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Posts Tagged ‘Saint Paul’

After spending many undocumented years training to be a Christian clergyman, young Saint Paul decided to start his ministry in Antioch, the Capital of Syria.

Apostle Paul moving to Antioch

Now a fully trained clergyman devoted to spreading Christianity, Paul began his early ministry by moving to Antioch, to help Barnabas in his mission, which included the conversion of large numbers of Gentiles.

It is not known who first came up with the idea of expressly converting Gentiles, but it was not yet a popular notion at all. Keep in mind that Christianity is very close in nature to Judaism, and Paul would have had a much easier life if he had stuck to targeting only the Jews for conversion... There would have been far less resistance.

Why did Apostle Paul Convert Gentiles?

Gentiles, who were basically composed of all the other religions and lack thereof outside of Judaism, (Including pagans, greek-god worshippers, and even Roman-god worshippers) were everywhere, and they mostly just didn't want anything to do with Jews. Many were sworn enemies of the Jews, so it is generally assumed that most of the convertible Jewish had already been converted, so Apostle Paul and Barnabas felt that there was 'nowhere left to go' when they started targeting Gentiles.

It was here in Antioch that one of the early crises of Christianity arose, and where Paul emerged with a strong, clear perspective on the future of the new religion. It was also, because of this controversy, that Paul made one of his most important contributions to Christian theology.

The crisis had to do with the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. From the beginning, Paul became the champion of the Gentiles and struggled to protect Christ's teachings from being altered by Jewish traditions.

All these issues came to a head over the simple and ordinary matter of eating dinner.

The challenge was that there was a Jewish law that strictly forbade them from eating and especially taking sacrement alongside the Gentiles. Naturally, the Jewish-converted Christians were finding it extremely difficult to do so with their new Christian brothers, the Gentile-converted Christians.

It was one problem in particular that was a thorn Saint Paul's side, and one it took him much convincing over many years to overcome.

How Saint Paul Categorized Christianity

Paul the Apostle always viewed Christianity primarily in relation to Judaism. He felt the history of the Jews and the writings of the Old Testament had prepared humanity for Christ.

Judaism, Christianity, and Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles

Although Saint Paul was always conscious of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, he also regarded the Christian faith, or, as he called it: "Life in Christ" - as something entirely new.

In Judaism, the relationship between God and his followers was based solely on the Torah, the book that described God's will and law. To the Apostle Paul, the Resurrection of Jesus opened up a new kind of relationship between the people and God.

For Gentiles particularly, who couldn't benefit from the Torah, this relationship held special promise. Jesus, he felt, was a gift from God to humanity, enabling them to establish a new relationship which human effort alone could never have achieved. Paul called this new relationship Justification.

Apostle Paul's Methods of Conversion

There was a typical pattern to Paul's ministry, or how he went about converting people to Christianity. He would start by preaching in a synagogue, where he'd inevitably be thrown out as a rabble-rouser.

Then, with a small number of Jewish followers, he would turn to the Gentiles, usually converting large numbers and, in the process, running into trouble with civil authorities. It appears he excelled at this part of the process.

He moved quickly from place to place and gave bold, controversial speeches that angered many people, Jews and Romans alike.

As a result he was frequently abused and occasionally imprisoned. Because of his extensive work with non-Jews, and his stance on not allowing Jewish law to dominate them, Paul truly earned his name; "the Apostle to the Gentiles."