The story of Apostle Paul represents a true transformation from a prosecutor to a defender of Jesus. The real Paul was once a prosecutor who moved from one house to another, arresting the Christians and putting them in jail. His life, however, took a dramatic turn when he encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus, where he changed from his old ways and started preaching to the same people he had gone to prosecute. He made a tremendous contribution to Christianity by writing at least thirteen letters to different churches (The Quest for the Real Paul). The letters were converted into books in the bible and are read by all Christians today. The real Paul who contributed to the bible was the one who was previously known as Saul but changed his name after encountering Jesus.
The video presented something new: Paul was not converted, and the real Paul was a Jewish teacher. If Paul were a Jewish teacher and not Saul, who converted after the encounter, there would be no reason why a Jewish teacher would prosecute fellow Jews. I don’t agree with the biblical scholars that the real Paul was a Jewish teacher because, in the book of Galatians, chapter one, verses thirteen and fourteen, Apostle Paul defends his previous actions of prosecuting the church, stating that he was loyal to his ancestors (Keener 3). The statement defending his previous actions in the bible proves that the real Paul was the one who was converted and not the Jewish teacher, as presented in the video. Saul’s ancestors were Pharisees who were against Jesus’ teachings, and he was doing so to protect his ancestral belief to ensure that Christianity did not overturn their religion.
As a Hellenistic from Benjamin’s tribe, Saul vowed to defend his ancestral religion. The conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is explained in the book of Mathew, chapter twenty-three, verse two, where Jesus tells people to respect the teachers of the law and the Pharisees because they sit on the mosaic stool. However, he advised people not to follow what the Pharisees did because they did the opposite of what they preached (Saldarini 23). The Pharisees perceived Jesus as an enemy, and Paul had to protect his ancestral belief. The real Paul is, therefore, the prosecutor who turned after the encounter and not the Jewish teacher introduced by the bible scholars.
Works Cited
Keener, Craig S. Galatians. Cambridge University Press, 2018. Web.
Saldarini, Anthony J. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2021. Web.
“The Quest for the Real Paul.”YouTube, uploaded by Vision, 2018, Web.