Essentially, they were a small sect within Judaism. They represent Paul's own version of events, and it seems reasonable to accept them as the more reliable account. No, we don’t need to adopt new names, but we should accommodate ourselves to our audiences (and we mean here audiences as small as one person). John, [its author] is a seer and has been given a revelation of what is going on in heaven. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it. BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But behind the paradoxes and the puzzles, there are fascinating glimpses of the man. Antioch in Syria which was the third biggest city in the Roman empire and becomes the center of the movement to expand this new Christian sect - this sect of Jesus the Nazarene. If blustering winds do blow aloft, He says that he didn't go to Jerusalem immediately but that he went off to Arabia. But like all great and charismatic figures there is another side; the Paul who berates his followers for backsliding and doubting; the Paul who tells women to keep silent and condemns homosexuality and the Paul who'll stand up to the Apostle Peter, one of the most senior people in the early church and call him a hypocrite to his face. But perhaps the true sign of Paul's importance is that even nearly 2000 years after his death he still inspires passion; whatever you feel, it's hard to feel neutral about Paul. And if by chance to snow or rain, This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Where there is sin, sickness, disease and the devil, these will be eradicated. After his conversion, Saul changed his name to Paul. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is believed to have happened in 36 AD. Just a quick look at the headlines of his life are enough to understand his impact; his works are some of the earliest Christian documents that we have, 13 of the 27 books of the bible are written by him, and he's the hero of another, Acts of the Apostles. With its fantastic visions of heaven, its gory stories of the future, its impenetrable signs and symbols, many a reader has given up in exasperation in the attempt to fathom out its mysteries. (1 Cor 9:19-23; see also 1 Cor 10:33, Rom 15:1). The Damascus Road experience was both a conversion and a call. And the message he hears there is that after all, God is indeed in control, through Jesus his Son, who has conquered death through his own victory over death. Paul's life was remarkable and there is little doubt that it changed the course of Christianity. But after his conversion Saul determined to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, so he dusted off his Roman name and became known as Paul, a name Gentiles were accustomed to. Then will be dear all sorts of grain. For example, when St Paul talks about his conversion he makes no mention of a journey from Jerusalem to Damascus. Unlike other early Christian missionaries, Paul earned his own living wherever he went. Yet the utterly bizarre nature of the claims that they were making is easy to miss after two thousand years of familiarity with Christianity. He stays with Peter for two weeks and presumably learns a little about Jesus from him. Precisely what happened has been hard to determine as the accounts in Acts and the letters differ on the details. It was a conversion away from his previous life as a zealous persecutor of Jesus' followers and it was a call to a new life advancing the cause of the new movement with even more vigour than he had shown before. Unlike the instance of Jesus changing Simon’s name to Kepha (Gk. He made an impact as apostle, as theologian, and as letter-writer. They've come up with a picture of Paul who'd be a man of his time and place; a hot headed Mediterranean who'd be quick to defend his honour and the honour of his followers, but who'd demand loyalty in return. We want to speak to people in their own styles, so far as we can, and we want to address their particular concerns. Paul was an extremely passionate Jew and he often uses the word 'zeal' of himself. So why did people like Paul persecute Jesus' followers? I have become all things to all, to save at least some. Reading Paul's letters and Acts of the Apostles we learn that Paul was born in Tarsus, in modern day Eastern Turkey, he was a tent maker by trade, was an avid student under the top Jewish teacher in Jerusalem and was also a Roman citizen. It was simply intolerable to zealous Jews like Paul that God's special envoy could have died a criminal's death. In his letters, we also discover the Paul who writes warmly of his friends, both men and women, the Paul who frets about how the members of his churches are coping without him and who defends their status as true converts and the Paul who appeals for the freedom of a slave. That God's Anointed One could have been so publicly humiliated seemed outrageous. What we know about Paul comes from two extraordinary sources. To the weak I became weak to win over the weak. Jews like Paul, who lived outside the Jewish homeland, were called diaspora Jews. Saint Paul is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of the Western world. Following Christ was a Jewish movement; he was a Jewish Messiah. The letter is to be delivered by Phoebe, the first deacon we know of in the Christian church. Dr Mark Goodacre, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, University of Birmingham. But was brought up outside of the homeland and was also at home in Greek culture, fluent in Greek, and had at least some understanding of the Greek or Roman cultural traditions. Paul's martyrdom in or around 67 AD is commemorated by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans and Eastern Orthodoxy on the 29th June each year. You can get some idea of Paul's passion when you read the letter in Galatians. In this section Dr Mark Goodacre, Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Birmingham, explores the biblical references to Paul. These earliest followers of Jesus were devout Jews who continued to offer sacrifice at the Temple and to observe the whole Jewish Law. Paul the apostle had expanded the church far and wide, flinging open the doors to Gentiles, strenuously fighting for his conviction that the gospel was for all people and that no barriers should be put in the way of Gentiles. Historical Context Saul of Tarsus possessed perfect qualifications to be an evangelist: He was versed in Jewish culture and language, his upbringing in Tarsus made him familiar with the Greek language and culture, his training in Jewish theology helped him connect the Old Testament with the gospel, and as a skilled tentmaker he could … The importance of Paul's conversion, his turn-around from persecuting Jesus to preaching Jesus, cannot be underestimated. The tradition is that women were submissive but at the end of Romans a letter of Paul's tells a different story. Paul gives us a brief description of what happens after his experience on the Damascus road. Academics are trying to piece together these scraps of information with a new technique that's rather like a combination of sociology and forensic anthropology. Paul was born in Tarsu (now in the south east of Turkey) to a Jewish family. Saint Paul is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of the Western world. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. The second source is Paul's own letters. But it seems that there was a very strong movement amongt the followers of Jesus to convert Gentiles [non-Jews] into Jews.