The Calling of Saul of Tarsus

The Calling of capital of Minnesota of TarsusA leading tormentor of Christians, Saul of Tarsus sought to destroy the Church (1 Cor. 159 Gal. 113, 23). Except for Jesus, no mavin influenced the early church more than Saul, excessively kn suffer as the apostle capital of Minnesota. This paper will examine the circumstances and exits prompting a zealous persecutor of the church to become the approximately powerful leader for the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles. It will be shown that the handicraft of Saul was a true transition even though he was non contemptible from one morality to a nonher. His handicraft emphasized change exclusively emphasized the conviction that the final expression and intent of Judaism had been born(p).capital of Minnesota was born a Jew, and was a citizen of Tarsus where he was a tentmaker by trade. He real his rabbinic training in capital of Israel, under the teaching of Gamaliel. According to Pauls own account, he was a strict adherent among Phari perk ups (Gal. 114, Phil. 35-6). Paul inherited Roman citizenship (Acts 222528), which was widely granted during the latter dowry of the Roman republic. Paul claims in Acts 2228, that he had been born a Roman citizen. This would mean that he had inherited Roman citizenship from his father. Little is cognize of Pauls life prior to the events discussed in Acts. He is first mentioned in chapter 7 in connection with the execution of Stephen. According to Acts 758, the witnesses rigid their enclothe at the feet of a young man named Saul.Paul was a Pharisee, a prominent young member of that sect. Steeped in the mo nonheism of the Old will Scriptures, he could only count as blasphemy the claims of Jesus disciples that their Master was the boy of idol. He could only ridicule the issue of a life that terminated, as he thought, on a despised cross and in a gloomy sepulcher, rather than on a throne of glory. With sham to Pauls pre-Christian stance to the gospel, one thing is cer tain he was opposed to it with his whole heart. In his apostolic letters he speaks of his previous hatred for the church (Gal 113 Phil 36). His persecution of Christians was to him a holy war. The only explanation that rouse be given of his sudden reversal is that the risen Christ very appeared to him and by the sheer persuasion of His deity, claimed the faith and allegiance of the persecutor.Pauls conversion/calling to the Way took place near the city of capital of Syria. Four characteristics stand bulge out in the accounts of this event. First, Paul was actively engaged in persecuting Christians and did non cry his conversion (Acts 919 22416 26917). Second, the event that initiated the unhoped change of course was a revelation of Jesus Christ make to Paul alone. Third, Soon subsequently this revelation Paul had contact with a certain Christian (Ananias) in capital of Syria who recognized Paul as a believer in Christ by baptizing him. Fourth, Paul was promptly called by Jes us to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (1 Cor. 91 1589 Gal. 11516 cf. Eph. 316).Pauls Damascus produce becomes the most famous conversion/calling in history. Suddenly he is blind by a light from heaven the light of the glory of Christ. His withdraw from to Jesus was instantaneous and complete What shall I do, Lord? (Acts 2210). He could not see because of the glory of that light (Acts 2211), however he had already seen the light of the knowledge of the glory of idol in the typeface of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 46). The god of this world could blind him no longer.At his conversion/calling, Paul was assureed to open the eyes and turn them from trace to light (Acts 2618). Although Paul was blinded after his encounter with the Lord, Ananias laid hands on Paul, or sothing like scales fell from his eyes (Acts 918), and he was able to see. He had first-hand knowledge and experience of turning from darkness to light, and his command from the Lord was as gull as his newly regained s ight.Content to hang to Pauls blindness and recovery as historical events, Luke wishes by a weighty narration of carefully selected facts to make it clear that Pauls meeting with Christ is not to be classed with other visions, however supernatural, but is to be accepted on a par with the otherappearances of the Risen Lord. So Paul goes from opposing divinity fudge and persecuting Jesus to joining the persecuted side. After sp finishing several years with the disciples at Damascus, Saul went into the synagogues and boldly proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God (Acts 920).Krister Stendahl argues that a proper interpretation of Romans 7 shows that Paul, as a loyal Jew, had experienced no struggle or guilt feelings that would fork up led him, through with(predicate) dissatisfaction with the righteousness, to turn to Christ.Neither did he suffer from an introspective conscience..Stendahl prefers to regard him as someone who did not abandon his Judaicness for a new religion but, rather, as a Jew who was given a new vocation in service of the Gentiles.The description, in Acts, of Pauls sudden conversion on the roadway to Damascus is primarily the creation of Luke Pauls biographer. Lukes description of Paul is not impartial recital either, for it was intended to dramatize the early churchs journey from Judea into the gentile world. In some ways Luke downplays Pauls claims, but he uses Pauls life and mission to illustrate the quite a little of Christianity. Many of the inside information of Pauls life come from Luke since most biographical details are missing from Pauls own letters. Lukes description of Pauls conversion draws on