I’ve been reading “HOW WE GOT THE BIBLE”, Mobile conference 2007.
There is one thing that is perplexing to me and perhaps someone can help me get over this hump. My question(s): if Paul was the persecutor of the believers like none before him, then, where was Paul leading up to and during the time of Jesus’ crucifixion? Since the crucifixion occurred at Passover with over 2 million people in attendance it would seem that Paul would be right up front with the strap.
Was Paul converted at the time of the crucifixion, or at a later time?
It’s probably right in front of me but I’m not seeing the answer.On a side note: You would not believe how the fixation of not seeing the answer to this question is causing such a testing of my belief and faith. It's aggravating because I'm sure it's elementary to many. Probably just me making a mountain in my own weird way. GaryFrom: “HOW WE GOT THE BIBLE”
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,5815.0.html“I’ll show you why this is so important, because if Jesus Christ was the Son of God. If Jesus Christ died and was resurrected from the dead. If that is a historical fact. THEN YOU CAN BELIEVE ANYTHING THE MAN SAYS! Anything and everything, you see. Now let’s zero in on that a little bit. Paul says;
I Cor. 15:5 and that He was seen of Cephas, then by the Twelve.
v. 6 Then He was seen of five hundred brethren at once,
v. 7 Afterward He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
v. 8 And last of all He was seen by me also,
So Paul saw Him. This is the Man they killed! HE WAS DEAD! Paul said, I SAW HIM. Peter saw Him - the Twelve saw Him - 500 at one time saw Him. Paul said most of those people were still alive and you can go and ask them. Now he’s just talking about 500 people he knows of specifically.
Listen, my friend, the late Dr. Earnest Martin pointed this out. That at Passover season that Josephus tells us the city of Jerusalem could swell to a population of over 2 million people. Because they came from the whole empire to keep the Feast. When was Christ killed? At Passover! There was something like 2 million people there. He was crucified up on a hill, overlooking the city. Don’t you suppose they knew that they crucified this Man, who claimed to be the Messiah? They were there on a religious convention and there is a Man hanging on a cross, who claims to be their Messiah and they didn’t know about it? The knew about it! It would not have been tolerated had the story been fabricated. That Man came back to life and a lot of them knew about it.
Fifty days later many of the same crowds were in Jerusalem for Pentecost. Now these timid Apostles, that were running away from their own shadow at Passover, remember they all forsake Him. But now they are boldly standing in the market places proclaiming that Jesus Christ has RAISED FROM THE DEAD! There were many witnesses to it. It could not be denied. Now this is only one proof of whether or not some things is of historical fact. Are there eye witnesses? Yes, many eye witnesses.
Josephus, one of the most renowned Jewish historians that ever lived, he lived in the first century AD and he said as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ did raise from the dead.
By the end of the century the whole Roman empire heard of this amazing event, and within two more centuries the entire Roman Empire was believers in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! The Apostles did not hood-wink the entire Roman Empire….Jesus really was THE SON OF GOD! The events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection were recorded within that same generation.
When he was writing his letters he said, I know most of those 500 that saw Him at one time and you can still talk to them, because many are still around. Consider one thing. He both understood Judaic theology and the classic works of the Gentiles. He was an intellectual both among the Jews and the Gentiles. He would have been the last person on earth to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Paul persecuted TO DEATH those who followed the teachings of Jesus.
Another thing is Paul was maybe the greatest single champion for Jesus Christ, of any man that ever lived and he was no dummy. This guy studied under Rabbi Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers of all times in the Jewish ways. Paul was from Tarsus the center for Stoic learning. You don’t bamboozle somebody like Paul. Especially because he is out persecuting the church and then he turns around and he defends it. What would change a well educated man like that? What would change him? For Paul to have his mind totally changed, required proof beyond question or contradiction. PAUL DIED FOR HIS BELIEF THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD! That He both died and was resurrected.”