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Through the Eyes of a Prisoner
Paul was an unlikely candidate to become the apostle to the Gentiles … until the day he unexpectedly encountered Jesus. You are probably familiar with that part of his story, and perhaps much of what transpired in his life after that. But two-thirds of his life story is not recorded in detail, though Paul gives us some hints in his letters.
Through this fictional novel, we’ll explore how God may have used those unrecorded portions of his life to prepare him for the mission that was being set before him. We’ll follow him from his early years in Tarsus through his final days in Rome.
Throughout those years, Paul spent more time in a prison cell than we are ever told. It was a place where God continued to work in and through him. The mission never stopped because he was in prison; it simply took on a different form. Allow yourself to be challenged as you experience a story of God’s mission – through the eyes of a prisoner who ran the race that was put before him – and the faithfulness of God through it all.
Through this fictional novel, we’ll explore how God may have used those unrecorded portions of his life to prepare him for the mission that was being set before him. We’ll follow him from his early years in Tarsus through his final days in Rome.
Throughout those years, Paul spent more time in a prison cell than we are ever told. It was a place where God continued to work in and through him. The mission never stopped because he was in prison; it simply took on a different form. Allow yourself to be challenged as you experience a story of God’s mission – through the eyes of a prisoner who ran the race that was put before him – and the faithfulness of God through it all.
- GenresChristian Fiction
330 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2021
64 people are currently reading
879 people want to read
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November 12, 2022
A detailed, heroic recounting of the life of Saul of Tarsus, aka Paul, from his youth through his death.
The beliefs of the Pharisees and Sadducees are compared and contrasted with more information than I have seen to date. The various ways this seems to affect the practitioners of these 2 ancient Jewish sects is also noted.
Paul was a Pharisee, from a long line of Pharisees, trained under Gamaliel, a well known rabbi revered by Jews even today, as is his grandfather Hillel. It was Gamaliel who gave the inspired warning to the Sanhedrin that if The Way, as believers in Jesus were called, was not of God, it would fade away by itself, without interference from the religious authorities - but if The Way was of God, they might find themselves opposing God. Saul/Paul opts to go after followers of The Way, rather than heed Gamaliel's advice and warning. He persecutes the church with misplaced fervor. Realizing many of The Way have left Jerusalem for other parts of the Empire, Saul/Paul receives letters from the Jewish authorities giving him their authority to arrest followers of The Way and bring them to Jerusalem in chains. His first stop: Damascus. It is on his trip between Jerusalem and Damascus that a blindingly bright light appears and a voice speaks to him, asking, "Why are you persecuting Me?" Paul asks Who is soeaking to him, and the voice says, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting." Paul is told to wait in Damascus for further instructions, with the ominous warning that Paul will learn how much he must suffer for Jesus.
Paul discovers, as the light fades, that he can no longer see anything. His entourage leads him to his lodgings, where Paul waits, fasting and praying, for the person Jesus has said will come, pray with him to regain his sight, and give him his instructions.
I often imagine the hesitation that the man, Ananias, whom Jesus sent had when he first got his marching orders. I imagine him ready to go, then as it dawns on him to whom God is sending him, his asking God.something like this: "Wait...did you just say you were sending me to pray for Saul of Tarsus? THAT Saul? The one enjoying seeing believers stoned in Jerusalem so much that he came here to get more believers to knock off? THAT Saul? God, are you SURE???" But when God said that He had instructed Paul to wait for him to pray for Paul to regain his sight and that God wanted Paul to spread thenword to Gentiles, so get a move on, already, the poor guy went. I bet he did a lot of praying for courage on the way. Of course, that's just my fancy, based on how I'd likely have reacted. The upshot was, he went and prayed over Paul to regain his sight, and explained the gospel to him. Paul went to Arabia as directed by God's Spirit, & having believed Ananias's words and believed on Jesus, and been filled by the Holy Spirit, Paul spread the good news even as he made his way to Arabia.
