More Than a Carpenter (13 page)

When the philosophy professor got up to speak, he was quite nervous. He couldn’t refute the evidence for the Resurrection or Jack’s personal testimony, so he attacked the apostle Paul’s radical conversion to Christianity. He used the argument that “people can often become so psychologically involved in what they’re combating that they end up embracing it.”

My friend smiled gently and responded, “You’d better be careful, sir, or you’re liable to become a Christian.”

What Do You Think?

The apostle Paul completely reversed his beliefs about Jesus after experiencing a life-transforming encounter with him. Have you ever seen that kind of transformation in anyone? Have you ever experienced it?

The story of the apostle Paul is one of the most influential testimonies to Christianity. Saul of Tarsus, perhaps the most rabid antagonist of early Christianity, became the apostle Paul, the most energetic and influential spokesman for the new movement. Paul was a Hebrew zealot, a religious leader. His birth in Tarsus gave him exposure to the most advanced learning of his day. Tarsus was a university city known for its Stoic philosophers and culture. Strabo, the Greek geographer, praised Tarsus for its avid interest in education and philosophy.
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Paul, like his father, possessed Roman citizenship, a high privilege. Paul seemed to be well versed in Hellenistic culture and thought. He had great command of the Greek language and displayed superb dialectic skill. He often quoted from less familiar poets and philosophers. In one of his sermons Paul quotes and alludes to Epimenides, Aratus, and Cleanthes: “In him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). In a letter Paul quotes Menander: “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for ‘bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). In a later letter to Titus, Paul again quotes Epimenides: “One of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, ‘The people of Crete are all liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons’” (Titus 1:12).

Paul’s education was Jewish and took place under the strict doctrines of the Pharisees. When Paul was about age fourteen, he was sent to study under Gamaliel, the grandson of Hillel and one of the great rabbis of the time. Paul asserted that he was not only a Pharisee but also the son of Pharisees (see Acts 23:6). He could boast: “I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors” (Galatians 1:14).

To understand Paul’s conversion, it is necessary to see why he was so vehemently anti-Christian. It was his devotion to the Jewish law that triggered his adamant opposition to Christ and the early church. Paul’s “offense with the Christian message was not,” as French theologian Jacques Dupont writes,

with the affirmation of Jesus’ messiahship [but] . . . with the attributing to Jesus of a saving role which robbed the law of all its value in the purpose of salvation. . . . [Paul was] violently hostile to the Christian faith because of the importance which he attached to the law as a way of salvation.
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The
Encyclopaedia Britannica
states that the members of the new sect of Judaism calling themselves Christians struck at the essence of Paul’s Jewish training and rabbinic studies.
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He became passionate about exterminating this sect (see Galatians 1:13). So Paul began his pursuit to death of all Christians (see Acts 26:9-11). He single-mindedly began to destroy the church (see Acts 8:3). He set out for Damascus with documents authorizing him to seize the followers of Jesus and bring them back to face trial.

Then something happened to Paul.

Meanwhile, Saul [later known as Paul] was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to destroy the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord!” he replied.

The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so he can see again.” (A
CTS
9:1-12)

As we read on, we can see why Christians feared Paul.

“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. (A
CTS
9:13-19)

What Do You Think?

Why do you think Paul’s conversion had to be so dramatic? How did God’s plan for Paul’s life differ from Paul’s plan for his life?

As a result of this experience, Paul considered himself a witness to the resurrected Christ. He later wrote, “Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes?” (1 Corinthians 9:1). He compared Christ’s appearance to him with Christ’s post-resurrection appearances to the other apostles. “Last of all, . . . I also saw him” (1 Corinthians 15:8).

Not only did Paul see Jesus, but he saw him in an irresistible way. He didn’t proclaim the gospel out of choice but from necessity. “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it” (1 Corinthians 9:16).

Notice that Paul’s encounter with Jesus and his subsequent conversion were sudden and unexpected: “a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me” (Acts 22:6). He had no idea who this heavenly person could be. When the voice announced that he was Jesus of Nazareth, Paul was astonished and began to tremble.

We might not know all the details or psychology of what happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, but we do know this: The experience utterly overturned every area of his life.

