In the divine religion of Christianity, the life of Apostle Paul set a legendary example of devotion, loyalty, and commitment to the Holy Christ and the church. He was the true apostle of Jesus Christ who tried his level best to spread the Divine mission of peace and love to all civilizations and different cultures. Unlike other apostles he was the one who enlightened the Asia world with the great teachings of Jesus Christ through his ceaseless endeavor in the form of preaching. His mission was to bring humanity closer to the blessings of Christ by means of apostolic charity so as not to be confided to one race or culture but to the whole mankind (Feingold, 2009). A pure Jewish origin and an Israelite by birth, Discipleship of Paul is a perfect …show more content…
Although many authors referred to Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles, but it’s a fact that he was most probably the most significant and chief Christian preacher, evangelist, and theologian ever lived and who took the Divinity of Christianity to its new heights. According to the Book of Acts he was born in Tarsus at the close hour of Christ’s emergence in this mortal world. He was a member of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5) and also was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37;22:25). He was born in the Diaspora in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, present day Turkey. At the early age of twelve or thirteen probably at the time of his Bar-mitzvah (an age when Jewish boys become accountable for their own actions), Paul might left Tarsus for Jerusalem to study Torah under the supreme guidance of Greatest Rabbi of that time Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, a Pharisee. The Rabbi Gamaliel is considered a significant and respected person in history as he was the one who counsels against the persecution of Disciples. He was given the title of “Rabban” meaning leading rabbi of the nation or head of the Sanhedrin (Feingold,
Paul, also known as Saul, was an apostle of God who wrote the book of Ephesians and was sent to set up churches for Him. He changed his name from Saul to Paul because he wanted to start his life over, follow God, and live for Him. He wanted to start over because he was known as a man who persecuted Christians. Saul did not even notice he was doing wrong until he started to reach Damascus and a voice yelled from the Heavens saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul answered back, “Who are you, Lord?” then the Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But, rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do.” For three days Saul was made blind by Jesus and did not eat or drink. Then, Ananias walked into where Saul was staying and restored his sight, something like scales fell off his eyes and he could see. After being in Damascus with the disciples he proclaimed that Jesus is the one true God. Then, he fled to Jerusalem where he joined the disciples with the help of Barnabas, changed his name to Paul and became a missionary to Christ. He set out on three missionary journeys where on his third, he was put under house arrest in Rome for two years where he wrote the book of Ephesians. After his release, he left, went to Spain, and was eventually persecuted and martyred by Nero.
The historical cultural situation of the writer and his audience is that in this time Paul is preaching to Ephesus, and that the audience are mostly gentiles. Pauls original name was Saul, and he was an apostle who spoke the Gospel of God, to the 1st century audience/world. The author is much undeinfed, but most have found that it can be paul, and little say it was a follower of paul. His background was personally chosen by God. Gods best messeng...
There is a lot that has been said about the missionary trips of this distinguished servant of Christ which started about fourteen years after his transformation. His travels have left many Bible scholars confused about his powerful impact and how he founded of the Western Christian Church.
While many Jews continued to follow their original faith, there were several that converted to this new way of living. Origination of Christianity starts with a Jew names Jesus, here it is seen again where present times were very difficult and Jesus was able to provide salvation to the people of his community. In the Jewish scriptures a messiah was predicted to happen and Jesus was believed to be the Messiah. In contrast many people did not believe that he was the Messiah and Jesus eventually was crucified by Pagans. Despite the horrific event that took place, Jesus was resurrected and passed a long his messages from God. Jesus brought light into the lives of the poor and helped the ill, he wanted a change to happen as there were many wars and chaos present at the time. After Jesus’ death, Paul, one of his apostles, left to travel around the neighboring countries and spread the name of Jesus and his teachings. Paul was a very important individual and main contributor to the success of
Before the Pentecost, Paul was against the church and anything associated with it. He spoke badly about it and tried to destroy it. After the Pentecost, he was portraying the beliefs and preaching the gospel. Paul had to defend himself because of his past and preached that there was only one gospel of Christ and that those people who tried to ruin it should be condemned.
