The main source of information on Paul's life and works is theActs of the Apostles in theNew Testament. Approximately half of its content documents his travels, preaching andmiracles. Paul was not one of theTwelve Apostles, and did not know Jesus during his lifetime. According to the Acts, Paul lived as aPharisee and participated in thepersecution of earlydisciples of Jesus, possiblyHellenised diaspora Jews converted to Christianity,[12] in the area ofJerusalem, beforehis conversion.[note 1] Some time after having approved of the execution ofStephen,[13] Paul was traveling on the road toDamascus so that he might find any Christians there and bring them "bound to Jerusalem".[14] At midday, a light brighter than the sun shone around both him and those with him, causing all to fall to the ground, with therisen Christ verbally addressing Paul regarding his persecution in a vision.[15][16] Having been made blind,[17] along with being commanded to enter the city, his sight was restored three days later byAnanias of Damascus. After these events, Paul was baptized, beginning immediately to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was theJewish messiah and theSon of God.[18] He made three missionary journeys to spread the Christian message to non-Jewish communities inAsia Minor, the Greek provinces ofAchaia,Macedonia, andCyprus, as well asJudea andSyria, as narrated in the Acts.
Fourteen of the 27 books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul.[19] Seven of thePauline epistles are undisputed by scholars as beingauthentic, with varying degrees of argument about the remainder. Paulineauthorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.[note 2] It was almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews,[21] but that view is now almost universally rejected by scholars.[21][22] The other six are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive.[9][8][note 3] Other scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the disputed epistles raises many problems.[24]
Today, Paul's epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology, worship andpastoral life in theLatin and Protestant traditionsof the West, as well as the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditionsof the East.[25] Paul's influence on Christian thought and practice has been characterized as being as "profound as it is pervasive", among that of many other apostles andmissionaries involved in the spread of the Christian faith.[9]
Christians, notably in theLutheran tradition, have classically read Paul as advocating for a law-free Gospel against Judaism. Polemicists and scholars likewise, especially during the early 20th century, have alleged that Paul corrupted or hijackedChristianity, often by introducing pagan or Hellenistic themes to the early church.[26] There has since been increasing acceptance ofPaul as a fundamentally Jewish figure in line with the original disciples inJerusalem over past misinterpretations, manifested through movements like "Paul Within Judaism".[27][28][29]
Paul's Jewish name was "Saul" (Hebrew:שָׁאוּל,Modern: Sha'ûl,Tiberian: Šā'ûl), perhaps after the biblicalKing Saul, the firstking of Israel and, like Paul, a member of theTribe of Benjamin; the Latin name Paulus, meaning small, was not a result of his conversion as is commonly believed but a second name for use in communicating with a Greco-Roman audience.[30][31]
Jesus called him "Saul, Saul"[38] in "the Hebrew tongue" in the Acts of the Apostles, when he had the vision which led tohis conversion on the road to Damascus.[39] Later, in a vision toAnanias of Damascus, "the Lord" referred to him as "Saul, of Tarsus".[40] When Ananias came to restore his sight, he called him "Brother Saul".[41]
InActs 13:9, Saul is called "Paul" for the first time on the island ofCyprus, much later than the time of his conversion.[42] Theauthor of Luke–Acts indicates that the names were interchangeable: "Saul, who also is called Paul." He refers to him as Paul through the remainder of Acts. This was apparently Paul's preference since he is called Paul in all other Bible books where he is mentioned, includingthose that he authored. Adopting his Roman name was typical of Paul's missionary style. His method was to put people at ease and approach them with his message in a language and style that was relatable to them, as he did in1 Corinthians 9:19–23.[43][44]
The main source for information about Paul's life is the material found inhis epistles and in the Acts of the Apostles.[45] However, the epistles contain little information about Paul's pre-conversion past. The Acts of the Apostles recounts more information but leaves several parts of Paul's life out of its narrative, such as his probable but undocumented execution in Rome.[46] The Acts of the Apostles also appear to contradict Paul's epistles on multiple matters, in particular concerning the frequency of Paul's visits to thechurch in Jerusalem.[47][48]
Sources outside the New Testament that mention Paul include:
Geography relevant to Paul's life, stretching fromJerusalem toRome
The two main sources of information that give access to the earliest segments of Paul's career are the Acts of the Apostles and the autobiographical elements of Paul's letters to the early Christian communities.[45] Paul was likely born between the years of 5 BC and 5 AD.[50] The Acts of the Apostles indicates that Paul was a Roman citizen by birth, butHelmut Koester took issue with the evidence presented by the text.[51][52] Some have suggested that Paul's ancestors may have been freedmen from among the thousands of Jews whomPompey took as slavesin 63 BC, which would explain how he was born intoRoman citizenship, as slaves of Roman citizens gained citizenship upon emancipation.[53]
He was from a devout Jewish family[54] based in the city ofTarsus, which had been made part of theRoman Province of Syria by the time of Paul's adulthood.[55] Tarsus was of the larger centers of trade on the Mediterranean coast and renowned for itsacademy, it had been among the most influential cities inAsia Minor since the time ofAlexander the Great, who died in 323 BC.[54]
Paul referred to himself as being "of the stock of Israel, of thetribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, aPharisee".[56][57] The Bible reveals very little about Paul's family. Acts quotes Paul referring to his family by saying he was "a Pharisee, born of Pharisees".[58][59] Paul's nephew, his sister's son, is mentioned in Acts 23:16.[60] In Romans 16:7, he states that his relatives,Andronicus andJunia, were Christians before he was and were prominent among the Apostles.[61]
The family had a history of religious piety.[62][note 4] Apparently, the family lineage had been very attached toPharisaic traditions and observances for generations.[63] Acts says that he was an artisan involved in the leather crafting or tent-making profession.[64][65] This was to become an initial connection withPriscilla and Aquila, with whom he would partner in tentmaking[66] and later become very important teammates as fellow missionaries.[67]
While he was still fairly young, he was sent to Jerusalem to receive his education at the school ofGamaliel,[68][57] one of the most noted teachers ofJewish law in history. Although modern scholarship accepts that Paul was educated under the supervision of Gamaliel in Jerusalem,[57] he was not preparing to become a scholar of Jewish law, and probably never had any contact with theHillelite school.[57] Some of his family may have resided in Jerusalem since later the son of one of his sisters saved his life there.[60][30] Nothing more is known of his biography until he takes an active part in the martyrdom ofStephen,[69] a Hellenised diaspora Jew.[70]
Some modern scholarship argues that while Paul was fluent inKoine Greek, the language he used to write his letters, his first language was probablyAramaic.[71] In his letters, Paul drew heavily on his knowledge ofStoic philosophy, using Stoic terms and metaphors to assist his new Gentile converts in their understanding of the Gospel and to explain his Christology.[72][73]
Paul says that beforehis conversion,[74] he persecuted early Christians "beyond measure", more specifically Hellenised diaspora Jewish members who had returned to the area ofJerusalem.[75][note 1] According toJames Dunn, the Jerusalem community consisted of "Hebrews", Jews speaking both Aramaic and Greek, and "Hellenists", Jews speaking only Greek, possibly diaspora Jews who had resettled in Jerusalem.[76] Paul's initial persecution of Christians probably was directed against these Greek-speaking "Hellenists" due to their anti-Temple attitude.[77] Within the early Jewish Christian community, this also set them apart from the "Hebrews" and their continuing participation in the Temple cult.[77]
Paul's conversion to the movement of followers of Jesus can be dated to 31–36 AD[78][79][80] by his reference to it in one of hisletters. In Galatians 1:16, Paul writes that God "was pleased to reveal his son to me."[81] In 1 Corinthians 15:8, as he lists the order in which Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, Paul writes, "last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also."[82]
According to the account in the Acts of the Apostles, it took place on the road toDamascus, where he reported having experienced avision of the ascended Jesus. The account says that "He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' He asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The reply came, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting'."[83]
According to the account in Acts 9:1–22, he was blinded for three days and had to be led into Damascus by the hand.[84] During these three days, Saul took no food or water and spent his time in prayer to God. WhenAnanias of Damascus arrived, he laid his hands on him and said: "Brother Saul, the Lord,[even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."[85] His sight was restored, he got up and was baptized.[86] This story occurs only in Acts, not in the Pauline epistles.[87]
The author of the Acts of the Apostles may have learned of Paul's conversion from thechurch in Jerusalem, or from thechurch in Antioch, or possibly from Paul himself.[88]
According to Timo Eskola, early Christian theology and discourse was influenced by the JewishMerkabah tradition.[89]John Bowker,Alan Segal andDaniel Boyarin have variously argued that Paul's accounts of his conversion experience and his ascent to the heavens (in2 Corinthians 12) are the earliest first-person accounts that are extant of a Merkabah mystic in Jewish or Christian literature.[90] Conversely, Timothy Churchill has argued that Paul's Damascus road encounter does not fit the pattern of Merkabah.[91]
And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God." And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?" But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
After his conversion, Paul went toDamascus, whereActs 9 states he was healed of his blindness andbaptized by Ananias of Damascus.[93] Paul says that it was in Damascus that he barely escaped death.[94] Paul also says that he then went first to Arabia, and then came back to Damascus.[95][96] Paul's trip to Arabia is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, although it has been theorized that he traveled toMount Sinai for meditations in the desert.[97][98] He describes inGalatians how three years after his conversion he went toJerusalem. There he metJames and stayed withSimon Peter for 15 days[99] starting around 35 or 36 AD.[100][101] Paul located Mount Sinai in Arabia in Galatians 4:24–25.[102]
Paul asserted that he received theGospel not from man, but directly by "the revelation of Jesus Christ".[103] He claimed almost total independence from the Jerusalem community[104] (possibly in theCenacle), but agreed with it on the nature and content of the gospel.[105] He appeared eager to bring material support to Jerusalem from the various growingGentile churches that he started. In his writings, Paul used thepersecutions he endured to avow proximity and union with Jesus and as a validation of his teaching.
