What did Saul believe before his Damascus road encounter?
Before Damascus, Saul was totally religious, an absolute believer in the Old Testament, Judaism, and the Mosaic Law. As a Pharisee of Pharisees and of Benjamin, he hated Jesus as an imposter destroying Judaism, and believed persecution did God a favor.
Les teaches that before Damascus, Saul was totally religious, an absolute believer of the Old Testament, Judaism, and the Mosaic Law. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew through and through. Yet he hated Jesus of Nazareth with a passion, considering Him an imposter destroying the bulwarks of Judaism. Saul believed the only way to do God a favor was to overcome and stamp out the movement with persecution, doing it in the name of religion.