St. Paul's Influence On Christianity

Paul’s Influence on Christianity

In the early first century, Saint Paul traveled around the Middle East and surrounding areas to spread Christianity. Although he helped people while he was alive, his legacy and influence still live on today. Many churches are named after Paul, his letters are read in services all around the world, and his own story is responsible for many conversions in people today. Even though he is now known for the great things he did in his life, he did not always aid the Christian cause. Surprisingly, he started out persecuting Christians. He began by killing Christians, but ended up dying for Jesus. He changed his whole way of life just for Christ, which influences people to turn to God. His leadership and

conversion play an extremely important role in the spread of Christianity. He influences people to convert to Christianity with his own conversion story, his letters have spoken to people and made them realize what they need to do, and he traveled around the Middle East spreading the word of God.

Saint Paul, also known before his conversion as Saul of Tarsus, influenced Christianity by traveling and spreading the word of God.

His excursions took him all around the eastern Mediterranean (Sanders). Paul believed that his mission and the reason for his vision was to spread Christianity to the Gentiles, then to the Jews (Sanders). As he traveled around and preached, he taught about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and about how He is Lord (Sanders). Although some say he spoke to large crowds, others believe he was not a very skilled public speaker (Sanders). Some experts think he would talk to others while constructing tents, something he was very good at and that did not make much noise, and people would gather around to hear his words (Sanders). The followers of Saint Paul experienced large transformations in their lives (Jewett). They felt spiritually enthusiastic, and had hope that what they spoke would soon be viewed as true

(Jewett).

One of Saint Paul’s most recognizable achievements of influence is the letters he has written. Help!!! Out of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament, thirteen are attributed to him (Sanders). About half of the other fourteen letters are about his actions in the Acts of the Apostles (Sanders). The letters Paul wrote were written as replacements for when he could not be there for the churches (Jewett). After his letters were written, positive changes were becoming very clear for the congregation (Jewett). He would write while traveling so he could continue to encourage the people he helped convert, and he would answer their questions and fix their problems by sending the letters along with helpers (Sanders). These letters sparked various reactions from people with many different beliefs (Jewett). The letters changed some people for the better, Help!!! ; or , ??? their problems were solved and they grew closer to God (Jewett). Others began believing that Paul was like a god himself (1 Cor. 1:12). In the Bible, some people of the time would talk about who they were following on this Earth, like Paul or Apollos, when in actuality, they needed to follow Christ (1 Cor. 1:12). Although many different people feel many different ways about the things that Paul wrote, “[he] had enormous influence on subsequent Christianity and secured his place as one of the greatest religious leaders of all time” (Sanders).

Although Saint Paul was killed as a martyr for Jesus Christ, he began his life as a persecutor of Christianity. He was born to a Jewish family that named him Saul, and he received a Jewish education, which meant he did not believe that Jesus was Christ (Schaff). He persecuted Christians thinking Jesus was a fake Messiah, a blasphemer, and someone who was rightly killed (Schaff). Eventually he gained enough power from the Sanhedrin to arrest and kill the disciples of Christ (Schaff). With those abilities, he set out for Damascus, which was home to many synagogues (Schaff). While traveling, he encountered a blinding light (Sanders). This light turned out to be a message from Jesus, sent by God (Sanders). The message said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me” (Acts 9:4)? Jesus instructed Saul to go into the city where he would be told what to do (Acts 9:6). As Paul got up, he was unable to see, and he stayed blind for three days as he traveled into the city (Acts 9:8-9). As soon as he reached Damascus, he was baptized, his sight was restored, and he became known as Paul (Jewett). His vision influenced him to convert to Christianity, the religion he used to persecute (Jewett). Alone, the story of Paul’s conversion has convinced many people to become Christian, even today. Many people are encouraged by the fact that he used to be such a terrible person, but converted to a religion of love and life. Jason Adamowicz, a man who was baptized but grew up not participating in his faith very often, was influenced by Paul to embrace his Catholic faith. As he was first researching and trying to learn about the Catholic Church, he came upon Paul’s letters in the New Testament (Adamowicz). They caught his attention and caused him to read more about Paul (Adamowicz). As he was researching, he read about Paul’s conversion, and gained hope for himself (Adamowicz). Jason said, “It gave me hope because he persecuted Christians and Christ still reached out to him. Christ turned Paul into a great apostle and Paul committed his life to teaching others about our Lord” (Adamowicz). Paul’s story shows us that even the people who commit the gravest sins can still be changed into loving God.

Saint Paul was one of the most influential people ever to teach about Christianity.

He shows us that even the worst sinners can learn to love God with everlasting love, the letters he wrote give us ways to improve ourselves, and he traveled around preaching the word of the Lord. Without Paul, Christianity would not be as developed as it is today. Most likely, Christianity would not have spread all over the world as fast as it did. Eventually, it would have circulated, but with Paul, it expanded at a much more rapid pace. Paul helped transform Christianity into something that is widely spread throughout the world.

Bibliography

Adamowicz, Jason. Personal Interview. 11 April 2017.

Jewett, Robert. "Paul the Apostle." Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., vol. 10, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 7013-7021. go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=munc80314&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3424502385&asid=0a1547c7906a2e4bcdabc5e495176c1e. Accessed 23 March 2017.

Sanders, E. P. "Saint Paul, the Apostle." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 29 December 2011, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle. Accessed 27 March 2017.

Schaff, Philip. “Paul Before His Conversion.” Bible Hub, Bible Hub, 2004, http://biblehub.com/library/schaff/history_of_the_christian_church_volume_i/section_30_paul_before_his.htm. Accessed 11 April 2017.

“St. Paul.” Catholic Online, Catholic Online, 2017, http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=91. Accessed 11

April 2017.