Paul's narrative in Galatians states that 14 years after his conversion he went again to Jerusalem.[106] It is not known what happened during this time, but both Acts and Galatians provide some details.[107] At the end of this time,Barnabas went to find Paul and brought him toAntioch.[108][109] The Christian community at Antioch had been established by Hellenised diaspora Jews living in Jerusalem, who played an important role in reaching a Gentile, Greek audience, notably at Antioch, which had a large Jewish community and significant numbers of Gentile "God-fearers."[110] From Antioch the mission to the Gentiles started, which would fundamentally change the character of the early Christian movement, eventually turning it into a new, Gentile religion.[111]
When a famine occurred inJudea, around 45–46,[112] Paul and Barnabas journeyed to Jerusalem to deliver financial support from the Antioch community.[113] According to Acts, Antioch had become an alternative center for Christians following the dispersion of the believers after the death ofStephen. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called "Christians".[114]
First missionary journey
Map of St. Paul's missionary journeys
The author of Acts arranges Paul's travels into three separate journeys. The first journey,[115] for which Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the Antioch community,[116] and led initially by Barnabas,[note 5] took Barnabas and Paul from Antioch to Cyprus then into southern Asia Minor, and finally returning to Antioch. In Cyprus, Paul rebukes and blindsElymas the magician[117] who was criticizing their teachings.
They sailed toPerga inPamphylia.John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas went on toPisidian Antioch. OnSabbath they went to the synagogue. The leaders invited them to speak. Paul reviewed Israelite history from life in Egypt to King David. He introduced Jesus as a descendant of David brought to Israel by God. He said that his group had come to bring the message of salvation. He recounted the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. He quoted from theSeptuagint[118] to assert that Jesus was the promised Christos who brought them forgiveness for their sins. Both the Jews and the "God-fearing" Gentiles invited them to talk more next Sabbath. At that time almost the whole city gathered. This upset some influential Jews who spoke against them. Paul used the occasion to announce a change in his mission which from then on would be to the Gentiles.[119]
Antioch served as a major Christian home base for Paul's early missionary activities,[4] and he remained there for "a long time with the disciples"[120] at the conclusion of his first journey. The exact duration of Paul's stay in Antioch is unknown, with estimates ranging from nine months to as long as eight years.[121]
InRaymond E. Brown'sAn Introduction to the New Testament, published in 1997, a chronology of events in Paul's life is presented, illustrated from later 20th-century writings ofbiblical scholars.[122] The first missionary journey of Paul is assigned a "traditional" (and majority) dating of 46–49 AD, compared to a "revisionist" (and minority) dating of after 37 AD.[123]
A vital meeting between Paul and the Jerusalem church took place in the year 49 AD by traditional (and majority) dating, compared to a revisionist (and minority) dating of 47/51 AD.[124] The meeting is described in Acts 15:2[125] and usually seen as the same event mentioned by Paul in Galatians[126][46] The key question raised was whetherGentile converts needed to be circumcised.[127][128] At this meeting, Paul states in his letter to the Galatians,Peter,James, andJohn accepted Paul's mission to the Gentiles.
The Jerusalem meetings are mentioned in Acts, and also in Paul's letters.[129] For example, the Jerusalem visit for famine relief[130] apparently corresponds to the "first visit" (to Peter and James only).[131][129]F. F. Bruce suggested that the "fourteen years" could be from Paul's conversion rather than from his first visit to Jerusalem.[132]
Despite the agreement achieved at the Council of Jerusalem, Paul recounts how he later publicly confronted Peter in a dispute sometimes called the "Incident at Antioch", over Peter's reluctance to share a meal with Gentile Christians in Antioch because they did not strictly adhere to Jewish customs.[127]
Writing later of the incident, Paul recounts, "I opposed [Peter] to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong", and says he told Peter, "You are a Jew, yet youlive like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that youforce Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?"[133] Paul also mentions that even Barnabas, his traveling companion and fellow apostle until that time, sided with Peter.[127]
The outcome of the incident remains uncertain. TheCatholic Encyclopedia suggests that Paul won the argument, because "Paul's account of the incident leaves no doubt that Peter saw the justice of the rebuke".[127] However, Paul himself never mentions a victory, andL. Michael White'sFrom Jesus to Christianity draws the opposite conclusion: "The blowup with Peter was a total failure of political bravado, and Paul soon left Antioch aspersona non grata, never again to return".[134]
Paul left for his second missionary journey from Jerusalem, in late Autumn 49 AD,[137] after the meeting of theCouncil of Jerusalem where the circumcision question was debated. On their trip around the Mediterranean Sea, Paul and his companion Barnabas stopped in Antioch where they had a sharp argument about takingJohn Mark with them on their trips. The Acts of the Apostles said that John Mark had left them in a previous trip and gone home. Unable to resolve the dispute, Paul and Barnabas decided to separate; Barnabas took John Mark with him, whileSilas joined Paul.
Paul and Silas initially visitedTarsus (Paul's birthplace),Derbe andLystra. In Lystra, they metTimothy, a disciple who was spoken well of, and decided to take him with them. Paul and his companions, Silas and Timothy, had plans to journey to the southwest portion of Asia Minor to preach the gospel but during the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him to go to Macedonia to help them. After seeing the vision, Paul and his companions left for Macedonia to preach the gospel to them.[138] The Church kept growing, adding believers, and strengthening in faith daily.[139]
InPhilippi, Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a servant girl, whose masters were then unhappy about the loss of income her soothsaying provided.[140] They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities and Paul and Silas were put in jail. After a miraculous earthquake, the gates of the prison fell apart and Paul and Silas could have escaped but remained; this event led to the conversion of the jailor.[141] They continued traveling, going byBerea and then to Athens, where Paul preached to the Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue and to the Greek intellectuals in theAreopagus. Paul continued from Athens toCorinth.
Interval in Corinth
Around 50–52 AD, Paul spent 18 months inCorinth. The reference in Acts to ProconsulGallio helps ascertain this date (cf.Gallio Inscription).[46] In Corinth, Paul metPriscilla and Aquila,[142] who became faithful believers and helped Paul through his other missionary journeys. The couple followed Paul and his companions toEphesus and stayed there to start one of the strongest and most faithful churches at that time.[143]
In 52, departing from Corinth, Paul stopped at the nearby village ofCenchreae to have his hair cut off, because of a vow he had earlier taken.[144] It is possible this was to be a final haircut before fulfilling his vow to become aNazirite for a defined period of time.[145] With Priscilla and Aquila, the missionaries then sailed to Ephesus[146] and then Paul alone went on toCaesarea to greet the Church there. He then traveled north to Antioch, where he stayed for some time (Ancient Greek:ποιήσας χρόνον τινὰ).[147] Some New Testament texts[note 6] suggest that he also visited Jerusalem during this period for one of the Jewish feasts, possiblyPentecost.[148] Textual criticHenry Alford and others consider the reference to a Jerusalem visit to be genuine[149] and it accords with Acts 21:29,[150] according to which Paul andTrophimus the Ephesian had previously been seen in Jerusalem.
