Who was Paul?

Paul, whose original name was Saul, took the name

familiar to us after his conversion to Christianity. Paul
never met Jesus during his brief years of ministry.
Nevertheless, he was perhaps Christianity's most
important early convert and the first major missionary to
preach the Christian gospel to non-Jewish people.

When and where did he live?

Scholars think Saul was was born around 10 C.E. in Tarsus,
in modern-day Turkey. Unlike Jesus' other early followers,
who were mostly Palestinians, Paul was a Roman citizen,
which implies he was at least moderately well-off, and
which granted him a certain respect wherever he went in
the empire. He was a tentmaker by trade. After his
conversion, he traveled extensively through most of the
Mediterranean world. He died between 62 and 67 CE.

Was Paul one of the 12 apostles?

No, he was not. However, the New Testament records that
Paul did interact with many of the original disciples,
especially in Jerusalem.

Was Paul Jewish?

Most scholars believe so, though they have argued about
his commitment to Judaism both before and after his
conversion to Christianity. Pauline writings indicate that he
was raised Jewish and became a Pharisee (Romans 11:1,
Phil 3:5). Acts says that in his younger days, Saul was
involved in persecuting Jewish followers of Jesus because
he believed they were heretics (Acts 22:4-5).

What made him stop?

According to Acts 9, 22 and 26, a conversion experience.
Saul was traveling to the city of Damascus when he saw a
bright light and heard Jesus' voice saying "Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?" He fell from his horse, blinded.
Days later, after a visit from the Christian disciple Ananias,
he recovered his eyesight and began to preach Jesus'
gospel.

Where did he go as he preached?

At the start of his ministry, Paul spent much of his time in
Jerusalem. Later, he traveled through Asia Minor, to
Greece, and Rome.
What made him different from other early disciples?

When Paul started preaching, Jesus' followers were Jews
who believed that Jesus had revealed himself as God's
promised Messiah to his chosen people. They focused
their ministry on sharing this remarkable news with other
Jews. Paul made the radical departure of preaching to
non-Jews (Gentiles), saying that, through Jesus, God had
extended salvation to Gentiles.

Paul's Writings

How much of the New Testament did Paul write?

Thirteen letters, or epistles, of the New Testament begin
with a formula like "Paul, servant of God, to [recipient's
name]." However, some liberal scholars believe that as
many as half of these letters might not have been written
by Paul. Many, like 2 Thessalonians, may have been from
the "School of Paul"--either dictated by Paul or written by
people who came after him and shared his theology.
Which letters are we sure he wrote?

Of the 13 epistles originally attributed to him, liberal
scholars believe that at least seven were definitely written
by Paul: 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians,
Philippians, Philemon, and Romans. Few liberal scholars
believe Paul wrote 1 & 2 Timothy, Ephesians, and Titus.
There is no consensus on who wrote Colossians and 2
Thessalonians.

Paul's Theology

What are Paul's most important contributions to Christian
theology?

One is justification by faith, the concept that humans are
saved from sin by believing in Jesus. Jewish tradition
focused on ritual observations and living according to
Jewish law. Paul created a theological framework for
understanding that Jesus' death and resurrection triggered
a fundamental change in humanity's relationship with
God--a relationship in which faith, rather than behavior,
was the central element.
This idea is sometimes described as "faith alone"--in Latin,
"Sola fides." Justification by faith was one of the main
points of difference raised by Martin Luther and other
reformers that led to the Protestant break with the Roman
Catholic Church.

What is justification?

The means by which humans are justified, or cleansed
from sin and saved, by God.

Saul The Persecutor of the Church
Before becoming the great missionary evangelist, Paul was
known as Saul the persecutor of the Christian church. As a
devout Jew Saul sought to quiet the quickly growing
movement of men and women who followed Jesus Christ.
He had permission from the High Priest to persecute those
found worshiping the Lord (Acts 9:1, 2).

Jesus did not tell Saul everything that would happen in his
life in the future, only the next step. Saul obeyed.
Saul Meets Christ and the Christians

Saul met the Lord on his way to Damascus to persecute
the Christians in Acts chapter 9. There was a bright light
from heaven that caused Saul to fall to the ground. The
voice of the Lord asked Saul why Saul was persecuting
Him. Jesus explained to Saul that when he persecuted the
church then he was persecuting the recently risen Lord.

