I am writing to tell you of Saint Paul. Paul was a very important figure of the Catholic Church. He was born in Tarsus into a relatively wealthy family, in 10 AD, and was originally named Saul. Paul was born into a Greek speaking town in the Roman empire. He was originally Jewish and was a member of the tribe Benjamin, he was also well educated. Paul had a sister and when he was 14 he traveled to Jerusalem to learn at the school of Gamaliel about the Jewish religion. Paul after his education at Gamaliel became a Pharisee and returned to Tarsus to arrest Christians for their beliefs. He was involved in the persecution of Christians and was witness to the stoning of Stephen in 34 AD. Paul may seem bad, but, what is important is that he changed. On the road to Damascus to persecute more …show more content…
Christians he was blinded by a shining light. It was Jesus and Jesus said: “Why do you persecute me.” After Paul encountered Jesus he was blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything in that time.
Then Jesus visited Ananias asking him to pray for Paul. Ananias prayed for Paul and soon after scale-like objects fell from Paul’s eyes and he regained his sight. Paul was then baptized and was then on referred to as Paul instead of Saul. Paul then traveled extensively spreading the word of god. Paul on his third journey to spread the word of Jesus was captured by the romans and crucified upside down in around 64AD. Paul has contributed significantly to the Catholic Church, I will tell you of his contributions to the church in the past and how they have affected the church today. Paul believed that Jesus would return soon so he felt he had to save as many people as possible by teaching them about Jesus. Due to Paul’s encounter with Jesus he was inspired to spread the gospel, he traveled far and wide establishing many Christian communities. Paul caused the catholic religion to grow significantly and his contribution in the past has made the catholic religion the wide-spread and large religion is today. Paul argued in the council of Jerusalem that Jewish people and gentiles should hear the word of Jesus and be able to convert which helped the catholic faith to
grow and spread. Paul spread the message that there is always a place in the Christian community for those who are willing to put faith in the lord, Catholics even today are influenced by this message. Paul’s letters are a major contribution he has made to the church in the past and especially today. These letters helped to spread the church’s teachings to lands far and wide, They Encouraged believers to continue following religious rules, the kind and gentle words in Paul’s letters helped to Discuss problems and Offer advice in a loving and kind way and the letters taught the people how you should think and act as followers of Christ. Paul’s letters are also a major influence today, there are around 13 of Paul’s letters in the New Testament, Paul presented the concept that Jesus died to save humans from sin and introduced the idea that Jesus’ death and resurrection changed human’s relationship with god.