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Woman: Paul, when we left off talking the last time, you were
lying on the Damascus road. What happened?

Paul: The voice told me to go into the city. But when I opened my
eyes, I, who had perceived reality, could not see the Damascus
road.

Woman: You were blind?

Paul: Yes, blind. (short laugh) I, who had planned to sweep
through that city like an avenging fury, was led into Damascus,
helpless as a child.

Woman: Where did the Sanhedrin police take you?

Paul: Through the East Gate of Damascus to a street called
"Straight."

Woman: (excitedly) I know that street. It runs straight as an
arrow from the east to the west -- through Damascus. It's an odd
street, space in the center for auto traffic, and then on each
side people walk among the merchants who sit under awnings.

Paul: (nodding) The same as in my day, except the "traffic" was
chariots then. Well -- because I had previously planned to stay at
the house of a Jew named Judas, I had the police take me there.
And they, no doubt glad to be rid of me, went back to Jerusalem.

Woman: With a strange story, indeed, to tell.

Paul: (wryly) One I'm sure they lost no time in telling to the
Sanhedrin!

Woman: I don't know how you managed -- all alone and blind. Did
your landlord take care of you?

Paul: No! He wanted no part of me. For three days I neither ate
nor drank. It was as though my body had been shattered, in some
curious way verifying the truth of what had happened to me.

Woman: Alone -- blind -- no food or drink -- who rescued you?

Paul: Ananias, a Jewish Christian -- (slowly) -- one who had fled
from Jerusalem to get away from me.

Woman: How could he possibly have been persuaded to help you?

Paul: In a dream God told him to come to me.

Woman: But still, Ananias knew what you were --

Paul: (sharply) Correction, please. He knew what I had been.

Woman: Sorry, Paul. Still, he must have been afraid.

Paul: I'm sure he was. But, afraid or not, his first words to me
were "Brother Saul."

Woman: "Brother Saul!" Strange words from a man you had meant to
kill!

Paul: Strange indeed. And Ananias laid his hands on me -- (slowly)
-- it was as if scales fell from my eyes --

Woman: You could see again?

Paul: Yes. Then Ananias dipped his hand into a basin of water and
baptized me. And he told me -- he told me --

Woman: What, Paul?

Paul: That I would bring Christ's name, not only to the Jews, but
to kings and Gentiles.

Woman: Did you understand?

Paul: I couldn't comprehend that -- not then. Ananias gave me food
and water. When I felt stronger, he took me to his house to meet
the Damascus followers of Jesus.

Woman: (dryly) That must have been a very interesting meeting!

Paul: (laughing shortly) They didn't know what to make of me.

Woman: Nor what to do with you!

Paul: They didn't trust me.

Woman: Well, you could hardly blame them, Paul!

Paul: (stubbornly) Just the same -- because I was a changed man --
I went right into the synagogue to preach. I was determined
everyone should know it.

Woman: Forgive me, Paul. But that was foolish.

Paul: You're right. It was foolish; I finally realized that. I
needed some time to be alone, to think through what had happened
to me.

Woman: There weren't too many places you could go.

Paul: You're right. (dryly) I wasn't exactly welcome in Damascus.
And I couldn't go back to Jerusalem! So -- I went south -- to
Arabia.

Woman: Let's see -- Mount Sinai lies there -- by the Red Sea.

Paul: Yes, the mountain where Moses had received the Law.
(slowly) The very source of the Law I had loved all my life --

Woman: Did you stay in Arabia long?

Paul: Long enough to face steadfastly what my lot would be. To
the followers of the Messiah, I would be suspect.

Woman: They could think you were a kind of secret agent, out to
destroy them from within.

Paul: Exactly. And as I had hunted down the Christians, so would
the Jews hunt me down.

Woman: Perhaps with even more zeal?

Paul: Yes, because I had been a member of the Sanhedrin.

Woman: After Arabia, where did you go?

Paul: Back to Damascus.

Woman: You preached?

Paul: And taught --

Woman: With success?

Paul: Not much. Only a few converts in three years. And then
Roman soldiers came to arrest me.

Woman: Why -- why after so long a time?

