Besides Paul, were there any other enemies of the early church who converted to Christianity?
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In Peter's sermon at Pentecost he accuses the members of his audience of delivering up Jesus to be crucified:
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:22-23, ESV)
Concluding remarks end on their guilt for crucifying Jesus.
"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." (Acts 2:36, ESV)
The response of the crowd was to be convicted:
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:37-41, ESV)
Why would a crowd of Jews in close historical proximity to the crucifixion be cut to the heart over an accusation of crucifying Jesus, and repent and be baptized, if they were not in some way involved in the crucifixion itself? The simple answer is that they were involved in the persecution of Jesus, and therefore of early Christianity.
Whether or not this meets the definition of persecuting the early church depends on your definitions of "the early church" and "persecution."
But secondarily, what is difficult to prove in specifics is easier in statistics. Rome was not sympathetic to Christianity, and generally did persecute early Christians. And yet, the church achieved explosive growth that took the form of abandoning one's former lifestyle. Are we to believe there was zero overlap between these two groups?
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