Paul the First Atheist

[AuphirahQueen]

When Christians decide to speak for ABBA(GOD) who is going to hell or not is dangerous grounds for that Christian. That means ABBA(GOD) does not have the power, ability, authority or grace to change an unbeliever life. Maybe that person is trying to be ABBA(GOD) trying to change others in ones ability(fresh) instead of giving the glory to ABBA(GOD) because it is all about look what I have done. Paul was an atheist who was murdering Christians through out the land, and he was hunting them down like dogs. ABBA(GOD) can transform an atheist , Muslim, or deist heart, life because it is about ABBA(GOD) timing not ours. When a Christians states who cannot be saved, then he or she is speaking for GOD when GOD did not give them the authority to speak on GOD's behalf. Have these Christians forgotten, not to long ago ABBA(GOD) came into their lives in the midst of darkness and their sinful lives. Sometimes, I truly wonder have these Christians lost their faith in ABBA(GOD), doubting, unbelief, fearful, dead in oneself, and lack of prayer life with ABBA.

[h=1]Acts 9 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)[/h][h=3]The Damascus Road[/h]9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 “Who are You, Lord?” he said.
“I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 He was unable to see for three days and did not eat or drink.

To many Christians are interfering with ABBA's(God) power, mission, purpose and authority to save unbelievers. They are being a stumbling block to others who desire to know ABBA(GOD) for themselves in spiritual truth. Those who are standing that atheists cannot be saved, then they need to read the testimony of Paul. Paul was a murder who was killing Christians so ABBA(GOD) can change an atheist who has not murdered Christians. ABBA can transform the atheist into a vessel for Kingdom of ABBA(GOD) to preach the Gospel to the lost.

 

[posthuman]

Paul was an atheist who was murdering Christians through out the land, and he was hunting them down like dogs.

Saul an atheist? this Hebrew of Hebrews?

i think you forget why he was chasing down followers of Christ.
it was his zeal for God, to stamp out heresy.
atheist? no, not at all.
blind? yes, and then given sight, becoming Paul (small)

 

[posthuman]

"Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?
Who gives them sight or makes them blind?
Is it not I, the LORD?"
(Exodus 4:11)

not i, but He does these things! amen!!

 

[Grandpa]

Saul an atheist? this Hebrew of Hebrews?

i think you forget why he was chasing down followers of Christ.
it was his zeal for God, to stamp out heresy.
atheist? no, not at all.
blind? yes, and then given sight, becoming Paul (small)

Maybe King Belshazar would have been a better example...?

 

[AuphirahQueen]

Maybe King Belshazar would have been a better example...?

I was making a point because he was an atheist! He was not part of the Body of Christ when he was murdering the Christians. I know he was a Pharisee!! LOOOL!!! Paul/Saul was the right choice. Title: Paul An Atheist instead.

 

[posthuman]

I was making a point because he was an atheist! He was not part of the Body of Christ when he was murdering the Christians. I know he was a Pharisee!! LOOOL!!! Paul/Saul was the right choice. Title: Paul An Atheist instead.

Oh, then it's just that you don't know what "atheist" means?

​

you're not using the word correctly. let me help: ​

atheism
[ey-thee-iz-uh m]

noun​

1.the doctrine or belief that there is no God.​

​

 

[Jeff_56]

Oh, then it's just that you don't know what "atheist" means?

atheism
[ey-thee-iz-uh m]

noun​

1.the doctrine or belief that there is no God.​

​

​

Paul was no more an atheist than Abram or Moses. but 'her'? language or translation or meaning of words has been
'awkward' at best in some other posts. Usually because I don't know what the difficulty is I don't reply to those with language barriers,

but Paul was certainly not an atheist in Scripture nor in God's view nor by man's definition (Webster's dictionary or any other I know of) even.

 

[WebersHome]

-
Abba isn't one of God's names. And it's neither a Greek word nor a Hebrew
word. And it's not even restricted to God: abba applies to any male parent;
human or divine.

It's an Aramaic word that means father; but not in the usual sense.
Grammatically, abba is what's known as a filial vocative.

Take for example the passage below:

†. Rom 8:15 . . You have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.

If abba were translated into English, the passage would look like this:

You have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Father, Father.

The first "Father" is meant to get God's attention; while the second "Father"
is how He's addressed by His children during the course of telling Him what's
on their mind.

=============================================

 

[WebersHome]

-
Obviously then: abba is for the use of family members only.

===============================

 

[kaylagrl]

Oh, then it's just that you don't know what "atheist" means?

you're not using the word correctly. let me help: ​

atheism
[ey-thee-iz-uh m]

noun​

1.the doctrine or belief that there is no God.​

​

Thats exactly what I thought when I saw this post! lol

 

[AuphirahQueen]

I believe I made my point how Christians judge others base on the thread above. Folks were stuck on the word Atheist, Paul being a murder, grammar and spelling errors. Rejoice on the fact that ABBA forgives, restores, saved, heals, and love us regardless of who we are. I think those above are missing the POINT of ABBA(GOD's) Salvation, mercy and grace. The disciples were not the most educated folks because they were simple men who were on FIRE for the Kingdom of GOD. Thank you for your responses.

