The Conversion of St Paul

Each January 25, we celebrate the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, probably the most seminal event of the early Church. 

Saul, a student of the great Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel the Elder, zealously sought out and killed Christians, that was until his 'Road to Damascus' moment when he encountered our Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to him in His resurrected glory (Acts 9:1-9) asking him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" - and Saul was never the same again. From being an obsessed self-righteous anti-Christian, he went on to become the most ardent missionary in the history of the Church spreading the Gospel of Christ to both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Saul was born into a well-to-do Jewish family, from the house of Benjamin, in the Roman city of Tarsus in Cilicia (in modern-day Turkey). In keeping with Jewish traditions, on the eighth day, he was circumcised and received the Hebrew name Saul. His birthplace Tarsus automatically earned him the privilege of being a Roman citizen, to which the Roman Empire's laws granted a great distinction and several exemptions. 

Around the age of 12 or 13, Saul began to study the Law of Moses in Jerusalem under Gamaliel the Elder, a member of the Sanhedrin and one of the most respected Pharisees and Doctors of Mosaic Law of his era. It should come as no surprise then that Saul was well-versed in Judaic, Roman, and Greek traditions, laws and cultures.

 

When Saul was in his early twenties, Jesus of Nazareth began His public ministry during which He openly criticized the rigid interpretations that the Pharisees held about the Law of Moses - telling them that while they were busy enforcing the Word of the Law, they violated the Spirit of the Law. Jesus was crucified three years later when Saul was about twenty-five. 

Two years later Saul emerged as a self-righteous young Pharisee, almost fanatically anti-Christ in zeal. He believed that the trouble-making new sect of Christ's followers should be mercilessly hunted down and stamped out with its adherents punished with death. 

He said in Jerusalem before the tribune: Acts 22: “I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as you all are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders bear me witness. From them, I received letters to the brethren, and I journeyed to Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.”

Before Herod Agrippa in Caesarea, he said: Acts 26: “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem; I not only shut up many of the saints in prison, by authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme; and in raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”

In the book of Acts of the Apostles, we see that Saul was present at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen, one of the seven holy deacons of Jerusalem appointed by Christ's Apostles before they left to spread the Gospel. Acts 8 begins with the words, “And Saul approved of their killing him.” St. Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” as he was asking Jesus to receive his spirit, echoing Jesus’ own words from the Cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” These prayers — Stephen’s and Jesus’ — were heard. God didn’t hold this sin against Saul. As we shall soon see, Jesus Christ met him on the road to Damascus to give him through that forgiveness the gift of conversion.

Saul sought and received a letter of permission from the high priest in Jerusalem to go beyond the city, searching from house to house to arrest those who followed Jesus in Damascus, bringing them back in chains to stand trial in Jerusalem. As his entourage rushed to Damascus eager to carry out his orders, Saul had an epiphany that would not only change his life forever but also change the entire world.

On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ He said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’” (Acts 9:3–5). 

Rising from the ground, he found that, though his eyes were open, he saw nothing. Providence sent this corporal blindness to be an emblem of the spiritual blindness in which he had lived, and to signify to him that he was henceforward to die to his worldly ways and learn to apply his mind totally to the mission that would be made known to him. He was led by the hand into Damascus, where he lodged in the house of a Jew named Judas, remaining three days - in total blindness, and without eating or drinking. 

There was a Christian of distinction in Damascus, much respected by the Jews for his irreproachable life and great virtue; his name was Ananias. Ananias knew about Saul’s persecution of the Church and feared him greatly. But Jesus appeared to Ananias and told him to go to Saul, lay his hands on him, heal him of his blindness, and baptize him. Jesus explained that “this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, Kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15–16). Ananias did as he was instructed, and Saul listened, converted, was baptized, and began a new life as Paul - the Roman equivalent to Saul which is a Hebrew name - the greatest missionary of all time. 

