The Conversion Of Saul Essay

Jewish people adopted the Hellenistic religious practices of worshiping Greek idols. A group of devout Jews revolted and out of that struggle a Jewish nationalistic movement was born. Jewish sects like the Pharisee which Saul belong to zealously desired to protect Jewish faith. Saul theological understanding stem from his desire to protect the roots of the founding fathers of their Jewish faith. The basis of his faith stem from belief that the Jewish people as God’s s chosen people were the sole…

According to Flemings’’ he asserts “The experience of the early church in the book of Acts might serve as a crucial paradigm for the process of contextualization.” (Flemmings’, p.25). In essence, the process of contextualization was a necessary component within first century missionary church. The book of Acts provides many interesting events that revolved and involved early Christian experiences within the church. Flemmings’ noted that “Acts is a cultural product in that participate in the…

St Paul St Paul, originally named Saul, was born in Tarsus, Cilicia and grew up in Jerusalem, where he studied the Hebrew Scriptures under Gamaliel (a leading authority in the Jewish religious establishment). Being raised as a Pharisaic Jew, during his early life he was a Pharisee - a group of Jewish people who controlled the law. Saul did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and thought all these messages about him was rubbish so in his early life, he was a persecutor of the church and also a…

Caravaggio painted this to hang on the narrow wall in the Carasi family chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo. This painting illustrates Saul falling off his horse and hears the words “Saul, Saul why persecutes thou me?” (Acts9: 4)(Sayre703). This painting symbolizes where Saul seen a bright light from the sky and it blinded him for three days. The light in this painting falls on Saul lying on the ground with his hands up in the air, as if he were pushing on something. However with Saul’s hands up…

We first meet Saul during the murder of Stephen. While Saul took no active part in Stephen’s murder, he watched in approval as these Jewish leaders took off their coats, laid them at his feet, and stoned Stephen to death. The stoning of Stephen marked the beginning of the great persecution of the Christians. This persecution was so great, that the Christians fled Jerusalem and went to Judea and Samaria. Notice in verse 8:4 that these Christians who were scattered went and preached the Good News…

On the road to Damascus—likely 32-35 A.D.—to persecute Christians, the risen Lord appeared to him (Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14) asking “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” This event in combination with the ministry of Ananias, and a later vision in the temple of Jerusalem, confirmed him as Apostle to the Gentiles. His conversion was followed by three contemplative years in “Arabia” (Gal. 1:17-18) where he rethought his life/theology from a Christocentric perspective. This contemplative…

However he was not always known like that previously he was known as Saul of Tarsus the persecutor of Christians. Reference will be made to Saint Paul’s conversion from Christian persecutor to one of the most important figures in Christianity and the impact it has had on the religion. The life and times of Saint Paul, his conversion and missionary journeys and what that did for Christianity. The impact…

I have enjoyed reading all the passages and commentaries about the first Christian martyr, Stephen. It has really been eye opening and God has showed me some amazing things through this study. Before I get into anything I just want to summarize what I read. In the book of Acts, early church members in the church in Jerusalem were giving their money freely to help the poor. But this caused a bit of a problem because the church was growing so fast that some of the widows in the community were…

Introduction Something that was really important in Church history was the spreading of the word of God. Many people have dropped everything and went out and told people about who God is and how to live in a lifestyle that is devoted to God. Jesus has told us, in Matthew 28, to go out and share what we have learned from him to all the nations. There are so many people who have taken this commandment to heart and as a result have impacted Church history and also have made an impact on how…

Logos v. Mythos As melodramatic as it is to start this paper with “Throughout the course of history…” I find myself doing just that. For it truly is throughout the course of history that the act of storytelling has been practiced. Furthermore, the teachings of philosophy and theology have been practiced throughout the ages. For these reasons, to make the sweeping statement that; storytelling (Mythos) and reason (Logos) have truly affected mankind’s view of history since the beginning of…