According to Acts, Paul began his third missionary journey by traveling all around the region ofGalatia andPhrygia to strengthen, teach and rebuke the believers. Paul then traveled toEphesus, an importantcenter of early Christianity, and stayed there for almost three years, probably working there as a tent maker,[152] as he had done when he stayed inCorinth. He is said to have performed numerous miracles, healing people and casting out demons, and he apparently organized missionary activity in other regions.[46] Paul left Ephesus after an attack from a local silversmith resulted in a pro-Artemis riot involving most of the city.[46] During his stay in Ephesus, Paul wrote four letters to the church in Corinth.[153] The letter to the church inPhilippi is generally thought to have been written from Ephesus, though a minority view considers it may have been penned while he was imprisoned in Rome.[154]
Paul went throughMacedonia intoAchaea[155] and stayed in Greece, probably Corinth, for three months[155] during 56–57 AD.[46] Commentators generally agree that Paul dictated hisEpistle to the Romans during this period.[156] He then made ready to continue on toSyria, but he changed his plans and traveled back through Macedonia, putatively because certain Jews had made a plot against him. In Romans 15:19,[157] Paul wrote that he visitedIllyricum, but he may have meant what would now be calledIllyria Graeca,[158] which was at that time a division of the Roman province of Macedonia.[159] On their way back to Jerusalem, Paul and his companions visited other cities such asPhilippi,Troas,Miletus,Rhodes, andTyre. Paul finished his trip with a stop inCaesarea, where he and his companions stayed withPhilip the Evangelist before finally arriving in Jerusalem.[160]
Conjectured journey from Rome to Spain
Among the writings of the early Christians,Pope Clement I said that Paul was "Herald (of the Gospel of Christ) in the West", and that "he had gone to the extremity of the west".[161]
WhereLightfoot's translation has "had preached" below (in the "Church tradition" section), the Hoole translation has "having become a herald".[162]John Chrysostom indicated that Paul preached in Spain: "For after he had been in Rome, he returned to Spain, but whether he came thence again into these parts, we know not".[163]Cyril of Jerusalem said that Paul, "fully preached the Gospel, and instructed even imperial Rome, and carried the earnestness of his preaching as far as Spain, undergoing conflicts innumerable, and performing Signs and wonders".[164] TheMuratorian fragment mentions "the departure of Paul from the city [of Rome] [5a] (39) when he journeyed to Spain".[165]
Visits to Jerusalem in Acts and the epistles
The following table is adapted from the bookFrom Jesus to Christianity by Biblical scholarL. Michael White,[129] matching Paul's travels as documented in the Acts and the travels in hisEpistles but not agreed upon fully by all Biblical scholars.
There is debate over whether Paul's visit in Galatians 2 refers to the visit for famine relief[169] or the Jerusalem Council.[170] If it refers to the former, then this was the trip made "after an interval of fourteen years".[171]
St. Paul's arrest depicted in an early 1900s Bible illustrationSt. Paul'sgrotto inRabat, Malta
In 57 AD, upon completion of his third missionary journey, Paul arrived in Jerusalem for his fifth and final visit with a collection of money for the local community. The Acts of the Apostles reports that initially he was warmly received. However, Acts goes on to recount how Paul was warned byJames and the elders that he was gaining a reputation for beingagainst the Law, saying, "they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs."[178] Paul underwent apurification ritual so that "all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law."[179]
When the seven days of the purification ritual were almost completed, some "Jews from Asia" (most likely fromRoman Asia) accused Paul of defiling the temple by bringing gentiles into it. He was seized and dragged out of the temple by an angry mob. When thetribune heard of the uproar, he and somecenturions and soldiers rushed to the area. Unable to determine his identity and the cause of the uproar, they placed him in chains.[180] He was about to betaken into the barracks when he asked to speak to the people. He was given permission by the Romans and proceeded to tell his story. After a while, the crowd responded. "Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.'"[181] The tribune ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks and interrogated underflogging. Paul asserted hisRoman citizenship, which wouldprevent his flogging. The tribune "wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the angry Jerusalemites, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet".[182] Paul spoke before the council and caused a disagreement between thePharisees and theSadducees. When this threatened to turn violent, the tribune ordered his soldiers to take Paul by force and return him to the barracks.[183]
The next morning, 40 Jews "bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul",[184] but the son of Paul's sister heard of the plot and notified Paul, who notified the tribune that the conspiracists were going to ambush him. The tribune ordered two centurions to "Get ready to leave by nine o'clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely toFelix the governor."[185]
Paul was taken toCaesarea, where the governor ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod's headquarters. "Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney, a certain Tertullus, and they reported their case against Paul to the governor."[186] Both Paul and the Jewish authorities gave a statement "But Felix, who was rather well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing with the comment, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case."[187]
Marcus Antonius Felix then ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to "let him have some liberty and not to prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs."[188] He was held there for two years by Felix, until a new governor,Porcius Festus, was appointed. The "chief priests and the leaders of the Jews" requested that Festus return Paul to Jerusalem. After Festus had stayed in Jerusalem "not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought." When Festus suggested that he be sent back to Jerusalem for further trial, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen to "appeal unto Caesar".[46] Finally, Paul and his companions sailed for Rome where Paul was to stand trial for his alleged crimes.[189]
Acts recounts that on the way to Rome for his appeal as a Roman citizen to Caesar, Paul was shipwrecked on Melita, which is present-dayMalta,[190] where the islanders showed him "unusual kindness" and where he was met byPublius.[191] From Malta, he travelled to Rome viaSyracuse,Rhegium, andPuteoli.[192]
Irenaeus wrote in the2nd century that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the church in Rome and had appointedLinus as succeeding bishop.[195] However, Paul was not a bishop of Rome, nor did he bringChristianity to Rome since there were already Christians in Rome when he arrived there;[196] Paul also wrote his letter to the church at Rome before he had visited Rome.[197] Paul only played a supporting part in the life of the church in Rome.[198]
Death
The Beheading of Saint Paul, an 1887 portrait byEnrique Simonet
Paul's death is believed to have occurred after theGreat Fire of Rome in July 64 AD, but before the last year ofNero's reign, in 68 AD.[2]Pope Clement I writes in hisEpistle to the Corinthians that after Paul "had borne his testimony before the rulers", he "departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance."[199]Ignatius of Antioch writes in hisEpistle to the Ephesians that Paul was "martyred", without giving any further information.[200]Tertullian writes that Paul was 'crowned with an exit like John' (Paulus Ioannis exitu coronatur), although it is unclearwhich John he meant.[201]
Eusebius states that Paul was killed during theNeronian Persecution[202] and, quoting fromDionysius of Corinth, argues thatPeter and Paul were martyred "at the same time".[203] This is also reported bySulpicius Severus, who claimed Peter was crucified while Paul was beheaded.[204]John Chrysostom provides an account of Nero imprisoning Paul, but not of his execution, and no mention of Peter.[205]Lactantius only mentioned '[It was Nero] who first persecuted the servants of God; he crucified Peter, and slew Paul' (Paulum interfecit).[206][207]
Based on the letters attributed to Paul,Jerome claims Paul was imprisoned by Nero in 'the twenty-fifth year after our Lord's passion' (post passionem Domini vicesimo quinto anno), 'that is the second of Nero' (id est, secundo Neronis), 'at the time whenFestus Procurator of Judea succeededFelix, he was sent bound to Rome, (...) remaining for two years in free custody'. Jerome interpreted theSecond Epistle to Timothy to indicate that 'Paul was dismissed by Nero' (Paulum a Nerone dimissum) 'that the gospel of Christ might be preached also in the West'; but 'in the fourteenth year of Nero' (quarto decimo Neronis anno) 'on the same day with Peter, [Paul] was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake and was buried in the Ostian way, the thirty-seventh year after our Lord's passion' (anno post passionem Domini tricesimo septimo).[208][209][210]
A legend later developed that his martyrdom occurred at the Aquae Salviae, on theVia Laurentina. According to this legend, after Paul was decapitated, his severed head bounced three times, giving rise to a source of water each time that it touched the ground, which is how the place earned the name "San Paolo alle Tre Fontane" ("St Paul at the Three Fountains").[211][212] The apocryphalActs of Paul also describe the martyrdom and the burial of Paul, but their narrative is highly fanciful and largely unhistorical.[213]
Caius in hisDisputation Against Proclus (198 AD) mentions this of the places in which the remains of the apostles Peter and Paul were deposited: "I can point out the trophies of the apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this Church".[215]
Writing on Paul's biography,Jerome in hisDe Viris Illustribus in 392 AD mentions that "Paul was buried in the Ostian Way at Rome".[216]
In 2002, an 8-foot (2.4 m)-long marble sarcophagus, inscribed with the words"PAULO APOSTOLO MART", which translates as "Paul apostle martyr", was discovered during excavations around theBasilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls on theVia Ostiensis. Vatican archaeologists declared this to be the tomb of Paul the Apostle in December 2006, the excavation having been completed in November.[217][218] In the early 2000s, Vatican archaeologists conducted excavations to make the tomb more accessible to pilgrims. These excavations confirmed the presence of a white marble sarcophagus beneath the altar. The sarcophagus was not removed, but a window was created to allow visitors to view it.[219][220]
