St Paul Obituary

St Paul obituary

Paul was born as Saul (his Jewish name) early in the first century AD in Tarsus. As a teenager he went to Jerusalem to re-discover his Jewish roots and learn more about the Jewish law. Paul identified himself with the Pharisees and was involved in persecuting Christians. Paul was beheaded and killed, in Rome around AD 64.

“Saul” was a self-righteous young Pharisee, almost completely anti-Christian. Saul had previously participated in the stoning of st. Stephen and agreed that what the Jews were doing was acceptable. A few days later Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest another group of Christians when he fell to the ground and was struck blind by a heavenly light (Jesus) which had a spiritual effect on him. Saul was converted to Christianity and was later baptised with the name of Paul and began his first preaching in Antioch – in a synagogue.

Jesus was Pauls Lord and saviour, the one he was proud to serve. Paul wrote many writings which we will never understand unless we fully appreciate that the heart of Paul’s mission to convert Jews to Christians was his sense of being close to Christ and being loved by him.

As a result of Pauls conversion he was inspired to spreads the gospel. In order to do this he had to travel, so he did! He went on three main journeys; his first, which was also the shortest, he was accompanied by Barnabas. The journey ended when Paul returned to Jerusalem for the council. He spoke to all the Jews and Gentiles (which he had previously been working with) and convinced them that they should hear about Jesus. His second journey was in Athens and Corinth, and travelled with Silas. Paul preached to everyone and his message was always “Jesus has come for all and there is a place in the Christian community for everyone who puts their faith in the risen Lord”. In Paul’s third journey he revisited many of the Christian communities he had written to. One of them was at Ephesus. There he preached against the worship of false gods. Pauls preaching was putting them out of business. There was a riot and Paul and his friends had to face an angry mob.

One characteristic of st. Paul was his energy and commitment. We can speak of him as a person of great passion. Paul did not believe in being half-hearted. He lived out his beliefs and acted as if they were the most important things in the world. As a Pharisee, he believed that to follow the law was the way to please God and live a holy life. After his conversion he brought the same passion to his Christian life.

St Paul was the son of Jewish parents who was brought up according to the strict influential party of the Pharisees who enjoyed the high distinction of Roman citizenship. His family were relatively wealthy which provided a good education for Paul (we know this by the way he wrote Greek).The family were tent-makers by trade and also had a daughter (Pauls sister).

Paul was a wise man who travelled to spread the word of God. He wanted slavery to end and for all to be equal. He wanted to stop racism and for the status of women to increase, and through all this he stayed courageous and strong. He taught many people about Christians and has left the message for us to learn about now. He was a man of great values and beliefs and changed the world to become the better place that it is now.