"No journey was ever taken on which so much interest is concentrated as that of St Paul from Jerusalem to Damascus. It is so critical a passage in the history of God’s dealings with man ..... that the mind is delighted to dwell upon it, and we are eager to learn or imagine all its details." (The Life and Epistles of St Paul by W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson).
Can't say I was ever quite as excited as Conybeare and Howson about Paul's journey, but being on the spot certainly evoked a sense of wonder and awe at being in the vicinity of the very place where such a significant event occurred.
Map from: http://www.bu.edu/bridge/archive/2000/02-04/photos/map.jpg
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2)
Paul sets off for Damascus, filled with zeal and purpose.
This picture is from a series on the life of St Paul that we saw in the House of Ananias, Old Damascus. They were difficult to photograph because of the angle they were at, and the lighting in the small room.
Paul would have travelled about 220 kilometres from Jerusalem to Damascus, and the journey would have taken his company about six days. His journey has been dated to around 33 - 36 AD, not long after Jesus' crucifixion.
Statue of Paul having his vision, outside the Chapel of St Paul, Bab Kissan, Old Damascus.
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:3-4)
Paul parts company with his horse. Another picture from the House of Ananias, Old Damascus.
"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:5-6)
Conversion of Saint Paul 1600, by Caravaggio (1571-1610). Public domain image.
Paul appears here to be somewhat incompletely and inappropriately dressed for Christian hunting. I hope his friends were able to cover him up a bit before taking him into Damascus.
The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. (Acts 9:7-9)
Paul’s vision.
Paul's sudden fall, and the fact that he first lay motionless on the ground but was then able to get up unaided, led people very early on to suspect that this dramatic incident might have been caused by a epileptic seizure. In more recent times, this opinion has found support from the fact that sight impediment - including temporary blindness lasting from several hours to several days - has been observed as being a symptom or result of an epileptic seizure. Temporal lobe epilepsy has been suggested, as the temporal lobe is associated with religious feelings. Other hypotheses have included keratitis (an inflammation of the eye that can lead to loss of vision); solar retinopathy (damage caused to the eye after staring at the sun for too long); a migraine headache or being struck by lightning. My good friend Monica had heard he could have had sand blight from galloping along too zealously on the dusty roads. However, most doctors agree that it's not easy to make an accurate diagnosis for someone who lived nearly two thousand years ago.
Which spot on the road?
Paul's companions were probably unlikely to have prioritised marking the spot, what with Paul having had a nasty tumble and not being able to see.
Local tradition is not unanimous as to the exact spot of his vision. Some say it was in Daraya, 14 km west of Damascus; some in Merjisafra-Kiswe, 17 km away; others say that it was on Tell Kawkaba, 18 km away, where the Crusaders later built a chapel dedicated to St. Paul; yet others claim it was at el-Tell, which is 700 metres south of Bab Sharqi, the eastern gate of Old Damascus.
I'm sure Pat is pleased I didn't know about these four places before we went to Damascus, otherwise I'd have been dragging him all over the place.....
A road to Damascus moment (or change or experience) has become an idiom in the English language to describe an important point in someone's life where a great change, or reversal, of ideas or beliefs occurs.
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