I used to say insulting things about Jesus. I tried to hurt his followers, and I even used violence against them. But God had mercy on me because I did those things without knowing any better. I wasn’t a believer.
When he found him, he brought him back with him to Antioch. For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught large numbers of people. It was there at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
I often went from one synagogue to another to find them and punish them. I even tried to force them to speak against Jesus. I wanted so badly to hurt them that I even made trips to foreign cities to look for them.