Paul

Identity

Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, is the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). A Pharisee of the Pharisees (Philippians 3:5), trained under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28) and a persecutor of the Church (Acts 8:3), he was met by the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and became one of the greatest missionaries of the first century. Thirteen New Testament epistles bear his name.

Name and titles

'Saul' — Sha'ul in Hebrew — means 'asked for' or 'prayed for'. 'Paul' — Paulus in Latin — means 'small.' Scripture calls him 'apostle', 'servant of Jesus Christ', 'an Hebrew of the Hebrews' (Philippians 3:5), and 'the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle' (1 Corinthians 15:9).

Historical period

• c. AD 5 — Born a Roman citizen in Tarsus of Cilicia.
• c. AD 30-33 — Present at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58; 8:1); persecutes the Church in Jerusalem.
• c. AD 33-36 — The Damascus road (Acts 9); baptised by Ananias; three years in Arabia and Damascus (Galatians 1:17-18).
• c. AD 46-48 — First missionary journey with Barnabas — Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe (Acts 13-14).
• c. AD 49 — Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).
• c. AD 49-52 — Second missionary journey — through Asia Minor into Macedonia and Achaia. Founding of the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth (Acts 15:36-18:22).
• c. AD 53-57 — Third missionary journey — three years teaching in Ephesus (Acts 19); revisits the churches; final journey to Jerusalem.
• c. AD 57-60 — Arrested in Jerusalem; two years in Caesarea; appeals to Caesar; sails to Rome (Acts 21-28).
• c. AD 60-62 — Two years in Rome under house arrest (Acts 28:30-31).
• c. AD 67 (traditional) — Martyred in Rome under Nero — beheaded outside the walls (later ancient tradition, e.g. Eusebius, Church History II.25).

Scripture appearances

• Acts 9 (KJV) The Damascus road.
• Acts 13-14 (KJV) The first missionary journey.
• Acts 15:36 - 18:22 (KJV) The second missionary journey.
• Acts 18:23 - 21:16 (KJV) The third missionary journey.
• Acts 21-28 (KJV) The arrest, the trials, the voyage to Rome.
• Romans 8:38-39 (KJV) 'I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life... shall be able to separate us from the love of God.'
• 1 Corinthians 13 (KJV) The great chapter on love.
• Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) 'For by grace are ye saved through faith.'
• Philippians 4:13 (KJV) 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.'
• 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.'

Connected Places

• Tarsus — the city of his birth.
• Damascus — the road of his conversion.
• Jerusalem — where he studied and where he was arrested.
• Antioch — his sending church.
• Ephesus — the city of his longest ministry.
• Corinth — a city he loved and reproved.
• Philippi — his first European church.
• Rome — the city of his witness and his death.

Connected People

• Barnabas — his first missionary partner.
• Silas — his companion on the second journey.
• Timothy — his 'son in the faith.'
• Titus — his fellow-worker.
• Luke — his fellow-traveller and the author of Acts.
• Peter — his fellow apostle, whom he withstood at Antioch (Galatians 2:11).

Salvation history role

• The apostle who carried the Gospel out of Palestine and into the Roman Empire.
• The chief New Testament interpreter of the meaning of the Cross and the Resurrection.
• The framer of the great Christian doctrines of justification, sanctification, adoption, and the Body of Christ.
• The model of every convert whom Christ turns from persecutor to preacher.

Christian tradition

• Feasts: 25 January (Conversion of St Paul), 29 June (Sts Peter and Paul).
• Called 'the Apostle' with the definite article by many Fathers, because his epistles so shape the Church's teaching.
• The traditional site of his martyrdom is marked by the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome.
• Christian art depicts him bald, bearded, with a sword (the emblem of his martyrdom) and a book (his epistles).

Household reflection

Paul teaches the household that Christ can turn even a persecutor into a preacher. There is no biography God cannot re-write in a single afternoon.

Read the epistles slowly and often. They were written to families, workers, and small congregations who were often afraid — like ours.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read one Pauline epistle a month — thirteen months, and you have read them all.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray Ephesians 3:14-21 and Philippians 4:6-7 with the household as evening prayers.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Read 1 Corinthians 13 at the table on the Sunday closest to a family wedding or anniversary.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'To God Be the Glory' and 'Amazing Grace' — the story of every soul on a Damascus road.
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the Book of Acts and the epistles together — see where each letter was written and to whom.

Further reading

The Acts of the Apostles and the thirteen Pauline epistles (Romans through Philemon).

John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans (fourth century).

Augustine, Confessions (fifth century) — the greatest 'second Damascus road' story.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Peter
• Damascus
• Ephesus
• Rome
• Antioch
• Tarsus — his birthplace
• Stephen — whose blood was the seed of his conversion
• 1 Corinthians 13 — his love chapter
• Athens — the Areopagus
• Luke — his companion physician
• Timothy — his 'son in the faith'
• Romans 8 — his great chapter of assurance
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.