Who was Saul of Tarsus before he became Paul?
Saul of Tarsus was a Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, who hated the name of Jesus of Nazareth out of religious conviction. He believed he was serving God by stamping out early Jewish believers who confessed Christ as the Messiah, and he was present at Stephen’s stoning.
Les explains that Saul of Tarsus is first introduced in the transitional book of Acts at the stoning of Stephen, where the witnesses laid their cloaks at his feet. He was a Jew and a Pharisee of the Pharisees who hated Jesus of Nazareth because of his religious convictions, not merely because he thought Jesus was a blasphemer. Saul honestly thought he was doing God's service by trying to stamp out these early Jewish believers who proclaimed that Christ was the Messiah. This is the next man to come on the scene in Acts.