Mr. Peter Earnest, museum director and former CIA clandestine operations officer, introduced speaker Col. Rose Mary Sheldon to an audience of about fifty visitors. Present were some members of the intelligence and academic communities, as well as a number of people with a general interest in Paul. Col. Sheldon spoke for about an hour, followed by a Q&A session and a book signing.
Unfortunately some visitors did not agree with the content and left early. I hope the next time anyone who disagrees with the theory will share his objections, so we can have a healthy debate.
I would like to clear up one important misunderstanding that has arisen with regard to the theory in the past as well. I did not base my thesis on Robert Eisenman's work. He has said that Paul, being a sincere apostle, worked with the Romans to secure his position.
My - our - thesis is that Saul of Tarsus never converted and became an agent-provocateur, handled and protected by the Romans. In other words: we think he probably remained an agent all along. This is a very different interpretation of Saul's life and work that to our knowledge has not been considered before - except by some of Paul's contemporaries, who tried to kill him various times.
I have described the way I came to my conclusions in my MA Thesis, which was published as Alias Paulus in the Netherlands in 2002.
I would like to thank the International Spy Museum for organizing the event and for having me. It was a great evening, which I hope will be repeated at other venues. I look forward to meeting you there.
Mr. Earnest and the author from Holland.
