Who is this Paul guy anyway?

What do you say about someone whose influence upon Christianity has been felt throughout Church history and continues to this day?  What is it about Paul that has elevated him above Peter, James, or John in impact if not in esteem as well?
The thing that separates Paul from others in the Early Church is his zeal.  Zeal is a slippery quality, it can lead us to triumph against incredible odds, and it can paint us into a corner before we even know it.  Paul as a young man, back when he went by Saul, was full of passion and conviction for the LORD.  He was consumed with the idea of purifying the faith of his ancestors in order to save his people.  It was a noble cause that the prophets had attempted time and time again, but with Saul it turned ugly.  Passion quickly turned to persecution when Saul learned that there were still people preaching in the name of that discredited Galilean rabbi, Jesus.  For Saul there was no need to know anything else, these men and women were threatening that which he held most dear.  The answer was also simple, persecute them; kill them if necessary.
That Saul didn't end his life a bitter man with blood on his hands that he couldn't wash clean is a testament to the grace of God.  There have been plenty of men like Saul in history, those too consumed with their own self-righteousness to understand mercy.  Zeal, when is runs out of control, is easily turned to hatred; hatred doesn't need much convincing to become homicide of genocide.
God, in his wisdom and mercy, had another ending in mind for Saul's life.  It would take a dramatic change to turn such a passionate man around, but God specializes in those.  A face to face meeting with the risen Jesus was just what Saul needed to finally see the Truth; God added in temporary blindness to make sure that Saul got the point.  When he emerged from his meeting with Jesus, Saul was no more, Paul had been born again.
From that point forward in his life, Paul retained his zeal, his single-minded passion for God, but now it was tempered with mercy.  No longer would he scream for the Law to rule all, Paul would become the champion of Grace.  His efforts to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ would take Paul back and forth across Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy.  Eventually his efforts would rouse jealousy and suspicion from local Roman officials and begin Paul down the road that led to his trial and execution.  In the end, God didn't remove Paul's passion, he simply redirected it.
So why do we find ourselves drawn to Paul's writings 2,000 years later?  That same willingness to do anything and everything to save the Lost that drove Paul onward inspires us today.  We too want to be on fire for God, we want to feel the Spirit of God burning within us, and we too want to be champions of Grace.