Paul[a] also named Saul of Tarsus,[b] commonly known as Paul the Apostle[7] and Saint Paul,[8] was a Christian apostle (c. 5 – c. 64/65 AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world.[9] For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally regarded as one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age,[8][10] and he also founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the mid-50s AD.[11]
The main source of information on Paul's life and works is the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. Approximately half of its content documents his travels, preaching and miracles. Paul was not one of the Twelve Apostles, and did not know Jesus during his lifetime. According to the Acts, Paul lived as a Pharisee and participated in the persecution of early disciples of Jesus, possibly Hellenised diaspora Jews converted to Christianity,[12] in the area of Jerusalem, before his conversion.[note 1] Some time after having approved of the execution of Stephen,[13] Paul was traveling on the road to Damascus 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 the risen 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 by Ananias of Damascus. After these events, Paul was baptized, beginning immediately to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish messiah and the Son of God.[18] He made three missionary journeys to spread the Christian message to non-Jewish communities in Asia Minor, the Greek provinces of Achaia, Macedonia, and Cyprus, as well as Judea and Syria, as narrated in the Acts.
Fourteen of the 27 books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul.[19] Seven of the Pauline epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, with varying degrees of argument about the remainder. Pauline authorship 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 and pastoral life in the Latin and Protestant traditions of the West, as well as the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions of 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 and missionaries involved in the spread of the Christian faith.[9]
Christians, notably in the Lutheran 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 hijacked Christianity, often by introducing pagan or Hellenistic themes to the early church.[citation needed] There has since been increasing acceptance of Paul as a fundamentally Jewish figure in line with the original disciples in Jerusalem over past misinterpretations, manifested though movements like "Paul Within Judaism".[26][27][28]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
pbs.orgwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Brown 1997, p. 436.
- ^ Harris 2003, p. 42: He was probably martyred in Rome about 64–65 AD
- ^ Harris 2003.
- ^ Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003, p. 446.
- ^ Acts 22:3
- ^ Brown 1997, p. 442.
- ^ a b c Sanders 2019.
- ^ a b c Powell 2009.
- ^ Dunn 2001, p. 577, Ch 32.
- ^ Rhoads 1996, p. 39.
- ^ Dunn 2009, pp. 345–346.
- ^ Acts 8:1
- ^ Acts 9:2
- ^ Acts 26:13–20
- ^ Acts 22:7–9
- ^ Acts 22:11
- ^ Acts 9:3–22
- ^ Brown 1997, p. 407.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
EcclHist_VI.25was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy 1990, p. 920, col.2, Ch 60:2.
- ^ Kümmel 1975, pp. 392–94, 401–03.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
umc.orgwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Carson & Moo 2009.
- ^ Aageson 2008, p. 1.
- ^ Thiessen, Matthew (2023). A Jewish Paul. Baker Academic. pp. 4–10. ISBN 978-1540965714.
- ^ Fredriksen, Paula (2018). Paul: The Pagans' Apostle. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300240153.
- ^ Hurtado 2005, p. 160.
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