Saul was born into a Jewish family. At an early age, he was trained about the Mosaic Law under the tutelage of a great rabbi, Gamaliel ("The Conversion of St. Paul", 2018). Saul was an excellent student, and he was able to absorb the insights that his teacher taught him. Thus, Saul has been well-admired by the Pharisees because of his intelligence and his zeal for the Jewish faith and its tradition. Saul was also a successful businessman, earning enough money from making tents.
Since Saul had a zeal for the Jewish faith, he detests those Jews who were enticed to follow a new religion called Christianity, previously known as the New Way. Since he grew up believing that God favors only the Jews, Saul did not like the Christians, and he ordered the persecution of Christians. Stephen was one of those that Saul ordered to be killed. Saul instructed his people to stone Stephen. While Saul can be considered a murderer, many believed that it was, in fact, the death of Stephen that initiated his conversion. According to St. Augustine, when Stephen prayed for his persecutor (Longenecker, 1978). Thus, the transformation took place while Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest many of the followers of Christianity. However, on his road to Damascus, he encountered a very bright light that threw him off for a loop. Chapter 9 in the book of Acts, it narrated Saul’s encounter with God. According to this accounting, Saul was asked by a voice as to the reason why Saul was persecuting Him. The sound identified itself as “Jesus.” This encounter led Saul to be blinded. Despite this circumstance, Saul continued to Damascus.
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While in Damascus, Saul prayed. Ananias, a Christian believer, was called by God to send a message to Saul and cure him of his blindness (Macartney, 1961). At first, Ananias was hesitant fearing for what Saul might do to him and the rest of the Christians. However, the Lord assured Ananias of his safety. Ananias went to follow the will of God and lay his hands on Saul to cure him and deliver the message of God. Upon putting Ananias’ hand on Saul, two scales fell off from Saul’s eyes, and soon he regained his vision. This event led Saul to be a believer of Christ, which did not go well with the Jews. Soon, Saul was also persecuted by the Jews and to keep himself from being identified Saul assumed the name of Paul.
References
Longenecker, R. (1978). The ministry and message of Paul . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House.
Macartney, C. (1961). Paul the man, his life, his message, and his ministry . [Westwood, N.J.]: F.H. Revell, Co.
The Conversion of St. Paul. (2018). Retrieved from https://catholicexchange.com/the-conversion-of-st-paul
