holy days: the conversion of Paul

apostle to the nations

Jan 27, 2025

Note: Due to a busy week, this post is a couple days late. But just because a feast day has passed doesn’t mean the event it commemorates isn’t still worth celebrating!

The Conversion of St. Paul by Jude Tarrant. Source: Flickr

On January 25, we celebrate the conversion of Paul the Apostle.

Paul’s conversion is a pretty popular story, but let’s at least look at a summary of it.

Paul1 was a young pharisee who had been involved almost from the beginning in trying to suppress the spread of this new sect of Christians. He was present at the very first martyrdom, that of Stephen, though he was not actually one of the murderers.2 Paul describes his pre-conversion life in his letter to the Galatians:

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.3

On the road to Damascus, where he hoped to arrest Christ followers and drive them back to Jerusalem for trial, Paul was struck by a bright light, and as he fell to the ground, he heard the voice of Jesus, saying “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”4 Jesus told him to continue into the city and await further instructions, but when Paul arose, he found that he could no longer see.

In Damascus, a disciple named Ananias was sent by the Lord to Paul to pray for his eyes to be healed. But knowing that Paul had come to persecute Christians he was hesitant.

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”5

Ananias went to Paul and prayed for him, and he was healed. Paul immediately started proclaiming Jesus in the very synagogues where he had hoped to arrest Christ’s followers. Needless to say, people were confused, especially those who still opposed the message he was now preached. They plotted to kill him, but he escaped, hidden in a basket that was lowered from the city wall.6

Paul went on to proclaim the Gospel in Jerusalem, Antioch, throughout Asia Minor, and into Greece. He founded dozens of churches and wrote most of the New Testament. Eventually, he went to Rome and proclaimed the Gospel there. It’s safe to say that he is one of the most important early evangelists and missionaries of the Christian church.

For anyone of European descent or who lives as an inheritor of western civilization, Paul’s conversion must rank as one of the most important events in history, for it was he who first brought Christianity to Europe.

what’s in a name?

When I was a child learning my Bible stories, I was told that when Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to Paul. We have lots of examples of names being changed at important turning points in the biblical narrative (e.g. Abraham and Sarah; Jacob, who becomes Israel), so it makes sense that this story stuck. But it’s not what the Scriptures tell us.

From when Paul is first mentioned in Acts 7 through Acts 13:9, he is called Saul. But in that last verse, Luke (the author of Acts) says “But Saul, who was also called Paul…”7 and goes on narrating the story. For the rest of the book, he only uses the name Paul. No explanation at all is given.

Theories abound, but the most likely reason for the name change is simply that there was no change at all. Paul had always lived with his feet in two worlds. He was a “Hebrew of Hebrews,”8 and so he no doubt had the kingly name Saul from his eighth day. But he also lived in Tarsus, outside of Judea, and so he would have been surrounded from birth by the Greek-speaking world. Paul may have been his Greek name from childhood.9

Paul and suffering

When the Lord sent Ananias to restore Paul’s sight, he told him that Paul would suffer greatly for Jesus, and from the records of Acts and Paul’s letters, he did. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul lists his trials:

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.10

Today, we don’t often associate Christianity with suffering. Compared to the early church, and even compared to the church today in some parts of the world, it is incredibly easy and comfortable to live as a Christian. But comfort and complacency can be a danger to our faith. It’s easy to become lukewarm. But that wasn’t an option for Paul or for many of the early Christians.

Paul and humility

Paul had reason to be proud of himself. As he warned the church at Philippi not to put confidence in their ability to follow the Law, he pointed out:

Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.11

Instead, though, he put his confidence only in Christ:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.12

(I know that’s a long quotation, but take a moment to read it slowly. It’s good!)

Elsewhere, Paul tells the Corinthian church “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”13 As someone who loves learning, this verse reminds me that knowledge, even of the things of God, can get in the way of knowing God himself. If I’m not focused on Christ, all my learning is worthless. That’s a humbling thought.

conclusion

We can take from Paul’s conversion and subsequent ministry a few important lessons.

First, God can save anyone. Paul was one of the fiercest opponents of the Christian faith, but Jesus turned him into its fiercest evangelist.

Second, suffering is historically a part of the Christian faith. This is something we should remember, both to honor the saints that have suffered to pass the Gospel to later generations, and to remember that comfort can be our enemy.

Third, Paul had reason to boast in his accomplishments, both before and after his conversion. Instead, though, he boasted in Christ.

So, as we celebrate one of the most important conversions in the history of the Church, let’s remember these lessons and how much we have to be grateful for in our Lord and his saving grace.