This is the story of a man who traveled halfway around the world to spread christianity. Called turned his back on everything he knew to embark on his mission. His life is the story of a remarkable transformation. He started out preaching hatred then love. Initially he attracted the wrath of the populace and of the powerful he was made a pariah persecuted and threatened with death. Many of his enemies embraced christianity paul turned a small jewish sect into a world religion. Who was this man who risked death for his. Beliefs. When paul the apostle was shipwrecked in the adriatic sea on his way to rome it marked the dramatic climax of a long and arduous journey the acts of the apostles describes how the missionary fought for his life but the account also contains a message of hope. That one of you really lose your life. Only the ship will be lost. And angel the new testament text says predicted that paul would be saved by divine intervention. From so it came to pass that they escaped all say to let. Me off my into my own martyr is where the most significant rescue of a shipwrecked crew is said to have taken place almost two thousand years ago. See how it all storm washi paul the apostle ashore on what is now called st pauls bay and in the three months that he had to wait here before continuing on to rome he managed to convert the whole island to christianity yet. To give his side phone policy the maltese are very proud that the island was converted to christianity by paul the apostle himself im even today almost all the inhabitants of the island are catholics st paul is their patron saint sometimes and i was one to this day the most holy place for his worship is the church of st paul in robot outside maltas former capital. Beneath the church there is a grotto where paul is said to have lived after his shipwreck was not sent him shift bulkeley times of. Globalised christianity. He turned a small jewish sect into a world religion how did he do it against all adversity and who was this superman of antiquity. At least thats what i want to find out the hosts of. The search begins in jerusalem. Pilgrims visit the church of the holy sepulture all year around. Today christianity is the Worlds Largest religion its easy to forget that the christians were originally only one of many jewish splinter groups which could very easily have come to an early end with the death of its leader. His name was the son of joseph. We know him as jesus of nazareth. A few followers remained loyal to jesus after he died on the cross but soon after the crucifixion there was talk of the resurrected one and the second coming. For paul such talk was heresy and blasphemy. Paul was a very pious and like all pious jews he eagerly awaited the coming of the messiah that its messiah however was expected to be a powerful figure and the assertion that jesus was the messiah was simply grotesque for paul the power to him he was a madman and a rabble rouser. As a young man paul had come to jerusalem from his home town of tarsus in modern day turkey. Today he is also known by his jewish name of saul of tarsus. There he had joined the farah sees a group of pious jews. They believe that all jews had to obey the six hundred thirteen mitzvot or commandments without exception. They only would apologise in matters of faith the young paul was what we would today call radical extremist a fanatic and deeply devoted to god but with zero tolerance toward dissenters. As the growing group of jesus disciples soon realized paul and his group of deeply devout jews knew no mercy. For you have heard your former manner of life in judaism. Are used to persecute the church of god beyond measure and tried to destroy. The First Christian martyr was stephen a deacon in the early church who was stoned to death it says in the bible that paul approved his killing. The ids im sorry paul thought that jesus was a pseudo prophet who had predicted the downfall of jerusalem which didnt happen of course that was blasphemy against him and then he was involved in this lynch him by what he saw in stephen someone who faced death with an unbelievable inner clarity and he was positively radiant when he died and i wouldnt rule out the possibility that paul was somewhat moved. Like to be the victim. Saul the persecutor would become paul the apostle. Love his patient love is kind it does not envy it does not post what it is not proud of this was the author of these deeply moving words in first corinthians is the same man who persecuted the early christians how can that be just as someone on one hand he was a brutal fanatic on the other hand a sensitive poet who wrote some of the bibles most beautiful verses. To sleep tonight. According to the bible the answer to how the brutal persecutor of christians became an apostle who spread the gospel of christ can be found on the road to damascus. As he near damascus on his journey suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him saul saul why do you persecute me. This is how sauls conversion is described in the act of the apostles. He grabbed his poems for damascus and i believe that paul had a deeply existential experience on the road to damascus its cup herson all experience thats how he encountered christ and thats what made him change his life radically and it wasnt because of some medical phenomena some incidental experience some random association but