Paul The Apostle Of The New Testament Religion Essay Essay Example

Paul The Apostle Of The New Testament Religion Essay Essay Example Paul The Apostle Of The New Testament Religion Essay Essay Paul The Apostle Of The New Testament Religion Essay Essay Paul the Apostle is one of the most of import people in the New Testament. He wrote more books in the New Testament than any other writer. This adult male did non get down out as the individual he was in the terminal nevertheless, for he was non ever a Christian or lover of them. For a individual to cognize who they are and where they come from is one thing, but to merchandise all one knows in for a different individuality, life, and faith is something else wholly. Paul lived a life that was life changing, every bit good as universe changing, to those he came into contact with. Paul was a really difficult and rugged adult male and would non hold made it through everything he encountered if it had non been for ; the manner he was raised as Saul, his transition to Christianity, and his ability to put the mission of God before his ain. Paul was born as Saul in the metropolis of Tarsus, a commercial metropolis in Asia Minor, located non excessively far from the Mediterranean seashore. He more than probably was named after the first male monarch of Israel, King Saul. His female parent and male parent were Judaic, his male parent being a Pharisee from the household line of Benjamin, the boy of Jacob. Being born and raised in a topographic point like Tarsus made him cognizant of many other types of people from all walks of life. He encountered crewmans, soldiers, merchandisers, affluent and poverty afflicted people. He besides learned the trade of collapsible shelter doing while turning up in order to gain a nice life. In the tradition of the household during that clip, whatever the male parent did as a trade the boies did besides. The fabric industry of that twenty-four hours, which included collapsible shelter devising and outer garments, did a reasonably moneymaking profession back so due to the presence of the crew mans and soldiers normally necessitating shelter from the elements. Not merely was Saul born a Jew but he was besides a Roman citizen. No 1 knows for certain ; nevertheless it was Roman jurisprudence that if a individual was born free anyplace in the Roman Empire so they were Roman citizens. When males were born to Jewish parents they were dedicated to the service of God and brought up in really rigorous Jewish spiritual usage. Saul s female parent read the Torah to him until around age four or five and so his male parent became his instructor for a twelvemonth. By the clip he was about six old ages old he was taken to school to larn the instructions of Moses in Hebrew and Greek, memorising them as the instructor recited them. This took a batch of difficult work and concentration on a immature kid s portion but this is how serious his parents were about their tradition and spiritual belief. At 14 or 15 old ages old it was away to rabbinical school to analyze under Gamaliel, who was considered the maestro Rabbi. After analyzing under Gamaliel he became a Pharisee, for he said of himself in the bible ; Work force and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the boy of a Pharisee ( Acts 23:6 ) . ( Nelson ) In the passage of analyzing in Tarsus and so analyzing in Jerusalem, Saul discovered that to be a Pharisee meant something wholly different. He had learned that in Tarsus, it meant to detect the instructions of Moses and its readings by the Rabbi. In Jerusalem it meant to be a separationist and legalistic in your positions refering the Law. This is a major turning point in the life Saul. These work forces sought to ache or even kill anyone who opposed them or name them out on their incorrect making. This is the advanced instruction Saul now received and had a fire in his bosom to transport out this new criterion of belief and instruction, this belief system that exchanged the spirit of the jurisprudence for the missive of the jurisprudence. Unlike the individual he was a f ew old ages before he now becomes a deranged, heartless, spiritual overzealous that desires to destruct anyone that believes openly what is contrary to what he believes. He gets to the point where he non merely kills Christians but because of his deep hate for them, he besides rounds them up to convey them into the metropolis for anguish, amusement and athletics. He goes all out oppressing Christians for what he believes is right ; things like acquiring written permission to drag people from their places to convey them to Jerusalem ; until one twenty-four hours he has an experience on the Damascus route. ( Boyd ) While going from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to round up Christians, Saul had an experience he would neer bury. As he rode down the Damascus route, all of a sudden he fell off the Equus caballus he was siting and a bright visible radiation shined all around him. ( Acts 9:3-4 ) ( Nelson ) So bright in fact, that he was blinded by it. He heard a voice he thought to be a adult male but subsequently recognized that it was non a adult male but the really Christ he persecuted by oppressing the Christians. This was another major turning point in the life of Saul. He now goes from oppressing, killing, whipping, and tormenting Christians to going one. His sightlessness lasted for three yearss and so he was healed of his sightlessness by the puting on of custodies as it had been antecedently told to him. His name now is changed from Saul to Paul and he leaves Damascus and goes to Arabia in order to acquire to cognize the God of his redemption personally. He knows who God is by the missi ve of the written jurisprudence but now needs to cognize Him by the spirit, so he gets off for about three old ages to pass clip with God. After Paul returns to Damascus he proves custodies down that Jesus is the Messiah, merely like Jesus said He was, and the Jews at that place tried to kill him because he now preached the truth of the jurisprudence they knew and recited. Paul s get awaying with his life from this decease effort became the accelerator to him traveling from topographic point to topographic point and metropolis to metropolis distributing the Gospel. He was nevertheless, made an Apostle, and commissioned to prophesy the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, the Grecians and all the non Judaic people, and change over them to Christianity and non the Jews. ( Boyd ) Paul began to go on what is known as his missional journeys throughout Asia Minor meeting multiplex crises and near decease experiences. He forged really strong relationships with work forces and adult females of similar passion for God and His work every bit good as set uping many churches and put ining curates to supervise them as he traveled. He visited the churches he established and wrote letters to them when he could non physically be at that place. These letters came to be known as the Pauline epistles in the New Testament. These same letters serve today as way and counsel for holy life. Paul the Apostle was shipwrecked several times, attacked, arrested, beaten with rods, and left for dead ; yet persevered until he had accomplished his mission. Absolutely nil but decease would maintain Paul from carry throughing the fate that was his to finish and he did non gustatory sensation of decease until he knew he was ready. However, when the clip had come for him to decease they execu ted him. Normally, they would hold crucified him but it was improper to crucify a Roman citizen, so he was beheaded. Paul the Apostle was a great adult male in history and his life lives on through the pages of Holy Scripture. ( Boyd ) Citations Boyd, Robert T. Paul the Apostle. Iowa Falls: World Bible Publishers, 1995 Holy Bible: King James Version. Nashville: Nelson, 1999