Paul: Aretas, the governor of Judea sent them. He was having
difficulties with Herod Agrippa. Aretas knew that if he could
capture or kill me, he would gain favor with the Jews. And with
Herod. But one of my friends heard a soldier mention my name. And
he saw the guards waiting at the city gates.

Woman: Why, walls go all around the city -- walls wide enough to
drive on!

Paul: Yes. But the upper story of my house rose above the
rampart; through the window I could look out to the open desert.

Woman: Oh, I see.

Paul: That night friends lowered me in a basket to the wall.

Woman: And you were able to drop over the face of the wall?

Paul: (bitterly) Only to go creeping from shadow to shadow in the
night.

Woman: Paul, you don't sound too happy about that escape!

Paul: There's something ridiculous, even humiliating, about a
grown man being lowered in a basket -- it still rankles.
(outburst) Am I not an Apostle?

Woman: (bewildered) Yes.

Paul: (forcefully) Was I not a slave of Christ?

Woman: Yes --

Paul: (with force) Then why was I running away?

Woman: (laughing) Oh Paul! No one would call escape from
murderers running away! Where did you go?

Paul: (vigorously) To Jerusalem!

Woman: (astonished) To the lair of the enemy? (outburst) Paul,
you're a fool!

Paul: Perhaps. But if so, a fool for Christ.

Woman: You slipped into a quiet place, I hope.

Paul: Not exactly. I went to the synagogue where we had tried
Stephen.

Woman: Weren't you afraid?

Paul: (forcefully) No, I wasn't afraid. But the Christians were!

Woman: Of you?

Paul: Of course! Of course. They were suspicious of me.

Woman: All the Christians? The leaders?

Paul: Especially the leaders! (pause) All except one -- Barnabas.

Woman: Who's Barnabas?

Paul: A Christian Jew, a native of Cyprus, a man who had known me
in Damascus.

Woman: He helped you?

Paul: He took me to the apostles.

Woman: To Peter, you mean?

Paul: And to James, the brother of Jesus. And all the others in
the Jerusalem council.

Woman: Barnabas vouched for you?

Paul: He surely did. He told of my work during the three years in
Damascus.

Woman: And the council accepted you?

Paul: Reluctantly -- and then only on the word of Barnabas.

Woman: (admiringly) A well thought of man!

Paul: Indeed he was -- a remarkable man. When everyone else
believed the worst of me, Barnabas believed the best. When
everyone else called me a fake, he insisted I was a genuine
believer.

Woman: Then Barnabas didn't hold your past against you?

Paul: Not at all. Not at all.

Woman: Paul, it seems we owe you to the Christians you met -- to
the forgiving prayer of Stephen, to the brotherly spirit of
Ananias and to the large-hearted nature of Barnabas.

Paul: To that list add Cephas.

Woman: Peter?

Paul: Yes. I stayed with him for two weeks in Jerusalem. He
taught me about Jesus.

Woman: You mean he filled in the gaps of your knowledge?

Paul: Yes -- of Christ's earthly life. No one could teach me of
his resurrected life. I had experienced the risen Lord. And
that's what I preached.

Woman: You preached in Jerusalem?

Paul: Yes. But --

Woman: Let me guess -- trouble started.

Paul: Among the Greek-speaking Jews. They remembered Stephen.

Woman: Big trouble?

Paul: They tried to murder me.

Woman: And the Jewish Christians?

Paul: I think, in the plot, they saw a reason to get rid of me.
They hustled me up to the harbor at Caesarea and packed me off --

Woman: Where?

Paul: To Tarsus.

Woman: I imagine when you had gone, both the Jews and the
Christians of Jerusalem heaved sighs of relief!

Paul: Yes. But not I.

Woman: How many years were you in Tarsus?

Paul: Four long years. For the sake of my Jewish father, I was --
tolerated.

Woman: The hometown boy sent back in disgrace?

Paul: Exactly. But I put my stay to good use, studying, preaching
and teaching. But I marked time there in Tarsus, fearing, indeed
knowing, that the churches in Judea had gladly forgotten me!

Woman: Who or what brought this fallow period of your life to an
end?

Paul: The "who" was Barnabas.

