevailed

Like our Congress the Sanhedrin was not made up entirely of scalawags and idiots. Gamaliel, thought to be Paul's teacher, was obviously a cut above the generality of the ruling body, who in these stories of Jesus saw the handwriting on the wall for their own position. They stood against the will of the people (as our Congress so often does) but did not dare to defy it openly at this point.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Its interesting that Paul's teacher should be more open minded than Paul. I guess apostles make poor disciples.

I understand Gamliel is somehow related to the Rabbi Hillel -- whose weisdom teachings influenced rabbinical Judaism.

crystal said...

Interesting about Gamliel - wikipedia actually has a page on him. It begins ...

Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. He was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He died nine years before the destruction of Jerusalem (63 A.D.).