This is the eighth session’s Power Point slide show from the ’Using Pauline Studies for Evangelism’ course taught at the Light Project, Chester.

1. Paul: Called or Conversion Debate
Session 8
The Light Project
Clint Heacock

2. “‘Fourteen years ago’ would have been around
the time of his miraculous ‘conversion’ or a
little after and it is likely that his experience
on the road to Damascus was something of
this nature. Such experiences can be very
powerful and life-changing, as Paul
discovered, though his later interpretation of
it—as his authority to go out and evangelize
the Gentile world—may have been incorrect
and the creation of his somewhat
overheated mind.”
Davidson, The Gospel of Jesus, 141.

3. Based upon what we have studied so
far, what do you think might be some
of the issues surrounding this debate?

4. “Since the Reformation Paul’s
Damascus experience has been
viewed as a template for the
conversion and justification of the
sinner. Honest introspection
addressing a guilty conscience is seen
as a necessary precondition to
claiming Christ in faith as the
resolution of one’s moral crisis. Paul
was seen as the great example of one
who had been struggling beforehand
with a tortured conscience over his
failure to observe the law of God.”
Barnett, Paul: Missionary of Jesus, 54.

5. “The scene and its parts are so familiar as to
be a part of each of us who refer to a
‘Damascus Road’ experience… [Act 9.3-4].
On hearing this narrative, deeply resonant
images come readily to mind—a long,
arduous journey; a flash of lightning; a
falling helpless to the ground; a voice heard.
These are the common pieces of spiritual
autobiography in the West. And whether in
comparison or contrast, all ‘varieties of
religious experience’ have been shaped by,
measured by, and explained in terms of this
pivotal and stereotyped event: the
conversion of the apostle Paul.”
Corley, “Interpreting Paul’s Conversion—Then and Now,” 1.

6. • “How should Paul’s Damascus road
confrontation with the risen Christ be
described?
• As a ‘conversion’ or ‘calling,’ or, perhaps,
both?
• Or should this apparently life-changing
event be cast in other terms?
• What was the significance of the Damascus
road experience for Paul?
• How does the apostle describe his past as
he looks back on it?
• Does he draw any differences, distinctions,
and contrasts between his former life and
what he is now as one who is ‘in Christ’ and
the apostle to the Gentiles?”
O’Brien, “Was Paul Converted?” 361.

7. The Impact of K. Stendahl
• Pauline studies too influenced by
Augustinian and Lutheran interpretations
• Paul not ‘plagued by guilt’ prior to his
conversion over failure to keep the law
• Paul was not ‘converted’ but rather ‘called’
to a new life and vocation: apostle to the
Gentiles
• Paul did not change his religion from
Judaism to Christianity

8. There are basically 3 options:
1. Paul was converted from Judaism to
Christianity (effectively switching
religions).
2. Paul was called (much like an OT
prophet’s calling) for a special task:
preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.
He did not switch religions but
maintained the continuity of Judaism.
3. Paul was both converted and called.

9. Was Paul therefore called or was he
converted?
At this point we must weigh the evidence
both from the book of Acts and from
Paul’s own writings.

10. Conclusions
There are 2 aspects to the ‘called’ or
‘converted’ debate:
• Relational—in terms of Paul’s
changed relationship to God and
Christ.
• Vocational—in his new calling as
‘The Apostle to the Gentiles.’

11. Relational
• Paul saw the risen Lord (1 Cor. 9.1; 15.8)
• He became a new man ‘in Christ’ and
‘received mercy’ (in respect to his activities
of persecution; 2 Cor. 4.1)
• ‘Faith came’ to him and he was ‘justified’ and
became a ‘son of God’ (Gal. 3.23-26)
• As a result of this he now ‘knew Christ’ not
‘according to the flesh’ but ‘according to the
Spirit’ (2 Cor. 5.15-16)
• From that point on Paul lived ‘for Christ’ and
no longer for himself.
• He underwent a radical relational change in
regards to Christ along with his values.

12. Vocational
• At Damascus Paul was called to be the
apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 1.15-16; Rom.
1.5)
• To Paul was revealed the ‘mystery’ that the
Gentiles were to be included with Jews in
the new entity: the church (Eph. 2.11-22;
3.1-8)
• Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles and
was given apostolic authority to plant and
build up churches (2 Cor. 10.8; 13.10)

13. “Was Paul ‘converted’ as well as
‘called’? The weight of the evidence
from the book of Acts and the specific
references, and the identifiable
allusions in Paul’s letters, leaves no
doubt that the Damascus event
represented a complete relational and
moral turnabout that was
accompanied by a radical new
vocation as one commissioned to
preach to the Gentiles to bring them
into the divine covenant.”
Barrett, Paul: Missionary of Jesus, 74.

14. Whatever we may term it, Paul’s experience on
the Damascus Road was certainly
transformational to say the least.
However, there are still lingering questions…
Once he received his commission, did Paul’s
message and ministry continue the trajectory
originally begun by Jesus?
Or did Paul branch out in directions never
intended by Christ in the first place?