Discovering Apostle Paul

We visit Delphi in Greece, Jerusalem and Rome to look at Paul's background of Jewish tradition, Roman citizenship and his knowledge of Greek culture. He was perfectly equipped to take the Gospel into Asia and then into Europe.

Paul or Saul as he was known before his conversion, was a 'Pharisee of the Pharisees'. He was passionate about his Jewish faith and was committed to getting rid of new cults like Christianity. Saul set out for Damascus to imprison any Christians he found there but was dramatically converted by an encounter with the living Christ. Saul the persecutor became Paul the preacher.

Paul set out on three great missionary journeys. In Ephesus he preached in homes - the first house churches and in hired halls, where he invited people to come and hear the Gospel. He also preached in the open air which led to a riot as the followers of the goddess Diana found their income affected by Paul's preaching.

As a pastor, Paul had to deal with the pressure of conflicting ideologies and of caring for the church. He spent 18 months establishing the church in Corinth where the church had to deal with the immorality of the city. He was shipwrecked on the island of Malta and suffered other physical ailments. As a Pastor, Paul coped with these because in the Bible he had a resource that strengthened him.

Throughout history, the Dardanelles have been a barrier between Asia and Europe. It was here in 1915 that Australian forces were called on to attack Turkey as part of British plans during World War 1. Almost 2000 years earlier, the Apostle Paul pioneered the spread of the Gospel into Europe in this same area when he heard the call to 'come over and help us'.

Paul was never quiet about the Gospel. He struggled with his old Jewish associates to whom Jesus was just a political failure, not the Messiah. In Galatia, he had to deal with the Judaizers - those who wanted to add the traditions and practices of the Jewish faith to new believers. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evidence of their new life, not their following of Jewish law.