Paul found many opportunities for converting in Damascus, as a strong feeling in favor of Judaism prevailed there, and the sacrifice incumbent on its followers alone kept many aloof. The newly-converted Apostle could render this step easier, as he relieved them of all duties to the Law by means of a belief in Jesus. He does not, however, seem to have found a warm reception for his faith, resting as it did on sophistry, even amongst his own countrymen. His theory that the whole Law might be set aside was probably not considered as quite acceptable. The people also seem to have felt distrust of their former persecutor. In short, Saul-Paul could not maintain his ground in Damascus, and fled to Arabia (Auranitis), where Judæan communities also existed. When, however, he returned to Damascus for the second time, and his coreligionists had acquired greater confidence in him, he could indulge his love of proselytism. But his brusque, inconsiderate manner, and his assertion that the Law was no longer in force, aroused the Judæan community of Damascus against him. The Judæan ethnarch of the town, who had been appointed or confirmed by Aretas Philodemus, sought to take him prisoner. His companions saved him, by lowering him in a basket from a window in the wall. Thus he escaped from those who rightly considered him as the destroyer of Judaism. He returned to Jerusalem three years after his conversion. He felt that there was a wide difference between himself and the Galilæan Christians, and that he would not be able to make terms with them. Paul was filled with the one thought, that the blessing for all generations, the promise (evangel) made to Abraham that he should be father of many nations, and that the wealth of the heathen should belong to the children of Abraham, was now finally to be realized, and that he (Paul) was called upon to effect this work. He wished to put an end to the difference between the Judæans and the Greeks, between slaves and freemen, and to make all brothers in the covenant of Abraham--as the seed of Abraham--according to the promise given in by-gone years. This was the glad message which he brought to the people; it was a far-reaching thought, of which the Ebionites in Jerusalem and the so-called main Apostles had no understanding.