because of something that touched him existentially hes existence had the toughness. Whatever happened on the road to damascus paul was now convinced god had chosen him to go out into the world and speak to all people. Actually an Impossible Mission and a dangerous one. Immediately after his damascus experience paul is said to have visited the Christian Community in jerusalem. There he was notorious as a persecutor of christians. When he came to jerusalem he tried to stand by the disciples but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. Of the ein side of us and in a way it was a tremendous presumption along comes this man who so far have been an adversary but who now claims im one of you with no personal experience of jesus who may not even. Knowing what jesus even said as far as the disciples were concerned about in the flesh what he claimed to tell he appeared to me and the question for them was of course is this person serious is he perhaps trying to spy on us how could they know he thought about us if he had to fight for his credibility and safina. Paul is said to have remained with the disciples for fifteen days he listened to their accounts of jesus his deeds and words now paul wanted to take the message to the world his god given task. He saw this as his mission. Social emotional back then the roman roads were what freeways are today the super highways of antiquity as much as all take advantage of this he covered more than sixteen thousand kilometers in twenty years traveling halfway around the ancient world of it. Then as a missionary you had to be a good walker. Travelling safely and quickly was possible thanks to the sturdy stone roads the romans had built across their empire. To call the missionary the network of roads must have seemed like a gift from god. His First Destination was antioch already home to a small Christian Community but only those who were circumcised and adhere to jewish dietary rules could belong to it. Own wanted to evangelize as many people as possible. Before potest before paul became a christian until he believed that obeying gods law was a way of living according to gods will but he suddenly realized this wasnt the point. That it was all ok because jesus of nazareth had ensured that god looked kindly at mankind. There was no need to try and please them to follow certain rules to gain gods favor and. It was already guarantees for sure. And with that in mind you could follow the law if you wanted it is but you didnt have to come under thats for when was a world where. The Original Church members viewed pauls change of heart with concern. He was summoned to jerusalem where a crisis summit was held in forty eight eighteen hardliners against liberals. The christians of jerusalem wanted to accept only jews as members of their community but paul wanted christianity to be open to all people. A compromise was found. Jewish christians continued to obey jewish laws but gentiles were exempt from them. Too paul faith in jesus was all that mattered. In the council of jerusalem is a key moment in the history of christianity. There are a new independent faith arose from judaism that left its jewish origins behind. The whole world was now open to the tireless missionary paul but he must have suspected that his path would be arduous and fraught with danger. His mission led paul from physics with over one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants it was the largest city in asia minor at the time. Everywhere he went paul encountered huge temple complexes. The ancient world was full of them. There was a temple for each of the men. Gods that people worshiped but to call sacrificing to many gods amounted to idolatry. To mention city in polish the people to whom paul was appealing had a centuries old tradition of worshipping gods could he dont because asia society was divided into those who were free in those who were slaves greeks and barbarians men and women and then along came paul who said thats not important my god is important to christ to appear to me is important and he told the people that they should change their life to serve him that was a tremendous demand. As paul soon realized. How could he offend their religious sensibility how could he demand they renounce all that was sacred to them for an unknown man who had been crucified. For. Power who set off to provoke hostility for example by going to the synagogue and proclaiming his teachings saying to the gentiles your faith is not the right while it is inferior to the true faith that i represent getting i still. Tweeted. But his strategy often worked. Archaeologists made a spectacular find in a cave above f. As its. Inscriptions suggest this was an early christian pilgrimage site. In the center of the cave is one of the oldest representations of the apostle paul. Is this was once an important trade. Today impressive ruins serve as a reminder of its former glory as a port city that attracted people of all different backgrounds. But pilgrimage was even more important than trade. The patron goddess of the. Asians was artimus. She wears the testicles of sacrificed bulls around her neck a symbol of the fertility of the goddess who was revered as a nurturer of all living beings. And. If as those of us left as this was the lords of antiquity believers from all over the world made pilgrimages to the magnificent temple of artemis