In 2009,Pope Benedict XVI announced thatradiocarbon dating of bone fragments found in the sarcophagus indicated they were from the 1st or 2nd century, aligning with the traditional timeline of Paul's life.[220] The Pope argued that this discovery, along with other artifacts such as a piece of purple linen laminated with pure gold, grains ofincense, and blue textiles withlinen filaments, all support the hypothesis that the remains are indeed those of Saint Paul.[221][222] However, Ulderico Santamaria, the head of theVatican Museums' diagnostics laboratory and a Professor with expertise in Analytical Chemistry and Materials Engineering at Tuscia University, urged caution, noting that the dating neither confirms nor invalidates the relics' traditional assignment to St. Paul.[223]
The Vatican also confirmed that it had discovered and restored the earliest known image of Saint Paul, dating to the early 4th century AD, in theCatacomb of Saint Thekla, close to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.[224] In 2010 it was revealed that thisicon, painted on the ceiling of a catacomb, was adjacent to the oldest known depictions ofSaint Peter,Saint John, andSaint Andrew, surrounding an image of Christ as theGood Shepherd.[225]
Various Christian writers have suggested more details about Paul's life:
1 Clement, a letter written by the Roman bishop Clement of Rome around the year 90, reports this about Paul:
By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance.
— Lightfoot 1890, p. 274, The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 5:5–6
Commenting on this passage, Raymond Brown writes that while it "does not explicitly say" that Paul was martyred in Rome, "such a martyrdom is the most reasonable interpretation".[226]Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote in the 4th century, states that Paul was beheaded in the reign of the Roman EmperorNero.[215] This event has been dated either to the year 64 AD, when Rome was devastated by a fire, or a few years later, to 67 AD. According to one tradition, the church ofSan Paolo alle Tre Fontane marks the place of Paul's execution. ARoman Catholicliturgicalsolemnity of Peter and Paul, celebrated on 29 June, commemorates hismartyrdom, and reflects a tradition (preserved by Eusebius) that Peter and Paul were martyred at the same time.[215] The Roman liturgical calendar for the following day now remembers all Christians martyred in these early persecutions; formerly, 30 June was the feast day for St. Paul.[227] Persons or religious orders with a special affinity for St. Paul can still celebrate their patron on 30 June.
The Roman Martyrology commemorates Paul with a feast celebrating his conversion on 25 January.[231] The Roman Martyrology also commemorates Paul and Peter with asolemnity on 29 June.[232]
Eastern Orthodoxy
The Eastern Orthodox Church has several fixed days for the commemoration of Paul:
TheLutheran Church Missouri Synod has two festivals for Saint Paul, the first being his conversion on 25 January, and the second being for Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June.[243]
Patronage
Paul is thePatron Saint of several locations. He is the Patron Saint of the island ofMalta, which celebrates Paul's arrival to the island via shipwreck on 10 February. This day is a public holiday on the island.[244] Paul is also considered to be the Patron Saint of the city ofLondon.
The New Testament offers little if any information about the physical appearance of Paul, but several descriptions can be found inapocryphal texts. In the Acts of Paul[245] he is described as "A man of small stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked".[246] In the Latin version of theActs of Paul and Thecla it is added that he had a red, florid face.
InThe History of the Contending of Saint Paul, his countenance is described as "ruddy with the ruddiness of the skin of the pomegranate".[247] The Acts of Saint Peter confirms that Paul had a bald and shining head, with red hair.[248]As summarised by Barnes,[249]Chrysostom records that Paul's stature was low, his body crooked and his head bald.Lucian, in hisPhilopatris, describes Paul as"corpore erat parvo, contracto, incurvo, tricubitali" ("he was small, contracted, crooked, of threecubits, or four feet six").[35]
Nicephorus claims that Paul was a little man, crooked, and almost bent like a bow, with a pale countenance, long and wrinkled, and a bald head.Pseudo-Chrysostom echoes Lucian's height of Paul, referring to him as "the man of three cubits".[35]
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 identify Paul as the author; seven of these are widely considered authentic and Paul's own, while the authorship of the other six is disputed.[250][251][252] The undisputed letters are considered the most important sources since they contain what is widely agreed to be Paul's own statements about his life and thoughts. Theologian Mark Powell writes that Paul directed these seven letters to specific occasions at particular churches. As an example, if the Corinthian church had not experienced problems concerning its celebration of theLord's Supper,[253] today it would not be known that Paul even believed in that observance or had any opinions about it one way or the other. Powell comments that there may be other matters in the early church that have since gone unnoticed simply because no crises arose that prompted Paul to comment on them.[254]
In Paul's writings, he provides the first written account of what it is to be a Christian and thus a description of Christian spirituality. His letters have been characterized as being the most influential books of the New Testament after the Gospels of Matthew and John.[8][note 9]
Date
Paul's authentic letters are roughly dated to the years surrounding the mid-1st century. Placing Paul in this time period is done on the basis of his reported conflicts with other early contemporary figures in the Jesus movement including James and Peter,[255] the references to Paul and his letters byClement of Rome writing in the late 1st century,[256] his reported issues in Damascus from 2 Corinthians 11:32 which he says took place whileKing Aretas IV was in power,[257] a possible reference toErastus of Corinth in Romans 16:23,[258] his reference to preaching in the province ofIllyricum (which dissolved in 80 AD),[259] the lack of any references to the Gospels indicating a pre-war time period, the chronology in the Acts of the Apostles placing Paul in this time, and the dependence on Paul's letters by other 1st-century pseudo-Pauline epistles.[260]
Four of the letters (Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) are widely consideredpseudepigraphical, while the authorship of the other two is subject to debate.[250] Colossians and 2 Thessalonians are possibly "Deutero-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by Paul's followers after his death. Similarly, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus may be "Trito-Pauline" meaning they may have been written by members of the Pauline school a generation after his death. According to their theories, these disputed letters may have come from followers writing in Paul's name, often using material from his surviving letters. These scribes also may have had access to letters written by Paul that no longer survive.[8]
The authenticity of Colossians has been questioned on the grounds that it contains an otherwise unparalleled description (among his writings) of Jesus as "the image of the invisible God", a Christology found elsewhere only in the Gospel of John.[261] However, the personal notes in the letter connect it to Philemon, unquestionably the work of Paul. Internal evidence shows close connection with Philippians.[35]
Ephesians is a letter that is very similar to Colossians but is almost entirely lacking in personal reminiscences. Its style is unique. It lacks the emphasis on the cross to be found in other Pauline writings, reference to theSecond Coming is missing, andChristian marriage is exalted in a way that contrasts with the reference in 1 Corinthians.[262] Finally, according toR. E. Brown, it exalts the Church in a way suggestive of the second generation of Christians, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" now past.[263]
The defenders of its Pauline authorship argue that it was intended to be read by a number of different churches and that it marks the final stage of the development of Paul's thinking. It has been said, too, that the moral portion of the Epistle, consisting of the last two chapters, has the closest affinity with similar portions of other Epistles, while the whole admirably fits in with the known details of Paul's life, and throws considerable light upon them.[264]
Three main reasons have been advanced by those who question Paul's authorship of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, also known as thePastoral Epistles:
They have found a difference in these letters' vocabulary, style, andtheology from Paul's acknowledged writings. Defenders of the authenticity say that they were probably written in the name and with the authority of the Apostle by one of his companions, to whom he distinctly explained what had to be written, or to whom he gave a written summary of the points to be developed, and that when the letters were finished, Paul read them through, approved them, and signed them.[264]
There is a difficulty in fitting them into Paul's biography as it is known.[265] They, like Colossians and Ephesians, were written from prison but suppose Paul's release and travel thereafter.[35]
2 Thessalonians, like Colossians, is questioned on stylistic grounds with, among other peculiarities, a dependence on 1 Thessalonians—yet a distinctiveness in language from the Pauline corpus. This, again, is explainable by the possibility that Paul requested one of his companions to write the letter for him under his dictation.[35]
Acts
Although approximately half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with Paul's life and works, Acts does not refer to Paul writing letters. Charles Williams believes that the author of Acts did not have access to any ofPaul's letters. He claims that one piece of evidence suggesting this is that Acts never directly quotes from the Pauline epistles. Further, discrepancies between the Pauline epistles and Acts could also support this conclusion.[266] The scholarly consensus was indeed that the author of Acts did not know the Pauline epistles, but such consensus got superseded.[267]
British Jewish scholarHyam Maccoby contended that Paul, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, is quite different from the view of Paul gleaned from his own writings. Some difficulties have been noted in the account of his life. Paul as described in the Acts of the Apostles is much more interested in factual history, less in theology; ideas such as justification by faith are absent as are references to the Spirit, according to Maccoby. He also pointed out that there are no references toJohn the Baptist in thePauline Epistles, although Paul mentions him several times in the Acts of the Apostles.
