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In The Death of the Promise, Thomas Fitzhugh Sheets talks at length about the Apostle Paul. He touches also on how his conversion opened his eyes to very important aspects of Christianity.

But who was St. Paul the Apostle?

A Life on the Road to Conversion

Paul was actually born with the name Saul. He was from the city of Tarsus in a region that would become part of modern-day Turkey. Saul was his Jewish name, while Paul was his Roman name. His family were deeply devout Jews.

During his youth, his family sent him to Jerusalem to study under the tutelage of a known Jewish teacher. He was known to work well with his hands. He made tents and the like. This would prove invaluable after his conversion to Christianity and during his life as an Apostle. While he was not a scholar, he was knowledgeable in a lot of subjects. This included philosophy, theology, and law. He was also very literate, being able to quote extensively from the Hebrew Bible. This is evidenced by his many letters, in which he expanded upon the teachings of the previous apostles.

The Apostle Paul and Early Christians

Being a member of the Pharisees, Paul participated in many of the targeted persecutions of the early Christians. While it cannot be known what his motivations were for doing so, many things can be inferred:

• As a burgeoning religious movement that attracted many Jewish converts, Paul might have been uncomfortable with the mingling of Jews and Gentiles.
• As a student of traditional Jewish beliefs, the idea that Christ was the Messiah might have seemed preposterous to him at the time.
• As a Pharisee, the many instances of Jewish converts ignoring Jewish law might have spurred him to punish them.

Whatever drove him to persecute the early Christians, Paul was seen to be quite good at his job.

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The Apostle Paul and the Road to Damascus

On his way from Jerusalem to the city of Damascus, Paul received a revelation from Christ himself.

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

– Acts 9:4-6

Changed greatly by what he had seen and learned, Paul accepted Christ as the promised Messiah and began his life as a Christian.

This conversion was a pivotal moment in the early history of Christianity, as it marked the transformation of a fierce enemy of Christians into one of the most influential figures in the early Christian church.

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The Legacy of the Apostle Paul

The revelation that Paul received led him to believe that Christ was in heaven, as the Messiah and as the Son of God, who was now waiting until the promised time to return to earth. Spurred by the vision of the Lord, Paul preached among the Gentiles to deliver the word of God to them.

His tireless work led to the spread of Christianity across the Levant and Asia Minor, where many churches still stand today.

The Grace of Christianity

The life of the Apostle Paul is one full of transformation and perseverance. From his roots as a zealous persecutor of Christians, he became what a young version of him could have never ever considered: a passionate Apostle of Christ.

His journey is a testament to the power of God, His grace and His infallible plans. This is a reminder that even those that we may deem lost and irredeemable have their opportunities for redemption in the eyes of the Lord, if only they are willing to open their eyes to His mercy.

The Acts of the Apostles recount much of Paul’s life after his conversion, while the Pauline epistles—Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, Philemon, 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus—are compilations of letters that are attributed to him.

Thomas Fitzhugh Sheets’s The Death of the Promise can be ordered through this link.