Beholding this light, he is said to have fallen in terror to the earth, and to have heard a voice, which called to him, "Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?" Blinded by the vision, he reached Damascus; and after an interview with a Christian, who advised him to be baptized, the scales at length fell from his eyes. With the certainty that he had actually beheld Jesus, another doubt was banished from Saul's mind, or a different Messianic point of view was revealed to him. Jesus had certainly died--or rather had been crucified--but, as he appeared to Saul, he must have risen from the dead; he must have been the first who had been brought to life again, and had therefore confirmed the fact that there would be a Resurrection, which fact had been a matter of contention between the various schools: and Jesus had also thereby announced the advent of the kingdom of heaven, of which, as the prophet Daniel had predicted, the resurrection of the dead was to be the forerunner. Thus the former Pharisee of Tarsus was firmly convinced of three things--that Jesus had arisen; that he was the true Messiah who had been predicted; and that the kingdom of heaven, the period of the resurrection, was near, and that the then existing generation, or rather the true believers in Jesus, would soon witness its arrival. This belief led to further results. If the Messiah had already appeared, or if Jesus were actually the Christ, then the Law was of itself abrogated, and the heathens could participate in the blessing of Abraham, without observing the Law. This belief acted as an incentive to Saul. He felt himself called upon to convert the depraved world of heathendom, and, through Christ, to lead it back to the Father of all. No time was allowed to elapse between the inception of this idea and its realization. Assuming the name of Paul, he joined the Nazarenes of Damascus, who were not a little astonished that their persecutor had now become their colleague, and was seeking to make fresh converts.