From Saul To Paul: A Religious Conversion

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From Saul to Paul: A Religious Conversion

This paper is my account of the three different versions of Paul’s conversion. To get my point across, I will cover the comparisons between the three stories, in relevance to the narrative setting, characters, intent/rhetoric, and plot. Then I will explain why the three are different. To understand why this paper is such an important topic, I need to briefly explain who Paul was and his ways.
Paul is often considered one of the most successful early Christian missionaries. He was also one of the twelve Apostles, as well as a big influence on the New Testament of the Bible, having written many of its sections. Paul was the founder of Gentile Christianity, which gained him much attention because he himself was of Jewish origin. He was born Jewish and strictly adhered to the ways and customs of Judaism. He was originally named Saul and was a zealous opponent of Christians and the Christian religion until a vision of Jesus converted him to Christianity. He continued to spread the word of Jesus during many of his missions. During these missions, he and his colleagues founded many churches along the way. Throughout his lifetime, Paul spoke out for Gentile Christians to be free from Jewish law. In one of his final actions, “Paul collected money from the other churches and delivered it to the church of Jerusalem, in the name of love between Gentile and Jewish Christians” (Encyclopedia of Knowledge. 270). Many people did not appreciate this, and soon afterward, Paul’s downfall became just a matter of time.
The first group of comparisons between the accounts of Paul’s conversion involves their narrative settings. In the first conversion, Acts 9.1-22; the story starts out in Jerusalem. Shortly afterwards Saul and his men travel about one hundred and thirty miles North East to Damascus (Our World. 148). Once there, Saul stays with Judas in his house. Following that h...