He was sent as a child to Jerusalem to receive his education at the school of Gamaliel. There isn’t much history known about Paul’s younger years of life, however it is common knowledge that he persecuted anything and everything that involved Christianity and tried to destroy it. He is even quoted in the book of Galatians explaining his persecution of the church. Paul conversation took place after Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. According to the Oxford Bible he experienced a divine presence: a light from heaven flashing around him and a voice addressing him.
Thirteen letters are attributed to him in the writings that came to comprise the New Testament (134). In these letters, Paul teaches that the only laws that one should follow were the laws set forth by Jesus Christ. This directly went against the laws set forth by the Roman Republic and threatened their power. Paul was a Roman citizen and a Jew that, at first, persecuted Jesus’s followers for distorting the Jewish faith (134). He then began to spread the word of Christianity denouncing the common law of Rome.
Thirteen letters are attributed to him in the writings that came to comprise the New Testament (134). In these letters, Paul teaches that the only laws that one should follow were the laws set forth by Jesus Christ. This directly went against the laws set forth by the Roman Republic and threatened their power. Paul was a Roman citizen and a Jew that, at first, persecuted Jesus’s followers for distorting the Jewish faith (134). He then began to spread the word of Christianity denouncing the common law of Rome.
Emperors were not at all glad and felt indifferent to Christianity. How could an emperor promise to a faith which involved the worship of Jesus Christ, an executed Jewish criminal? This faith was also popular among slaves and soldiers, hardly the respectable orders in society. The story of Constantine’s conversion has learned an amazing excellence, which is expected from the point of view of contemporary Christians. They had just emerged from the so-called ‘Great Persecution’ under the emperor Diocletian at the end of the third century.
An example of such can be noted Biblically from the times of Saul – a man who spent his life persecuting Christians. Randomly, Saul saw a light and heard a voice asking him why he persecuted Christians. After this, he had made a journey to Damascus where he realised that the voice he heard was in fact God. Saul took this experience as a form of realisation and converted to Christianity – which eventually led him to the title of Saint Paul - the man who was virtually responsible got moving Christianity from the Middle East to Europe. Philosopher Richard Swinburne divides religious experiences into five categories - two of which are public and three private.
One of Jesus’ most significant miracles is the calming of the storm. This is so significant in my opinion because early Jews believed that only God had control of the elements but it was believed that because Jesus calmed the storm, he clearly has a connection with God. Another character from the documentary is Saint Paul. He was sent by the heads of the Jewish religion to kill all Christians but whilst doing so he witnessed a blinding vision of the risen Jesus. Therefore he converted to Christianity and preached the word of the Lord to the people of his time.
The Jews considered making and worshiping false idols was a sin. They also considered Jesus a false prophet. Christianity emerged from the region of Palestine as a religion that believed there was only one God as well. The religion developed from the life, teachings and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is said to be the founder of Christianity and the miracle son of God.
They continue on their legacy even today especially in other parts of the world like China or Japan. A martyr of the Roman Empire probably lived a different life compared to a martyr of the tenth or twentieth century. A similarity of both is their willingness to face persecution and death for their Christian religion and belief in Jesus and his work. To understand why Christian martyrs are existing the initial establishment of the church must be known first. In Matthew, Christ hears Peter’s confession of his acknowledgment that He is the Son of God.
(Bacchus, Pamphilus) As was all too common at the time Pamphilus was imprisoned and tortured for his faith, and then beheaded, ending his life in the year 309 CE. Several years later, Eusebius became the bishop of Caesarea, around the year 313 CE, a position he held until his death. Eusebius, as an educated theologian also addressed issues of division that the Catholic Church was experiencing in the early 4th century. One of the main dividing issues was the debate of whether or not Jesus Christ was to be
Page 11 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….Page 11 Bibliography……………………………………………………………….……… Page 13 Introduction In the history of the Christian Church, the classic controversy concerning the nature of the Fall of Adam and its effects, is that which was waged by Augustine at the beginning of the 5th century against the advocates of the Pelagian heresy. The followers of Pelagius taught that Adam’s sin affected only himself and not the human race as a whole, that every individual is born free from sin and capable in his own free will and power of living a sinless life, and that there had even been persons who had succeeded in doing so. The controversy and its implications may be studied in Augustine’s anti-Pelagian writings. Pelagianism, with its belief of the total ability of man, came to the forefront again in the 16th and 17th centuries, and continues under the guise of modern humanistic religion. In this paper I will discuss the events surround the controversy, the players involved, and the meetings that defined Pelagius and his followers as heretics, namely the Councils of Carthage, Diospolis and finally, Ephesus.