Others have objected that the language of the speeches is too Lukan in style to reflect anyone else's words. Moreover, George Shillington writes that the author of Acts most likely created the speeches accordingly and they bear his literary and theological marks.[268] Conversely, Howard Marshall writes that the speeches were not entirely the inventions of the author and while they may not be accurate word-for-word, the author nevertheless records the general idea of them.[269]
F. C. Baur (1792–1860), professor of theology at Tübingen in Germany, the first scholar to critique Acts and the Pauline Epistles, and founder of theTübingen School of theology, argued that Paul, as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", was in violent opposition to the original 12 Apostles. Baur considers the Acts of the Apostles were late and unreliable. This debate has continued ever since, withAdolf Deissmann (1866–1937) andRichard Reitzenstein (1861–1931) emphasising Paul's Greek inheritance andAlbert Schweitzer stressing his dependence on Judaism.
Views
Byzantine ivory relief, 6th – early 7th century byMusée de Cluny
Self-view
In the opening verses of Romans 1,[270] Paul provides a litany of his own apostolic appointment to preach among the Gentiles[271] and his post-conversion convictions about the risen Christ.[8] Paul described himself as set apart for the gospel of God and called to be an apostle and a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus had revealed himself to Paul, just as he had appeared to Peter, to James, and to the twelve disciples after his resurrection.[272] Paul experienced this as an unforeseen, sudden, startling change, due to all-powerful grace, not as the fruit of his reasoning or thoughts.[273]
Paul also describes himself as afflicted with "athorn in the flesh";[274] the nature of this "thorn" is unknown.[275]
There are debates as to whether Paul understood himself as commissioned to take the gospel to the gentiles at the moment of his conversion.[276] Before his conversion he believed his persecution of the church to be an indication of his zeal for his religion;[277] after his conversion he believed Jewish hostility toward the church was sinful opposition, that would incur God's wrath.[278][279] Paul believed he was halted by Christ, when his fury was at its height.[280] It was "through zeal" that he persecuted the Church,[277] and he obtained mercy because he had "acted ignorantly in unbelief".[281][note 4]
Understanding of Jesus Christ
Paul's writings emphasized thecrucifixion, Christ'sresurrection and theParousia or second coming of Christ.[78] Paul saw Jesus as Lord (kyrios), the true messiah and the Son of God, who was promised by God beforehand, through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. While being a biological descendant from David ("according to the flesh"),[282] he was declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.
According toE. P. Sanders, Paul "preached the death, resurrection, and lordship of Jesus Christ, and he proclaimed that faith in Jesus guarantees a share in his life."[8] In Paul's view, "Jesus' death was not a defeat but was for the believers' benefit",[8] a sacrifice which substitutes for the lives of others, and frees them from the bondage of sin. Believersparticipate in Christ's death and resurrection by their baptism. The resurrection of Jesus was of primary importance to Paul, bringing the promise of salvation to believers. Paul taught that, when Christ returned, "those who died in Christ would be raised when he returned", while those still alive would be "caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air".[283][8]
Sanders concludes that Paul's writings reveal what he calls the essence of the Christian message: "(1) God sent his Son; (2) the Son was crucified and resurrected for the benefit of humanity; (3) the Son would soon return; and (4) those who belonged to the Son would live with him forever. Paul's gospel, like those of others, also included (5) the admonition to live by the highest moral standard: "May your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"."[284][8]
In Paul's writings, the public, corporate devotional patterns towards Jesus in the early Christian community are reflective of Paul's perspective on the divine status of Jesus in what scholars have termed a "binitarian" pattern of devotion. For Paul, Jesus receives prayer,[285][286][287] the presence of Jesus is confessionally invoked by believers,[288][289][290] people are baptized in Jesus' name,[291][292] Jesus is the reference in Christian fellowship for a religious ritual meal (theLord's Supper;[293] in pagan cults, the reference for ritual meals is always to a deity), and Jesus is the source of continuing prophetic oracles to believers.[294][295]
Paul taught that Christians are redeemed from sin by Jesus' death and resurrection. His death was an expiation as well as apropitiation, and by Christ's blood peace is made between God and man.[296] By grace, through faith,[297] a Christian shares in Jesus' death and in his victory over death, gaining as a free gift a new, justified status of sonship.[298]
According toKrister Stendahl, the main concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role, and salvation by faith, is not the individual conscience of human sinners, and their doubts about being chosen by God or not, but the problem of the inclusion of gentile (Greek) Torah observers into God's covenant.[299][300][301][302][note 10] "Dying for our sins" refers to the problem of gentile Torah-observers, who, despite their faithfulness, cannot fully observe commandments, including circumcision, and are therefore 'sinners', excluded from God's covenant.[304] Jesus' death and resurrection solved this problem of the exclusion of the gentiles from God's covenant, as indicated by Romans 3:21–26.[305]
Paul's conversion fundamentally changed his basic beliefs regarding God's covenant and the inclusion of Gentiles into this covenant. Paul believed Jesus' death was a voluntary sacrifice, that reconciled sinners with God.[306] The law only reveals the extent of people's enslavement to the power of sin—a power that must be broken by Christ.[307] Before his conversion Paul believed Gentiles were outside the covenant that God made with Israel; after his conversion, he believed Gentiles and Jews were united as the people of God in Christ.[308] Before his conversion he believed circumcision was the rite through which males became part of Israel, an exclusive community of God's chosen people;[309] after his conversion he believed that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but that the new creation is what counts in the sight of God,[310] and that this new creation is a work of Christ in the life of believers, making them part of the church, an inclusive community of Jews and Gentiles reconciled with God through faith.[311]
According toE. P. Sanders, who initiated theNew Perspective on Paul with his 1977 publicationPaul and Palestinian Judaism, Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus' death and rising. Though "Jesus' death substituted for that of others and thereby freed believers from sin and guilt", a metaphor derived from "ancientsacrificial theology,"[8][note 11] the essence of Paul's writing is not in the "legal terms" regarding the expiation of sin, but the act of "participation in Christ throughdying and rising with him."[citation needed] According to Sanders, "those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and thus they escape the power of sin[...] he died so that the believers may die with him and consequently live with him."[8] By this participation in Christ's death and rising, "one receives forgiveness for past offences, is liberated from the powers of sin, and receives the Spirit."
Some scholars see Paul as completely in line with 1st-century Judaism (a Pharisee and student of Gamaliel aspresented by Acts),[314] others see him as opposed to 1st-century Judaism (seeMarcionism), while the majority see him as somewhere in between these two extremes, opposed to insistence on keeping the "Ritual Laws" (for example thecircumcision controversy in early Christianity) as necessary for entrance into God's New Covenant,[315][316] but in full agreement on "Divine Law". These views of Paul are paralleled by the views ofBiblical law in Christianity.
