Paul's persecution of the early church (Acts 7: 57 – 58; 8: 1–3; 9: 1- 3) - JSS3 Christian Religious Studies Lesson Note

Paul returned to Tarsus after his studies in Jerusalem. He worked in the family business of tent-making. Paul’s religious training and zealousness as a Pharisee made him very early in life to develop hostility to the early christians. He thought that the christians were completely out of their minds for believing that the crucified Nazarene, Jesus was the long expected Messiah. He became a great leader and frontline persecutor of the early christians. Paul was introduced to us in Acts 7:58 as the young man at whose feet those who stoned Stephen laid down their garments, and Acts 8:1 says, ‘And Saul was consenting to his [Stephen’s] death.’ Immediately Stephen died, there was mass persecution against members of the early Church in Jerusalem, because the apostles were spreading the good news about the resurrection and wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. Many Jews were joining the young Church.

Some of the Jews including Paul believed that God would send His Messiah to save the Jewish people. But they did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. They thought that the Christians teaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ was dangerous and must be stopped. This set of Jews, who opposed the Christians, thought it was God’s will to punish the Christians. It was some of them who arrested Stephen for preaching about Jesus and later dragged him out of the trial place and stoned him to death.

 Some of those who survived the persecution fled to places in Judea and Samaria. However, the apostles remained in Jerusalem. After Paul had persecuted the Christians in Jerusalem, he heard that many of them had fled Jerusalem to places like Damascus, in faraway Syria. Paul who wanted to stamp out Christianity was not happy with the success of Christianity in Damascus.

Paul operated and behaved like a heartless Jewish youth who had unexplainable fury against the church. There can be no better way to describe Saul’s character than that of one who regarded christians as religiously, politically and perhaps socio-culturally dangerous. He was fierce and merciless in his persecution of the church.

He requested and readily got letters of authority from the high priest to go to Damascus and seize the christians there and bring them bound to Jerusalem for capital punishment. It is fair judgement to believe that in carrying out this sort of persecution against the christians, Paul was thoroughly convinced that he was doing the highest service to God.