After his time both witnessing and communing with God for 3 years, he immediately began teaching about Jesus everywhere he went. It would actually be a while before he met the disciples and apostles in Jerusalem, mostly to ease their minds that he was now "on their side" and no longer persecuting believers, and to tell them what he knew of the Scriptures, God, the Holy
Spirit, and Jesus, so they would not worry about heresy so early in the history of the Church. He them continued in the pattern in whoch he had started: Find a synagogue, attend, as the new guy, get a chance to say his piece, tell them about Jesus from their own scriptures, teach those willing to hear more about Jesus after the service was over. Try to spread the gospel to all God's people first, but if the synagogue leaders stirred up opposition and the Spirit released him, go preach to the Gentiles. Where necessary, merge the congregations as much as possible, but since God didn't require an initial conversion to Judaism by Gentile believers, make sure the Jews knew that they believed in Jesus as the Messiah that fulfilled their prophecies because they had been raised that way, but the gentiles believed because Jesus was a far better deal than their flaky pagan gods. Since there was a split about this spreading all over the Empire, Paul went to meet with the leaders of The Way in Jerusalem to seek their guidance on resolving the issue. They gave their prayerfully obtained guidance that gentiles not eat meat sacrificed to idols or from a strangled animal nor eat the blood of an animal, and don't be sexually promiscuous. No further restrictions. Schism avoided. I know that in ancient times blood was a part of many cultures' diets & still is. Mortadella is a Puerto Rican dish of sausage made of animal blood, as is a black pudding in Scotland, and many of the Eastern European immigrants informed me that the blood was often all they had of an animal to eat, so it was put in vegetable stews or mixed with grains & spices into a sausage. For the Jews and Christians, the blood, the life force of a creature, belongs to God, not man. For starving people, dumping the blood is a waste of food. I imagine it was much harder than we realize for new gentile believers to avoid consuming the blood of an animal.
As Paul went from place to place, he preached, he had to find places to stay, to preach and teach, and find strong workers to continue to strengthen the new believers as he moved on to the next place to which the Spirit guided him.
Prisoners had it rough, and had to pay their way to whatever jail they'd be in, pay for their lodgings, have friends who could bring them food if they wanted to eat, blankets if they were cold, and whatever else they needed as long as it was legal for them to have it. If they were under house arrest (as opposed to a jail or a dungeon), they were guarded 24/7 & had to pay the salaries of their guards. Paul had to rely on the churches for financial help since he couldn't work to earn a living while imprisoned. A tentmaker's tools could be used as weapons, so even had he been able to work, the tools would have been forbidden to him.
Because of his Roman citizenship, he was beheaded, not crucified or sent to the amphitheater to face starved wild animals without any way to fight back.
The book details who went with him where and when, something that is IMO far more confusing in Acts. His journeys seem, in Acts, to take a lot less time than this book indicates, but the travel distances are included so it makes sense that Paul was in each place a lot longer than it seemed to me reading Acts.
In the back of the book, there is a chapter outline/timeline, a list of characters with how much of the info in the book on them os fictional, and a list of scriptures used in the book - plus all scriptures in the book are in italics. All those resources are there for readers who want to investigate further.
I had a much greater understanding of Paul when I was done with the book than when I started the book. The author has done an excellent job at taking the personality traits seen from his Pharisee days through his death as the apostle to the gentiles, which makes Paul seem more human and reachable. I have read a few other books that attempted to tell Paul's story, but none as close to scripture or as human as this. You see a highly intelligent man, trained in the pinnacle of knowledge one of the 2 major sects of Jusmdaism at the time, who plied a trade and knew the business of business, and whose family had earned him the right to Roman citizenship by birth, a man who knew what he wanted but had yet to learn what God wanted of him because he hadn't yet learned to listen. But a stubborn man was also needed to withstand all Paul was put through. Knowledge of scripture, business, a trade, his sect, his awareness of his duty to his family, was not enough without that stubborn streak that kept him going when others might have given up - or actually did give up. His confidence in what he knew as the truth gave a force to his words and his stubborn refusals to deviate from what he knew was right, all set him apart and equipped him for the work for which God wanted his dedication. He knew when he needed to apologize and did so without delay or excuse. Since he stayed the course, those he taught were obedient when they strayed and he rebuked them. He had been given his talents, opportunities, name, and hunger for knowledge before he was a twinkle in his parents' eyes. God gave him irrefutable proof of His calling on Paul's life, and Paul obeyed. Paul was tough on those who caused dissension, preached a false gospel, or lied. Before, I admit I thought he was mean sometimes. Now, I relaize that was a very feminine thought from a female who rarely sees things from a feminine point of view - I was always a tomboy type. He wasn't mean, or aggressive - he cared so deeply he could be abrupt, sometimes judmental, angry, or bossy. But just as all of us are different and called by God to a certain ministry that matches our talents, Paul's calling and path matched his talents. If we were all the same, the body of Christ would be like one big arm, or one big leg, a big eye, so as the scripture says, how would we walk, talk, see, hear, if we all were alike? God makes us different but He makes us to work together. Barnabus & Silas encouraged Paul. Ananias overcame his fear to pray over the church's biggest enemy. Everyone in Paul's life came through it to come alongside him and supply what he lacked for the job at hand. Unlike us, God thinks of everything.