[h=1]Philippians 2 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)[/h][h=3]Christian Humility[/h]2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. 3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humilityconsider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.


[h=3]Lights in the World[/h]12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumblingand arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. 16 Hold firmly to[c] the message of life. Then I can boastin the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.

 

[prodigal]

i'll take the middle road as not to offend. he might as well have been an athiest for all the good his previous faith would have done for him without christ.

 

[Stephen63]

AuphirahQueen, I'm sorry dear, but you not only missed the boat on this, you fell off the dock, too. (jk)

 

[Percepi]

I was making a point because he was an atheist! He was not part of the Body of Christ when he was murdering the Christians. I know he was a Pharisee!! LOOOL!!! Paul/Saul was the right choice. Title: Paul An Atheist instead.

Do you know what an atheist is?

 

[CRC]

Paul formerly known as Saul fulfilled Jesus prophecy concerning his disciples. Paul truly viewed Christians as a sect.

9 “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. 10 Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; 12 and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. 13 But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. 14 And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.(Matthew 24:9-14) He did not he was fighting the God that he was truly devoted to. He was truly misguided not atheist.

 

[sparty-g]

This thread is... interesting. I don't know how one could call Paul an atheist. Anti-Christian murderer at one point? Yes. Atheist? Not if we use the contemporary dictionary definition of the word.

And it's often stated that Paul's name was changed from Saul, and implied that he stopped going by Saul completely. After his Damascus vision and baptism, during which the Messiah Himself calls him Saul, he begins preaching Jesus in the synagogues as Saul in the text (Acts 9). He is still called Saul in the text when he is preaching to Jews and Greeks in Antioch (Acts 11). He continues to be identified as Saul in the text throughout his next immediate missions and it's not until Acts 13:9 when we read: "Then Saul, who was also called Paul...," after which point the book of Acts identifies him solely as Paul. Though it says, "also," which to me implies he went by both names. Based on different articles I have studied, I always understood that he, being a Jewish man of Roman citizenship, had two names: Saul (Hebrew) and Paul (Latin/Greek), and that the name he was called or used personally probably depended on the social context. Using Paul probably helped on his missions and in his letters to Greeks or Greek-speaking people, but I don't think this means he completely dumped the name Saul or that "God changed his name." What is it that is significant about Acts 13 that may imply this understanding of a name change, whether that by divine cause or personally by Paul himself? This was already some time after he had confessed faith in the Messiah and was preaching Jesus to Jews and Greeks. It seems to me like it might also be a literary device to avoid confusing the reader. Not much later in the same chapter where Saul is said to also be called Paul, Paul himself tells a story about King Saul (who never went by the name Paul). A Saul telling a story about another Saul might be confusing when two different people are being referenced in the text, as would switching between Saul and Paul for the remainder of the book when one person is being referenced in the text. Probably best to keep calling Saul as Paul from there on out in the text, especially since he himself proliferated many letters under the name Paul. It seems to me to be more of a practical issue than a spiritual or theological one. Thoughts?

But nonetheless, I agree with the OP that as believers we probably shouldn't be running around trying to declare who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. I believe that the better approach is letting the life of the Messiah shine through us as a witness to others.

 

[Jeff_56]

i'll take the middle road as not to offend. he might as well have been an athiest for all the good his previous faith would have done for him without christ.

there were others who were priests, scribes, pharisees, lawyers etc who did not recognize Christ as the Messiah come in the flesh, and who rejected Him,

who Christ called sons of the devil, but not atheists. (same today, in biggest religions and biggest churches on earth)....

calling them today atheists, or calling Saul or Paul an atheist doesn't make sense in the english language. (haven't checked Hebrew or other)...

 

[Jeff_56]

as far as "judging" >>

any decent english / grammar/ grade school teacher would JUDGE YOU (grade you appropriately) with a C- at best....

 

[DesiredHaven]

The scripture doesnt call a man who says there is no God an athiest (but a fool) from what I can tell, unless there is another verse in scripture I dont know about.

Paul did believe in a God (it even says even the devils believe in one God)

Paul didnt know God, but was zealous towards God

Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

He says,

Acts 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Jesus said,

Luke 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons,

As Paul said,

Acts 26:10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.


Jesus had said...

Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

Which correlates here perfectly with what Paul did

Acts 26:11 I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them,I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

He believed in God he just didnt know him, though he was doing God a service

John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

You can see that here, "who are you", Lord??

Acts 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Because they have not known the Father nor me

Just as Paul said, Who art thou, Lord?

 

[AuphirahQueen]

there were others who were priests, scribes, pharisees, lawyers etc who did not recognize Christ as the Messiah come in the flesh, and who rejected Him,

who Christ called sons of the devil, but not atheists. (same today, in biggest religions and biggest churches on earth)....

calling them today atheists, or calling Saul or Paul an atheist doesn't make sense in the english language. (haven't checked Hebrew or other)...

There are many atheists sitting in pews every Sunday because many have lost their faith. Many pastors have become atheist because some did not believe from the beginning, but a great way to earn a profit. Many types of atheism!

1. Christian atheism is a theological position in which the belief in the God of Christianity is rejected or absent, but the moral teachings of Jesus are followed.