The Apostle Paul — A Founder of Christianity
In studying Paul, one wonders how a persecutor of Christians became a founder of Christianity. Paul was a follower of Jesus Christ, who converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus after persecuting the very followers of the community he later joined. Paul is better described as one of the founders of Christianity rather than a convert to it. Paul wrote seven books of the New Testament, and he was an influential teacher and missionary to much of Asia Minor and present-day Greece. Saul was the name first given to Paul, who was born in Tarsus, a center of Greek culture. Paul received his early training in Mosaic Law in Jerusalem under the rabbi Gamaliel, who was a member of the Sanhedrin.
After his conversion, Paul had an agenda, claiming that no one human told him what to do, but that it was the resurrected Christ who determined his game plan. In the New Testament, 14 letters are traditionally assigned to Paul, but scholars agree seven were written by Paul and the others were probably written by one of his disciples. The books written by Paul are: I Thessalonians, Galatians, Philemon, Philippians, I and II Corinthians, and Romans.
Paul was a pharisee who claimed he knew the law better than anyone else. Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin and the law was the Law of Moses. Paul is the most famous convert in history. Convert is not the most accurate term for Paul. At the time, there was no Christian religion for Paul to convert to. Paul said, “When among the Gentiles, I acted as a Gentile and when among the Jews I acted as a Jew.”
This does not help us resolve the question. It is better to say that Paul was called by God. In Galatians, Paul received a vision of the resurrected Jesus, who commissioned him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul would say his authority came directly from Jesus. Paul would say that his job was to bring “the good news” to the Gentiles. Paul understood that when the Gentiles turned to the God of Israel, it would be a sign of the final days. Once this is accomplished, the Jews would see the light and join (Romans 9:11)
Paul’s life and ministry were focused on everyone. He traveled his whole life and started many churches, bringing many disciples into the kingdom. Paul is credited with writing two-thirds of the New Testament. He taught us that we are saved by grace alone and not by works of the law. Paul’s invitation to us today is to meet Jesus as he did on that road to Damascus!
Prayer – Father, help me to represent You and make adjustments in my thinking and actions today as I strive to love others. Amen.
Romans 15:7 – “Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Photos: Neom, Soliman Cifuentes & Vera Davidova, courtesy of Unsplash
