Christ Church Jerusalem

Acts 9* contains the first of three accounts of Saul's life-changing encounter with the risen Jesus on the way to Damascus. One of the curiosities of Acts is that it records the personal testimony of Saul three times but doesn't record the testimony of any of the other apostles or church leaders. Every historian makes choices on what to include and what to omit. Luke’s motivation for writing that seems to make most sense of his choices is that he was providing historical information and relevant details to aid Paul's defence at his trial in Rome (about 62 AD). Most bibles that include section headings use the phrase “The Conversion of Saul” or something similar to describe the first part of chapter 9. In Israel and in Jewish circles in general the term "conversion" comes with a lot of baggage, so an alternative is worth considering. Luke uses a word meaning conversion in Acts 15:3 when referring to the Gentiles, but Paul doesn’t use that word when he is reflecting on this turning point in his life; he refers