Conversion of Paul

The author of the book of Acts gives a detailed account of the conversion of Paul to the Christian faith. He tells us of this event in Paul’s life as many as three times. A number of biblical scholars doubt the historical reliability of these stories. Paul himself tells us little about his conversion in his letters.

In his letters Paul only writes about his conversion in three short passages, namely in 1 Corinthians 9:1, 1 Corinthians 15:8 and Galatians 1:15-16. We learn from these texts that at some point, Paul “saw” Jesus Christ in a vision or a dream.
Paul does not regard this event as a conversion to another religion but as a “call”. As a Jew he remains faithful to the God of Israel. It’s just that now he is given the job of proclaiming the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to the Gentiles in particular.

The author of the book of Acts also sees Paul’s conversion mainly as a “call”, a “call” to be an apostle. In Acts 9:1-19 he tells us how Paul once travelled to Damascus to arrest the Christians there. Just outside Damascus Paul has a vision in which Jesus speaks to him. In Damascus he then meets a certain Ananias, receives the Holy Spirit and is baptised.

In Acts 22:1-21 Paul defends himself to a group of Jews. In this context he speaks of the vision he had near Damascus. He relates how Ananias afterwards called on him to proclaim the gospel to all people. He goes on to say that he had another vision later in Jerusalem. In that vision, Jesus of Nazareth commissioned him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles everywhere.

In Acts 26:1-23 Paul defends himself before King Agrippa II. Once again he speaks of the vision near Damascus. This time he does not say anything about Ananias, but gives a full account of the commission given to him there by Jesus to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.