Conversion of Paul
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The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul is a feast celebrated during the liturgical year on January 25, recounting the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who after a record of brutalizing and persecuting Christians, converted to Christianity and became the apostle Paul. While on the road to Damascus (c. A.D. 36) to annihilate the Christian community there, Saul said he was blinded by a brilliant light and heard the voice of Christ saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?...And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice...."[1] Elsewhere (see Resurrection appearances of Jesus) Paul claims to have seen Christ, and it is on this basis that he grounds his claim to be recognised as an Apostle: "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?"[2]. Saul of Tarsus would journey into Damascus, where he was cured and attended by Ananias, being baptized into Christianity. He later took the name Paul and became one of the chief founding voices of Early Christianity. Paul's epistles, for instance, form the bulk of the New Testament of the Bible, after the combined total of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (both traditionally attributed to the Apostle Luke), whose two books amount to nearly a third of the New Testament.
The Christian theological implication of the Conversion of Paul is that it witnesses the absolution of sin that is offered by faith and grace through belief in Jesus Christ.[3] The magnitude of Paul's transgressions, such as his attempts to completely eradicate Christianity, indicate that any sinner may be forgiven, no matter how terrible his sins, except for the Unforgivable sin.
This feast is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches. This feast is at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical observance that began in 1908, which is an octave (an eight-day observance) spanning from 18 January (observed as the Confession of Peter) to 25 January. This event has been depicted frequently in works of art and music, most notably paintings by Caravaggio (1571–1610) and musical works such as the choral motet Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris by Giaches de Wert (1535–1596).
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[edit] On the Road to Damascus
[edit] Saul's Persecution of Christians
Saul, better known as Paul of Tarsus, is self-described as "a Hebrew of Hebrews,"[4] and as "extremely zealous for the traditions of [his] countrymen, and of [his] ancestors."[5] He had set out from Jerusalem for Syrian Damascus around the year 36, with letters from the high priest authorizing him to arrest followers of Jesus of Nazareth whom he could find living in the city of Damascus. He was to bring them back to Jerusalem in chains for questioning and possible execution.[6] Saul had to the best of his ability repressed the disciples in the city of Jerusalem; where, according to his own words, he had "laid waste to the Church, arresting the followers of Jesus, having them thrown into prison, and trying to get them to blaspheme" the name of YHWH.[7] Saul had also distinguished himself during the trial of Saint Stephen, the first of the official Christian martyrs, when Saul had "watched over the robes of those who were stoning Stephen."[8]
[edit] Paul's conversion
Paul's own account of his conversion is fairly sparse. He wrote: "I did not receive it [the Gospel] from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ....But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus."[9]
The author of Acts of the Apostles recounts more details of Paul's conversion from persecutor of Christians, at that time called the sect of the Nazarenes.[10][11][12][13][14][15]
While on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, near Damascus, he was hit by a bolt of light from the sky and dropped to the ground. He heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Paul's traveling companions heard the voice also, but did not see anyone and when Paul stood up, he was blind. They led him to Damascus and for three days he was blind and didn't eat or drink. [16]
[edit] Healing by Ananias
A disciple in Damascus named Ananias also had a vision: "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. 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. In a vision he had seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." "Lord," St. Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Ananias performed the deed, Paul's vision was restored, after "something like scales" fell from his eyes, he was baptized, and after eating he regained his strength.[17]
Paul recounts the episode in a speech to a "crowd in Jerusalem" in their language, most likely Aramaic (see also Aramaic of Jesus). His companions saw the light but didn't understand or hear the voice. Ananias was said to be a "devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there." He stood over Paul and said: "Brother Saul, receive your sight!" and Paul's vision was restored. He added: "Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name."[18]
[edit] Paul's Charge of Mission into the World
Paul returned to Jerusalem and was praying in Herod's Temple when he "fell into a trance" and "saw the Lord speaking." The voice told him to leave quickly because the people knew he had persecuted the Jewish Christians, including Saint Stephen. The voice also told him: "Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles." Upon hearing this, the "crowd in Jerusalem" shouted: "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"
Paul defends himself in front of the Roman client King Agrippa who is said to be very knowledgable in all things Jewish. The light enveloped the whole party and they all fell to the ground and Paul heard a voice in the Hebrew language, most likely Aramaic: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Then I asked, "Who are you, Lord?" "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the Lord replied. "Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Paul said he followed the commands of the voice and spread the word, first to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, then to all of Judea and the Gentiles, to "repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." For this reason he says the "Jews" (more likely the Judeans) tried to kill him. But he told Agrippa that he said nothing beyond what the Prophets and Moses said would happen, "that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles." At this point Porcius Festus interrupted: "You are out of your mind ... Your great learning is driving you insane."[19]
[edit] Popular Usage
From the Conversion of Paul, we get the metaphorical reference to the "Road to Damascus" that has come to refer to a sudden conversion of thought or a change of heart or mind even in matters outside of a Christian context.
[edit] See also
- The Conversion of Saint Paul (Caravaggio)
- Conversion on the Way to Damascus
- Confession of St. Peter
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
- Calendar of saints
- Roman Catholic calendar of saints
- General Roman Calendar as in 1954
- Liturgical year
- Blinded by the Light
- Tabor Light
[edit] References
[edit] Notes and citations
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—Acts 22:6-11
- ^ The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians—1 Corinthians 9:1
- ^ [http://ok.essortment.com/conversionofpa_rjxk.htm The conversion of Paul The Apostle Paul started out as Saul, Pharisee and persecutor of the Christian Church. What happened to transform his life?] (no further authorship information given). Accessed 30 January 2006.
- ^ Epistle to the Philippians—Phil 3:5-6
- ^ Epistle to the Galatians—Gal 1:13-14
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—Acts 9:1-2
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—Acts 7:57-8:3
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—Acts 7:57-8:3.
- ^ Epistle to the Galatians—Galatians 1:11-24, quoting verses 12 and 15-17.
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—9:1-19a
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—22:1-22
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—26:9-24
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—Acts 24:5)
- ^ Epistle to the Romans—Rom 11:13
- ^ Epistle to the Galatians—Gal 2:8).
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—9:1-19a
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—10:1-16
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—22:1-22
- ^ Acts of the Apostles—26:9-24
[edit] Further reading
- Easton's Bible Dictionary originally published in 1897. (see listing "Paul")
- Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906)
- Ahahroni, Yohanan and Avi-Yonah, Michael. The MacMillan Bible Atlas (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. & Collier MacMillan Publishers, 1968, 1977).
