hen Saul set out from Jerusalem around 34 CE, he was set on persecuting the new Jesus movement. But somewhere along the way he had an epiphany: a vision of Jesus. It was a life-changing moment and would be a pivot point in the history of the Jesus movement. Yet events following the epiphany are obscure. It is impossible to resolve contradictions between Acts and Paul's letters, but one thing is clear; no longer intent on persecuting the new sect, Paul now nurtured the conviction that he had a special mission, that he had been chosen by Jesus, not for his own salvation, but in order to spread the word of Jesus' resurrection as fast and as far as possible. Paul says he went into the deserts of modern Jordan, to Damascus and again to Jerusalem. He met with the disciples in Jerusalem who had known the living Jesus, but steadfastly believed that his vision of salvation took precedence over any human memory of Jesus' teachings.

Soon, Paul met another believer named Barnabas, and together they began to proselytize in Antioch, the provincial capital of Syria and military base for the Roman legions in the Mediterranean East. They preached mainly in synagogues, proclaiming to both Jews and Gentiles that the Messiah was coming, and when he arrived, the kingdom of Caesar was doomed. Only the faithful would be saved, and the Gentiles had to give up the gods of Greece and Rome, had to convert to Judaism, if they wished to be counted among the number of the faithful.