Why did Paul persecute followers of Jesus before his conversion?
Before his conversion, Paul acted as a religious zealot. He sincerely believed that stamping out anything referring to Jesus of Nazareth in Israel was doing the God of Abraham a service. His persecution was therefore driven by misguided zeal, not opposition to the God he thought he was serving.
Les explains that before Paul’s conversion he was a religious zealot, and he honestly thought that by stamping out anything that referred to Jesus of Nazareth in Israel, he was doing the God of Abraham a service. But God suddenly stopped the man in his tracks, as in the account of his salvation on the road to Damascus. While Saul was still making his way into Damascus, now blind, the Lord spoke to Ananias and told him to go into the street called Straight and inquire in the house of Judas for Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth. Saul had seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him so he might receive his sight, showing that Saul was being made ready for something special.