Saul to Paul, Part 1: The Man Everyone Feared | Bible Stories Retold

house to house, dragged men and women off to prison, and he believed he was doing it for God. His name was Sol. He was born in Tarsus, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin and a Roman citizen. He studied in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, the most respected teacher of his day. Years later he wrote that by the standards of the law, he was blameless. He was brilliant, disciplined, and completely sure he was right. Jesus had been crucified, but now his followers were saying he was alive, and every day more people believed them. They called it the way. To Sol, this was blasphemy. A crucified man called the Messiah, it had to be stopped. One of those followers was a man named Stephen, full of grace and power. He was brought before the council, and he spoke boldly about Jesus. The council was furious. They dragged him out of the city to stone him, and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Sol. As the stones flew, Stephen knelt down and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Then he died, and Sol stood there, approving of every bit of it. That day a great persecution broke out against the church. Sol went house to house, dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison. Later he admitted, "I was so enraged against them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities." Still breathing threats against the Lord's disciples, Sol went to the high priest. He asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found anyone who belonged to the way men or women, he could bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. Here's the thing about Sol. He didn't think he was the bad guy. He thought he was right. Some of the worst harm people do, they do while they're sure they're right. Sol was about to find out he'd been wrong about everything, because the one he was fighting was waiting for him on the road. [Music]