Paul redefined the people of Israel, those he calls the "true Israel" and the "true circumcision" as those who had faith in the heavenly Christ, thus excluding those he called "Israel after the flesh" from his new covenant.[317][318] He also held the view that the Torah given to Moses was valid "until Christ came," so that even Jews are no longer "under the Torah," nor obligated to follow the commandments ormitzvot as given to Moses.[319]
Paul is critical both theologically and empirically of claims of moral or lineal superiority[320] of Jews while conversely strongly sustaining the notion of a special place for theChildren of Israel.[321] Paul's theology of the gospel accelerated the separation of the messianic sect of Christians from Judaism, a development contrary to Paul's own intent. He wrote that faith in Christ was alone decisive in salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike, making the schism between the followers of Christ and mainstream Jews inevitable and permanent. He argued that Gentile converts did not need tobecome Jews, get circumcised, follow Jewish dietary restrictions, or otherwise observe Mosaic laws to be saved.[46]
According toPaula Fredriksen, Paul's opposition to male circumcision for Gentiles is in line with Old Testament predictions that "in the last days the gentile nations would come to the God of Israel, as gentiles (e.g., Zechariah 8:20–23),[322] not as proselytes to Israel."[323] For Paul, Gentile male circumcision was therefore an affront to God's intentions.[323] According to Hurtado, "Paul saw himself as what Munck called a salvation-historical figure in his own right," who was "personally and singularly deputized by God to bring about the predicted ingathering (the "fullness") of the nations."[324][323]
Sanders' publications[315][326] have since been taken up by ProfessorJames Dunn who coined the phrase "The New Perspective on Paul".[327]N.T. Wright,[328] the Anglican Bishop of Durham, notes a difference in emphasis between Galatians and Romans, the latter being much more positive about thecontinuing covenant between God and his ancient people than the former. Wright also contends that performing Christian works is not insignificant but rather proof of having attained the redemption of Jesus Christ by grace (free gift received by faith).[329] He concludes that Paul distinguishes between performing Christian works which are signs of ethnic identity and others which are a sign of obedience to Christ.[328]
According toBart Ehrman, Paul believed that Jesus would return within his lifetime.[330]N.T. Wright argues that Paul's eschatology did not remain static however, developing in his later epistles the idea that he would probably not see the Second Coming in his lifetime. Wright also argues that this shift was due to perspective and not belief.[331] Paul expected that Christians who had died in the meantime would beresurrected to share inGod's kingdom, and he believed that the saved would be transformed, assuming heavenly, imperishable bodies.[332]
Paul's teaching about the end of the world is expressed most clearly in hisfirst andsecond letters to the Christian community ofThessalonica. He assures them thatthe dead will rise first and be followed by those left alive.[333] This suggests an imminent end but he is unspecific about times and seasons and encourages his hearers to expect a delay.[334] The form of the end will be a battle between Jesus and theman of lawlessness[335] whose conclusion is the triumph of Christ.
Before his conversion he believed God's messiah would put an end to the old age of evil, and initiate a new age of righteousness; after his conversion, he believed this would happen in stages that had begun with the resurrection of Jesus, but the old age would continue until Jesus returns.[336][279]
A 16th century portrait of Paul the Apostle attributed toLucas van Leyden
The second chapter of the first letter to Timothy—one of the six disputed letters—is used by many churches to deny women a vote in church affairs, reject women from serving as teachers of adult Bible classes, prevent them from serving as missionaries, and generally disenfranchise women from the duties and privileges of church leadership.[337]
9In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
TheKing James Bible (Authorised Version) translation of this passage taken literally says that women in the churches are to have no leadership roles vis-à-vis men.[339]
Fuller Seminary theologian J. R. Daniel Kirk[340] finds evidence in Paul's letters of a much more inclusive view of women. He writes that Romans 16 is a tremendously important witness to the important role of women in the early church. Paul praisesPhoebe for her work as adeaconess andJunia who is described by Paul in Scripture as being respected among the Apostles.[61] It is Kirk's observation that recent studies suggest that the passage in 1 Corinthians 14 ordering women to "be silent" during worship[341] was a later addition, apparently by a different author, and not part of Paul's original letter to the Corinthians.[citation needed]
Other scholars, such as Giancarlo Biguzzi, believe that Paul's restriction on women speaking in 1 Corinthians 14 is genuine to Paul but applies to a particular case where there were local problems of women, who were not allowed in that culture to become educated, asking questions or chatting during worship services. He does not believe it to be a general prohibition on any woman speaking in worship settings since in 1 Corinthians Paul affirms the right (responsibility) of women toprophesy.[342][343]
Biblical prophecy is more than "fore-telling": two-thirds of its inscripturated form involves "forth-telling", that is, setting the truth, justice, mercy, and righteousness of God against the backdrop of every form of denial of the same. Thus, to speak prophetically was to speak boldly against every form of moral, ethical, political, economic, and religious disenfranchisement observed in a culture that was intent on building its own pyramid of values vis-a-vis God's established system of truth and ethics.
— Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology[344]
There were women prophets in the highly patriarchal times throughout the Old Testament.[344] The most common term forprophet in the Old Testament isnabi in the masculine form, andnebiah in the Hebrew feminine form, is used six times of women who performed the same task of receiving and proclaiming the message given by God. These women include Miriam, Aaron and Moses' sister,[345] Deborah,[346] the prophet Isaiah's wife,[347] and Huldah, the one who interpreted the Book of the Law discovered in the temple during the days of Josiah.[348] There were false prophetesses just as there were false prophets. The prophetess Noadiah was among those who tried to intimidate Nehemiah.[349] Apparently, they held equal rank in prophesying right along with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elisha, Aaron, and Samuel.[344]
Kirk's third example of a more inclusive view is Galatians 3:28:
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In pronouncing an end within the church to the divisions which are common in the world around it, he concludes by highlighting the fact that "there were New Testament women who taught and had authority in the early churches, that this teaching and authority was sanctioned by Paul, and that Paul himself offers a theological paradigm within which overcoming the subjugation of women is an anticipated outcome".[351]
ClassicistEvelyn Stagg and theologianFrank Stagg believe that Paul was attempting to "Christianize" the societal household or domestic codes that significantly oppressed women and empowered men as the head of the household. The Staggs present a serious study of what has been termed theNew Testament domestic code, also known as theHaustafel.[352] The two main passages that explain these "household duties" are Paul's letters to the Ephesians[353] and to the Colossians.[354] An underlying Household Code is also reflected in four additional Pauline letters and 1 Peter: 1 Timothy 2:1ff, 8ff; 3:1ff, 8ff; 5:17ff; 6:1f; Titus 2:1–10[355] and 1 Peter.[356] Biblical scholars have typically treated theHaustafel in Ephesians as a resource in the debate over the role of women in ministry and in the home.[357] Margaret MacDonald argues that theHaustafel, particularly as it appears in Ephesians, was aimed at "reducing the tension between community members and outsiders".[358]
E. P. Sanders has labeled Paul's remark in 1 Corinthians[359] about women not making any sound during worship as "Paul's intemperate outburst that women should be silent in the churches".[315][326] Women, in fact, played a very significant part in Paul's missionary endeavors:
He became a partner in ministry with the couplePriscilla and Aquila who are specifically named seven times in the New Testament—always by their couple name and never individually. Of the seven times they are named in the New Testament, Priscilla's name appears first in five of those instances, suggesting to some scholars that she was the head of the family unit.[360] They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, becoming his honored, much-loved friends and coworkers in Jesus.[361] In Romans 16:3–4,[362] thought to have been written in 56 or 57, Paul sends his greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and proclaims that both of them "risked their necks" to save Paul's life.
Chloe was an important member of the church in Corinth.[363]
Phoebe was a "deacon" and a "benefactor" of Paul and others.[364]
Romans 16[365] names eight other women active in the Christian movement, including Junia ("prominent among the apostles"), Mary ("who has worked very hard among you"), and Julia.