Woman: Barnabas again! And the "what?"

Paul: Antioch.

Woman: Oh yes -- in Syria -- about 300 miles north of Jerusalem.
What was happening in Antioch?

Paul: You see -- after the death of Stephen and during the
persecution --

Woman: The persecution you had a hand in?

Paul: (wearily) You see how people never forget? Yes, yes -- the
one I had a hand in. The followers of Jesus were scattered as far
away as the island of Cyprus.

Woman: Where they preached and taught?

Paul: Yes, but only to Jews. And then some of the Christian Jews
from Cyprus -- and from Cyrene -- came to Antioch and taught, not
only to Jews -- but to Gentiles!

Woman: That had never happened before?

Paul: Not deliberately. But there was a Gentile convert named
Cornelius.

Woman: Cornelius?

Paul: A centurion from Caesarea. Peter baptized him. But it was
not Peter who looked for Cornelius -- it was Cornelius who sought
out Peter.

Woman: But why would he do that?

Paul: (patiently) He was a God-fearer.

Woman: (exasperated) Paul -- you keep springing things on me I
never heard of! What's a God-fearer?

Paul: A non-Jew who had adopted the Jewish code of morality.

Woman: Not a full convert to Judaism, then?

Paul: No, not a Jew at all. A God-fearer attended services -- in
the court of the Gentiles -- but he made no sacrifices. Nor was he
circumcized.

Woman: Were there many God-fearers?

Paul: Oh yes. Especially in Antioch. And when the Jewish
Christians told their story in the synagogue, many Gentiles, like
Cornelius, responded.

Woman: And the church in Jerusalem got a little worried!

Paul: They did indeed. They sent Barnabas to Antioch to look into
things.

Woman: And when he saw the Gentiles becoming believers -- ?

Paul: He hunted for me. And when he found me in Tarsus, I was
more than delighted to go to Antioch.

Woman: Was Antioch a good city?

Paul: It depends on what you mean by good. It was the third
largest city in the world, the seat of the Roman governor. It had
a fine climate. And it certainly was modern.

Woman: (laughing, disbelieving) Modern? In what ways?

Paul: The houses had central heating, lights -- plumbing --

Woman: Plumbing!

Paul: Why yes. Fresh water from the Orantes River was directed
through every house.

Woman: Well! I had no idea. But, in other ways, was it a good
city?

Paul: As far as morality goes, no. Have you ever heard of the
Groves of Daphne?

Woman: Some kind of pleasure garden?

Paul: A huge garden dedicated to the worship of the river god -- a
scene of incredible orgiastic rituals -- revolting to all men and
women of decency!

Woman: Did that revulsion account for the great number of God-
fearers in Antioch?

Paul: Yes -- yes indeed.

Woman: When was it, Paul, that you went to Antioch?

Paul: About the year 47.

Woman: Astonishing! (excitedly) Paul, while you were working in
Antioch -- Claudius marched out of Rome and into Britain!

Paul: (calmly) Oh yes, I know -- a country of barbarians --

Woman: Paul!

Paul: I heard many a story about the soldiers pegging out their
tents beside the river Thames.

Woman: (slowly) On a hill, Paul -- on a hill that someday would
hold a great cathedral bearing your name.

Paul: How little we know! How little we know. I'm glad that
Britain became Christian.

Woman: So am I! Paul, I notice that sometimes you call the
believers the followers of Jesus or of the Messiah, sometimes you
say Jewish Christians, sometimes you simply say Christians.

Paul: It was in Antioch that we were first called Christians. We
didn't call ourselves that -- not at first.

Woman: Oh? Then how did you get the name?

Paul: The people of Antioch were famous for handing out
nicknames. When the emperor Julian, who had a beard, came to
visit Antioch, they called him The Goat.

Woman: Oh! The word Christian then was not intended as a
compliment?

Paul: No indeed. The Greek word for Messiah is Christos. The
ending "ian" means followers of. They spit out Christian at us in
contempt!

Woman: But if the people of Antioch took the trouble to nickname
the followers of Jesus, the church must have been growing --
visibly.

Paul: Hundreds became Christians, both Jews and Gentiles.