First, Paul’s character was radically transformed.
The
Encyclopaedia Britannica
describes him before his conversion as an intolerant, bitter, persecuting, religious bigot—proud and temperamental. After his conversion it pictures him as patient, kind, enduring, and self-sacrificing.
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Kenneth Scott Latourette says, “What integrated Paul’s life, however, and lifted this almost neurotic temperament out of obscurity into enduring influence was a profound and revolutionary religious experience.”
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Second, Paul’s relationship with the followers of Jesus was transformed.
They were no longer afraid of him. Paul “stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days” (Acts 9:19). And when he went to meet the other apostles, they accepted him (Acts 9:27-28).

Third, Paul’s message was transformed.
Though he still loved his Jewish heritage, he had changed from a bitter antagonist to a determined protagonist of the Christian faith. “Immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is indeed the Son of God!’” (Acts 9:20). His intellectual convictions had changed. His experience compelled him to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah, in direct conflict with the Pharisees’ messianic ideas. His new perspective of Christ meant a total revolution in his thinking.
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Jacques Dupont acutely observes that after Paul “had passionately denied that a crucified man could be the Messiah, he came to grant that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and, as a consequence, rethought all his messianic ideas.”
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Also, Paul could now understand that Christ’s death on the cross, which appeared to be a curse of God and a deplorable ending to a life, was actually God reconciling the world to himself through Christ. Paul came to understand that through the Crucifixion Christ took the curse of sin on himself for us (see Galatians 3:13) and that God “made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Instead of seeing the death of Christ as a defeat, he saw it as a great victory, completed by the Resurrection. The Cross was no longer a stumbling block but the essence of God’s messianic redemption. Paul’s missionary preaching can be summarized as “he explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, ‘This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah’” (Acts 17:3).

Fourth, Paul’s mission was transformed.
He was changed from a hater of the Gentiles to a missionary to the Gentiles. He was changed from a Jewish zealot to an evangelist to non-Jews. As a Jew and a Pharisee, Paul looked down on the despised Gentiles as inferior to God’s chosen people. The Damascus experience changed him into a dedicated apostle with his life’s mission aimed toward helping the Gentiles. Paul saw that the Christ who appeared to him was indeed the Savior for all people. Paul went from being an orthodox Pharisee, whose mission was to preserve strict Judaism, to being a propagator of that new, radical sect called Christianity, which he had so violently opposed. The change in him was so profound that “all who heard him were amazed. ‘Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?’ they asked. ‘And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?’ Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah” (Acts 9:21-22).

Historian Philip Schaff states:

The conversion of Paul marks not only a turning-point in his personal history, but also an important epoch in the history of the apostolic church, and consequently in the history of mankind. It was the most fruitful event since the miracle of Pentecost, and secured the universal victory of Christianity.
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During lunch one day at the University of Houston, I sat down next to a student. As we discussed Christianity, he made the statement that there was no historical evidence for Christianity or Christ. I asked him why he thought that. He was a history major, and one of his textbooks was a Roman history text that contained a chapter dealing with the apostle Paul and Christianity. The student had read the chapter and found that it started by describing the life of Saul of Tarsus and ended describing the life of Paul the apostle. The book stated that what caused the change was not clear. I turned to the book of Acts and explained Christ’s post-resurrection appearance to Paul. The student saw immediately that this was the most logical explanation for Paul’s radical conversion. This bit of missing evidence made the pieces fall into place for this young man. Later he became a Christian.

Elias Andrews, former principal of Queens Theological College, comments:

Many have found in the radical transformation of this ‘Pharisee of the Pharisees’ the most convincing evidence of the truth and the power of the religion to which he was converted, as well as the ultimate worth and place of the Person of Christ.
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What Do You Think?

In his day, Paul had celebrity status—people knew who he was. Today, when a celebrity becomes a Christian what is the initial reaction of most people? Should high-profile Christians be held to a different standard?

Archibald McBride, who was a professor at the University of Aberdeen, writes of Paul: “Beside his achievements . . . the achievements of Alexander and Napoleon pale into insignificance.”
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Early Christian scholar Clement of Alexandria says that Paul “bore chains seven times; preached the gospel in the East and West; came to the limit of the West; and died a martyr under the rulers.”
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Paul states again and again that the living, resurrected Jesus had transformed his life. He was so convinced of Christ’s resurrection from the dead that he, too, died a martyr’s death for his beliefs.