Paul of Tarsus

The Book after the Gospels is called The Acts of the Apostles (referred to as “Acts”) and it tells us what happened immediately after the Resurrection. We are told that Jesus stayed on earth for forty days, speaking to his followers and performing miracles. (Acts 1:3) At the end of this time, he gave the Apostles what is known as the Great Commission, instructing them “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) He then ascended into heaven, “and a cloud took him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9)

Then, the same Simon Peter who’d denied even knowing Jesus during his trial gave a bold speech, condemning the people of Jerusalem for their role in the crucifixion and instructing them to “repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:37-40). As a result, “about three thousand persons were added that day.” (Acts 2:41) It was an enormous number, considering the population of Jerusalem at the time was about 30,000.

Indeed, the new religion started spreading amazingly fast—so fast, that the Emperor of Rome decided things were getting out of hand and issued his own commission: he sent Saul of Tarsus out to Judea to put a stop to it.

Saul was a Roman citizen, but he was also a Jew who was educated in Jerusalem; therefore, he was a good choice to lead the persecution and crush this new religion before it threatened the empire.  Saul commenced his work with relish, “Entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.” (Acts 8:3) He is also described as overseeing the execution of St. Stephen, the very first Christian martyr. (Acts 8:1)

Having got Jerusalem under control, Saul was traveling to Damascus, Syria, with the intention of bringing back the followers of Jesus in chains. (Acts 9:1-2) However, on this journey, “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 9:4-5)

As you can imagine, this experience resulted in an abrupt change in attitude, and instead of wiping-out Christianity, Saul went down in history as its greatest evangelist.

He changed his name to Paul and eventually sought-out the Apostles in Jerusalem—who could be forgiven for thinking it was some sort of trick.  But he won over their trust, and commenced to spread the Gospel throughout the known world with extraordinary success. Over the next 14 years, he covered modern-day Israel, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—journeys totaling thousands of miles by sea and by foot. 

With shrewd insight, he helped to set-up the seven early churches in seven busy trading ports—Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica—the better to spread the Gospel far and wide. He then spent the remainder of his life writing letters to these early communities, issuing advice and settling disputes. Also known as “epistles,” these letters make-up the bulk of the New Testament. When you hear someone refer to “Corinthians,” they are referring to a letter Paul wrote to the early Christian church in Corinth, Greece.  Paul is also the reason the New Testament was originally written in Greek; Paul spoke Greek, which was the international language of trade at the time.

The oldest book of the New Testament is 1 Thessalonians (addressed to the Christians in Thessalonica) which was written approximately 50 AD.  Interestingly enough, Paul’s early letters pre-dated the Gospels themselves; the Gospel writers did not begin their work until approximately 60 AD—probably because the first generation was passing away, and it was decided that a record should be made.

 Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 or 14 are attributed to Paul, along with a large portion of Acts; therefore, he is responsible for about half the New Testament. Quite a turn-around, for the man commissioned with wiping-out those pesky Christians—and another compelling piece of evidence that Jesus was exactly who he said he was.

Meanwhile, you can only imagine how annoying all this was to Rome. Paul was imprisoned seven times over these years, with many of his letters written from prison. Finally, around the year 64 AD he was executed in Rome—beheaded instead of crucified, which was a courtesy since he was a citizen of Rome. The unlikeliest of heroes, who—next to Jesus, himself—lived perhaps the most influential life in all of history.