Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Chapel of St. Paul





On my last day in Damascus I did some sightseeing before I left. After seeing many mosque I was happy to see a church. Here is a little about the Chapel of St Paul.





The Chapel of St. Paul is a modern stone chapel in Damascus that incorporates materials from the Bab Kisan, the ancient city gate through which Paul was lowered out of a window in Acts 9:25. In the Bible, after his baptism on the Street Called Straight in Damascus, St. Paul began the tireless Christian preaching that would characterize the rest of his life, which led to a narrow escape from Damascus (Acts 9:20-25):
At once he began to preach in the [Damascus] synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
Paul himself later says that it was through a window that he escaped from certain death (2 Cor 11:32-33).











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