Paul Essay
Paul of Tarsus – Essay
Paul of Tarsus is one of the most significant persons in early Christian times due to his enormous impact and contribution to the Christian tradition. He went from being a destroyer of Christians to a committed Christian leader. Paul’s contribution to Christianity mainly comes from his missionary journeys that helped spread the Gospel, his letters and writing that make up about one third of the New Testament and the depth and influence of his teachings e.g. justification by faith.
Paul was born in Tarsus in Asia Minor around 10BCE, as Saul. He was a Roman citizen and was of the pharisaic tradition - a Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law. Paul was disgusted by the Christian movement as he, along with all other Jews, believed that Yahweh was the one true God and therefore Jesus was seen as a blasphemer. He began persecuting the followers of Jesus for straying away from Jewish tradition and believed he was doing the will of God. It was not until his trip to Damascus that Paul underwent a dramatic and heavenly inspired change of heart. According to Acts 9:4, Paul was blinded by a bright light then heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him. This revelation convinced Paul that God had indeed chosen Jesus to be the promised messiah. Following this, Paul was guided to the city of Damascus where a man known as Ananias was given instructions by God to lay his hands on Paul. He was instantly healed. Paul was baptized and changed his name from Saul to Paul. Through his dramatic conversion he was able to find truth from Jesus and began to share these new truths with the early Christian churches on his missionary journeys.
The missionary journeys of Paul were of great impact to the early Christians communities as it was through these that Paul established many churches throughout the Roman Empire and further spread the Gospel of Jesus. Paul went on three major missionary journeys as recorded in the book of
Paul of Tarsus is one of the most significant persons in early Christian times due to his enormous impact and contribution to the Christian tradition. He went from being a destroyer of Christians to a committed Christian leader. Paul’s contribution to Christianity mainly comes from his missionary journeys that helped spread the Gospel, his letters and writing that make up about one third of the New Testament and the depth and influence of his teachings e.g. justification by faith.
Paul was born in Tarsus in Asia Minor around 10BCE, as Saul. He was a Roman citizen and was of the pharisaic tradition - a Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law. Paul was disgusted by the Christian movement as he, along with all other Jews, believed that Yahweh was the one true God and therefore Jesus was seen as a blasphemer. He began persecuting the followers of Jesus for straying away from Jewish tradition and believed he was doing the will of God. It was not until his trip to Damascus that Paul underwent a dramatic and heavenly inspired change of heart. According to Acts 9:4, Paul was blinded by a bright light then heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him. This revelation convinced Paul that God had indeed chosen Jesus to be the promised messiah. Following this, Paul was guided to the city of Damascus where a man known as Ananias was given instructions by God to lay his hands on Paul. He was instantly healed. Paul was baptized and changed his name from Saul to Paul. Through his dramatic conversion he was able to find truth from Jesus and began to share these new truths with the early Christian churches on his missionary journeys.
The missionary journeys of Paul were of great impact to the early Christians communities as it was through these that Paul established many churches throughout the Roman Empire and further spread the Gospel of Jesus. Paul went on three major missionary journeys as recorded in the book of