Saul, one of the city's rising stars, has been accused by the Peter group of being their "chief persecutor". They claimed he was present at the stoning of Stephen, and that he encouraged the killing.
The Moon tabloid first used the "chief persecutor" label. A spokesman for the High Priest's office dismissed the allegations as "typical fabrication", and was dismissive of the Moon.
"Like the celestial body after which it is named, stories in that paper tend to be a pale reflection of the truth," he said.
Saul was "one of the great defenders of the faith. He has persecuted no one. But he has saved many from the lies of Peter and his sect, as well as helping bring them to justice. That is not persecution. That is upholding the law," he said.
Saul is deeply committed to Judaism and takes pride in "doing God's work", as he has described his efforts to curb the Peter group. "These cults have to be stopped before they get out of control. Already thousands of our people have been misled.
Every day I have parents coming to me saying their children have abandoned the family to live like vagabonds, deceived by the fantasies of that carpenter from Nazareth," he said.
When it was pointed out that he was himself a tent maker, and from Tarsus, Saul responded: "I have behind me millennia of tradition and all the wisdom and authority that goes with that. What have these yokels behind them but illiteracy and the daft notions of a Nazarene with delusions of grandeur?"
He made no apology for trying to save his people from "such mythology", he said, and drew attention to "the type of people involved in this carryon". He spoke of Peter's "well-known weakness of character. He abandoned his family to follow Jesus, and lies with great ease. Matthew robbed his own people for the Romans. James and John left their elderly father on his own in Capernaum. And Judas Iscariot sold the lot of them for a few coins, before hanging himself.
"These then are the men who expect us to believe Jesus was the Messiah and they are his chosen followers. Their beliefs are nothing more than a hotchpotch of foreign ideas, grafted on to a few fantasies, with a smattering of Judaism in the background. That Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven is lifted straight from the Persian Zorastrian religion, for instance, he said."
It was a peculiar feature of the Peter group that it favoured foreign ideas and notions so much, Saul went on. "Look at the name Peter, for example. `Simon' was a perfectly good Jewish name but it was not good enough for the Nazarene. He wanted something Greek. No man should change his name. It's what was given him.
"And look at how many women follow them around. Look at their long hair and uncovered heads. They are a thorn in the side of men who want to live decently. Next thing they'll be teaching the same lies as the men do. Do they not know God created Adam first, then Eve? That Adam wasn't the one deceived by the serpent? It was the woman. Woman was the first sinner. How quickly they have forgotten the truth, " he said.
In Jerusalem the crisis provoked by the Peter group appears to be under control. Some members remain in the city but are keeping a low profile. Others have established themselves in Samaria where one of the group leaders, Philip, has made a big impact.
There were also reports from as far north as Damascus that the group was making inroads there. Hearing this, Saul requested letters from the High Priest for synagogues in Damascus so that Peter's followers there could be jailed. He left for Damascus last night "still breathing out murderous threats" against the Peter group, as one source put it. He is due back within days.
Series concluded.