Women were frequently among the major supporters of the new Christian movement.[8]
Beth Allison Barr believes that Paul's beliefs on women were progressive for the time period. Barr notes that medieval theologians rarely quoted him to support their patriarchal views and thatPope John Paul II believed that using these passages to support the inferiority of women would be akin to justifying slavery, due to the historical context of the household codes. Wives, like slaves, were considered to be under male authority in Roman law. Barr believes that Paul's intended message was to counter these ideals: he addresses women first and places Jesus as the ultimate authority that everyone was meant to submit to. She also notes that Paul did not believe that women were "deformed men" like his Roman contemporaries and used maternal language most frequently, often using such metaphors to describe himself as a woman. Barr believes that Roman authorities thought that early Christians were "gender deviants" precisely because they did not enforce the household codes as intended. She also believes that Paul was quotingCicero when saying that women should be silent, before going on to counter this reasoning, and that this is more obvious when the verses are read aloud.[366]
Most Christian traditions[367][368][369] say Paul clearly portrays homosexuality as sinful in two specific locations: Romans 1:26–27,[370] and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.[371] Another passage, 1 Timothy 1:8–11, addresses the topic more obliquely.[372] Since the 19th century, however, most scholars have concluded that1 Timothy (along with2 Timothy andTitus) is not original to Paul, but rather an unknown Christian writing in Paul's name some time in the late-1st to mid-2nd century.[373][374]
Paul's influence on Christian thinking arguably has been more significant than any other New Testament author.[8] Paul declared that "Christ is the end of the law",[375] exalted the Christian church as the body of Christ, and depicted the world outside the Church as under judgment.[46] Paul's writings include the earliest reference to the "Lord's Supper",[376] a rite traditionally identified as theChristian communion orEucharist. In the East, church fathers attributed the element of election in Romans 9[377] to divine foreknowledge.[46] The themes ofpredestination found in Western Christianity do not appear in Eastern theology.
Paul had a strong influence on early Christianity. Hurtado notes that Paul regarded his ownChristological views and those of his predecessors and that of the Jerusalem Church as essentially similar. According to Hurtado, this "work[s] against the claims by some scholars that Pauline Christianity represents a sharp departure from the religiousness of Judean 'Jesus movements'."[29]
Marcionism, regarded as heresy by contemporary mainstream Christianity, was anEarly Christiandualistbelief system that originated in the teachings ofMarcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144.[note 12] Marcion asserted that Paul was the onlyapostle who had rightly understood the new message ofsalvation as delivered by Christ.[378]
Marcion believed Jesus was the savior sent byGod, and Paul the Apostle was his chief apostle, but he rejected theHebrew Bible and theGod of Israel. Marcionists believed that thewrathful Hebrew God was a separate and lower entity than theall-forgiving God of the New Testament.
Augustine
In his account of his conversion experience,Augustine of Hippo gave his life to Christ after readingRomans 13.[379][380] Augustine's foundational work on the gospel as a gift (grace), on morality as life in the Spirit, on predestination, and on original sin all derives from Paul, especially Romans.[46]
In his account of his conversionMartin Luther wrote aboutrighteousness inRomans 1 praising Romans as the perfect gospel, in which the Reformation was birthed.[381] Martin Luther's interpretation ofPaul's writings influenced Luther's doctrine ofsola fide.
John Calvin
John Calvin said the Book of Romans opens to anyone an understanding of the whole Scripture.[382]
Visit any church service,Roman Catholic,Protestant orGreek Orthodox, and it is the apostle Paul and his ideas that are central – in thehymns, thecreeds, thesermons, the invocation andbenediction, and of course, the rituals ofbaptism and theHoly Communion or Mass. Whether birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage or death, it is predominantly Paul who is evoked to express meaning and significance.
In his commentaryThe Epistle to the Romans (German:Der Römerbrief; particularly in the thoroughly re-written second edition of 1922),Karl Barth argued that the God who is revealed in the cross of Jesus challenges and overthrows any attempt to ally God with human cultures, achievements, or possessions.
In addition to the many questions about the true origins of some of Paul's teachings posed by historical figures as noted above, some modern theologians also hold that the teachings of Paul differ markedly from those of Jesus as found in the Gospels.[384]Barrie Wilson states that Paul differs from Jesus in terms of the origin of his message, his teachings and his practices.[385] Some have even gone so far as to claim that, due to these apparent differences in teachings, that Paul was no less than the "second founder" of Christianity (Jesus being its first).[386][387]
As in the Eastern tradition in general, Western humanists interpret the reference to election in Romans 9 as reflecting divine foreknowledge.[46]
A statue of Paul holding a scroll, symbolising theScriptures, and a sword, symbolising his martyrdom
Jewish interest in Paul is a recent phenomenon. Before thepositive historical reevaluations of Jesus by some Jewish thinkers in the 18th and 19th centuries, he had hardly featured in the popular Jewish imagination, and little had been written about him by the religious leaders and scholars. Arguably, he is absent from theTalmud and rabbinical literature, although he makes an appearance in some variants of the medieval polemicToledot Yeshu (as a particularly effective spy for the rabbis).[388] TheKaraite scholarJacob Qirqisani also believed that Paul created Christianity by introducing the doctrine ofTrinitarianism.[389]
However, with Jesus no longer regarded as the paradigm of gentile Christianity, Paul's position became more important in Jewish historical reconstructions of their religion's relationship with Christianity. He has featured as the key to building barriers (e.g.Heinrich Graetz andMartin Buber) or bridges (e.g.Isaac Mayer Wise andClaude G. Montefiore) in interfaith relations,[390] as part of an intra-Jewish debate about what constitutes Jewish authenticity (e.g.Joseph Klausner and Hans Joachim Schoeps),[391] and on occasion as a dialogical partner (e.g.Richard L. Rubenstein andDaniel Boyarin).[392] Boyarin in particular reads Paul as a 'Jewish thinker', one who 'lived and died convinced he was a Jew living out Judaism.'[393]
In the 2nd (and possibly late 1st) century,Gnosticism was a competing religious tradition to Christianity which shared some elements of theology.
Elaine Pagels concentrated on how the Gnostics interpreted Paul's letters and how evidence from gnostic sources may challenge the assumption that Paul wrote his letters to combat "gnostic opponents" and to repudiate their statement that they possess secret wisdom. In her reading, the Gnostics considered Paul as one of their own.[398]
Sayf ibn Umar claimed that certain rabbis persuaded Paul to deliberately misguide early Christians by introducing what Ibn Hazm viewed as objectionable doctrines into Christianity.[389][404]Ibn Hazm repeated Sayf's claims.[405] Paul has been criticized by some modern Muslim thinkers.Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas wrote that Paul misrepresented the message of Jesus,[401] andRashid Rida accused Paul of introducingshirk (polytheism) into Christianity.[26]Mohammad Ali Jouhar quotedAdolf von Harnack's critical writings of Paul.[402]
InSunni Muslim polemics, Paul plays the same role (of deliberately corrupting the early teachings of Jesus) as a later Jew,Abdullah ibn Saba', would play in seeking to destroy the message of Islam from within.[404][405][406] Among those who supported this view were scholarsIbn Taymiyyah (who believed while Paul ultimately succeeded, Ibn Saba failed) andIbn Hazm (who claimed that the Jews even admitted to Paul's sinister purpose).[389]
Discussions inBahá'í scholarship have focused on whether Paul changed the original message of Christ or delivered the true gospel, there being proponents of both positions.[410]
^abActs 8:1 "at Jerusalem"; Acts 9:13 "at Jerusalem"; Acts 9:21 "in Jerusalem"; Acts 26:10 "in Jerusalem". In Galatians 1:13, Paul states that he "persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it," but does not specify where he persecuted the church. In Galatians 1:22 he states that more than three years after his conversion he was "still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ," seemingly ruling out Jerusalem as the place he had persecuted Christians.[47]
^Tertullian knew the Letter to the Hebrews as being "under the name of Barnabas" (De Pudicitia, chapter 20 where Tertullian quotes Hebrews 6:4–8); Origen, in his now lostCommentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, is reported by Eusebius[20] as having written "if any Church holds that this epistle is by Paul, let it be commended for this. For not without reason have the ancients handed it down as Paul's. But who wrote the epistle, in truth, God knows. The statement of some who have gone before us is that Clement, bishop of the Romans, wrote the epistle, and of others, that Luke, the author of the Gospel and the Acts, wrote it
^Paul's undisputed epistles are 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon. The six letters believed by some to have been written by Paul are Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus.[23]
^abc1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus may be "Trito-Pauline", meaning they may have been written by members of the Pauline school a generation after his death.
