Saul of Tarsus

Saul was a Jewish man who lived during the early days of the Christian church.

He was a scholar who spent a lot of time studying Jewish religious law. He was very zealous for the Jewish traditions and learned more about the laws than the other men his age.

Saul hated Christians and spent a lot of time persecuting them.  He was present at the time of the stoning of the apostle Stephen, witnessing it and giving his approval of it.

That same day a great religious persecution broke out and Saul went house to house dragging out Christians and throwing them in prison.

He really believed he was doing the right thing and that by destroying Christianity he could protect the Jewish traditions he so dearly loved.

He did so many other violent acts towards Christians on a regular basis that his reputation was known far and wide.

The last time he tried it, he went to the high priest and asked for paperwork to take to the synagogues (Jewish houses of worship) in Damascus. He wanted to gather up any Christians there and take them back to the prison in Jerusalem.

As he neared Damascus a bright light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground.

A voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Saul asked who it was.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and I will tell you what you must do.”

Saul got up and immediately realized he was blind.

His traveling companions helped him get to Damascus where he stayed for 3 days without eating or drinking anything.

Then, The Lord spoke to a Christian in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord told him to go to the house where Saul was staying and to ask for him.

Ananias was hesitant because he had heard of Saul and knew of the many bad things he had done to Christians. He also knew Saul had come to Damascus for the express purpose of arresting those who believed in Jesus.

The Lord told Ananias to go anyway because He, The Lord, had chosen Saul to be the one who shared the gospel with the Gentiles. This was especially significant because up until this time the gospel had only been shared with the Jews.

So Ananias went, spoke to Saul and told him he had been sent there by the Lord so that Saul could receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see.

He got up and was baptized. Then he ate and regained his strength.

After his conversion he began sharing the truth of who Jesus is, announcing Him to be the Son of God. He traveled around establishing churches and sharing what he had learned.

In Acts 13:9 we learn that Saul was also called Paul. Scripture references after that refer to Saul only as Paul. He is now commonly called the Apostle Paul.

Later, Paul wrote several letters and sent them to churches or people he knew.

Called Epistles these letters were written to either educate them or correct them in areas where they’d strayed from the truth. These epistles are now included as books of the New Testament Bible.

They include Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. (<–You can click on their name or you can go here to look them up –>BibleGateway.com)

We do not know for sure when or how Paul died, but common tradition says he was decapitated for his faith around 63 A.D. in Rome Italy.

 

For Further reading:

This narrative is from the book of Acts. You can read the entire story of Saul/Paul’s Conversion in Acts 9

Acts 6:8-15 Stephen falsely accused
Acts 7:1-53 Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin
Acts 7:54-60 Stephen’s stoning
Acts 8:1-3 Persecution breaks out
Acts 9:1-31 Paul is Converted
Galatians 2:8 Paul says he is called to witness to Gentiles