Why did St. Paul change his beliefs?

Answer 1

He encountered Jesus Christ, whom he was persecuting on the road to Damasus. The account is recorded in the Book of Acts, Chapter 10. He was told by Jesus to meet a man named Ananias, and told Ananias to meet Saul. Ananias introduced him to the very hesitant disciples, who then taught him in the Way. His encounter with Christ was a profound, terrifying and mystical experience.

Answer 2

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According to the Acts of Apostles, his conversion (or metonia) took place on the road to Damacus , where he experienced a vision of the resereccted Jesus after which he was temporarily blinded Acts of the Apostles 9:3-19 As he neared 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?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Answer 3

Paul was a persecuter of Christians and was on his way to arrest them. He was completely turned from violent disbelief to unswerving belief because Christ appeared to Him on the road to Damascus. Saul (as he was then known) at once knew that Christ was indeed whom He and others said He was despite Paul's deeply held unbelief which disappeared instantaneously.

Answer 4

Clues from Galatians about the early Paul are that he was "advanced in Judaism", "zealous for the traditions" (Gal 1:!4), and that he was an itinerant acquainted with both the diaspora synagogues in Syria and the congregations of the Christ. Finally, he had once "preached circumcision" (Gal 5:11).

Burton L. Mack (Who Wrote the New Testament) says that Paul described his conversion in terms of a revelation from God that Jesus was God's son, and as a call to take this message to gentiles (Gal 1:15‑16). To Mack, the 'revelation' and the 'call' were two ways of expressing a single change of mind. Unfortunately, there is a long tradition of sloppy translation by suggesting that God "was pleased to reveal his Son to me." The Greek term is en, which means "in" or "by means of", not "to". Instead, Paul was saying that God "was pleased to make his son known by means of me". From this, Mack says that Paul was not claiming a personal, private experience of encounter with God's son. He was reporting a sense of divine commission resulting from his insight (or "revelation") that the Christians' claim about Jesus had significance for Israel's mission and that he, Paul, would have to lead the way.

There is no suggestion from Paul that his conversion resulted from seeing a blinding light, nor of hearing a voice from heaven. In I Cor 9:1 and15:8, Paul says he saw Jesus but, although this might have inspired the author of Acts to write his account of seeing a blinding light, Paul does not associate his vision of Jesus with his conversion.

Acts of the Apostles presents a clearer but very different picture. It must be recognised that Acts contains so many contradictions against Paul's own accounts of his mission that most scholars have difficulty in accepting Acts as wholly true. It is a notorious problem that the three accounts in Acts of Paul's "conversion" contradict each other, an indication that either Luke did not have detailed, fixed, handed-down tradition, or he felt free in his dramatisation of whatever tradition did exist. Either Paul was blinded by a light that the others did not see, or he was blinded by a light that the others did see although they were unaffected, or he saw a light but was not blinded. He was then taken to Damascus where his sight was restored and he was taught the gospel, or he might not have been taken to Damascus after all.

There is also a particular scholarly view that Paul had been a Christian all along, and that his persecutions have been misunderstood. On this view, he had formerly believed that gentiles must be circumcised, and he had persecuted Christians who accepted gentiles without circumcision. His "conversion" came about when he realised that he had been misguided and sought acceptance by his former opponents.

Answer 5

St. Paul's beliefs changed when he had a transformative experience on the road to Damascus where he encountered a vision of Jesus Christ, leading him to convert to Christianity. This experience shifted his perspective and he became one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, spreading the teachings of Christ.

Answer 6

Jesus Christ Himself who appeared to Paul on the Damascus road.

Answer 7

Paul changed his beliefs , when he was struck blind by god on the way to Damascus to persecute the Christians.

Answer 8

Paul was struck blind while on the way to Damascus.That changed him for good.