to worship the goddesses the artemis cult was already a thousand years old in pauls time and was tremendously popular not only in f. As indies i hope to compete with his crucified messiah against artemis and all the other gods in this stronghold of paganism that paul must have had a lot of faith in god. Got up to. The acts of the apostles relate how paul made new enemies this time they were merchants who sold miniature replicas of the goddess artemis to pilgrims. They were unwilling to let paul spoil their lucrative business and refused to tolerate any insult to their goddess. Usually have no other gods before me it says in exodus. Four called believing in one god was all that mattered. I missed. A missionary lives dangerously with his message of the one god of the Christians Paul met with fierce resistance. Nevertheless he is said to have stayed in fs this for two years and he apparently succeeded in converting a number of men and women to this new faith that demonized all other gods but paul had even more ambitious goals. He wanted to bring his message to where monotheism was still unheard of in the heartland of the roman empire on the european continent. Paul is believed to have reached me up a list today called carlo in northern greece in the year fifty a. D. These are poles would have passed this way the ignacio dating back to roman times continued to be used into the Twentieth Century until asphalt roads were built about how this was a rival in the port city of karbala is still regarded today as the moment when christianity began to sweep europe in and found them. First of all paul needed a receptive audience in the apple as he founded on a river bank where he encountered a group of open minded jews. According to lukes book of acts a woman named lydia was the first to listen to pauls words. With a baptism the new sign of admission to the community of all Christians Paul established the first church on european soil. That is the first the First Christian in europe was a woman here in this little river she said to have been baptized by paul and there is much evidence that the wealthy and independent lydia also became a Church Leader and perhaps even a bishop. But wasnt paul the apostle a massage in this fight. Today paul is often viewed as a woman hater he believed females should be silent in the congregation and subservient so this is how he has gone down in history. Its clear from policy letters that he knew women in leading positions and also appointed women to leading positions i mean this its time to ply him at the same time paul was of course aware that the position of women in society was subordinate to men. And he also. Knew the parts of the torah that were empty feminist thats according to ecclesiastes the Christian Church christ did not distinguish between men and women still. Green as he did people who were free and people he was slain. You would mark the christ. This was an incredible message of equality freedom and fi heights of. Power paul was not the one dimensional enemy of women as he has gone down in history on the contrary from his point of view men and women cannot be anything other than equal. But the later church which was dominated by men didnt want to hear that. And still doesnt allow female priests although the great majority of catholics would certainly be in favor of that a few of. The martyrs st pauls catacombs deep underground bear witness to the appeal of early christianity. Those who profess to be christians were also promised eternal life. Your goal in the early Christian Community firmly believed in life after death toll and this hope was associated with a particular kind of burial in the shuttle deep down in the earth they build huge cemeteries just like here in robot and mortar in our part of monitor. In china or even were carved into the soft limestone in seemingly endless corridors to save space there were several floors look here the deceased were buried wrapped in linen cloth. That. Cupolas and the from paul in the early christians these graves were only a stopover they believe that they like jesus would rise from the dead not only the soul but also the body. Like they firmly believed in eternal life in an eventual reunion in paradise that was the message and the great promise of early christianity. I was part of macedonia at that time one of the oldest and largest provinces in the roman empire. How would people here react to paul and his promise of eternal life. So far paul has been an asia minor in todays turkey how did the greeks feel about religion. It was a city of many gods excavations have unearthed traces of many pagan deities feelin high admission good months targeted a lot of good. News from greece egypt and babylon from all over the world and event. In scientists have made interesting discoveries in the hills in pictures carved in the rocks like a giant conical comic were what i do pictures of. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages came here to fetch both cut and uncut stones to build their houses jobo it a hole is a gold so like a quarry this is the quarry and as a thank you i made these drawings here and here to fit it was a pagan custom my clothes im going for thank you in the form of art what exactly do we see in these really but if it is in this we see our to miss and all the pictures with a dear she is killed or dizzy hut to hear school and there were many hunters into the park. And artemis as the goddess of emphasis on protects the hunters ephesus. These pictures here is a big thank you. In spite of artemis pauls message also found followers in philip i. After his departure he continued to keep in touch with the people of philip by. Pauls epistles alone make up a quarter of the new testament. His epistle to the thessalonians is considered one of the earliest christian documents. In the piece i will read his letters to the Christian Communities which he himself had founded the big gun once he left he had to clarify the difference between his teachings and false teachings scotties could give rise to misunderstanding with. Other apostles who spread a false gospel and pulled this post. Viewed himself as the Sole Authority in his epistles he laid out the definitive christian doctrine. Of seven of these can be attributed to apology day six others were probably written by pupils after his death and sent to the growing network of Christian Communities. Each of the epistles was repeatedly copied passed on read and discussed in an ongoing exchange much like todays online social networks. This sophisticated letter system is similar to modern Communications Networks and contributed significantly to the spread of christianity. And call was a communications genius and his letters made him the key promoter of early christianity. And thanks to roman road such as the vietnam c. E. O. They reached all corners of the empire. Its often said about Martin Luther that without the invention of printing there would have been no reformation kind of a four months or similarly without all those letters that would have been no christianity. But in greece the cradle of democracy the letters werent enough. Paul had to use his persuasive powers as an orator. The Acropolis Temple complex was where athenians worshipped athena patron and protector of the city and dozens of other gods. Nowhere else was science as advanced and humankind the world and the universe more thoroughly examined than an f. M. Attained the top in essence paul had arrived in the intellectual center of the ancient world the city of philosophers a place of lively debate that if it was to be the acid test for his message the gospel he pitched against philosophy a standoff that paul would have preferred to avoid in politics will leave boston begun vienna. On his missionary journeys paul had learned that he was most persuasive in personal conversation. But in athens he couldnt avoid having to speak before large audiences. In ancient times and people were forever being addressed by speakers in public squares in theatres and houses who were promoting something loss of fear doctrine or another and seeking to recruit followers when one of them was paul i know one who was one of the most potentially effective mystics to but this was not immediately clear if he was one of the many who presented themselves as representatives of a true unique faith i know it must to provoke people it was attention grabbing but thats what he did the few of us. Paul challenge the idea of many gods in athens they were omnipresent. There were said to be. Three thousand statues of the gods for five thousand inhabitants. Of union sacrifice to their many gods very conscientiously to be on the safe side there was even a god without a name the unknown god or god they even made sacrifices to him just to be sure that no deity had been forgotten when they would take some convincing to abandon this centuries old practice what did paul have to offer the. Only apostle spoke to the people at the area up against traditionally the Political Center of athens it was a disastrous appearance. The greeks saw pauls messages untutored blasphemous and nonsensical. He preached the resurrection of the body for the greeks this sounded like an ancient egyptian mummy cult. Far from being able to convert them paul was scorned as a babel or a charlatan. Athens was a bitter defeat for paul this city was crucial but here he failed in his mission on the end of his letter show that paul began to doubt his abilities as brilliant as he was as a letter writer he lacks conviction as a public speaker. About soy but paul wasnt the type to give up fast he resolved to do better at his next port of call in corinth an incoherent. Corinth the city between two cities its northern port link to italy the harbor in the southeast was considered the gateway to asia. Due to its location in sion corinth was a flourishing commercial center. Everything money could buy could be found here. By this girl who was the exact opposite of athens it was notoriously prosperous a city worked. People flooded their wealth and were greedy for more it caused a different challenge for polis. Called in the last thing one might have expected to look for a job. Perhaps he took it as a sign from god that he came across christians who were also tent makers a craft he had learned in his home town of tarsus. Sit out with his wide street must have been the main street of corinth is this where pauls workshop was. This is the kind of the simple it is the cargo see most of the main street of koran its a splendid street paved with marble. To the left and right where shops. Also there were small holes in the facades of the shops. And thats where canopies were fastened so that people were protected from the burning sun dimension from the