the Hebraic Bible for themes of prophetic calling, paralleling the commissioning of Jeremiah (Jer. 15-11) and Isaiah (Isa. 61-9).Pauls calling, and ultimate conversion to Christianity, depicts the decisive change Paul experienced. Not only was Pauls conversion/calling remarkable with respect to his view of Jesus, but in his att itude toward Gentiles. Judaism is rise known for its exclusivist attitude. It was unlawful for a Jew to have fellowship with one who is uncircumcised. on with his conversion he received a prophetic commission to permute the gentiles. It is inadequate to speak only in harm of Pauls conversionas if he were moving from one religion to another and likewise only in terms of his callas if he were continuing in an unaltered faith. The conversion-call combination emphasizes both tenaciousness and change.Stendahl challenges the appropriateness of conversion language because Paul has not changed religions, that is, he neer turns from loyalties to the God with which he began. While the answer might seem clear enough, working with Stendahls assumptions complicates the task and furthermore, Luke nowhere explicitly defines conversion, nor provides a consistent dominion of entry into the church. When he does specify the means by which one joins the group, he is generally rounding out narrat ive portions which demonstrate the overarching effects of preaching. He does, however, offer sufficient material for us at least to lot the nature of a changed relationship with God, and ask whether the change constitutes conversion. Although we customarily set this experience Pauls conversion, this can be done only in retrospect, for at that time Judaism and Christianity were not yet separate religions. In reality, Paul changed brands of Judaism, switching from Pharisaic to Christian Judaism. One of the main ways that Luke demonstrates Sauls changed relationship with God is to show this change in group affiliations. That is, while not an end in itself, his new corporate identity promontorys to the ultimate reality underpinning his change.What is straightforward is the fact that the gospel message is beginning to extend beyond Jerusalem and Judea. Paul inhabits that world of Christianity which he formerly tried to exterminate through the killing of Stephen. However, it was Step hen and his circle, not Paul, who launched a mission to Gentiles.Pauls missionary enterprise is not framed in generalities, as it is in Acts 18 (to be my witnesses) and Acts 915 (to carry my name). In Acts 22 and 26, Paul is say to testify specifically about what he has seen and heard on the road to Damascus. The missionary charge to preach before kings in Acts 915 is Lukes anticipation of the way he closed Pauls public ministry by having Paul preach before King Agrippa (Acts 261-32), and it is suggestive of a Pauline appearance before Caesar (cf. Acts 2311, 2510-12 and 2723-24.)Since Paul is the keen missionary to the Gentiles, it is appropriate that his conversion/call immediately precede the ecumenic spread of the gospel. Hence, Luke introduces it immediately before the movement of the gospel into the Gentile world, as the conclusion to the Palestinian mission.What were the consequences of this event for Pauls theology? The most difficult indecision to solve was, What impact does the Christian Gospel have on the creation and observance of the Law (Torah)? This question is still disputed today. The basic trouble is that Paul seems to be vacillating between two concepts of law, a Jewish concept and his own Christian concept. Paul called his new concept the law of Christ (Gal. 62). The law summarized the Scriptures in another way, by regarding the esteem command as the common denominator. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Gal. 514). As Paul attempted to make sense of Christian theology, the Damascus event provided an unexpected answer to an old Jewish question Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of gentiles also? Because Christ enjoin Paul to preach the gospel to the gentiles, Paul could now answer boldly Yes, of Gentiles alsoConclusionWhen reading Acts, one is struck by the instantaneousness of Pauls activity as an apologist and theologian for the Christian community after his conversion (A cts 920-22, 28-29). His theological views were already so profound as to be irrefutable by his first-century Jewish opponents (922). Neither the brevity of the Damascus event nor the three short days of blindness following it allowed for a new theological education. Therefore the encounter with Jesus must not have required the abandonment of his former learning, but informed and reoriented it toward a new understanding of salvation-history around some key theological point revealed to him in the event.It was Pauls conviction that if one read the Torah story, emphasizing it as a story of Gods works of salvation and righteousness for ancient Israel, then one could not escape seeing that God had wrought another salvation, and committed another righteousness, in Christ just like the ones of old but an even greater one Paul was so excited by his belief that God had committed a new, mighty act in Christ, that he just could not understand why everybody did not see it the way he did. For Paul, as for Jeremiah, it was a question of how you think.The New Testament contains six summaries of Pauls conversion experience (Acts 91-30 221-21 261-23 Gal. 113-17 1 Cor. 158-10 Phil. 34-11). Paul also alludes to the event on the road to Damascus several times (Rom. 102-4 1 Cor. 91, 16-17 2 Cor. 34-46 516 Eph. 31-13 Col. l23-29). Those references emphasis the significance Paul placed on his conversion experience and for determining his ministry.