The LIFE of the APOSTLE PAUL
Paul’s religious zeal received much encouragement from his home, for his father was a Pharisee which Paul also later became. His training under Gamaliel would only intensify his zeal in Judaism. Because of Paul’s testimony that he “gave my voice against them” (“voice” meaning vote), some believe Paul advanced so much in his religion and in his acceptance by his religious peers that he became a member of the Sanhedrin. Whether a member of the Sanhedrin or not, Paul was certainly in close and respected association with them; for he could request and obtain authority from them to pursue his persecution of believers into other countries.Being from Tarsus, Paul would be a member of the Cilician synagogue in Jerusalem. When the dispersed Jews came back to Jerusalem, they organized synagogues according to their former cities and countries.Hence, we read in Scripture of the synagogues in Jerusalem “of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them in Cilicia, Paul’s country.