Understanding Christianity

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To understand Christianity, it is necessary to understand who Saul was and what his career on earth consisted of. Aside from Jesus Christ, Saul has been the most important figure in the history of religion, and has influenced every believer to this day. His career was more a calling, or was considered to be more of a life style because it was his passion and it was what he loved doing. Jesus was not the founder of Christianity as we know it today. Most of the New Testament doesn't even concern the historical Jesus while the main influence is the Apostle Paul and through the church he founded at Ephesus a Greek convert named John. Saul never met Jesus in the flesh, he only claimed some strange vision and proceeded to paganism the teachings of Jesus (who preached an enlightened form of Judaism), until he created Pauline Christianity. Because there are no known writings from Jesus, the actual Apostles, or anyone that actually knew Him in the flesh (other then perhaps James), most of what He taught is lost forever, other than perhaps the disputed Gnostic Gospels. The Apostle Paul was born around the year of 3 A.D. in the Jewish community of Tarsus originally Saul. When he was born, his strict Pharisee parents dedicated him to the service of God and did all they could to bring him up as good Jew. From age five to ten he studied under his father, a Jewish Pharisee. His father taught him the scriptures and traditional writing. Saul was sent to Jerusalem at about ten years old to attend the rabbinical school of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the most famous rabbi who is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 5:34). Gamaliel soon discovered Saul was an enthusiastic student and expected great things from him. He felt that he would be a great leade... ... middle of paper ... ...on. Modern study of Paul has tried to reach beyond controversies and to see Paul in his true context of the rise of Christianity. Paul stands out as a Christian Jew, whose conversion experience convinced him that Christ was the universal Lord under God, the agent and leader of God's kingdom. Paul thus maintained that through Christ every barrier is broken down: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus ”. Paul of Tarsus was one of the greatest orators that have ever lived, and his writings and speech mannerisms are still practiced to this day by preachers and lay people the world over. Paul went from a manual labor job to being one of the most influential writers of this century and changed the way forever that Jesus Christ, my Lord would be studied and taught over the world.

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