Woman: More than at Jerusalem, the mother church?

Paul: Many more. But the bond between the churches held firm.
Why, when the famine came --

Woman: Famine?

Paul: About a year or so after I had gone to Antioch -- Claudius
was still reigning in Rome -- famine struck Judea -- hardest of all
in Jerusalem.

Woman: And the church at Antioch?

Paul: Collected money and sent it with Barnabas and me to
Jerusalem!

Woman: Your first visit since the time you came uninvited from
Damascus!

Paul: (laughing) With quite a different reception! I was welcomed
with open arms! But the Jerusalem church was suffering, not only
from famine, but from a new persecution.

Woman: The Sanhedrin again?

Paul: Not this time. Herod Agrippa was behind this persecution.

Woman: You mentioned him before, I believe, in connection with
the Damascus plot. You know, Paul, there are entirely too many
Herods!

Paul: And with good reason! Herod the great, the one in power
when Jesus was born, married 10 times!

Woman: And was Herod Agrippa that Herod's son?

Paul: No, no -- his grandson. Herod Agrippa's father was
Aristobulus -- drowned by his own father.

Woman: (shuddering) Ugh. And his mother?

Paul: Mariamne, a direct descendant of the Maccabees.

Woman: And Herod Agrippa, her son, cultivated his Jewish
heritage?

Paul: Like his grandfather -- when it suited him. Publicly, he
kept the law --

Woman: To get in good with the Jews?

Paul: Exactly so. And for the same reason, he killed James.

Woman: Which James?

Paul: One of the 12, the brother of John. And when he saw how
popular that murder made him, he arrested Peter.

Woman: (bewildered) Why didn't he kill Peter too?

Paul: Because he couldn't during the days of unleavened bread.

Woman: (exasperated) I'm sorry, but what has that to do with
anything?

Paul: (sighing) Oh, you Gentiles! (patiently) On Passover, and
for the seven days following -- by Jewish law -- no execution could
be carried out.

Woman: Oh, I see. When Peter was taken, the Chrisians must have
been terrified.

Paul: They gathered at Mary's house, the mother of John
Mark --

Woman: John Mark?

Paul: A cousin of Barnabas. The Christians met at Mary's house to
pray for Peter. But they had little hope -- he was guarded by four
squads of soldiers, one squad for each watch.

Woman: How many in a squad?

Paul: Four. They chained Peter between two soldiers -- two others
watched the door.

Woman: What happened?

Paul: Peter did escape, but only he could tell you how. But the
hand of God was surely in it.

Woman: Quite a set-back for Herod Agrippa!

Paul: He flew into a rage and had all 16 guards killed.

Woman: And the Jews?

Paul: In an uproar over Peter's escape! Herod had really botched
things. He hurried to Caesarea, trying to distract the Jews by a
show of power over the people of Tyre and Sidon.

Woman: How?

Paul: Well you see -- Tyre and Sidon lay to the north -- with one
stroke, Herod Agrippa could cut off their food supplies from
Palestine.

Woman: Oh -- they needed his royal favor!

Paul: They did indeed. They arranged a huge festival -- a circus
they called it.

Woman: Political flattery --

Paul: Oh, indeed. On the second day of the festival, Herod
entered the theatre clad in a robe of silver cloth. And when the
sun glinted on his robe, the people cried out that he was a God!

Woman: Herod Agrippa would have loved that moment!

Paul: You picked the right word -- it was but for the moment!
Herod sickened and died.

Woman: Quickly?

Paul: Without warning. Just like that, the great adversary of the
Christians vanished. Oh -- there was great rejoicing in the church
at Jerusalem.

Woman: You and Barnabas went back to Antioch?

Paul: And John Mark, too. Quite a different feeling from the last
time I had left Jerusalem! This time, I went with such a light
heart.

Woman: Why a light heart, Paul?

Paul: Peter was safe -- the church secure. But most of all, the
cancer of distrust that had eaten me up had been healed. After
all those years of suspicion, I was free to work -- to serve my
Lord --

Woman: A chapter of your life closed behind you --

Paul: And a whole new chapter was about to open!

Woman: Thank you, Paul. We will talk again.