His followers smuggled him in and out of the city in a basket (Acts 9:23–25). Later, Paul asked the high priest for permission to take Christians (known as followers of “the Way”) as prisoners: “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. And Paul and Saul are actually two versions of the same name. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’, The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast … And since Jesus’ followers kept spreading the idea that Jesus was God, Paul thought Christians were sinners of the worst sort. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. Despite never witnessing Jesus’ ministry, Paul arguably contributed more to the growth of the Christian movement than any other apostle. The Jews who opposed Paul tried to bring charges against him based on Jewish law, but the Roman proconsul wasn’t interested in hearing their case. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. These were the first members of the church Paul writes to in Philippians. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Paul made his debut in the Bible as an intense persecutor of Christians. ‘We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. Paul and Barnabas spent a long time in Iconium, and the city was divided: some people supported them, and others hated them. Tertullian (c. 155–240 AD) proposed that it was written by Barnabas. The Holy Spirit kept Paul and his companions from preaching in the province of Asia, so they went to Phrygia and Galatia (where they planted the church Paul would later write to in Galatians), eventually making their way to Troas. Click the chapter links below to enjoy listening and reading the Bible together. First-century Jews had grown up believing the Law was central to their identity as God’s chosen people, and they struggled to fully grasp that Jesus rendered the Law obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). The Vatican claims these are in fact the remains of Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Please get back with me, even if you’re not interested in my idea, Thank you, Robin Riley. Some sources might help your case there, friend. It is not clear whether his family moved to Jerusalem (where both Greek and Jewish schooling was offered) while he was young, or whether Paul was simply sent there for his education. They thought they killed him, so they left him outside the city gate. Paul has taught Seminary students on the Island of Barbados; St. Petersburg, Russia and Tiruvuru, India. But before he was known as a tireless champion of Christianity, Paul was actually known for persecuting Christians. (He was still alive.) Everywhere he went, Paul established new Christian communities and helped these fledgling believers develop their own leadership. In Acts 25, Paul was put on trial, and his accusers asked that he stand trial in Jerusalem, where they planned to ambush and kill him (Acts 25:3). Paul left with Priscilla and Aquila and journeyed to Ephesus. Paul left to Athens. I like the map you two put together; it’s clean and crisp looking, and very helpful with where the pertinent towns and country locations. The first century was a tumultuous time for Christianity. He was a native of Tarsus," "the capital of Cilicia, a Roman province in the south-east of" "Asia Minor. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Ephesians 1:1 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Paul , an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Within the United Kingdom, the rights to the KJV are vested in the Crown. It explores how each of the Bible’s 66 books fit into the big picture, and you’ll walk away with enough knowledge to have a thoughtful conversation about the Bible with a pastor, an atheist, or anyone else. Festus refused, and told them to make their case in Caesarea, where Paul used his privilege as a Roman citizen to make a bold request. And in 200 AD, Tertullian wrote that Paul’s death was like John the Baptist’s (decapitation). He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. It’s true that in the Old Testament, God occasionally changed people’s names (Abram became Abraham in Genesis 17:5, and Jacob became Israel in Genesis 32:28) to represent significant changes in their identity. They got everyone riled up against Paul and Silas and managed to convince the local authorities to have them beaten and imprisoned. King James Version 9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. He grants believers his own Spirit as a downpayment of greater glory in the coming age. On Paul’s way to trial in Rome, his boat encounters a brutal storm and dangerous waters. It had “PAULO APOSTOLO MART” (Paul apostle martyr) written on it. Paul constantly wrote to Gentile Christians to tell them not to worry about circumcision (as you can imagine, uncircumcised adults were rightfully freaked out by the idea that they’d have to do this), and in Acts 15, the apostles met with Paul and Barnabas to officially settle the matter, because pockets of Jewish Christians were continuing to tell Gentiles to get circumcised. Perhaps Paul hoped appealing to Caesar would finally put an end to his case, but unfortunately, it dragged them out even further. Clement of Rome provided the earliest surviving record of Paul’s death in his letter to the Corinthians (known as 1 Clement), where he mentions that Paul and Peter were martyred. You may have heard something like “Saul the persecutor became Paul the persecuted.”. This was contested as early as the second and third centuries, but for more than a millennia the church largely believed Paul wrote it. Audio Bible KJV - Bible Audiobook - KJV Bible reader "By the command of the eternal God", the gospel of Jesus Christ is made known "so that all nations might believe and obey him". In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’, ‘Lord,’ Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. He left the church with Barnabas and a man named John (also called Mark, believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark), and together they sailed to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean. And instead of lording this status over everyone, he preached about a citizenship which everyone could choose to claim by accepting Jesus as Lord: “But our citizenship is in heaven. We will likely never know who really wrote Hebrews. Paul and Silas travelled through Derbe and then Lystra, where they picked up a believer named Timothy (this is the Timothy Paul writes to in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy). The Bible doesn’t tell us how Paul died, but numerous early church fathers wrote that he was martyred—specifically, he was beheaded, probably by emperor Nero, which would mean it had to be sometime before 68 AD. While Paul and Silas were in jail, there was an earthquake, and the prison doors opened and everyone’s chains came loose, but no one tried to escape. The letters reference many of the events recorded in Acts, which scholars have used to construct more clear timelines of Paul’s life and ministry. He has been on other mission trips to China, France, and the Island of St. Lucia. Paul reads at a slower rate that is more easily retained by most people. “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. Paul goes on to say that “if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul, was an eventual follower of Jesus (though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who professed the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. To Caesar you will go!” —Acts 25:10–12. For Paul, the apostles, and the early Christians, the Law (and specifically, circumcision) was one of the greatest theological issues of their day. During this time, Paul did many miracles, and even things he touched were reported to have healed people (Acts 19:12). . Let’s begin! Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;” —2 Corinthians 11:25. The King James Version (KJV), also known as the King James Bible (KJB), sometimes as the English version of 1611, or simply the Authorized Version (AV), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of James VI and I. From Derbe, Paul and Barnabas looped back through the cities they’d already preached to, encouraging the new believers there and appointing elders for each church. Before Paul ever preached the gospel, Jesus said, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Paul began his third missionary journey by returning to Galatia and Phrygia, where he continued building up the churches he’d established. #NAME? James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. His letters frequently address problems and questions these churches wrote to him about. After putting his faith in Jesus, Paul immediately began preaching publicly (Acts 9:20), and he quickly built a reputation as a formidable teacher (Acts 9:22). The next day they left for Derbe, another Lycaonian city where they “won a large number of disciples” (Acts 14:21). California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. During their time in Philippi, a spirit that possessed a local slave girl was bothering Paul, so he cast it out of her (Acts 16:18). Shortly after Saul converts to Christianity, Luke tells us he’s also called Paul (Acts 13:9), and for the most part the rest of the Bible refers to him as Paul. This famous encounter is referred to as the road to Damascus, the Damascene conversion, and the Damascus Christophany (a vision of Christ distinct from his incarnation). (Galatians 1:13-18) In my mind, Paul met Jesus on a … (Well, unless you count each individual Psalm as a document, in which case David wins.) Many Christians would be surprised to learn that these academic debates are even happening, because these letters are all signed by Paul. The Lord called to him in a vision, ‘Ananias!’, The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. He was struck blind, but after three days his sight was renewed by Ananias of Damascus and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God. Porcius Festus succeeded Felix and after hearing Paul defend himself, he asked Paul if would be willing to stand trial in Jerusalem. Today, it’s not really even up for debate. From the moment he became a believer in Christ, Paul’s life was transformed. The Audio Bible KJV has the text and Audio Bible files linked together. 1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised … Paul spent three months in Greece, then returned to Macedonia to avoid some people who were plotting against him. Of all the ways Paul affected Christianity, the biggest was arguably his role in spreading the gospel to non-Jewish communities. As a leader in the Jewish community, Paul saw the rapidly spreading Christian community as a threat, and he directly contributed to the persecution early Christians faced. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. Logos Bible Software 9 review: Do you REALLY need it? And Saul approved of their killing him” (Acts 7:58–8:1). On six occasions in Acts, Jews and Gentiles alike made plans to murder him—and one of those times, they stoned him and left him for dead. When he finally arrived, “Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him” (Acts 28:16). We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. But the remaining six letters have raised some questions, and scholars debate whether or not they can really be attributed to Paul. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, Colossians 1:23 | View whole chapter | See verse in context If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. And for that, he would need to meet a follower of Christ. Jews and Gentiles alike plotted to stone them, and when Paul and Barnabas found out, they fled to Lystra (Acts 14:4–6). Together they traveled from town to town and told people what the apostles had decided at the Council of Jerusalem where James told Gentile Christians not to worry about circumcision, which was pretty ironic, because Paul had just circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3). Unfortunately, the Book of Acts ends before Paul’s trial before Caesar. Ephesians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus all have very different styles than Paul’s other letters. God comforts the afflicted and raises the dead. Acts records that “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). All rights reserved. Article Images Copyright © 2021 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. In the opening verses of Romans 1, Paul provides a litany of his own apostolic appointment to preach among the Gentiles and his post-conversion convictions about the risen Christ. But he himself held the view that Paul wrote the letter in Hebrew and simply chose not to sign it, and then Luke translated it to Greek. More than any other person besides Jesus, Paul was the reason Christianity spread so far and so fast. Salem Media Group. He was “exceedingly mad” against the disciples of Christ and “breathed threatening and slaughter” against them. Even the most difficult passages are clearly understood as each word is articulately pronounced by Dr. Mims. Paul is commonly regarded as one of the most influential figures of the Apostolic Age. Literary sources confirm that Paul's native city was a hotbed of Roman imperial activity and Hellenistic culture. But there’s no verse that says that. Silas and Timothy stayed behind, but would catch up later. (We’ll discuss these more later, or you can read more about them now.). The Apostle Paul is traditionally considered the author of 13 books of the New Testament. It would take time for Paul’s reputation as a Christian preacher to outgrow his reputation as a persecutor of Christians. Paul’s accusers requested that Paul be sent back to Jerusalem “for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way” (Acts 25:3). Their plan was to have a centurion send Paul to the Sanhedrin for questioning, and then kill him on the way. He took advantage of his standing as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to counsel to both Jewish and Roman audiences. Paul’s calling as an apostle to the Gentiles was also reinforced by the original apostles. Wonderful maps. Instead, as Paul himself suggests, he was a Jew in terms of his circumcision, Benjaminite lineage, Hebrew ancestry, and Pharisaic training. The Book of Acts records that the apostles performed miracles, and Paul is no exception. But, from all indications, he died for his faith. In the account of the Acts of the Apostles (often indicated simply as Acts), Paul was traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus with the purpose to "arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem" when the resurrected Jesus appeared to him in a great light. As a Pharisee, before his conversion to Christianity, Paul saw Christians (who were predominantly Jewish at the time) as a scourge against Judaism. He came from a God-fearing family (2 Timothy 1:3), he was a Pharisee like his father (Acts 23:6), and he was educated by a respected rabbi named Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Paul revived him, then left. Around this time, Paul decided to head to Jerusalem, so he journeyed through Macedonia and Achaia, and made plans to stop in Rome. He stayed with two named Aquila and Priscilla, who were tentmakers, like him. Instead of taking away from their number, he added to it. Yet his writings show no conscious imitation, and scarcely any significant influence, of the pagan leading lights of the era. 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