Paul of Tarsus Contribution

Paul the Apostle gave us not only some of the most profound pieces of early Christian theological reflection, but also some of the finest, poignant writing in history. Throughout Paul of Tarsus’ life, he has been able to contribute to the development of Christianity through his heritage, his personal encounter with Jesus and his life as a missionary for Jesus. AD 33, before Paul converted to Christ, Christianity grew only amongst disaffected Jews. A Jew himself, Paul spoke Greek and inherited Roman citizenship. This enabled him to put Jewish ideas into the language of the Gentiles, and because of his efforts, through his missionary journey’s throughout Asia, Macedonia and the West, Christianity grew from its beginnings in Israel to the rest of the Roman Empire. Paul was raised as a Pharisee and was zealous for the Jewish Torah and its traditions, In Acts 26:5 he states … that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

Throughout his pre-Christian phase, Paul began to persecute the followers of Jesus before finding his true calling

Acts 22:3-5 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. … 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 … I … went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

19Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. Acts 9:19-22

Paul suddenly underwent a dramatic and heavenly-inspired change of heart, as shown in Acts 9:19-22. During the first phase of Paul’s new Christian