Paul

Paul
Social
Social class	Middle
Occupation	Christian Executor Missionary Apostle
Nationality	Roman
Ethnicity	Jewish
Religion	Judaism Christianity
Race	Hebrew

Paul (formerly named Saul, of Tarsus) was a missionary who traveled across Europe and Asia evangelizing to the populous and sharing the truth and glory of Jesus Christ. Paul also wrote several epistles or letters to many of the churches he had visited on his missionary journeys while he was in and out of prison . Before becoming a follower of Christ, Paul worked for the Jewish Priests, ordering and organizing arrests and executions of Christians before being brought to Christ. he was from the city of Tarsus, the capital of the roman province Cicilia.

Biography

Early Life and Persecuting Christians

Paul was born into the Roman Empire as a citizen. He was born to a Pharisee , and thus was raised under a very "religious" family. He was born with the name Saul. He was educated by Gamaliel, a very prestigious Jewish rabbi. Saul considered himself a Pharisee at one point in his life.

Before his conversion to Christianity, Saul served the Chief Jewish Priests as a man who persecuted Christians. Saul was present at the trial of Stephen before the High Priests and instilled fear into many of the witnesses and collected their garments. Saul openly approved of Stephen's execution and shortly thereafter begun persecuting Christians in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem and visited a great multitude of houses and had those claiming to follow Christ dragged to prison.

Saul continually threatened and murdered Christ's followers and wanted to kill even more. Therefore he went to the High Priest and asked him for records of Damascus's synagogues so he may travel there and hunt them down and bring them to Jerusalem. After collecting records that contained personal information on many Christians, he headed towards Damascus.

Conversion to Christ

When he approached the city he was surrounded by light leaking from the clouds and begun to hear a voice. The voice revealed Himself to be that of Jesus and the voice commanded Saul to continue into the city and await for further instruction. Paul's associates became fearful and discovering that Paul was blind led him into Damascus. For the next three days, Saul was blind and did not eat or drink.

Eventually Saul arrived in Damascus and stayed at the house of a man named Judas on Straight Street and prayed. While Saul was staying there he had a vision in which he saw a man named Ananias place his hands on his shoulders and heal him. In order to fulfill Saul's vision, God went to Ananias and asked him to go to Saul and heal him. Since Saul was considered a terror by many Christians, news had spread of this all across Israel even to where Ananias was afraid to confront the persecutor. Soon Ananias listened to God (because Paul was chosen to spread the Gospel to Israel), and so he went to the house he had been told to go to. Immediately after placing his hands on him, the covering fell of his eyes and his sight was restored. He then confessed his faith in Christ and was baptized. After this he began to eat again and fully recovered.

Early Ministry

Ministering in Jerusalem

After recovering, Saul spent several days in Damascus and spent most of his time with fellow believers or preaching in the synagogues. Though he was questioned by many, Saul grew in his faith more and gained a larger reputation. Since Saul was preaching the Gospel many became offended and so the Jews were plotting to kill him.

Saul learned of the plan and both day and night Jews awaited by the city gates to kill him. Paul's followers took him at night and lowered him through a hole in the wall in a basket. When he arrived in Jerusalem he attempted to join with other Christians, but only recieved fear that he was not really a follower of Christ. Barnabas, an associate of the Apostles, decided to take Paul to the Apostles and told them of his conversion to Christ . So Saul lodged with the Apostles and went about in Jerusalem. While there he conversed with the Hellenistic Jews (Greek Jews), whom eventually tried to kill him.

After the believers heard of Saul's deeds they accompanied him to Caesarea and from there he went off back to his home town Tarsus.

Preaching in Antioch

While Saul was in Tarsus a church was established in Antioch. News of this arrived in Jerusalem and after Barnabas personally went to investigate the church, he traveled to Tarsus to find Paul. Once Saul was found, he went up to Antioch with Barnabas. For an entire year Saul worked with the church and preached to the people of Antioch.

During his year in Antioch, a prophet named Agabus prophesied that a famine would come about upon the Roman Empire. Many of the Christians who were able gathered up supplies to help with relief in Judea. Saul helped with this by having many of the gifts sent to him or Barnabas personally to be managed and distributed.

