St Paul and his Symbol:
Paul (Saul) grew up in a strict Jewish family and he was very passionate about everything and was determined to
succeed in his objectives. Saul did everything he could to try to stop the spread of Christianity, going into every Christian house and dragging people out and imprisoning them because of their faith. Saul went to Damascus to retrieve and punish all the Christian people there. On the road to Damascus Saul experienced a bright light from heaven that shone down, he heard a voice from above saying “Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?” Saul was shocked and asked “who are you Lord?” The Lord replied “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting”. The bright light had blinded Saul.
Jesus appeared in a vision to one of the disciples in Damascus, Ananias, and told him to go to Saul. Ananias was afraid because he knew of Saul’s reputation and how he persecuted Christians; Jesus explained that Saul was his chosen instrument to deliver the Gospels to the gentiles, their kings and the people of Israel. Ananias found Saul praying for help and laid his hands
on him and told him Jesus had come to restore his sight and that Saul might be filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul could see and eat again; he arose and was baptized into the Christian faith.
Paul was inspired to preach the gospel and so on his missionary journeys, he travelled to many places, including Athens, Corinth and Ephesus, the Ephesian Christian community, the Christian community in Colossae and the Christian community in Thessalonica.
The council of Jerusalem settled the debate about who could be a follower of Jesus. St Paul’s arguments were very persuasive - that Christianity was open to all people, gentile or Jew and that non-Jews did not need to follow Jewish law (food laws and other rituals) in order to be Christian; all they needed was have faith in Jesus Christ.
St Paul was decapitated with a sword by the Romans, ‘Pauls beheading was but the culmination of a life of sacrifice poured out as a drink offering to his Lord Jesus Christ’ (2 Timothy 2:6)
This picture is my symbol for St. Paul – the book represents his 13 books in the New Testament, the sword refers to St. Paul’s death and he gave his life for the faith he used to persecute. The words ‘Spiritus Gladius’ means ‘Spirit of the Sword’;this is relevant to Paul as it is often used with symbols for Paul. The Spirit of the Sword is God’s Word and Paul went out on
missions to preach God’s words.
Paul (Saul) grew up in a strict Jewish family and he was very passionate about everything and was determined to
succeed in his objectives. Saul did everything he could to try to stop the spread of Christianity, going into every Christian house and dragging people out and imprisoning them because of their faith. Saul went to Damascus to retrieve and punish all the Christian people there. On the road to Damascus Saul experienced a bright light from heaven that shone down, he heard a voice from above saying “Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?” Saul was shocked and asked “who are you Lord?” The Lord replied “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting”. The bright light had blinded Saul.
Jesus appeared in a vision to one of the disciples in Damascus, Ananias, and told him to go to Saul. Ananias was afraid because he knew of Saul’s reputation and how he persecuted Christians; Jesus explained that Saul was his chosen instrument to deliver the Gospels to the gentiles, their kings and the people of Israel. Ananias found Saul praying for help and laid his hands
on him and told him Jesus had come to restore his sight and that Saul might be filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul could see and eat again; he arose and was baptized into the Christian faith.
Paul was inspired to preach the gospel and so on his missionary journeys, he travelled to many places, including Athens, Corinth and Ephesus, the Ephesian Christian community, the Christian community in Colossae and the Christian community in Thessalonica.
The council of Jerusalem settled the debate about who could be a follower of Jesus. St Paul’s arguments were very persuasive - that Christianity was open to all people, gentile or Jew and that non-Jews did not need to follow Jewish law (food laws and other rituals) in order to be Christian; all they needed was have faith in Jesus Christ.
St Paul was decapitated with a sword by the Romans, ‘Pauls beheading was but the culmination of a life of sacrifice poured out as a drink offering to his Lord Jesus Christ’ (2 Timothy 2:6)
This picture is my symbol for St. Paul – the book represents his 13 books in the New Testament, the sword refers to St. Paul’s death and he gave his life for the faith he used to persecute. The words ‘Spiritus Gladius’ means ‘Spirit of the Sword’;this is relevant to Paul as it is often used with symbols for Paul. The Spirit of the Sword is God’s Word and Paul went out on
missions to preach God’s words.