"But Wasn't Jesus Angry in the Temple?" 

Samson's Strength

"Why Did God Knock Paul Off His Horse?" - This page

See also Biblical Misunderstandings

I was leaving Bible College one evening when I came across a young student sitting in her car, crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked with concern in my voice.

Through her tears she said, somewhat defiantly, "I just don't understand why God knocked Paul off his horse!" 

She was talking about Paul's encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus. Having grown up in the Catholic system she would have most probably seen stained glass windows of an artist's imagination running wild. Even the staid, Lutheran church where I grew up had a window with a similar, faulty depiction. One artist sees something in his mind, puts it on canvas and others follow. Something similar happens with certain themes in worship music today.

It turned out that Alison was almost as much concerned for the non-existent horse as she was for its supposed rider.

"It doesn't say anywhere in the narrative that Paul was on a horse," I pointed out. "In fact, it is very unlikely that he was riding anything. In those days, everyone walked, even from town to town. Soldiers marched, but Paul wasn't a soldier. Paul was a tent maker by trade, not some wealthy leader. He wasn't an official in the Jewish religious system, either, just a concerned citizen who felt that Christians were a threat to the system."

"Now as he travelled on, he came near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him,

"And he fell to the ground." Acts 9:3-4a (AMP)

"The expression 'he fell to the ground' is readily used to describe someone who was on foot when they encountered some difficulty. When the soldiers and religious leaders came to arrest Jesus, when He said, "I am Jesus" it says "they went backwards and fell to the ground." John 18:6. Paul had a similar, unexpected encounter with Jesus.

"When Jesus had finished speaking to Paul he was still blind but otherwise uninjured, so those with him "led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus." If there had been a horse, why did he not mount it again? Paul never complained about what happened to him on that road - in fact he told the story enthusiastically because it saved his life."

Alison had stopped crying while I was explaining, but she was still upset for some reason. She eventually married a pastor so the problem must have been resolved for her.  :-)

"But Wasn't Jesus Angry in the Temple?" 

Samson's Strength

"Why Did God Knock Paul Off His Horse?" - This page

See also Biblical Misunderstandings