BIBLE ARCHITECTURE: JERUSALEM - Reconstructions of the city at the time of Paul

                  PAUL

 
A PASSIONATE MAN

  PEOPLE IN THE STORY

  FAMOUS QUOTES

  BIBLE REFERENCE

  INTERESTING SITES

  ACTIVITIES/QUESTIONS

Paul was a passionate man, fiercely loyal to his beliefs yet not afraid to change his mind. It's a good thing he was flexible like this, because without him Christianity might not have taken hold and grown into a Church that would change the world.

PAUL HUNTED CHRISTIANS
Paul was brought up as a strict Jew, and believed wholeheartedly in Jewish teachings, having studied under the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel I.  He was a rabbi, but like many rabbis of the time he backed up his preaching with ordinary work that provided an income - in Paul's case it was tent-making, still a thriving industry in 1st century Palestine. 

The strange thing is that though he was one of the founders of Christianity, he never met Jesus. In fact, when he first learnt about Christian beliefs he thought they were lies, heresy, and a dangerous threat to Jewish teachings and beliefs. This being so, he became an enthusiastic persecutor of the early Christians, hunting them down and imprisoning them. 

ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS....
On a journey to the city of Damascus, Paul had an overwhelming experience, a 'vision', and became convinced that Jesus was risen from the dead and exalted as lord in heaven, just as the Christians claimed. He knew suddenly that he should join the Christians and worship Jesus as his Lord. 

This he did immediately, with the same enthusiasm he had put into persecuting the Christians, changing from being their bitter enemy to complete and lifelong dedication to the Christian cause. The reaction of the early Christians to this turnaround is not recorded, but it must have been extreme skepticism at first, if not outright disbelief.

CARRYING CHRIST'S MESSAGE TO ALL
Paul threw himself wholeheartedly into his new life. He saw his vocation to be a missionary to people of every nation, to prepare them for God's coming. After spending time in solitude and prayer in Arabia, he took up residence in Damascus. There he made contact with the Christian community and lived for three years. Somehow he ran foul of the governor there, who set a watch on the gates of Damascus, but Paul escaped over the wall in a basket and made his way to Jerusalem.

'The strange thing is that though he was one of the founders of Christianity, he never met Jesus. In fact, when he first learnt about Christian beliefs he thought they were lies, a dangerous threat to Jewish teachings and beliefs. This being so, he became an enthusiastic persecutor of the early Christians, hunting them down and imprisoning them.'

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There he visited Peter and James, but the Jerusalem authorities regarded him as a renegade and he did not stay long. He went to Antioch to assist Barnabas with his successful mission there. 

EATING WITH GENTILES
The converts included a large number of Gentiles, and this fact led to a serious crisis among the Christians. The early communities had at their heart a shared meal, but Jewish purity rules made Jews reluctant to eat with Gentiles. The question was, should the purity rules be maintained, or should they be discarded. This may seem trivial, but it was in fact a profound question: were the early Christians going to remain a sect of Judaism, or were they going to create a new and universal religion?

The issue was complicated by the fact that in Jerusalem the Christian communities had to take great care not to offend the Jewish authorities, and it would be difficult if not downright dangerous for them to share meals with Gentile Christians. When Peter later visited Antioch, Paul insisted on disregarding the law that forbad Jews to eat with Gentiles.

THE MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
Paul then began a series of three missionary journeys that took him to cities throughout Asia Minor and Greece. He maintained contact with the churches he established by means of letters that taught, corrected and encouraged the emerging Christian communities. 

Paul made his last visit to Corinth in 57AD and then went to Jerusalem, where he was arrested, accused of bringing a Gentile into the inner courts of the Temple where Gentiles were not allowed. He was arrested partly to save him from the mob, but was treated well.

PAUL IN PRISON
After being imprisoned at Caesarea for two years, he appealed to the emperor - Paul was legally a Roman citizen, and so had legal rights that other Jewish-born Christians did not have. He arrived in Rome in 60AD and was kept under house arrest for two years waiting for trial, during which time he continued to write letters to the Christian communities.

There is no real certainty about how Paul died - the evidence is disputed. But it can be justly claimed that it was due to Paul more than any other person that Christianity grew from being a small offshoot of Judaism into a major world religion.

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BIBLE REFERENCE
Acts 7:58ff; Acts 9-28; Letters of Paul: Romans to Philemon

PEOPLE IN THE STORY
Paul, a convert to Christianity who promoted inclusion of Gentiles in the first Christian communities
Peter and James, heads of the Jerusalem community of Christians
Barnabas, Jewish Christian who accepted Paul after his conversion and led the mission to Antioch

FAMOUS QUOTES
'There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28)
'For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' (Galatians 5:14)
'Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Romans 5:1
'....so we, who are many, are one body in Christ....' (Romans 12:5)

INTERESTING WEBSITES - stories, pictures, reconstructions

Jerusalem as it looked at the time Paul visited it - see lower section of web page
BIBLE ARCHITECTURE: JERUSALEM

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ACTIVITIES AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

Analyzing the letters
Analyze Paul’s first Letter to the Thessalonians.

Give the background to the Letter: when was it written? To what sort of people? Why?

What response did Paul give to the concern that some members of the church had died?

How were Gentile Christians to live?

What message does this Letter have for us today?

Famous Quotes
See the 'Famous Quotes' above. Put each of these into your own words, and then apply them to a particular part of your own life - as if you were one of the early Christians receiving a Letter from Paul.

Still relevant today
Go through one of Paul's Letters and make a list of the best pieces of advice he gives to the people to whom he is writing. Do they apply to your own life today? Why not write a letter back, telling him how they've helped you? Or complain about problems you have that he does not seem to address?

Paul's importance
What influence did Paul have on the development of the Christian church? How did he shape it? List some concrete ways. Just how important was he? A good place to start might be to imagine an alternative world: what if Paul had not been converted, but had gone on rounding up and imprisoning Christians, whom he saw as heretics?

In depth study of one person's story
Choose one of the people whose stories are told on this site and develop a PowerPoint presentation about them.
The presentation must be at least 10 slides long and should include 
 *  a supporting image/picture/painting of each person 
 *  a map of Israel showing the cities and areas where the story took place.  
You may call up other websites to support your ideas.

In your presentation (approximately 10 minutes), answer the following questions:

1. What are the main events of the person's life? Tell the story.

2. What were their main qualities? What made them stand out from the crowd?

3. What obstacles did they face? Did they overcome them, or go with the flow? Explain.

4. How did they use their abilities to do God’s work?  

5. Which part of their story appeals to you most? Why?

You must include three short quotations from the gospel texts or from Acts of the Apostles to illustrate the points you are making. 

Focus Questions
1. What are the most interesting things about Paul's story? 
2. Choose one of his Letters. Read it through from beginning to end. In the Letter, who is the audience - it changes of course for each letter. What are the characteristics of a particular audience? - you can work this out by searching for clues in the Letter. Be a detective.
3. What is the image of God that Paul presents? What does this tell us about Paul? Do you agree with this image?
4. What can you find out about the city/community to which Paul wrote? Its location, its particular problems, what sort of place it was? 
5. Paul does not give us all the clues we'd like. What has been left out that you would like to know?
6. Are the characteristics and actions addressed still present in the world? How is the Letter relevant to modern life, especially your own? 

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Bible Stories: People of the Old Testament - Bible Study Resource: Paul