Identity Theft by Ron Cantor Page B

on a Christian one.”
    “But Paul,” I jumped in, “is a Latin name and was popular in Rome long before Christianity. If anything, it would be connected to Rome, which was pagan and polytheistic.”
    “Right David, and let’s not forget. At the time that Paul was preaching, Rome was anything but a friend to the believing community. In fact, Rome became the primary persecutor of the body of believers, the Kehilah, for the first three hundred years.”
    Just then a gray-haired English vicar appeared on the screen. He was addressing his congregation:
    “The Roman emperor Nero had the believers tied to poles in the garden, covered with tar and set on fire to illuminate his garden parties. And then he would take other believers and sew them into the skins of wild beasts and set dogs on them to tear them to bits to entertain his guests. And I have stood in that garden and wondered how many believers died a horrible death for his barbecue parties.” 2
    “It is highly unlikely that Saul changed his name to reflect this barbaric culture. What’s more, if Saul truly changed his name from a Jewish one to a Roman one, then why did he wait so many years after coming to faith to do so?”
    “Then why does it say he was also called Paul?” I asked.
    “Let me ask you this,” Ariel replied. “Do you have a Hebrew name?”
    “Of course. Anyone who grew up in a Jewish home outside of Israel knows that it is common for Jewish people to have two names, one that relates to the culture in which they live, and a Hebrew name. Mine is Chaim.”
    “Ah, Chaim, a great name. It means
life
,” Ariel commented, then continued. “When Saul was traveling in non-Jewish areas, he used his Roman name, Paul, and when in Israel or amongst Jews, he used his Hebrew name, Shaul. Saul is its Anglicized equivalent. Notice the passage doesn’t say, ‘Saul, who changed his name to Paul,’ but rather, ‘Saul, who was also called Paul’—as,
in addition to
, not
instead of
.
    “Some of the smartest Bible teachers in the world miss this simple fact. This pastor you are about to see (a man standing behind a pulpit appeared on the flat screen but in pause mode) is an excellent Bible teacher and he loves Israel. He and his church have given sacrificially to Jewish believers. But listen to him in a recent message.”
    Ariel played me just one sentence. I couldn’t tell you the context of his sermon but I simply heard him say: “Saul was on the road to Damascus. That is what his name was
then
.”
    “Here is another one. This man’s messages are listened to by millions every week online.” Another man appeared. “Paul, his
original
name was Saul…”
    “This fine preacher, well-versed in the Scriptures, simply assumes that Shaul changed his name. If people so bright can miss this simple point,” Ariel noted, “how easy has it been for the enemy to rob Saul, the second most prominent figure in the New Covenant, of his Jewish identity and thus confuse the nature of the New Covenant for Jewish people?” Ariel noted. “Earlier I mentioned James to you,” Ariel said, switching subjects.
    “You said his name was actually Jacob.”
    “Good, you’re paying attention!” Paying attention was an understatement. I felt like I had a supernatural ability to absorb information. “Well I want you to meet Jacob, the physical half-brother of Yeshua.”
    The screen of the massive tablet lit up again and a handsome man in his thirties said to me, “Yeah, they sure did a job on my name. ‘James,’ for Heaven’s sake! No one ever called me James, not growing up, not ever! If they had, you might assume I was the butler or the chauffeur!” James was laughing. “But nope, I’m Jewish and grew up in Galilee.”
    “You…grew up…with…
Yeshua
?” I tentatively asked, making sure I used the name that Jacob would have known Him by. How surreal it was to be talking to someone who actually grew up in the same house as Jesus!
    “Yeah, and it wasn’t