What is not noticed is that this tale implies either a stupendous claim on the part of the narrator or a confession of total agnosticism. Either it implies that the narrator is in the position of the king among the blind men: he knows the reality after which the religions of the world blindly grope. In that case we must ask him to share this knowledge with us, and allow us to test its claims. Or else it implies total agnosticism: the reality after which religions grope is unknowable.

In the meantime Peter is experiencing another vision in which all the dietary rules he had been taught all his life as distinctive of his identity as an Israelite were swept away. This signified that the barrier between Jew and Gentile was abolished through the Cross of Christ. The people of God were to be multi-racial and international. Then the Spirit commanded him to go with the three men who had come for him.

The first stage we may call the stage of defense. Saul was educated in the best Jewish and Greek schools of his day. He was a Pharisee and a Roman citizen. His family must have been of some wealth and position. He demonstrated a cruel zeal to eliminate the followers of Jesus. His revered teacher, Gamaliel, counseled leaving the Christians alone but Saul had Stephen stoned to death, and pursued a vendetta beyond Jerusalem. What caused this fanaticism?

In Acts 8 Philip escapes from persecution in Jerusalem and went to Samaria where he preached the word of the Gospel of Christ and prayed for those possessed by evil spirits, and those who were crippled. He brought healing and joy wherever he went. One of his converts was a local celebrity, Simon, a sorcerer, who had quite a following. Simon, we are told, believed, was baptized and followed Philip everywhere. He jumped onto the bandwagon of this new movement.