Start:Stop - The Long Road to Damascus

The Conversion of Paul by Hyatt Moore

Hello, my name is Phillip Dawson, welcome to our Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few minutes and start to reflect on a passage from scripture.

This week the church celebrates the conversion of St Paul. The feast, on 25th January, also marks the end of the Week of Prayer of Christian Unity.

The drama of Paul’s road to Damascus experience is told in Chapter 9 of Acts of the Apostles, but also in Paul’s own words in his letter to the Galatians - a letter he wrote to defend his mission to the gentiles, under attack from Christians from Jerusalem who wanted gentile converts to the faith to observe Jewish practices and laws. 

In the letter, Paul’s first hand account of his experience suggests that while his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus was life-changing, the process of his conversion, which we celebrate this week, was only just beginning.