According to Islamic theology, Christianity is the prophet of Allah, Hz. It is one of the religions that were sent with Jesus and later corrupted. In Christian theology, Jesus is the son of God and was exalted by taking the sins of people on himself. The common point of both theologies is that there are different versions of the New Testament, the Bible, the holy book of Christians. The most important of these versions consists of the letters of St. Paul.
According to Christian theology, St. Paul, Hz. He is considered one of the apostles of Jesus. At first, he rejected it like everyone else, but later on he believed and it is accepted that this belief spread. Even so, Since Jesus lived for a short time, it is thought that he was the real ambassador. We can say that Paul wrote the book of Christianity -because of his ideas that have survived to the present day. Let’s take a closer look at who St. Paul is and see the important details about his life.
Who is St. Paul? An important Jewish merchant during his lifetime:
Although it is not known for sure, St. Paul, who is thought to have been born in 4 BC, was born in the Tarsus region of Eastern Cilicia, within the borders of the Roman Empire. Also known as Paul of Tarsus. At that time, Damascus and Antioch regions of Syria, which were also a province of Rome, had an important role in Paul’s life.
Paul served as an active Christian missionary in the 40’s and 50’s and died in 62 or 64 AD. In 33 AD, Hz. It is known that he was a Jew who was a merchant in his youth before he believed in Jesus. His family is also thought to be wealthy.
According to historical records, Paul was one of the members of the Pharisees, a Jewish sect before he became a Christian. The most important characteristic of the Pharisees was that they cared about sources other than scriptures. As Paul mentioned in his letters, he supported the persecution of early Christians during this period. However, he later stated that he became suspicious when he saw that these people did not even obey Jewish laws.
So how did Paul, one of the wealthy Jews of the time, become a Christian despite his opposition?
Like many people who became prominent figures when a new religion came, Paul was a follower of the religion that preceded it, namely Judaism. According to his letters, he maintained his faith for a long time. Until a trip to Damascus, that is. According to his letters, Paul saw a blinding bright light during his journey. Stating that he was “talking to the Lord” through this light he saw, Paul said that he received a revelation from him and had the idea that “Jesus was the son of god”.
Paul, who crossed from here to Arabia, returned to Damascus three years later and then went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles of Jesus; He became a Christian during this journey. From this point on, he set a mission for himself, he would begin to spread Christianity.
Why is St Paul considered important to Christianity, one of the most prevalent religions today?
Paul, St. He believed in Jesus as the son of God and carried out missionary activities in this direction. He preached first in Syria and Cilicia. Churches were established in Anatolia and Europe as a result of these activities, which he started in the 30s after Christ. In just a few decades he largely introduced Christianity in these regions.
Many names who were seen as saints during and after similar periods continued their missionary activities for the conversion of Jews to Christianity. However, unlike these names, Paul was working to convert non-Jews and those who were described as pagans to this religion.
The importance of St. Paul for the Christian religion is not considered to be his missionary activities, but to the letters he left behind. Today, 13 of the 27 chapters of the New Testament are based on the letters of St. Paul; In fact, it is considered certain that 7 of them belong to him. In other words, when we look at it from this perspective, St. Paul is the person who wrote the book of today’s Christianity and is considered the most important name for Christians after Jesus.
There was also the movement founded under the leadership of St. Paul
St. Paul made it his mission to spread Christianity after the revelation he believed he received during his journey to Damascus. However, he felt that the main group to spread the religion were the Gentiles. He chose the barbarians, a term commonly used for non-Greeks at the time, as his target audience, and described himself as an ambassador devoted to reaching these nations.
When we examine the sources, it is not known exactly what St. Paul did as an apostle for the purpose of spreading the religion. Moreover, he was a person who had to work. He made a living by making and selling tents. It was often said that he was not a good speaker. Since he made the tents out of leather and there was no noise while he was working, it was thought that he invited the people who came to him to Christianity by talking to them.
St. Paul’s biggest advantage in missionary work was his ability to travel. During his travels in Anatolia and Europe with his donkey, he founded churches and later visited these churches, although not very often. During these visits, he was able to strengthen faith by answering people’s questions.
The letters that Christianity enabled him to write his book are seen as his greatest contribution to this religion. Because he was establishing a church in a corner of Anatolia and returning to his home. He wrote a letter to the church people when they were curious about something, and he sent them a letter in response. It is said that with these letters accumulated over time, the boundaries of the Christian faith that are believed and known today were formed.
So how did St. Paul die?
One of the issues that St. Paul basically told people was Hz. That Jesus was crucified in front of everyone but did not die. According to Paul, Jesus “was exalted to bear the sins of men” and was later resurrected, according to the popular belief of today, that he would be resurrected. He propagated this belief, saying that “everyone who believes in the son of god will have their sins forgiven and live with him forever.”
Although it would later become the official religion, the Roman Empire at that time imprisoned all Christians, tortured and then executed them. Although it is not certain, it is thought that St. Paul was captured and executed in this way during the reign of Emperor Nero in 64 AD. Although there are different stories, this is the general opinion.
We talked about the details you need to know about the subject by answering questions such as who is St. Paul, who is accepted as the second messenger of Christianity, why is it important, how did he die. Please note that Islamic theology has very different views on Christianity and its clergy, and all faiths should be treated with respect.
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