Sometimes who we are before we become famous is lost upon people. That is, except the few people who knew them by their previous life and the person themselves. The same is true of the apostle Paul. We don’t hear much about Saul of Tarsus. But he had a life before his conversion. And it’s important for us to know more about Saul before he became Paul. “At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at Stephen, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul…And Saul approved of their killing him…” The phrase “young man” tells us that at the time Saul was somewhere between the ages of twenty-four and forty. And the fact that they laid their clothes at his feet is filled with meaning. Brice Jones has done extensive research on this and has concluded: “Not only does it signal the importance of Saul as the leader of the mob, but also the ‘shed-garment motif’ is prevalent in ancient literature as a ‘gesture’ that ‘signified an impending act of violence and, many times, death.’” Our first introduction to Saul of Tarsus is as a leader of an anti-Christian mob that is hell-bent on shutting their ears to the gospel and murdering those who are followers of Jesus… (READ MORE)

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