I highly recommend this book that puts a very human face on what some have called the greatest apostle's work. I know I will never again think of Paul in quite the same way.
The beliefs of the Pharisees and Sadducees are compared and contrasted with more information than I have seen to date. The various ways this seems to affect the practitioners of these 2 ancient Jewish sects is also noted.
Paul was a Pharisee, from a long line of Pharisees, trained under Gamaliel, a well known rabbi revered by Jews even today, as is his grandfather Hillel. It was Gamaliel who gave the inspired warning to the Sanhedrin that if The Way, as believers in Jesus were called, was not of God, it would fade away by itself, without interference from the religious authorities - but if The Way was of God, they might find themselves opposing God. Saul/Paul opts to go after followers of The Way, rather than heed Gamaliel's advice and warning. He persecutes the church with misplaced fervor. Realizing many of The Way have left Jerusalem for other parts of the Empire, Saul/Paul receives letters from the Jewish authorities giving him their authority to arrest followers of The Way and bring them to Jerusalem in chains. His first stop: Damascus. It is on his trip between Jerusalem and Damascus that a blindingly bright light appears and a voice speaks to him, asking, "Why are you persecuting Me?" Paul asks Who is soeaking to him, and the voice says, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting." Paul is told to wait in Damascus for further instructions, with the ominous warning that Paul will learn how much he must suffer for Jesus.
Paul discovers, as the light fades, that he can no longer see anything. His entourage leads him to his lodgings, where Paul waits, fasting and praying, for the person Jesus has said will come, pray with him to regain his sight, and give him his instructions.
I often imagine the hesitation that the man, Ananias, whom Jesus sent had when he first got his marching orders. I imagine him ready to go, then as it dawns on him to whom God is sending him, his asking God.something like this: "Wait...did you just say you were sending me to pray for Saul of Tarsus? THAT Saul? The one enjoying seeing believers stoned in Jerusalem so much that he came here to get more believers to knock off? THAT Saul? God, are you SURE???" But when God said that He had instructed Paul to wait for him to pray for Paul to regain his sight and that God wanted Paul to spread thenword to Gentiles, so get a move on, already, the poor guy went. I bet he did a lot of praying for courage on the way. Of course, that's just my fancy, based on how I'd likely have reacted. The upshot was, he went and prayed over Paul to regain his sight, and explained the gospel to him. Paul went to Arabia as directed by God's Spirit, & having believed Ananias's words and believed on Jesus, and been filled by the Holy Spirit, Paul spread the good news even as he made his way to Arabia.
After his time both witnessing and communing with God for 3 years, he immediately began teaching about Jesus everywhere he went. It would actually be a while before he met the disciples and apostles in Jerusalem, mostly to ease their minds that he was now "on their side" and no longer persecuting believers, and to tell them what he knew of the Scriptures, God, the Holy
Spirit, and Jesus, so they would not worry about heresy so early in the history of the Church. He them continued in the pattern in whoch he had started: Find a synagogue, attend, as the new guy, get a chance to say his piece, tell them about Jesus from their own scriptures, teach those willing to hear more about Jesus after the service was over. Try to spread the gospel to all God's people first, but if the synagogue leaders stirred up opposition and the Spirit released him, go preach to the Gentiles. Where necessary, merge the congregations as much as possible, but since God didn't require an initial conversion to Judaism by Gentile believers, make sure the Jews knew that they believed in Jesus as the Messiah that fulfilled their prophecies because they had been raised that way, but the gentiles believed because Jesus was a far better deal than their flaky pagan gods. Since there was a split about this spreading all over the Empire, Paul went to meet with the leaders of The Way in Jerusalem to seek their guidance on resolving the issue. They gave their prayerfully obtained guidance that gentiles not eat meat sacrificed to idols or from a strangled animal nor eat the blood of an animal, and don't be sexually promiscuous. No further restrictions. Schism avoided. I know that in ancient times blood was a part of many cultures' diets & still is. Mortadella is a Puerto Rican dish of sausage made of animal blood, as is a black pudding in Scotland, and many of the Eastern European immigrants informed me that the blood was often all they had of an animal to eat, so it was put in vegetable stews or mixed with grains & spices into a sausage. For the Jews and Christians, the blood, the life force of a creature, belongs to God, not man. For starving people, dumping the blood is a waste of food. I imagine it was much harder than we realize for new gentile believers to avoid consuming the blood of an animal.
