who was the apostle Paul b4 becaming a christian?

Answer 1

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, who was born in Tarsus, but raised in Jerusalem. He was taught in the rabbinical school under Gamaliel.

He was zealous for God and the Law of Moses, and thought he needed to do whatever he could to destroy the church. By his own admission, prior to his conversion, he was a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent man.

He was on a mission, with letters of authority from the Chief Priests of the Temple to do just that in Damascus, when the Risen Lord stopped him dead in his tracks.

Once Jesus had Paul's attention, Paul was fully convinced of Who Jesus really was, and became the greatest evangelist in the near east.

Answer 2

Paul was a very ambitious man who was an erudite scholar and a great opportunist of his time. He knew how to take advantage of each situation.

He had a personal vendetta against the followers of Yeshua Messiah / Iesus Kristos / Jesus Christ, for which he was ultimately successful... Here is his brief resume:

He was known as Saul who claimed to be a Jew who studied under the tutelage of Gamaliel, a high priest of the Pharisees, and knew and understood all their laws. He was also a Roman citizen by birth since his father was a Roman citizen. He could speak the major languages including Hebrew, Roman [Latin] and Greek, the lingua franca of the scholars, traders and merchants at the time.

Armed with such a background, he was authorized, empowered and given a free hand to persecute the followers of the Nazarene and led many mobs to stone them to death, including the killing of Stephen outside the Temple of Jerusalem. His presence was feared by all the early Christian disciples and apostles. Not only did the disciples hold on to their Faith earnestly, their numbers began to grow.

When Paul later realized that his efforts against the disciples were futile, he CLAIMED that he had a "vision" on his way to Damascus that no one else actually witnessed the same way that he claimed he did... To which he was able to somehow convince the others "that he had become a follower of Christ as well." He was able to JOIN THEIR RANKS but all the apostles and disciples were still FEARFUL of Saul when he infiltrated their congregation. He had then taken on the christened name of Paul.

While being an astute scholar of traditional Mosaic laws he quickly took his place among the apostles and elders of the the early church. He had many disagreements and altercations with several of them, especially those who were actual witnesses to the Messiah Himself, in matters of doctrines and teachings. Yet Saul/Paul somehow managed to get his way [or version, or INTERPRETATION] each time they argued as he began to preach and to propagate to all other non-Jewish people [or the Gentiles] as far and as wide as he journeyed.

Other than the four Gospels the Holy Bible, as we know it today, most of the contents found in the New Testament are FOR THE MOST PART centered around the teachings and letters coming from Saul/Paul to the various churches outside of Jerusalem... While Paul took [i.e., more like PLAGIARIZED] a big chunk from the teachings of Yeshua Messiah which he claimed as his own [in the form of Epistles], he also added his own two cents to the doctrines that he preached in all his succeeding journeys.

These are the PAULINE DOCTRINES that have lasted since the original compilation of the Bible done by the Roman Catholic Church since the 4th century. These are the very same doctrines that were deemed "acceptable" and palatable to the Roman pagans and other new converts since that time and even up to now...

Many so-called Christians --or more correctly "PAULINIANS"-- of today consider and have elevated Paul to be one of the "Apostles" of the Messiah, which he never was...

Peace be with you!

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P.S. If you OPEN YOUR EYES and read the NT again with this in mind, you will begin to "see" Paul's MAJOR ROLE in it and certain FALSE DOCTRINES imbedded within his teachings, including the very minor role that women are supposed to take in the church and the acceptance of all kinds of food that were once prohibited...

Answer 3

His name was Saul . He was a Jew, a learned man, a pharasee who believed in God. He was hunting and turning christians over to the authorities because he believed they were blasphemers. (early christians were mainly Jews who believed that Christ was the Messiah). He was the one holding peoples' robes during the stoning of St. Stephen. On the road to Damascus he was blinded, and converted by Christ. He became Paul and was called an apostle because he had seen Christ. He wrote many of the books of the New Testament.

Answer 4

He was a Jewish Pharisee - legal minded, highly educated. He was also a Roman citizen. He was known as Saul of Tarsus. By all practical purposes he was the least likely to ever follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the most likely to find him to be heretical and blasphemous - which is why he set out to destroy the Sect, known as followers of Christ, or Christians.

But then Jesus got into his heart and soul and not only changed him from the inside out, but gave him a new name - and set him on a lifetime journey, running from the very way of life he had so cherished as an outlaw and preaching with boldness the very way of life he had tried to extinguish.

It is the perfect example of how drastically Christ should change our own being.

Answer 5

Saul Of Tarsus. A Jewish man who persecuted Christians. He had a hand in killing and imprisoning Christians. If I'm not mistaken, he was present at the stoning of Stephen........I like dumpfinds answer.

Answer 6

Acts 22:3: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but educated in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strictness of the ancestral Law, being zealous for God just as all of you are this day.”

Philippians 3:4-6 “I . . . circumcised the eighth day, out of the family stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew [born] from Hebrews; as respects law, a Pharisee; as respects zeal, persecuting the congregation; as respects righteousness that is by means of law, one who proved himself blameless.”

Answer 7

He flipped burgers at a Burger King in Nazareth.

Answer 8

Jewish (he was still Jewish after becoming a Christian) and a Pharisee.

Answer 9

Acts
Chapter 8
1
Now Saul was consenting to his execution.On that day, there broke out a severe persecution 1 of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2
2
Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.
3
Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church; 3 entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.

Acts Chapter 9
1
Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
2
and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, 2 he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
3
On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
4
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
5
He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
6
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do."
7
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one.
8
Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; 3 so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
9
For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
10
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord."
11
The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying,
12
and (in a vision) he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay (his) hands on him, that he may regain his sight."
13
But Ananias replied, "Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones 4 in Jerusalem.
14
And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name."
15
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites,
16
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name."
17
So Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, "Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."
18
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized,
19
and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength. 5 He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,
20
and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 6
21
All who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who in Jerusalem ravaged those who call upon this name, and came here expressly to take them back in chains to the chief priests?"
22
But Saul grew all the stronger and confounded (the) Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this is the Messiah.
23
After a long time had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,
24
but their plot became known to Saul. Now they were keeping watch on the gates day and night so as to kill him,
25
but his disciples took him one night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26
When he arrived in Jerusalem 7 he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
27
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how on the way he had seen the Lord and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
28
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
29
He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, 8 but they tried to kill him.
30
And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

Answer 10

Saul, and he was out to kill Christians.