Impact Of Paul Of Tarsus On Christianity

Paul’s distinctive contribution to Christianity is his heresy- the doctrine of salvation by faith. A salvation available not just to the descendants of Abraham, but to the pagan, non-Jewish world as well. When he was writing to those in the Roman capital, Paul makes the declaration that proved to be the cornerstone of all his writings Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live

He became an advocate for the inclusion of the Gentiles among the true followers of Christianity. Until Paul’s challenge, Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews had to convert to Judaism and follow the law, which included restrictions and circumcision. Gentiles who worship in the synagogue but did not become proselytes were called god-fearers and were only second-class citizens in the synagogue. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision_controversy_in_early_Christianity)

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

Paul was “a Hebrew born of Hebrews,” who lived from 5 C.E. to 67 C.E. and became seen as a Jewish apostle for the gentiles or non-Jews. Paul created a new subtype of Judaism known as Jesus following Jews. Even though Paul strongly self identified as Jewish, he took it upon himself to spread the ways of Jesus to non Jews in attempt to save everyone when the world ended. He went on missionary trips to and from Jerusalem, Cyprus, Galatia, and Ephesus. Paul wrote that “There is no longer Jew or Greek… for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.

Without Paul, all of Jesus’s followers would have remained Jewish. Jesus’s disciples thought that the afterlife was going to happen very soon, so they awaited and kept on being Jewish. Paul knew Jesus’s main disciples. After Jesus’s death, Paul went out and talked with these disciples and formed a plan to spread Jesus’s teachings. Paul convinced them to start converting others, Paul was the one who organized the early converters and told them what to do. When Jesus’s disciples started to try and convert Jewish people, they remained unsuccessful and low on resources. Paul gave them the resources they needed, as he was doing very well at converting. These resources helped the other heads of the religion to start converting. They listened to Paul, and because of Paul they started to be successful at gaining more followers. Paul decided to convert Gentiles, the non-Jewish people. Paul expanded the religion from being a small branch off of Judaism,

According to chapter 3 of Christian Thought: A Historical Introduction, Paul was an apostle born into a Jewish family in Tarsus (54). Influences from his early childhood, such as his education with training outside the traditional Jewish course of study and his father being a Roman citizen, was believed to have “softened his Jewishness” (54-55). Before his conversion to Christianity, Paul was originally “Saul of Tarsus” whom had a heavy opposition to Christians, believing that “they were foolishly perpetuating belief in a failed messiah” (52, 57). It was said that Saul of Tarsus was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to take any Christians prisoner when he was struck by a blinding light, effectively turning him blind for three

Paul the apostle is known for his letters in the Bible to the church in Philippi. Paul devotes his faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to promote Christianity to the people of the Philippians. He is seen throughout the New Testament furthering God’s Word and projecting it in such a way to get fellow Jewish people to convert to Christianity. In the midst of this activity, Paul was travelling in between cities when a mob broke out against him. Israelites were furious with him spreading the Word of Jesus Christ throughout their land. The Israelites began to beat him repeatedly until the word reached the commander of the Roman soldiers. The roman soldiers immediately came to Paul and put him under arrest for a total of seven days before freeing him. Paul was charged with speaking out against the law of the land, promoting Jesus Christ among the Jewish people and disturbing the peace among the city.

It was very likely that Paul wrote his letter to the Romans around 55-56 C.E. while he was on his third missionary journey. It is also believed that he was in the city of Corinth when he wrote it. Paul was writing to the church in Rome, which at the time the members were predominately Jewish. At the time there were approximately 50,000 Jews living in Rome. They either worked as slaves or had once worked as slaves, but gained their freedom. During this time, the Jews were given special protection from the Roman government, because they did not have to partake in pagan religious festivals or worship the Roman emperors. Unfortunately, in the late 40’s the emperor, Claudius, expelled a large number of the Jewish people because of a disturbance over a man named “Chrestus.” Therefore, the church in Rome likely became highly Gentile (Winn). In the event of these actions by the emperor the leadership of the Roman church became mostly Gentile.

For some background information on Paul. His original name was Sual in Hebrews announced in the new testaments. He was yoked to a rabbi so he can become a rabbi him self. Paul converted to christianity when he saw the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the road of Damascus. During his life he created three big ministries to travel through the Roman Empire, and he did this because he was planting churches. His goal was to preach to the new Christians the word of God, and to give encouragement. Paul started his mission because the Lord asked of him to do so, and so the Lord provided him with wisdom and strength to for fill his journey.

Because Paul was the first to describe and teach about the role of Jesus in the salvation of humanity from sin, he’s known to be the second founder of Christianity. It was due in part to his influence that

The Apostle Paul (formerly Saul) is responsible for the spread of Christianity throughout the areas of Asia Minor and Greece. Through his 3 mission trips to the region Paul created a base of support for the Christian faith and implemented a support strategy for future growth. The time period for his journeys was 45 AD – 58 AD. The story of Paul is interesting from the perspective that the man best known as the author of most of the New Testament started out as a devout Jew and despised the Christian faith. After his conversion he made it his life’s work to spread the Christian message throughout the world. To this end, Paul made several mission trips to the area of Asia Minor and Greece.

It seems strange that so little is known biographically about one of the most important figures in Christian history, but this only serves to add to the mystery and grandeur surrounding the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Much, however, is known of the time after his conversion to Christ and what he did to contribute to Christianity in this period, and it is this that leaves a greater legacy than the simple facts of his life. The contributions that he made towards the cause of Christ and the spreading and formation of Christianity are what he is perennially remembered for.

Saint Paul, originally named Saul, was a crucial part in the development of Christianity. Paul, who was born in Tarsus, Cilicia, grew up Jewish and was trained as a rabbi (Adcock). Paul eventually converted to Christianity, but before he did, the future of the religion was looking very slim. Rome had made it illegal to practice Christianity. Paul was a pious Jew, so his conversion to Christianity surprised many of his followers. They viewed him with much suspicion and treated him with hostility. Paul was dedicated to his new life and made it his mission to spread Christianity throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and eventually to Rome itself. Paul made two separate journeys throughout the Mediterranean. He preached about the message of Jesus to many and sent his letters to the people he had not visited. Paul saw that his new faith had a message for everything and everyone. By converting to Christianity, St. Paul has saved Christianity from extinction, has written crucial letters about his faith, has preached to hundreds of people, has spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, has caused

St Paul of Tarsus is a significant figure in Christianity due to his major contributions of writings and letters which form a significant amount of the New Testament. St Paul is considered to be the forefather of Christianity after Jesus. Paul had a major impact on these spread of Christianity through his mission journeys, contributing to the religious traditions and helping expand Jesus’ original teachings. The reason behind Paul being a significant person in Christianity is because he contributed to the development of Christianity.

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.