As Paul went from place to place, he preached, he had to find places to stay, to preach and teach, and find strong workers to continue to strengthen the new believers as he moved on to the next place to which the Spirit guided him.
Prisoners had it rough, and had to pay their way to whatever jail they'd be in, pay for their lodgings, have friends who could bring them food if they wanted to eat, blankets if they were cold, and whatever else they needed as long as it was legal for them to have it. If they were under house arrest (as opposed to a jail or a dungeon), they were guarded 24/7 & had to pay the salaries of their guards. Paul had to rely on the churches for financial help since he couldn't work to earn a living while imprisoned. A tentmaker's tools could be used as weapons, so even had he been able to work, the tools would have been forbidden to him.
Because of his Roman citizenship, he was beheaded, not crucified or sent to the amphitheater to face starved wild animals without any way to fight back.
The book details who went with him where and when, something that is IMO far more confusing in Acts. His journeys seem, in Acts, to take a lot less time than this book indicates, but the travel distances are included so it makes sense that Paul was in each place a lot longer than it seemed to me reading Acts.
In the back of the book, there is a chapter outline/timeline, a list of characters with how much of the info in the book on them os fictional, and a list of scriptures used in the book - plus all scriptures in the book are in italics. All those resources are there for readers who want to investigate further.
I had a much greater understanding of Paul when I was done with the book than when I started the book. The author has done an excellent job at taking the personality traits seen from his Pharisee days through his death as the apostle to the gentiles, which makes Paul seem more human and reachable. I have read a few other books that attempted to tell Paul's story, but none as close to scripture or as human as this. You see a highly intelligent man, trained in the pinnacle of knowledge one of the 2 major sects of Jusmdaism at the time, who plied a trade and knew the business of business, and whose family had earned him the right to Roman citizenship by birth, a man who knew what he wanted but had yet to learn what God wanted of him because he hadn't yet learned to listen. But a stubborn man was also needed to withstand all Paul was put through. Knowledge of scripture, business, a trade, his sect, his awareness of his duty to his family, was not enough without that stubborn streak that kept him going when others might have given up - or actually did give up. His confidence in what he knew as the truth gave a force to his words and his stubborn refusals to deviate from what he knew was right, all set him apart and equipped him for the work for which God wanted his dedication. He knew when he needed to apologize and did so without delay or excuse. Since he stayed the course, those he taught were obedient when they strayed and he rebuked them. He had been given his talents, opportunities, name, and hunger for knowledge before he was a twinkle in his parents' eyes. God gave him irrefutable proof of His calling on Paul's life, and Paul obeyed. Paul was tough on those who caused dissension, preached a false gospel, or lied. Before, I admit I thought he was mean sometimes. Now, I relaize that was a very feminine thought from a female who rarely sees things from a feminine point of view - I was always a tomboy type. He wasn't mean, or aggressive - he cared so deeply he could be abrupt, sometimes judmental, angry, or bossy. But just as all of us are different and called by God to a certain ministry that matches our talents, Paul's calling and path matched his talents. If we were all the same, the body of Christ would be like one big arm, or one big leg, a big eye, so as the scripture says, how would we walk, talk, see, hear, if we all were alike? God makes us different but He makes us to work together. Barnabus & Silas encouraged Paul. Ananias overcame his fear to pray over the church's biggest enemy. Everyone in Paul's life came through it to come alongside him and supply what he lacked for the job at hand. Unlike us, God thinks of everything.
I highly recommend this book that puts a very human face on what some have called the greatest apostle's work. I know I will never again think of Paul in quite the same way.
