What kind of religious man was Paul when he was a Pharisee?
He was not merely nominal but a religious fanatic, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, the epitome of a Judaistic Jew who practiced the Jewish religion to the hilt.
Les explains that Paul was a deeply religious man—a religious fanatic. As Paul lays out in one of his letters, likely Philippians, he was an Israelite, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day. He was the epitome of a Judaistic Jew and practiced the Jewish religion to the hilt. He was a Pharisee.