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Pentecost
Founding

The Conversion of Paul

The persecutor becomes the apostle to the nations.

c. 34 ADThe road to Damascus

Saul of Tarsus, travelling to Damascus to arrest Christians, was confronted on the road by the risen Christ in blinding light. He rose a believer. As Paul, he became the apostle whose letters shape the New Testament.

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, by Caravaggio, 1600–01.
Caravaggio, 1600–01, Santa Maria del Popolo — Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Saul was a Pharisee, zealous for the Law, and a determined opponent of the followers of Jesus. Acts records that he was on the road to Damascus, carrying authority to arrest Christians, when a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground.

A voice said, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' — and identified itself as Jesus. Blinded, Saul was led into Damascus, where the disciple Ananias, sent by the Lord, restored his sight and baptized him.

The persecutor became the apostle. Paul carried the gospel across the Roman world and wrote the letters — Romans, the Corinthian correspondence, Galatians, and more — that form the largest body of teaching in the New Testament. No conversion has shaped Christian history more.