March 28, 2022
Though I only gave this book 3 stars, I have added the rest of the books by Kenneth Winter to my Want to Read list.
Being a mix of taking information directly from the Bible and fiction to create more knowledge of the life Paul may have lived was interesting. While I understand the authors desire to not get too far away from what we know from the Bible and other texts from the time, I wish that he would have added a bit more fiction into the life of Paul. He introduced numerous characters to add depth to the story but failed to create a narrative that really drew me into Paul's life.
I wonder....what was the life of a tentmaker like in this era? What was it like to journey by walking from town to town that were weeklong (or longer journeys)? What was it like to travel by boat in this era (not getting shipwrecked) but the day to day of long journeys on boats?
I felt that it was too much of taking the Biblical account and saying that Paul met a few people, taught them for a bit, then left and the whole story just repeated again and again as he traveled. If he stayed in a location for 3 months, 6 months or a year, there has to be more to his life that could have been added in. There wasn't enough "fictional addition" to the Biblical accounts, I could have rest read the parts of the New Testament written by Paul.
Being a mix of taking information directly from the Bible and fiction to create more knowledge of the life Paul may have lived was interesting. While I understand the authors desire to not get too far away from what we know from the Bible and other texts from the time, I wish that he would have added a bit more fiction into the life of Paul. He introduced numerous characters to add depth to the story but failed to create a narrative that really drew me into Paul's life.
I wonder....what was the life of a tentmaker like in this era? What was it like to journey by walking from town to town that were weeklong (or longer journeys)? What was it like to travel by boat in this era (not getting shipwrecked) but the day to day of long journeys on boats?
I felt that it was too much of taking the Biblical account and saying that Paul met a few people, taught them for a bit, then left and the whole story just repeated again and again as he traveled. If he stayed in a location for 3 months, 6 months or a year, there has to be more to his life that could have been added in. There wasn't enough "fictional addition" to the Biblical accounts, I could have rest read the parts of the New Testament written by Paul.
November 24, 2021
A Great Reflection on Paul’s Life
I won this book via Goodreads giveaway and have not read any of the authors prior books. Although this now appears to be the third one in the “Through The Eyes” series, you do not need to read them first to pick this one up.
This book was very insightful to Paul’s life, I never realized how much he traveled and struggled to spread the good news.
My only wish is the book had pronunciation keys for some names as I would rename people due to not knowing how to read/ say their names. This led to some minor confusion. Overall a great Historical Fiction/ Nonfiction story.
I won this book via Goodreads giveaway and have not read any of the authors prior books. Although this now appears to be the third one in the “Through The Eyes” series, you do not need to read them first to pick this one up.
This book was very insightful to Paul’s life, I never realized how much he traveled and struggled to spread the good news.
My only wish is the book had pronunciation keys for some names as I would rename people due to not knowing how to read/ say their names. This led to some minor confusion. Overall a great Historical Fiction/ Nonfiction story.
October 11, 2021
This book really brings the story to life. It gave me a much better understanding of everything and it was written in a way I could better comprehend how Paul was selected. Kenneth Winter’s writing is so good that I loved the whole book. I am looking forward to reading more by this great writer
April 26, 2024
I have been very impressed with Kenneth Winter's writings and this book really helped fill in the life of Apostle Paul as a person.
Mr. Winter keeps with the integrity of the scriptures, also I like his use of timelines for historical perspective. I highly recommend this book.
Mr. Winter keeps with the integrity of the scriptures, also I like his use of timelines for historical perspective. I highly recommend this book.
November 12, 2021
Spreading the Word
Follow the apostle Paul as he travels far and wide to spread the Gospel to all peoples. His journey to faith and beyond should be our journey, as well.
Follow the apostle Paul as he travels far and wide to spread the Gospel to all peoples. His journey to faith and beyond should be our journey, as well.
May 4, 2022
historical details are very helpful
Appreciate all the research that went into this. Thanks for writing it! May God continue to richly bless you and your family!
Appreciate all the research that went into this. Thanks for writing it! May God continue to richly bless you and your family!
June 22, 2022
Kenneth does it again
Another great read from Kenneth Winter probably the best of the series of 'through the eyes '.
Recommended for people of all ages.
Another great read from Kenneth Winter probably the best of the series of 'through the eyes '.
Recommended for people of all ages.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews