64 C.E.
Christian missionary

Background.

Meanwhile Saul was still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and applied for letters to the synagogues of Damascus authorizing him to arrest anyone he found, men or women, who followed the new way, and bring them to Jerusalem. While he was still on the road and nearing Damascus, suddenly a great light flashed from the sky all around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Tell me, Lord, who you are." The voice answered, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."

Thus the Acts of the Apostles introduces us to Paul at the turning-point of his life: a sudden conversion which transformed him from a Pharisee (a Jewish teacher of the law) into one of the major figures in the...