^The only indication as to who is leading is in the order of names. At first, the two are referred to as Barnabas and Paul, in that order. Later in the same chapter, the team is referred to as Paul and his companions.
^Paul does not exactly say that this was his second visit. In Galatians, he lists three important meetings with Peter, and this was the second on his list. The third meeting took place in Antioch. He does not explicitly state that he did not visit Jerusalem in between this and his first visit.
^Note that Paul only writes that he is on his way to Jerusalem, or just planning the visit. There might or might not have been additional visits before or after this visit, if he ever got to Jerusalem.
^Sanders 2019: "Paul [...] only occasionally had the opportunity to revisit his churches. He tried to keep up his converts' spirit, answer their questions, and resolve their problems by letter and by sending one or more of his assistants, especially Timothy and Titus.Paul's letters reveal a remarkable human being: dedicated, compassionate, emotional, sometimes harsh and angry, clever and quick-witted, supple in argumentation, and above all possessing a soaring, passionate commitment to God, Jesus Christ, and his own mission. Fortunately, after his death one of his followers collected some of the letters, edited them very slightly, and published them. They constitute one of history's most remarkable personal contributions to religious thought and practice.
^Dunn 1982, p. n.49 quotesStendahl 1976, p. 2 "... a doctrine of faith was hammered out by Paul for the very specific and limited purpose of defending the rights of Gentile converts to be full and genuine heirs to the promise of God to Israel"Westerholm 2015, pp. 4–15: "For Paul, the question that 'justification by faith' was intended to answer was, 'On what terms can Gentiles gain entrance to the people of God?" Bent on denying any suggestion that Gentiles must become Jews and keep the Jewish law, he answered, 'By faith—and not by works ofthe (Jewish) law.'" Westerholm refers to:Stendahl 1963Westerholm quotes Sanders: "Sanders noted that 'the salvation of the Gentiles is essential to Paul's preaching; and with it falls the law; for, as Paul says simply, Gentiles cannot live by the law'.[303] (496). On a similar note, Sanders suggested that the only Jewish 'boasting' to which Paul objected was that which exulted over the divine privileges granted to Israel and failed to acknowledge that God, in Christ, had opened the door of salvation to Gentiles."
^Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003, p. 446.
^John B. Polhill, 532; cf. Richard R. Losch,The Uttermost Part of the Earth: A Guide to Places in the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2005), 176–77.
^"Saul Of Tarsus (known as Paul, the Apostle of the Heathen)".JewishEncyclopedia.com. 2011. Retrieved12 February 2020.His quotations from Scripture, which are all taken, directly or from memory, from the Greek version, betray no familiarity with the original Hebrew text (…) Nor is there any indication in Paul's writings or arguments that he had received the rabbinical training ascribed to him by Christian writers
^1st Clement – Lightfoot translation Early Christian Writings 1 Clem 5:5: "By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, [5:6] having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance".
^Irenaeus Against Heresies 3.3.2: the "...Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops.[...] The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate"; Christian Classics Ethereal Library
^Pope Clement I,First Epistle to the Corinthians, 5:7
^Ignatius of Antioch,Epistle to the Ephesians, 12:55. "You are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred, the deservedly most happy, at whose feet may I be found (...)."
^Eusebius,Church History, Book 2, Chapter 25, Paragraph 8
^Sulpitius Severus (1894)."Chronicle / Sacred History, Book II. Chapter 29".New Advent. Retrieved11 November 2023.In the meantime, the number of the Christians being now very large, it happened that Rome was destroyed by fire, while Nero was stationed at Antium. (...) Nero could not by any means he tried escape from the charge that the fire had been caused by his orders. He therefore turned the accusation against the Christians (...) At that time Paul and Peter were condemned to death, the former being beheaded with a sword, while Peter suffered crucifixion.
^John Chrysostom (1889)."Concerning Lowliness of Mind. Chapter 4".New Advent. Retrieved11 November 2023.Now Nero had then cast him into prison. (...) when he saw Paul having lighted a lamp throughout the world, (...) [Nero] exerted himself both to extinguish what was preached, and to put the teachers out of the way; in order that he might be allowed with authority to do anything he pleased; and after binding that holy man, cast him into prison.
^Sanidopoulos, John (12 October 2010)."Synaxis of All Saints of Athens".Orthodox Christianity Then and Now.Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved21 May 2023.
^Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Newsom, Carol A.; Perkins, Pheme, eds. (2010). "The Second Letter Of Paul To The Corinthians".The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 2038.[Footnote 7] Nature of thethorn is unknown.
Crease, Robert P. (18 March 2019)."The rise and fall of scientific authority – and how to bring it back".Nature.567 (7748):309–10.Bibcode:2019Natur.567..309C.doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00872-w.ISSN0028-0836.S2CID81987842.Hanging in the Louvre Museum in Paris is an imposing painting, The Preaching of St Paul at Ephesus. In this 1649 work by Eustache Le Sueur, the fiery apostle lifts his right hand as if scolding the audience, while clutching a book of scripture in his left. Among the rapt or fearful listeners are people busily throwing books into a fire. Look carefully, and you see geometric images on some of the pages.
Donaldson, Terence (2010). "Ch. 3 Introduction to the Pauline Corpus". In John Muddiman; John Barton (eds.).The Pauline Epistles. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-958026-2.
Driscoll, James F. (1911)."Nazarite" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Dunn, James D. G. (1982). "The New Perspective on Paul".Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. Manson Memorial Lecture, 4 November 1982.65 (2):95–122.doi:10.7227/BJRL.65.2.6.
Dunn, James D. G. (2009),Christianity in the Making Volume 2: Beginning from Jerusalem, Wm. B. Eerdmans
Dunn, J.D.G. (2010)."Ch. 8 Ephesians". In John Muddiman; John Barton (eds.).The Pauline Epistles. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-958026-2.
Dunn, James D. G.,Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI), Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2011
Giguzzi, Giancarlo (2004),"Paolo, un apostolo contro le donne?",Credere Oggi: in dialogo con San Paolo e le sue lettere, no. 124, Padova: Edizioni Messaggero, pp. 95–107, archived fromthe original on 31 March 2018, retrieved21 November 2010
Herrmann, Erik H. (2016). "Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther's German Writings, 1539".The Annotated Luther, Volume 4. Augsburg Fortress.doi:10.2307/j.ctt19qgg0d.20.ISBN978-1-4514-6510-5.
Jefferson, Thomas (1854). H. A. Washington (ed.).The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being his Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private. Published by the Order of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the Original Manuscripts, Deposited in the Department of State, With Explanatory Notes, Tables of Contents, and a Copious Index to Each Volume, as well as a General Index to the Whole. Vol. VII. Washington, D.C.: Taylor Maury.
Mack, Burton L. (1997) [1995],Wie schreven het Nieuwe Testament werkelijk? Feiten, mythen en motieven. (Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth), Uitgeverij Ankh-Hermes bv
Montague, George T. (1966).The Living Thought of St. Paul. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co.
Mount, Christopher (2022)."Acts". In Schellenberg, Ryan S.; Wendt, Heidi (eds.).T&T Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul. T&T Clark Handbooks. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 32.ISBN978-0-567-69199-6. Retrieved5 October 2024.
Bradford, Ernle.Paul the Traveller: Saint Paul and his World. Allen Lane, 1974.
Davies, W. D.Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology. S.P.C.K., 3rd ed., 1970.ISBN0-281-02449-9.
Davies, W. D. "The Apostolic Age and the Life of Paul" inMatthew Black (ed.),Peake's Commentary on the Bible. London: T. Nelson, 1962.ISBN0-8407-5019-6.
Hans-Joachim Schoeps.Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History (Library of Theological Translations); 34 pages, Lutterworth Press (July 2002);ISBN978-0-227-17013-7.
Holzbach, Mathis Christian, Die textpragmat. Bedeutung d. Kündereinsetzungen d. Simon Petrus u.d. Saulus Paulus im lukan. Doppelwerk, in: Jesus als Bote d. Heils. Stuttgart 2008, 166–72.
Segal, Alan F., "Paul, the Convert and Apostle" inRebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World (Harvard University Press, 1986)ISBN978-0674750760.
%2c_c._1657.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_Gregorio_Fern%25C3%25A1ndez.jpg)
