ST.
PAUL THE APOSTLE
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ
Jesus. St. Paul
Project by
Ryan Rajesh Year
7
LIFE STORY
INTRODUCTION
Paul the Apostle commonly known as Saint Paul or his Jewish name Saul
of Tarsus was an apostle (although not one of the Twelve Apostles) who
taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. Paul is generally
considered one of the most important figures in the mid-30s to the mid-
50s AD. He founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He took
advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to
both Jewish and Roman audiences.
According to writings in the New Testament and before to his conversion,
Paul was dedicated to persecuting the early disciples of Jesus in the area
of Jerusalem. In the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles (often referred
to simply as Acts), Paul was traveling on the road from Jerusalem to
Damascus on a mission to "arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem"
when the resurrected Jesus appeared to him in a great light. He became
blind, but after three days his sight was restored by a holy person by the
name of Ananias. Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the
Jewish Messiah and the Son of God. Approximately half of the book of
Acts deals with Paul's life and works.
EARLY LIFE
St Paul, also known as Saul, was Jewish, coming from an extremely
religious Jewish family. He was also born a Roman Citizen in Tarsus,
Cilicia, South Turkey. He grew up in Jerusalem and was brought up by a
man named Gamaliel, a leading authority in the Jewish religious
establishment (Sanhedrin). In addition to learning religious scriptures, he
also studied Greek philosophers and well knew the Stoic philosophers,
who advocated a virtuous acceptance of life as a path to happiness. In his
daily life, he was a tent maker.
During his early life, St Paul was a Pharisee – a group of Jewish people
who administered the law. He admitted to participating “beyond
measure” in the persecution of Christians. This included taking part in
the stoning of Stephen, a Christian. Acts 7:58-60; 22:20. One reason St
Paul was so critical of the new sect which followed Jesus Christ was the
fact he was appalled that Jesus died a ‘criminal’s death’ on the cross. He
couldn’t assimilate that with how a Messiah would be treated.
CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY
Around 31-36 AD, St Paul tells us how he became converted from a
persecutor of Christians to a follower. However, on the road to
Damascus, he reported to being blinded by a vision of Jesus Christ.
He heard the voice of Jesus Christ, asking Saul, “Why persecutest thou
me?” Saul replied, “Who art thou, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest: hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
For three days after the vision, he remained blind and started fasting. He
later healed of his blindness by a Christian – Ananias of Damascus. After
his vision and healing, he proclaimed the divinity of Jesus Christ and
dedicated his life to spreading the Christian message. St Paul explained
that he was a servant of Jesus Christ and his unexpected conversion to
Christianity was due to the grace of God and not reason or knowledge.
St Paul became involved in disputes about medicine and doctor beliefs
amongst the early followers of Christ. St Paul taught that old religious
rites, such as circumcision were no longer necessary. St Paul taught that
faith in the power of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save sinners,
was the essence of Christianity.
SPREADING THE WORD
7 of his relatives are
QUICK FACTS
mentioned in the
St Paul threw himself into missionary work.
Bible.
Over the next few years, he travelled to He had a strange
Damascus and later Jerusalem. eating habit of only
eating fish with
He made several missionary journeys around scaled on.
the Mediterranean where he sought to spread His original name
the teachings of Jesus and offer support to was Saul but
changed it to Paul
the growing Christian community. St Paul
when converted to
visited many places such as the island of Christianity
Cypress, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, all Half of the New
in Asia. Later, he travelled as far west as Testament in the
Spain! He later made Ephesus the central Bible is dedicated
to St. Paul
place of his missionary activity.
He is called an
apostle but isn’t
During a visit to Athens, he gave one of his one of the original
most memorable and well-documented disciples. But he
speeches; it became known as the Areopagus still worked with
Sermon. It can be found in Acts 17:16-34. St them a lot.
Paul was dismayed by the number of Greek
gods on display. In speaking to the crowd, he
criticized their pagan worship.