Paul's conversion showed that Jesus himself wanted the Gospel message to go to the Gentiles, quashing any argument from the early Jewish Christians that the Gospel was only for the Jews. The men with Saul did not see the risen Jesus, but Saul did. This miraculous message was meant for one person only, Saul. Saul witnessed the risen Christ, which fulfilled the qualification of an Apostle (Acts 1:21-22). Only those who had seen the risen Christ could testify to his resurrection. 

Paul accepted eagerly the commission to preach the Gospel of Christ, but like many others called to a great task he felt his unworthiness and withdrew from the world to spend three years in "Arabia" in meditation, prayer, study, and preparation for his new mission. God used this time of solitude to bring about a deeper conversion in Saul’s heart and to form him into a powerful Apostle. 

After three years, he returned to Jerusalem to consult with Peter (Galatians 1:18). After his first missionary journeys, Paul was called by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles, earning the moniker “Apostle to the Gentiles.” 

Around the year 48 AD, a dispute arose among the faithful in Antioch - the powerful cohort of Jewish converts insisted that salvation through Christ could only happen after circumcision in keeping with tradition, saying Peter had agreed with them lest he too fell foul of Mosaic Law. Paul took a holy Gentile Titus with him to the Council in Jerusalem. The Apostles and Elders of Jerusalem accepted Titus “uncircumcised”, thus recognizing the validity of Paul’s proclamation concerning the freedom of grace does not require circumcision. Paul was livid with Peter: “I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong” (Gal. 2:11). Peter, chastised by Paul, confessed that he had strayed from Christ's message of salvation for all purely on the merit of his passion, death and resurrection. Henceforth Peter, James and John were directed to preach to the Jews whereas Paul and Barnabus were sent to preach to the Gentiles.

He continued to travel far and wide, proclaiming Jesus as the Christ or Messiah. He possessed perfect qualifications to be an evangelist: Not only did he have a life-changing encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ but he was versed in Jewish culture and language, his upbringing in Tarsus made him familiar with the Greek language and culture, his training in Jewish theology helped him connect the Old Testament with the gospel, and as a skilled tentmaker he could support himself. 

He spent the rest of his life journeying on his missions, establishing local churches, and writing to them when he heard of their accomplishments and failures. Paul’s letters are the earliest records of the life and history of the early Church. As inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul’s letters are part of the Canon of the New Testament. As a record of the happenings in the early Church, they are an invaluable record of the expansion of Christianity.

At least thirteen of the twenty-seven New Testament books are traditionally attributed to Paul, providing us with much of what we know about Jesus. His letters are not only historical, but they are also rich in theology, providing the most sturdy foundation for all that we believe as Christians today. Paul personally founded more than a dozen Christian communities during his missionary travels, but the members of those communities then went forth to found many more, making Paul not only a spiritual father to many early Christians but also a spiritual grandfather to countless others. 

In his mid-fifties, Paul was arrested and spent years in prison. Being a Roman citizen, he appealed to Rome and was eventually sent there for trial. 

Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for The Great Fire of Rome. Therefore Paul was arrested, bound in chains in the Mamertine Prison and condemned to beheading, which took place outside the Aurelian Walls, along the Ostiense Way, most likely between the years 65 and 67, around the same time as Simon Peter. Tradition states that being a Roman citizen instead of being crucified he was beheaded with a sword. Statues of St Paul often show him holding a sword.

Reference:

1. Scripture References: Acts 9:1-19; Acts 22:6-21; Acts 26:12-18.
2. Papal Basilica - Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls (By The Vatican). (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_paolo/en/san_paolo/cattivita.htm
3. My Catholic Life! (2024, January 12). The conversion of Saint Paul. My Catholic Life. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/january-25-the-conversion-of-saint-paul-apostle/
4. Conversion of St. Paul. (n.d.). EWTN Global Catholic Television Network. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/conversion-of-st-paul-413
5. Landry, R. (2019, January 25). What To Learn from St. Paul’s Conversion. Catholic Preaching. Retrieved January 25, 2024, from https://catholicpreaching.com/wp/what-to-learn-from-st-pauls-conversion-january-25-2019/