Before his conversion, Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) was a fierce persecutor of Christians.

• Acts 8:3 (RSV): "But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison."
• Acts 9:1-2 (RSV): "But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

However, after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6), Paul converted and became one of Christianity’s greatest apostles.