butt end of the news only guess whats going on like us standing right in the sun which comes before state violence everything here was very expensive so i can imagine that pauls workshop wasnt here. The most. Often it must have been a few blocks away thats where he worked and lived. By to have not only give once about how does it all certainly didnt come to corinth to work and earn money he came as a missionary missoni and guilt the team does it but how money didnt interest him at all to be sure he came here because there were so many People Living in corinth for mentioning that he was an International Trade house dot. And handle the hundreds of thousands of people here living from trade and business he made them handle them to shift by shifting as a tent maker was a perfect camouflage allowing him to talk to people from all over the world. And you know exactly travelers came here from egypt britain and the black sea with these enjoyed and these were the people that long wanted to reach with his message. And spread him because when they left corinth they would spread his message further met lloyd there and just brought him what the bookshelf paolos white i get that i can. Give you the current became his city no where else was paul so successful in converting people to the christian thing. To me first and foremost with theres this idea that paul was a brilliant. We have madge and he gave inspiring speeches and people came in droves. But thats not true because he gave this big speech on the i guess in athens which more or less backfired he had been successful in his mission when he spoke to people in small groups and when he met them one on one. This was a successful long term strategy. But we have to ask why exactly he was so extraordinarily successful and its worth bearing in mind that paganism was somehow empty it was very one dimensional very superficial and christianity was something that spoke to the soul and that is what people were looking for at that time and that is what paul addressed in the one on one conversations he had with them. But for paul it all meant nothing if he couldnt bring christianity to rome the capital of the world at the time. When he was still in corinth he wrote a letter to the romans announcing his arrival and laying out his theology in the clearest possible form. The pencil to the romans would be his theological legacy. The greatest impact of pauls letter to the romans was felt in the reformation Martin Luther is said to have been inspired by the line the righteous shall live by faith. From this luther concluded that man did not have to earn his place in heaven or by it with money. For anyone who believes in christ and are offensive his sins god has a place in heaven. When you read the texts of paul and luther you notice how similar they are they are both incredibly sensitive they understand how to reach people. At the same time however they can also get very angry when something goes against their basic principles there are many sides to them. Theres no filter no separation between who they are. Are and what they write on their texts are an expression of them completely unchecked you get a sense of their great emotionality when you read their texts and its an emotional tea that they share. And what somebody. Wherever paul went he made the name of jesus known he was devilish to at least thirteen churches sowing the seeds of early christianity which only began to flower after his death. Christian communities were established in the most remote places on cliff tops and in caves deep underground. They all serve as a reminder of paul the apostle. Paul. First and foremost paul was a pioneer he loved to chart New Territory even though asia minor message donia and greece were by no means completely evangelized the start had been made. Paul then resolved to go west to rome perhaps even further to spain but first he had to report back to his Original Church in jerusalem. In jerusalem the successful missionary was received with suspicion. Also himself as both a christian and a jew. But his visit to the temple the holiest site in judaism sparked a scandal. In the bible it says that paul was accused of taking a gentile into the holy part of the temple complex and thereby desecrating it. A crime that was punishable in jewish law by the death penalty. How does this tie to the small denies having made this mistake it would be extraordinary if he had been good but he was mistrusted by other followers of christ who were more protective of the temple i didnt want it opened up to pagans and by jews who were skeptical of christ and such as the pharisees sadducees fazios i dont see encountered mistrust everywhere and so from stone the argument in jerusalem used to discredit another jew was that he was not abiding by jewish rules so it seems plausible that the accusation against him was fabricated for conciliatory. Facing threats to his life in jerusalem paul was taken into protective custody by a roman officer he was practices area seat of the roman governor of the province of judea. Was plagued by thoughts of death. I long to go and be with christ. So look i knew it was american jerusalem paul saw himself surrounded by enemies and traps and the early Church Community resented him for converting non jews to christianity and. This and had written the Supreme Jewish Council wanted to silence. Well i know and the