Sauls response was a proper response. He submitted to
the Lord and asked what he should do. Salvation does not
come from works, but Saul was showing his submission to
the Savior through obedience. Jesus told him to get up and
go to the city. This is a beautiful picture of obedience to
the Lords will. Jesus did not tell Saul everything that
would happen in his life in the future, only the next step.
Saul obeyed.

The experience left him blind but obedient. He was led
into the city to meet Ananias. Though Ananias had heard
much about Saul and was justifiably scared, he too obeyed
the Lord and took Saul in. Ananias laid hands on Saul and
healed him of his temporary blindness.

Saul was not a novice to the Scriptures. He was a devout
Jew and knew what Gods Word said. Previous to his
conversion though, he did not believe that Christ was the
anointed Messiah. As soon as he believed he began to
preach Christ in the synagogues.

Barnabas and Paul Paul and Barnabas
By Acts 13 Saul had been on the receiving end of the
persecution. Others in the church began to hear about
Saul and accept him into their congregations. He also
started going by the name Paul more and more.
The church in Antioch wanted to send out missionaries to
preach and start new works. The great leader Barnabas
and the growing Christian Paul were chosen. They traveled
together and were known as Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas
being the leader and Paul the disciple. However, by the
end of the chapter they were referred to as Paul and
Barnabas. Paul began to take a more active role in
leadership and direction for their traveling ministry. To
Barnabas credit he respected the obvious leading of God
on Pauls life. After this, there was only one other time
when the team was referred to as Barnabas and Paul. That
was when they returned to Antioch and the church which
sent them out. Barnabas was more known as the leader in
front of the Antioch church. Though a strong leader, Paul
too humbled himself when it was appropriate to allow
Barnabas the honor and respect he deserved.
They continued to travel together until Acts 15. In this
chapter they took opposing views on taking the young
John Mark with them on their next journey. John Mark had
abandoned them during the first missionary journey and
Paul did not want to give him a second chance. Barnabas
took the young man and mentored him like he had done
for Paul. The result was that two great preaching teams
were then starting churches where there previously was
only one. Their argument and separation wasnt pleasant,
but it was used by God to accomplish His purposes.

Missionary Journeys
There are three missionary journeys of Paul. The first one
was with Barnabas and John Mark. They went to the island
of Cyprus before heading to the mainland where Turkey is
today. Their initial thrust was to the Jews, but after a time
they turned their attention to the Gentiles. It was shortly
after they arrived in Turkey that John Mark returned to
Jerusalem.
The second journey is when Silas joined Paul. They picked
up Timothy and Luke pretty early in this trip. Though the
Bible does not expressly say when Luke joined the team,
the language in Acts 16 indicates he joined them in Troas
(Luke 16:11). Previous to this time the writer of the book
of Acts (Luke) talks about them and they. However, at
this point the language changes to we. This was when
Paul made his first visit to Corinth where he stayed for
about a year and a half. It is possible that Silas stayed
there since there was no further mention of him traveling
with Paul.
The third journey was marked by Paul and his team staying
longer at various places. He even stayed at Ephesus for 3
years (Acts 20:31). Paul sent other teams ahead to various
places to preach. Timothy was one of the team leaders.
This third journey ended when Paul was in Jerusalem. He
was arrested there and spent the bulk of his final 10 years
in prisons.

Writings of Paul
We know that Paul wrote many of the books of the New
Testament. They were written to churches Paul had a
relationship with or people that Paul met along the way.
Here is a list of the books in the order they are found in
the New Testament.
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Paul probably wrote the book of Hebrews, though the
book itself does not claim an author.




Pauls Last Days
Paul was taken to the Governor Felix in Caeserea in 58 AD
where he spent 2 years in prison. Paul appealed to Caesar
in Rome. Through a process of time he finally arrived in
Rome. He was under house arrest for a couple more years
in which he wrote many of his books.
Paul was released from prison and traveled for a couple
more years in much of the same territory that he traveled
before. He probably died in prison as a martyr in 67 AD.