What blinded Paul?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 04 Nov 2005 07:42 PST

Are you wanting to know what the Bible says about it, or is your
question based on the premise that you doubt the story entirely? I can
tell you what the Bible says as an answer if you like.

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by drgwenmd-ga on 04 Nov 2005 08:17 PST

I want to know what the Bible says.  I've been trying to locate the
exact text and have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause of his
blindness.  Can you please let me know in what scripture you find the
answer?

Dear drgwenmd-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. For
simplicity sake I shall refer to ?Saul? (as he was called at that
time) as ?Paul? (the name he later assumed):

The Bible does not directly indicate ?who? or ?what? caused the bright
light that blinded Paul on the road to Damascus. Beginning in Acts
9:3, my King James version of the Bible says:

?Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
?Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me??
Act 9:5  And he said, ?Who art thou, Lord?? And the Lord said, ?I am
Jesus whom thou persecutest?.

In Acts 9:17, it is also Jesus who instructed Ananias to restore Paul?s sight:

?Act 9:17  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and
putting his hands on him said, ?Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus,
that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that
thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.?

Again in Acts 22 Paul recounts the events:

?Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was
come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a
great light round about me.
Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I
am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.?

It is therefore a common Christian assumption, that since Paul spoke
directly to the person he believed caused his blindness and that
person responded and identified himself as ?Jesus?, and that it was
also Jesus who instructed Ananias to restore him, that it was Jesus
who was responsible for causing Paul?s blindness.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

BLUE LETTER Bible
http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Act/Act009.html#top


SEARCH STRATEGY

I referred to a known passage in the Holy Bible.

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 04 Nov 2005 10:29 PST

Thank you for the generous tip! Many researchers are qualified to help
you with future questions in this field but if you have questions
along this line that you'd like for me specifically to answer, simply
put my username in the subject of your question and I will help you.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Thank you for all of your help.  This is the clearest answer I've
gotten.  As a new "student" of the Bible,  there will be plenty more
questions forthcoming.

It's probably also worth mentioning that many commentators suspect
that Paul suffered from some form of diminished vision, either
Glaucoma or Opthalmia, both diseases being fairly common in the 1st
Century Near East. In Galatians 6:11, Paul speaks of the difficulty he
encountered while having to write his own letter (he usually used a
scribe). This, coupled with Galatians 4:13-15, seems to suggest that
he had some form of partial blindness.

To make it a little easier and get away from the 'thee's' and
'thou's', here is a modern language version of Acts 9; 1-19  [ But
Saul, still breathing threat and murder against the disciples of the
Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the
synagogues in Damascus, in order that he might bring bound to
Jerusalem any whom he found who belonged to The Way, both men and
women.

3 Now as he was traveling he approached Damascus, when suddenly a
light from heaven flashed around him, 4 and he fell to the ground and
heard a voice say to him: ?Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?? 5
He said: ?Who are you, Lord?? He said: ?I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting. 6 Nevertheless, rise and enter into the city, and what
you must do will be told you.? 7 Now the men that were journeying with
him were standing speechless, hearing, indeed, the sound of a voice,
but not beholding any man. 8 But Saul got up from the ground, and
though his eyes were opened he was seeing nothing. So they led him by
the hand and conducted him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he did
not see anything, and he neither ate nor drank.

10 There was in Damascus a certain disciple named An·a·niŽas, and the
Lord said to him in a vision: ?An·a·niŽas!? He said: ?Here I am,
Lord.? 11 The Lord said to him: ?Rise, go to the street called
Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man named Saul, from
Tarsus. For, look! he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man
named An·a·niŽas come in and lay his hands upon him that he might
recover sight.? 13 But An·a·niŽas answered: ?Lord, I have heard from
many about this man, how many injurious things he did to your holy
ones in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests
to put in bonds all those calling upon your name.? 15 But the Lord
said to him: ?Be on your way, because this man is a chosen vessel to
me to bear my name to the nations as well as to kings and the sons of
Israel. 16 For I shall show him plainly how many things he must suffer
for my name.?

17 So An·a·niŽas went off and entered into the house, and he laid his
hands upon him and said: ?Saul, brother, the Lord, the Jesus that
appeared to you on the road over which you were coming, has sent me
forth, in order that you may recover sight and be filled with holy
spirit.? 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes what looked like
scales, and he recovered sight; and he rose and was baptized, 19 and
he took food and gained strength.
Saul's attitude and actions against the Christians was extreme, and he
may even have been responsible for the death of the disciple Stephen.
So it appears that extreme measures were necessary by Jesus, now in
heaven after his 3 1/2 years on earth as a man, to get him to change
his ways. Notice that he was to be 'filled' with holy spirit. This is
God's power, not a third individual of a trinity. The 'trinity'
concept is not supported by the Bible. Tutuzdad may argue this point.
Saul was 'approached' and spoken to by the 'personage', invisible,of
Jesus, so the Bible does specify who caused the bright light. It could
only have been the controlling authority who resides in heaven,
Jehovah God.