Paul of tarsus did much to advance Christianity among the gentiles, considered one of the primary sources of the Christian doctrine, Jew and roman citizen of tarsus Some argue it was he who truly made Christianity a new religion promoted Christianity throughout the world, some say founder of Christianity Early life didn’t support Christianity he persecuted Christians because they said Jesus was the son of god went against Jewish religion, believed Christians were blasphemers Believed they were political threat to Rome On the road to Damascus he was struck blind and Jesus questioned why do you persecute me and my followers, he went to Damascus got healed by a Christian and changed his view point on Christianity – Converted ad 33-36 All of humanity was going to be redeemed by Paul’s work of preaching Jesus Became preacher of Christianity, describes himself as Jesus servant, preached in synagogues, christens and to Jews Promoted Jesus was messiah Christian missionary, known as the founder of Christianity was a Pharisee Paul undertook 3 missionary journeys and established Christian communities in Asia Minor and Greece. When he returned after his 3rd journey Paul was arrested Most effective missionary of the Christian communities and its first theologian Paul’s Jewish roman and Greek background prepared him ideally as the apostle to the gentiles More than one quarter of the Christian scriptures are attributed to Paul As a theologian he made it clear to the early Christian communities the meaning of following Christ In his missionary work he established churches in the political and cultural centers of the western world.
His theology has been used as a source of the church and spiritual renewal at crucial times during the history of Christianity eg protestant and catholic reformations Extremely important summery of the Christian faith his writings – Centre of his teachings was understanding the death and resurrection of Jesus Paul preserved Christianity’s Jewish heritage, affirmed gods ongoing call to the Jewish people, and interpreted all this in the light of Jesus message Was dedicated to Christianity, established Christian churches throughout the roman empire and wrote many letters to his churches and individuals Teachings of Paul is a guidance for Christians Paul used his new life as an example of an enthusiastic and evangelic apostle He lived out his own mission which was to spread the gospel of Jesus Persuaded people of Antioch of gods kingdom arriving, would not arrive until her converted gentiles Successfully recruited Jews and gentiles alike, his writings stated that faith in Christ was important in salvation for Jews and gentiles alike Contribution Writings of St. Paul include Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Those of disputed authorship are Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 3 Corinthians, and Epistle to the Laodiceans, his letters are the earliest surviving Christian literature. Paul met James, the brother of Jesus, and Peter, the Apostle, in Jerusalem. He then went on to Antioch where he converted Gentiles.
This helped make Christianity a universal religion (missions, journeys) Through Paul’s writings and missionary Journeys to the communities of Antioch, Galatians, Romans, Philippians and many more he was able to establish Christianity as a separate entity from Judaism for the first time through Paul’s dedication to writings and his missionary Journeys he was able to establish some of the earliest Christian communities seen as their own entity, separate from Judaism for the first time. One of the main contributions that led to the separation of Christianity from the Jewish Sect was the Council of Jerusalem – a meeting of Church leaders to discuss the Jewish law}.
At this meeting the question was whether Gentile converts needed to be circumcised, while many were agreeing to this ideal Paul encouraged liberation from the law instead stressing that faith alone would bring salvation and there was no need for circumcision Through his writing Paul incorporated ideals of the theology of Christ and the Church, the salvation of God, sexual morality, marriage and encouraging liberation from Jewish Law through his writings which now form over of the New Testament, through which he wrote to Christian communities about beliefs, lessons, advice and support has had a huge impact upon Christianities development and expression both throughout History and today
