A crucial turning point in Paul's career came after he returned to Jerusalem and began studies in preparation for becoming a rabbi. As a devoted and loyal Jew of the Pharisee sect, his attention was given primarily to a detailed analysis of the requirements set forth in the Mosaic Law. He became familiar not only with the Law itself but with the explanations and commentaries made by the leading rabbis of the Jewish faith. In harmony with one of the basic doctrines of Judaism, he believed that salvation could be obtained only by obedience to all of the laws that God had given to his people. But as Paul pursued his studies, he became conscious of the fact that a mere knowledge concerning what one ought to do does not produce the desire to do it. Furthermore, he realized that desires give rise to actions, but the Law is unable to give one the desires that are necessary to meet its requirements. In fact, the situation is even worse than that, for the knowledge that one ought not to do certain things often acts as a stimulus creating the desire to do it. This conflict between duty and desire became an intolerable situation for Paul; because of it, he gave up his plans for becoming a rabbi. To compensate for his failure to carry out his original plans, he was anxious to find something of real merit that he might do, which he believed he found in the need for suppressing a new religious movement that he regarded as both dangerous and heretical — Christianity.
This new religious movement was promulgated by a group of people who claimed to be followers of Jesus, a man who had been crucified but who, they now believed, had risen from the dead, ascended to heaven, and would return to earth in power and great glory. Putting an end to this movement was what Paul now devoted himself to with the utmost zeal. He hunted down the members of this group, had them committed to prison, and threatened them with death. But as he did so, he could not help but be impressed by the way in which the Christians met the persecutions inflicted upon them.
