Bassler 's Book Navigating Paul Provided Interesting Perspectives On The Well Known Character

Joe Michael Pleasant New Testament Survey January 29, 2016 Paul or Saul The man that was once known as Saul is one of my favorite bible characters in the whole bible. He was by far one of the most influential people in the book of acts, and all of the New Testament. Saul was the modern equivalent of a Islamic radical pushing his religious agenda. He was a monster. The lowest of the low in the scumbag world would be hands down Saul. On top of being the tool of extermination for Satan in Jerusalem, shortly after the death of Christ, he was also extremely religious. He was a Pharisee. While extremely well educated in the religious practices of Judaism, Saul was differently a hypocrite. He completely pushed is religious agenda while he completely

St. Paul, other known as Saul, never actually lived the life any of us would hope for. As a young child Saul learned to work with his own hands and create tents. Before his conversion to Christianity, he went out and arrested those who believed in Christ. While he was out arresting many, he also persecuted some of the Christians. Also, Saul was one person who approved the stoning of Stephen. Lastly, God appeared to him and he had a conversion of heart.

From what we know about Paul, he was not one of the biggest fans of Christianity before his conversion. Though, as our text recognizes, there isn’t much knowledge of Paul’s life before becoming a follower of Jesus, and much of it is sourced from the Acts. We do know that while Paul was a Jew his name was Saul. Scholars theorize that he was a Jewish missionary. We know that he was raised to be Jewish, and he was a Pharisee. Our textbook elaborates that Saul was, in fact, a very dedicated Jew. He wrote in one of his letters “I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors” (Gal 1:14). Scholar Johnny Awwad goes as far as to suggest that Paul was an apocalyptic

Prior to this class I viewed Paul as the iconic missionary. He acted with bold faith and truly relied on the Holy Spirit to work on his behalf. This faith is a rarity in the world or it is faith that I do not see among my peers at least. He acted with fearlessness, boldness, and acted with selflessness to elevate the Gospel. He cared more for the cause than himself and his comfort.

There has been much discussion surrounding the name change from Saul to Paul beginning in Acts chapter 13. It is shown throughout the New Testament after Saul’s conversion that he called himself Paul and only used the name Saul when he referred to incidents that occurred prior to his conversion. Other commentaries attribute the name change to Saul’s desire to not share the same name with wicked King Saul from the Old Testament who persecuted David, Jesus’ ancestor. Many significant people in the Bible were referred to by different names such as Jesus’ disciples Matthew (Levi), Simon (Peter), Abraham (Abram), Sarah (Sarai), Jacob (Israel). The Bible does not offer a reason why Saul changed his name to Paul or indicate whether it was inspired by God or not. The timing of the change of name leads us to believe it was because of his conversion and desire to abandon his old nature and walk in the calling God placed on his life.

Paul is one of the most important figures of Christianity, he is known as the second founder of Christianity. He challenged early Christian communities by preaching to Romans and Gentiles with a new view to the Followers of Jesus. He had no physical contact with Jesus

Paul was originally known as Saul of Tarsus, and a rabid persecutor of Christians. On the road to Damascus, he is said to have been visited by the resurrected Jesus, and struck blind. After his vision cleared Saul took the

He was characterized by profound thinking and as a reasoner, he would have had a memorable place among men who have influenced the world. It is fair to infer from what he has written though on the subject of religion, and though directed by inspiration, what his powers of mind were in this respect.Paul was born a Jew in the city of Tarsus, capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. This made Paul, then known as Saul, a Roman citizen with all the rights and privileges that went with it, including execution by a sword (otherwise he could have been crucified, as were Jesus and Peter). Saul studied religion and Jewish law in Jerusalem, and one of his teachers was the great scholar Gamaliel.

When we dissect the beginning of Christianity, two characters come into action: Jesus and Paul. While Jesus is viewed by many Christians as the founder of the religion whose life laid the framework of Christianity, Paul is viewed as the great leader of Jesus’ mission, delivering that mission in the most unique way. Paul originally named Saul was not a Jew, but a pharisee who persecuted Jews. Until he met Jesus on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus., he was struck with blindness for three days and waited for a follower of Jesus with the name Ananias to heal him of his blindness. Subsequently after

Paul was originally dedicated to persecuting Jesus and his twelve disciples around Jerusalem. When Paul was on a mission he made his way to Damascus while doing this, Jesus appeared in front of Paul and was struck

Paul’s interpretation of first-century Judaism which began in the 1970s started a scholarly debate that persisted in the twenty-first century, A “new perspective” on Paul’s seemingly negative attitude toward the Torah-observant Judaism which many scholars advocated and began the religion in which Paul was raised. Paul believed that some of the critics compared a legalistic view of Judaism which was law-keeping that was dominated by fear of divine punishment, against the Gospel of divine grace, faith, and redemption that was created by Paul.

The death of Stephen in Acts chapters seven and eight is an interesting passage that can leave readers quite perplexed – so much takes place in such a short narrative. Stephen’s martyrdom bears an uncanny similarity to the death of Christ in Luke chapter twenty-three; it seems as if the Greek-speaking Jews that condemned Stephen are the same as those who were in favor of executing Christ. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this passage though, is the introduction of Saul, who appears in the narrative almost unexpectedly, leaving the reader wondering about his significance in the death of Stephen. Through this transitional story, Luke shows

The purpose of Pauls Letters were to keep in contact with the churches and to resolve any problems or questions they had. Paul mainly wrote to communicate with distant churches, to encourage, to persuade, to inform and to respond to events that he had heard about. Paul’s writings formulated key teachings about the nature of the Church. He taught about how Christ lived in them and by their baptism and the Holy Spirit they were able to contribute to the Christian community. Paul mainly wrote about the issues in society and how to help the churches when they were in need. Paul didn’t believe that the Gentiles need to

Even Paul’s background and the basis of who he was is heavily debated. According to Acts 22:3, Paul was born in Tarsus, but raised and educated in Jerusalem by the pharisee Gamaliel. As he was raised in the Jewish church, he became a prominent Jewish leader, with his main focus on persecuting those who followed Jesus (Acts 8:1-3,

Paul, whose original name was Saul, took the name familiar to us after his conversion to Christianity. Paul never met Jesus during his brief years of ministry, but he was perhaps Christianity's most important early convert and the first major missionary to preach the Christian gospel to non-Jewish people. Saul was born around 10 C.E. in Tarsus, in modern-day Turkey. Unlike Jesus' other early followers, Paul was a Roman citizen, which granted him a certain respect wherever he went in the empire. He was a tentmaker by trade. After his conversion, he traveled extensively through most of the Mediterranean world. He died between 62 and 67 CE. Paul's birthplace was the Hellenistic city of Tarsus, chief city of the Roman province of Cilicia. Paul,