After Saul had gathered supplies, he traveled to Jerusalem. After delivering the relief supplies he returned to Antioch with Barnabas and brought Mark with them.

At the end of the year in Antioch while Saul was worshipping the Holy Spirit called for him and Barnabas to be sent off on the work of the Holy Spirit.

First Missionary Journey

In Cyprus

So Saul and Barnabas, with Mark, went down to the city of Seleucia and then sailed to the island of Cyprus. They first stopped at the city of Salamis and preached the Gospel in the Jewish synagogues .

They traveled across the whole island until they arrived at the city of Paphos, where they met many false prophets. There was also a sorcerer named Elymas, who was trying to turn people away from their faith. Paul was moved and filled by the Holy Spirit and then proclaimed to Elymas that he was an evil and malicious child of the devil and would be temporarily blind. Immediately he became blind, and the Roman Proconsul who was also present believed because of this.

Being led by the Holy Spirit, Paul and associates then left Cyprus and sailed to Pamphylia. There Mark left them.

Pisidian Antioch

After his unspecified ministry in Pamphylia, they went to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath Paul entered the synagogue there, and after listening to a liturgy of the Pentateuch and the Major Prophets, the priests asked Paul if he would had any words to speak.

Paul stood up motioning with his hands and asked for the Israelites and Gentiles who claimed were God believers to listen to what he had to say. Then Paul continued to give a prolonged account of Israel and its history and how out of all the Old Testament events there was preparation for Christ.

As Paul and his associates left, those listening to him invited him to come speak more on the next Sabbath.

So Paul returned for the next Sabbath and almost the entire city gathered to hear what God had to say through Paul. The priests of the synagogue became jealous of the crowds Paul attracted and so they began to state contradictory statements and became abusive of him. Paul responded to them boldly that they had to speak the Word of God and this lead to many Gentiles believing. So the Jewish convinced the city officials to persecute Paul and his associates and kicked them out.

Iconium

Paul left his past troubles at Pisidian behind and then were lead to go to Iconium. As he usually would, Paul went to the synagogue at Iconium and brought many Jews to believe. However, many refused to believe and turned many against him. Paul spent a very long period of time there preaching and was enabled by God to perform miracles. With the city divided another plot (out of the countless ones planned against Paul throughout his ministry) arose against Paul and so he fled to Lycaonia.

Lycaonia

There in Lycaonia they preached the Gospel. In the city of Lystra (a city in the region of Lycaonia), there was a lame man who listened to Paul's teaching and seeing he had the faith to be healed, called for him to stand on his feet and he walked.

After the people saw Paul's deed, they began to think that he was the greek god Hermes, since he was the one speaking. Because of this, a priest went to their temple and brought sacrifices to appease Paul. Seeing this Paul ripped his clothes and despair and shouted to the crowd that he was only human proclaiming God. Even after this the crowd still had difficulty accepting his mortality.

Soon after Jewish people from other areas that Paul had previously preached in came and convinced the crowd of his heresy. Then Paul was stoned and dragged to outside of the city to be left to die. Fortunately for Paul, the disciples found him and he got up and went back into the city he had just been stoned in. Then the day afterwards he went to the city of Derbe.

There in Derbe a large number of people were won over.

Return to Antioch

Then Paul returned to the places had traveled prior and strengthened those who had became followers of Christ, even aiding the local churches by appointing leaders . After going back through Pamphylia and preaching in Perga they went to the water-bordering Attalia and from there, Paul sailed back to the place he originally was commissioned in Antioch. Paul then gave the accounts of his missions and stay there a long time with the believers there.

Characteristics

Jewish Faith

Before converting to Christianity, Paul was intensely involved in Judaism, so much that he was deeper beyond many his own age and was extremely zealous about following tradition. He followed the influence of the Jewish High Priests, and spent most of his time persecuting the Christian church and trying to destroy it.

Christian Faith

Paul was very knowledgeable of the Gospel, in which he learned not of human-origin but rather from Jesus Christ. Paul was chosen by God, even before his birth, to share the Gospel with the Gentiles (despite his speaking skills not being professional-quality).

References

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