Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and insolent: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
All Commentaries on 1 Timothy 1:13 Go To 1 Timothy 1
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Why then did other Jews not obtain mercy? Because what they did, they did not ignorantly but willfully, well knowing what they did…. Thus their love of power was everywhere an obstacle in their way. When they admitted that no one can forgive sins but God alone and Christ immediately did that very thing—forgive sin—which they had confessed to be a sign of divinity, this could not be a case of ignorance. But did Paul act out of such ignorance? … Paul did not act, as some other Jews did, from the love of power, but from zeal. For what was the motive of his journey to Damascus? He thought the doctrine pernicious and was afraid that the preaching of it would spread everywhere…. It is for this he condemns himself, saying, “I am not fit to be called an apostle.” It is for this he confesses his ignorance, which was a consequence of his disbelief.
