The apostle Paul along with Peter are names synonymous with the birth of Christianity. (The word Apostle means one who is sent) Paul was an enthusiast for spreading the word of Jesus and was considered the first great Christian missionary. Inspired by the Holy Spirit and the promptings of Jesus to take his message to the ends of the earth, he set about travelling hundreds of miles around the Mediterranean sea by boat and on foot, planting churches and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. He was a prolific letter writer and wrote many epistles of guidance and encouragement to the early churches at Ephesus, Corinth, Collosae, Thessalonica, Phillipi, Galatia and Rome, all of which he had visited. These letters form a solid body of thirteen of the twenty seven New Testament books, these writings constitute the first Christian theology.
At the outset Paul (whose name at that time was Saul) would have been described as a Zealous Pharisee. The Pharisees were a very strict religious sect, were very learned and well versed in matters of the old Jewish law of Moses. Jesus reserved particular criticism for the Pharisees because of their self-righteousness, their showiness and their tendency to condemn those deemed to have sinned with harsh punishments such as stoning or imprisonment. This tendency to condemn rather than show forgiveness and grace led Jesus to call them hypocrites on a number of occasions, not least because the Pharisees themselves were often guilty of the same sin for which they punished others.
Paul was high ranking and scholarly, an enthusiast for the law which meant that he also believed in those things and was instrumental in persecuting the early Christian sect and its teachings which he considered blasphemous. The book of Acts hints that Paul may already have been subject to misgivings about his harsh treatment of Christians before his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Paul was carrying letters authorizing him to arrest and imprison any Christians he may find there. On route he experiences a flash of light from the sky which blinds him for a while and he hears a voice which asks "Why are you persecuting me"? Paul replies "Who are you"? Again a voice "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting"? How must he have felt being faced by somebody whom he convinced was dead. In obedience to Jesus he is led to Damascus where a Christian disciple Ananias prays with him, restores his sight and baptizes him.
At his conversion Saul of Tarsus takes on his Christian name of Paul and even today when something is revealed to us we call it a "Road to Damascus experience" or we say "The scales fell from my eyes" Paul suddenly realized that Jesus is the Messiah, a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesy and he began to see his Old Testament teachings in a completely new way and on which he was to later write. Some aspects of Paul's writings cause controversy even today particularly around gender and sexuality issues but these are far outweighed by his contributions on the nature of love and the importance of faith and grace by the workings of the Holy Spirit.
He revealed the true significance of the crucifixion and resurrection, believing Jesus to be God, the sacrifice for redemption and reconciliation that was foretold in the scriptures. He worked by the power of the Holy Spirit to begin building the church and inspired their creeds. The work to be undertaken by Christians is best expressed in Paul’s writings on love found in 1 Corinthians 13 which are some of the best known in the bible and are commonly used at wedding celebrations.
Paul’s four missionary journeys are recorded in the book of Acts and are centered on taking the Christian message to the gentiles in Asia minor and Europe. He traveled through modern day Turkey, Syria Greece, Crete, Malta, Italy, Macedonia and used every opportunity to preach the gospel. He had a trusted team of helpers such as Barnabus Timothy and Priscilla who helped him along the way. He went to key cities on trade routes so that the word would spread throughout a whole region. Many apostles were left behind on route in order to start up Churches. In addition to preaching, the apostles performed healing's and miracles, took offerings for the poor, planted churches and debated with Greek philosophers and many people were converted to Christ along the way.
They endured great hardships as they went, courted controversy, upsetting some Jews for teaching to the gentiles, were stoned and left for dead, caused riots for upsetting commercial interests, suffered shipwreck and were imprisoned by the Roman authorities. The book of Acts ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome and because he was also a Roman citizen was able to claim the right to appeal to Caesar. Though not recorded in the Bible it is believed that after his release he went on further journeys but was finally arrested and executed around A.D. 68
SOME THOUGHTS What a remarkable thing that a man so intent on persecuting the small band of early Christians should go on and do more to spread the new faith across the region and subsequently the world (via the Roman empire) than any other. Extraordinary that he and his loyal group of Apostles should endure such hardship, place themselves in mortal danger and suffer opposition, ridicule, violence and incarceration in order to further the teachings of Jesus. It would have been more common for a leader to order others to endanger themselves to further their own power, wealth, territory or ideology. We have received the good news of the gospels because of the sacrifice that Paul and the early apostles made. Our laws and culture are based largely on the Judeo Christian values which Paul exported including democratic government where we are free to accept or reject ideas at will. Paul was driven by the Holy Spirit to new understanding and insight. The same Holy Spirit is available to each and every one of us today