roman governor wanted to be rid of a potentially dangerous troublemaker pollard but paul had an ace up his sleeve and. He was not only jewish and christian he was also a roman citizen subject to roman law. But until the end it remained unclear which locke paul had violated. For and line verdict he should offer a layman the description of what happens after pauls arrest is very confusing wasnt it has to be said of course that looks account is highly dramatize topple him but reading between the lines its clear that there was a roman citizen saying. Who are lol. I am a roman citizen i have a right to be given a trial in rome and i appeal to the emperor. As is my right you heard me and then because. Paul is said to have spent another two years imprisoned in says area. Only then would he be sent to rome. Paul traveled to the city along the via appia. One of his privileges as a roman citizen was that he was only under house arrest he was even permitted to continue missionizing. The roman empire was home to a growing number of Christian Churches. But christians were still a tiny minority in. The Holy Communion taught by jesus christ was celebrated in secret. They believed sacrifices to the roman gods amounted to idolatry and forbad them. Then on she. Does they claim that they belong to the only true faith and were therefore exempt from ordinary cults and deceit this view of this meant that they could not participate in normal urban life but door to to they want to public for sessions where neighbors would meet you vanished but they would say no its not for us nor do they participate in the imperial cult and this arouse suspicion. Suspicion that soon led to the first persecutions of christians. Punishment was inflicted on the christians or class of men no tearing to a novel and mischievous superstition. To the bush after your own chris no matter how humane the message of the early christians might be it was threatening for rome. For whoever rejected the roman gods also rejected the emperor who had the status of a god so what became of all the acts of the apostles and here is none of the gospels describe how paul died but we know that his struggle for christianity ended in bloodshed in the. Most research relies on the so called acts of paul from the second century even if we dont know the exact year of his death we know that paul was most likely executed around sixty eighty. Column in the church of trade funtown it is said to be where he was found when he was beheaded with a sword. This would have been his final privilege as a roman citizen saving him from an agonizing death on the cross. Paul did not live to see christianity become the Worlds Largest religion. How do i need to be and will develop the theology that time. On roman and greek traditions that turns the religious and cultural ideas of his time washed and the ones on the outside theres a feeling shall thing is that he brought a new message into the worlds noisiest for that is what made christianity extremity of on a global scale indeed it could pocked backhouse attractively to it this constant to himself for once theres no message had to do with the freedom and equality of all people before god in jesus christ i dont lie shite i introduced a promise of freedom to the world and since then its impossible to imagine the World Without it for i had such a place and bought in that it would just cite magic to. His missionary journey took him across almost the entire roman empire founding churches and spreading christianity. Called the apostle made christianity a world religion. So i live in his life is straight out of an adventure novel you said you have been shipwrecked three times he was persecuted threatened with death for it but his story is also one of a remarkable transformation of all fun and a fast stimulus from fanatical persecutor of christians to the actual founder of christianity discussed towards your son who doesnt know the verse and now these three remain of the faith hope and love forgets Global Health but the greatest of these is love a beautiful message and one that you dont have to be a christian to appreciate. I was kind. Of iced. For sarah willis planning to. Join her journey is critical discovery. This time she said the sound unbalanced festival in london. Classical music with a contemporary edge that leaves even sarah impressed ive. Lived to. Tell the truth now do you know berlin well lets go through the city on her lens most famous bus routes. Enjoy vibrant urban life. A call for alicia and look at i journeyed discovery with new ideas for visitors to berlin. Thirteen it doubled. Up in fighting for the face taking seriously in the world of what heres whats coming up women strong. Smart smart talks smart station the legend frank recently dangerous time was good for my. Freedom of expression. A value that old ways has to be defended and new. All over the world. Of Freedom Freedom of art. A multimedia project about artists and their right to express their views freely. A w dot com order freedom by. Syrian state television says opposition fighters have started pulling out of duma the last rebel held stronghold in the Eastern Region just outside damascus the withdrawal comes after state media said the rebels had reached a deal with the Syrian Government to leave the time to mow was one of the earliest sent
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