Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisaic Jew persecuting early Christians, experienced a dramatic visionary encounter on the road to Damascus that converted him to the faith he had opposed. This event transformed him into Paul, the most influential missionary and theologian of early Christianity. Paul's letters to emerging churches became foundational texts of Christian doctrine and ethics.

Paul's epistles are the earliest Christian writings and shaped the theological vocabulary of Western poetry, from Augustine's Confessions to the hymns of Charles Wesley. His conversion narrative became a template for spiritual autobiography, influencing works from Augustine to John Newton's 'Amazing Grace.'