Why did Saul persecute the church?
Saul of Tarsus was totally religious, a Pharisee devoted to Judaism and the Mosaic Law. He saw Jesus of Nazareth as an imposter destroying the bulwarks of his faith, so he sought to stamp out the church in the name of religion, believing he was doing God a favor.
Les teaches that Saul of Tarsus was totally religious, an absolute believer of the Old Testament, Judaism, and the Mosaic Law. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew through and through. Yet he hated Jesus of Nazareth with a passion because he felt Jesus was an imposter trying to destroy that which was his whole life. He believed Jesus was destroying the very bulwarks of Judaism, and the only way he could do God a favor was to overcome it and stamp it out with persecution. He did this in the name of religion, and Les warns not to lose sight of that.