Paul was a Jewish man that was born in Tarus but had dual citizenship as a Roman citizen possibly due to his father’s Roman citizenship (Longenecker & Still, 2014). He was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1) and a devoted Pharisee that had permission to persecute any Jesus followers he came in contact with. It wasn’t until Paul, also known as Saul, had an encounter with Christ that completely changed his perspective on Jesus followers. Although many call this change a conversion from Judaism to Christianity, Paul describes his encounter as a call (Longenecker & Still, 2014). He did not see himself turning away from his God of Israel but having a call to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles (Longenecker & Still, 2014 & Gal. 1:15). Until years after the resurrection Christianity did not exist, it was simply a branch of Judaism. Jesus was the founder or this sect of Judaism but Paul defines the identitly of Christianity (Dunn, 2011).
Harris calls Paul “the most influential apostle and missionary of the mid-first-century CE church and author of seven to nine New Testament letters” (H G-33). It would be quite an accolade to receive such recognition, but what makes it even more remarkable is that Paul, or Saul, (Saul was his Judean name and Paul was his Roman name (footnotes B 1943)) originally persecuted the ekklesia or “church”. Paul went from persecuting the ekklesia or “church” to being its “most influential apostle and missionary”. Why and how did Paul make such a drastic change? The answer to the question can be found in various books of the New Testament including some of the letters that Paul wrote. This answer also aids in the explanation of how and why Paul argue with the Ioudaioi.
Jesus and Paul are two crucial characters in the New Testament. They both depict the Gospel on which Christianity is based upon, but there is debate about rather these two versions of the Gospel are complementary. Scholars like George Shaw claim that Paul is “anti-Christian,” and he “produced a fantastic theology” (Shaw 415-416). On the other hand, I believe that even though Jesus and Paul may present the Gospel different at times, they are still advocating the same religion. Through the understanding of the Gospels and Paul’s letters it is clear that Jesus and Paul have the same underlining goals and values.
Apostle Paul was a man who dedicated himself to the evangelism, church planting, and disciple making. This author will examine the biblical answers of relationship evangelism for contemporary churches through the research on Paul’s ministry revealed in Acts.
Throughout Paul and the Apostles journey, they reached a variety of types of people. Among those people were believers of Jesus Christ and non-believers of Jesus Christ. Approaching these churches, one thing I notice is people were willing to listen to what Paul had to say. Although some quickly dismissed him and question him because of his past as a persecutor of the Church, he reached a lot of people with the Gospel.
The early life of the Apostle Paul is a broad overview of his youth growing up in Tarsus.
Paul of Tarsus was on one occasion Jewish, but converted to Christianity. His strong will and ability to stand up for what he believed in led him to first have the courage to convert himself into Christianity, and to encourage others to do the same. He preached to a number of Jews and gentiles throughout Europe and Asia. Paul’s writings caught the attention and popularity of so many people, mainly Romans, because they were profound, in depth teachings, and words that were new and unfamiliar to many. The writings that Paul wrote accentuated the idea of Christianity being a religion for all people.
Paul, formerly a persecutor of Christians, was on the road to Damascus when suddenly God spoke to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) God asked. Paul was then blinded and led by his friends to Damascus, where a disciple named Ananias was waiting for him. Ananias cured Paul’s blindness and baptized him. From then on, Paul was devoted to spreading the Good News all over the world.
Paul's first missionary journey was to the island of Cyprus. Salamis was there first destination on the island. During his stay in Salamis Paul and Barnabas preached in the Jewish synagogues, while John also ministered with them. The next stop Paul and Barnabas made was Paphos at the almost opposite end of Cyprus. While in Paphos they found a Governor called Sergius Paulus who wanted to hear their teachings. However, the Governor had sorcerer, Elymas, in his company, who did not want him to hear the word of God. Paul being filled with the Holy Ghost admonished Elymas and said, "O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season" (Acts 13:10-11). Elymas being struck blind astonished the Governor and he believed the word of the Lord that apostles had spoken to him. After leaving Paphos John returned to Jerusalem.
The beginnings of my life are an interesting jumble, and they highlight the cosmopolitan world that was the Roman Empire. I was born in an Asian city now located on the southern coast of Turkey called Tarsus in about the year 10. My parents were Jewish, presumably strict Pharisees. They were also Roman citizens.