A Jew who initially persecuted Christians (as Saul) but, according to the account in the New Testament book the Acts of the Apostles, he experienced a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. He became an early champion of the Christian story and founded several churches in 1st century Roman provinces. He is the author of several epistles (letters) to young Christian communities and several of them are included in the New Testament. As a Jew and a Roman citizen, he was influential among Jews and Gentiles and advocated for the inclusion of Gentiles into the new community without needing to convert to Judaism first.
