Originally posted by mima:
Saul certainly didn't exercise any free will in the matter.
That is mere speculation on your part, speculation that contradicts passages in the Bible about Paul and things that Paul wrote about himself. There are, in the New Testament, three accounts of Saul’s conversion,
Acts 9:1. Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
2. and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
4. and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5. And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He
said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
6. but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."
7. The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.
9. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."
11. And the Lord
said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,
12. and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight."
13. But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;
14. and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."
15. But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
16. for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."
17. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;
19. and he took food and was strengthened.
Saul Begins to Preach Christ Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,
20. and immediately he
began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
Acts 22:4. "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,
5. as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.
6. "But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,
7. and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8. "And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.'
9. "And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.
10. "And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'
11. "But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12. "A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law,
and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
13. came to me, and standing near said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very time I looked up at him.
14. "And he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.
15. 'For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16. 'Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'
Acts 26:9. "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10. "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.
11. "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.
12. "While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
13. at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.
14. "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15. "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16. 'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
17. rescuing you from the
Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
18. to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
19. "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20. but
kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and
also at Jerusalem and
then throughout all the region of Judea, and
even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.
In Acts 26:19, Paul tells King Agrippa that he did not disobey the heavenly vision, implying that disobedience was a possibility.
Compare:
1 Cor. 9:17. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19. For though I am free from all
men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
20. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
21. to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.
22. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
23. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
24. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but
only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
25. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self- control in all things. They then
do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
27. but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
All Scriptures (NASB, 1995)
I am now very much at peace in my present position on this issue.