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Saint Paul the Apostle was born to a Jewish father, who was a citizen of the Roman Empire. Apostle Paul was born somewhere between one and ten years after the birth of Christ, in Tarsus - a town in Cilicia, which is now part of Turkey.

Tarsus was an active and diverse city. It was located on the main trade route between East and West and was the home of many of the famous stoic philosophers, whose theories originated in ancient Greece.

At that time many Jews had inherited Roman citizenship from their ancestors, who were granted it in exchange for fighting in Rome's wars during the previous century.

All of this set the stage for the future work of the Apostle Paul in bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles or non-Jews.

Education and life of the Young Apostle Paul

Young Saul (Apostle Paul) was educated in Jerusalem, where he studied for the priesthood under the famous rabbi Gamaleil. Like most rabbis, Saul also supported himself with a menial trade - in this case tentmaking, which he probably learned from his father.

Under Gamaleil, young Saul had become:

• A zealous Jewish nationalist while in Jerusalem, and
• A Pharisee - a Jewish scholar who strictly observes the religious laws of Moses.

Apostle Paul in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ

It's not known if Saul (Young Paul) was in Jerusalem before the crucifixion, while Jesus was still alive - but it is known that the Apostle Paul never met him. Saul learned just enough about Jesus Christ however, to become convinced that Christians were a threat to Judaism.

When Stephen, a Hellenist Jew who converted to Christianity was persecuted, a young Saul was standing nearby. Saul watched and supported the stoning, in fact.

At the time, Apostle Paul was in his early thirties. Arguably he even did more than watch - he stood guard over the cloaks of the men while they gathered and threw stones, and in doing so expressed his approval of their deed.

It is said in the New Testament that the murderers "laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul."

Martyrdom of Stephen

In response to the martyrdom of Stephen, the Hellenist Jews who had converted to Christianity fled Jerusalem for foreign cities where they had family connections, while the original group in Jerusalem simply kept a low profile to avoid provoking anyone.

Meanwhile, Saul's support of the persecution was so appreciated, that he was afterwards commissioned by the high priest to help suppress Christianity in Damascus, now the capital of Syria.

His assignment was to pursue and apprehend the Hellenic converts who had fled there from Jerusalem.

Suppressing Christianity in Damascus

Somewhere around the year 36 AD, Saul (young Paul) set out for his new post, walking along the road to Damascus. But the road would lead him not just to Syria, but to an extraordinary transformation.

It was noon and Saul was near Damasucus when suddenly a bright light shone from heaven and surrounded him. Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Saul asked who it was and the voice answered "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."

His vision was so powerful and real that he testified from then on that he too had met and communed with Jesus.

When he arrived in Damascus, Saul was found and blessed by the disciple Ananias. When he regained his sight, he made contact with the Christians he had originally planned to torment, sought instruction in the Christian faith and received baptism.

Then he began preaching. He spent thirteen years, some of them in the Arabian Desert, probably Jordan, learning his new faith.

The conversion of Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is not a conversion that can be described in simple words. Like many who came to Christianity, his awakening was internal and intimate. Paul's description of his awakening is tantalizing but brief.

He wrote: "... it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen." Whatever his inward experience, it was a moment of revelation that changed Paul from bitter hatred to a lifelong dedication to the Christian cause.

Apostle Paul converted to Christianity

In modern centuries, Apostle Paul's conversion was explained by detractors in psychological terms, who claimed he needed to resolve his guilt in persecuting the Christians and thus had been tormented by his own conscience.

However, it is clear from descriptions of his early life that he suffered no guilt at all. Instead, he was simply zealous about Jewish law, and felt that by the standards of this law, his life was not only blameless, it was exemplary.

Apostle Paul's encounter with Jesus Christ

Though it's impossible now to know what happened on the road to Damascus and during the period immediately afterwards, the heart of Paul's experience was a vision of Jesus resurrected, and a sense of divine calling. It convinced him that Christians were right when they said Jesus had risen from the dead and it also convinced him that Jesus had been wrongfully crucified. His death then, became an obvious sacrifice, made on behalf of humanity.

Apostle Paul took this understanding to its logical next step. If Jesus was now in heaven, where he would serve as God's agent on judgment day, then those who believed in him and as a result followed His teachings would be delivered on that day. So faith in Christ became the foundation of Paul's future teachings.

All his energy and devotion, formerly given to Jewish law, would be transferred to Jesus and towards preparing people for His kingdom.

After his conversion, Paul first spent a period of solitude in Arabia, about which little is known. He then took up residence in Damascus. This city was the basis of his first missionary work, but nothing is known about the effects of his early work there.

At some point, Barnabas (a follower of Christ who sold all of his possessions and gave the proceeds to the apostles) brought Paul to Syria where they ministered together for a year. It was during this year that they came up with, together, the idea of a planned mission.

Apostle Paul meets the Apostle Peter and James Christ

After some time in Damascus, Paul's work there came to an abrupt end when he somehow fell into disfavor with the governor of the region.

Although the governor put a full-time watch on the gates of the city, Apostle Paul escaped over the wall in a basket and made his way to Jerusalem. There, he and Barnabas hoped to consult with Christian leaders about their future missionary policy. In Jerusalem, Paul met the Apostle Peter, and Jesus' brother, James.

Establishment of the official Apostle Paul

The meeting was critical to Christian history, for it established Apostle Paul as an official apostle, alongside the founders of the church at Jerusalem. Paul didn't stay in Jerusalem long and he never visited the Christian communities in the area. This was probably because of danger from his old friends the Pharisees who now saw him as a traitor and a renegade.

After only two weeks, he set out again, this time heading for a new mission in Syria, using his native city Tarsus as a base. Paul was driven out of Tarsus too, undoubtedly by Jews and Pharisees, some of whom had probably once been his comrades.