02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
teachings of Jesus Christ himself. Born in 65 AD he was a former
Pharisee who had persecuted Christians and who had
then undergone his dramatic ‘road to Damascus’ experience.
His profession was that of tent-maker but, after his vision of
Christ, he undertook the role of apostle to the gentiles. He
carried out three missionary journeys to Cyprus, Asia Minor
and Greece. Returning to Jerusalem, he became the target of
Jewish extremists. As a Roman citizen, he was entitled to
stand trial in Rome, a request that was granted to him. He was
then famously shipwrecked on Malta whilst travelling and
there he is said to have converted the Roman governor of the
island, Publius, to Christianity. Publius became the first
bishop of Malta and is himself now remembered as a saint.
In the biblical account St Paul was taken on to Rome
where he was kept awaiting a trial in 62 AD.Tradition states
that St Paul later travelled to Spain but, upon returning to
Rome, he (together with St Peter) was sentenced to death by
the Emperor Nero. As a result of another dubious right he
gained from being a Roman citizen, he was then beheaded
and, at the spot where his head bounced three times, three
fountains are said to have appeared. For some, St Paul was a
brave and tireless missionary whose teachings have influenced
many theologians since but others have viewed him as a
misogynist, a repressed homosexual and a religious extremist.
Interestingly, St Paul uses the title‘saint’ to refer to Christians
both living and dead. Over time, as we have seen, the epithet
of ‘saint’ came to refer more often to those who had been
martyred for their faith and those who stood as good examples
of living lives directed by Christian values and beliefs.
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