Paul's Life Before Conversion
Paul’s testimony in this passage is quite different from other accounts of his conversion. This is because of his purpose in writing to the Galatians. When Paul gave his testimony before the Sanhedrin and before Agrippa and Festus, his purpose was evangelistic. On those occasions, he emphasized the message of the Gospel.
In this passage, Paul gives his testimony in order to defend his apostleship. He wants to demonstrate that he did not receive his message from men but from God. In order to do this; he briefly describes his conversion and the period during which his theology developed. The purpose of this passage is to show that Paul was not instructed by the Apostles but by Christ.
He begins by describing what he was like before his conversion. “You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors.” (Galatians 1:13,14, Common English Bible)
Paul’s past life, although he greatly regretted it, could not be kept secret. The Galatians knew about it. It was common knowledge among believers.
Paul’s language in these two verses shows a clear distinction in his thinking between Judaism and Christianity. His opponents sought to contain the Christian community within Judaism. Paul saw the Christian faith not as a sect within Judaism but as a religion apart from it.
Paul had been a vicious persecutor of Christians. In his zeal for the Jewish faith, he had sought to destroy what he saw as a dangerous and evil departure from what he then considered to be the truth. Paul sincerely believed that Jesus was an imposter and his salvation a lie. He had brought many to prison and was in favor of killing Christians. He did all in his power to destroy the Christian faith.
As a Pharisee, Paul was the most respected young Rabbi of his day. He was a star pupil of the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel. If religion was a race, Paul was far out in the lead.
Notice that Paul says that he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. He was not zealous for truth. He was not zealous for God. He was zealous for tradition. There are many that call themselves Christian who are like Paul was. They are zealous for tradition more than for truth or for God.
In this passage, Paul gives his testimony in order to defend his apostleship. He wants to demonstrate that he did not receive his message from men but from God. In order to do this; he briefly describes his conversion and the period during which his theology developed. The purpose of this passage is to show that Paul was not instructed by the Apostles but by Christ.
He begins by describing what he was like before his conversion. “You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors.” (Galatians 1:13,14, Common English Bible)
Paul’s past life, although he greatly regretted it, could not be kept secret. The Galatians knew about it. It was common knowledge among believers.
Paul’s language in these two verses shows a clear distinction in his thinking between Judaism and Christianity. His opponents sought to contain the Christian community within Judaism. Paul saw the Christian faith not as a sect within Judaism but as a religion apart from it.
Paul had been a vicious persecutor of Christians. In his zeal for the Jewish faith, he had sought to destroy what he saw as a dangerous and evil departure from what he then considered to be the truth. Paul sincerely believed that Jesus was an imposter and his salvation a lie. He had brought many to prison and was in favor of killing Christians. He did all in his power to destroy the Christian faith.
As a Pharisee, Paul was the most respected young Rabbi of his day. He was a star pupil of the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel. If religion was a race, Paul was far out in the lead.
Notice that Paul says that he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. He was not zealous for truth. He was not zealous for God. He was zealous for tradition. There are many that call themselves Christian who are like Paul was. They are zealous for tradition more than for truth or for God.
posted by David Frank Wilson | 3:06 PM
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