The Apostle Paul and His Role in the Development of Christianity

The Apostle Paul and His Role in the Development of Christianity

The Apostle Paul is known as the greatest missionary of the early church. Paul, who once vowed to wipe out belief in Jesus Christ, was later converted to do the work of Christ. He would author almost half of the 27 books in the New Testament. He endured sickness, rejection, and repeated attacks on his life to bring the message of God's grace and forgiveness to Gentiles. Paul was the apostle largely responsible for the solid inception and growth of Christianity. He spoke before Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Paul is known as the apostle to the Gentiles. He defended God's Word before kings and emperors of this world. By the end of his life, much of the Mediterranean world had been reached with the gospel.

The early life of the Apostle Paul is a broad overview of his youth growing up in Tarsus.

During this part of our seminar we will cover Paul's schooling under Gamaliel, the leading scholar in Israel during the first century A.D. This part of Paul's life will describe his eyewitness account of the stoning of Stephen, and his early persecution of the Christian churches.

Angered by his futile efforts to stop the spread of Christianity, Paul prepared a trip to Damascus, where he had heard many Christians were hiding. Not only were they hiding, they were also preaching Christ in the synagogues there. So, accompanied by a troop of armed temple guards, Paul rode out of Jerusalem to the city of Damascus, which was about one hundred and fifty miles away. As they neared the outer edge of the city, a shaft of light much brighter than the noonday sun suddenly fell upon the little company. The group fell to the ground trying to protect their eyes from the blinding light. A voice from heaven spoke to Paul. "Paul, Paul, why persecutest thou me?" Then Paul asked, "Who art thou, Lord?" The voice replied, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest." Then Paul asked what he should do. Jesus answered "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Paul was blinded for three days and neither ate nor drank during that time. In Damascus, there was a certain disciple named Ananias. The Lord came to him in a vision. In that dream the Lord commanded Ananias to look for Paul and put his hands on him that he may receive his sight.