Paul

If Paul—most eminently "the apostle to the Gentiles"—was not the most famous of the Christian apostles, he was certainly the one who had the most fundamental influence on the theology and the spread of the early Christian Church. No other convert to Jesus' cause has had as much scholarship poured upon, and written about, than Paul; in fact, no other person (and his work) has had as much written about him. (He is, so asserts NT scholar Douglas Campbell, "the most influential political philosopher in the USA today, and arguably in the rest of the world as well . . .") No one who has read any of Paul's epistles will need an explanation as to why this is so.

Paul has always been an uncomfortable and controversial figure in the history of Christianity. The accusation against the prophet Elijah by Israel's King Ahab, 'you troubler of Israel'' (1 Ks. 18:17), could be levelled against Paul more fittingly than any other of the first Christians.

Paul was originally called Saul, "a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city [Jerusalem]. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God," who first appears on the public stage of first-century history as a 'zealot', one who measured his 'zeal' by his attempt to violently 'destroy' (Act 22:3; Gal. 1:13; Phil. 3:6) the embryonic movement that became Christianity (Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22). He was one of the witnesses who "stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him [Stephen]' (Acts 22:20). While on the road to Damascus to arrest more Christians there, he had an encounter with the risen Christ and turned around and joined those whom he had persecuted (Acts 9; Gal.1:13-16). Aided by Barnabas, he was accepted by the original band of apostles (). Later on, the church in (Syrian) Antioch, through a prophet word, set them apart for a mission through Galatia (the First Missionary Journey). Up to about this point he was still referred to by his Jewish name, Saul. Soon after visiting Cyprus, he was increasing referred to as Paul. Jerome once advanced the theory that, because he was Paul's first convert, Paul decided to change his name from Saul to Paul in honour of the proconsul. There is nothing to merit such a speculation. As John Calvin noted, this is "confuted by the testimony of Luke, who shows that he was so called before that time. (Acts 13:7, 9.)" Farrar calls the idea "an element of vulgarity impossible to St. Paul," and the theory has long since fallen out of favour. What triggered the name-change—if in fact it represents a name change—remains a mystery; possibly he chose the name 'Paulos,' which means 'small' because of his diminutive statue. It is also possible that Paul had always had two names, Saul being the customary name coming from his Jewish background, and Paul being part of his name as a Roman citizen (for more on this see Paul's Name).

When a group of Jewish Christians then insisted that the Gentiles who had come to know Christ should also be circumcised, Paul was incensed at their failure to understand more fully the implications of Christ's atoning death. Together with Barnabas, Paul made a journey to Jerusalem to meet with the other apostles there to hammer out the issues at stake. This so-called Jerusalem Council—forced to confront the matter head-on, came to the conclusion that no such demand could be made upon the Gentile believers.

Paul made two more "missionary journeys" (Second Missionary Journey and Third Missionary Journey). Paul had initiated on the last journey a campaign to collect from among the Gentile churches he had founded a gift in aid of the church in Jerusalem. But already on the way there, he had been warned by prophetic revelation that he would be arrested and faced the possibility of death. He was welcomed by the leaders of the church in in Jerusalem. The leaders, however, also apprised him of a particular situation they faced. Though thousands of Jews have come to faith in Christ, there was a rumour circulating that he had been teaching "ll the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs" (Acts 21:21). Asked what he should do, the leaders counseled him to join a group of four men in a purification rite "so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law" (v24). When the rite was nearly over, however, some Jews from Asia recognized Paul in the temple. Immediately they raised a riot and siezed him, accusing him of teaching "all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place" and of having brought "Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place" (v28). Paul would have been torn to pieces had not the Roman troops stepped in and rescued him from the murderous mob, and had him imprisoned. His address to the Sanhedrin the next day only added to their rage. When it was learnt that a plot had been hatched to murder Paul the Roman commander (who had no choice but to act accordingly since he had learned that Paul was a Roman citizen), had Paul transferred by night to Caesarea, where he could be kept safe. After languishing in prison for some two years, with his supposed trial going nowhere, Paul appealed for his case to be heard by Caesar which, as a Roman citizen, it was his right to do (Act 25:11). And so he set sail for Rome, arriving in Rome after a harrowing sea journey about 61 AD. What happened to him afterwards is not known. Traditions hold that he was martyred under Nero.

Of all Jesus's apostles, none has left behind as many documents as Paul; thirteen letters in all. All these, however, are occasional papers, letters written to churches and his mentorees like Timothy and Titus, in response to certain needs. These are the only sources to which we have to turn to discover the mind of Paul. It reflects deeply on Paul that, after twenty centuries, and with such an army of scholars working through them, fresh insights continue to pour from their mills.

Statistics:

The name Paul, and the genitive, Paul's, occur 157x in the Greek NT, mostly in the book of Acts (128x). In the epistles, Paul is mentioned most frequently in 1 Corinthians (8x); this is not surprising, since part of the issues addressed in the letter had to do with his authority as an apostle. Outside of the Pauline letters, Paul appears only in 2 Pet 3:15.

You may also wish to view:

Entry in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology html N

Timeline: The First Centuries ☰

Further Reading:

If you are new, we suggest beginning either with N. T. Wright's Biograpy or F. F. Bruce, and Douglas Campbell. You should be able to find your way around after that.

F. F. Bruce, Paul Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

Douglas A. Campbell, Paul. An Apostle's Journey. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014.

James D. G. Dunn, ed., The Cambridge Companion to St Paul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019.

Gordon Fee, Jesus the Lord according to Paul the Apostle. A Concise Introduction. Ada, MI: Baker Academic, 2018.

Gordon Fee, Pauline Christology.

Gordon Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul Apostle of God's Glory in Christ. A Pauline Theology. Downers Grove: IVP, 2006.

Stanley E. Porter, The Apostle Paul, his life, thought, and letters. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.

N. T. Wright, Paul in Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2009.

N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography. New York: HarperOne, 2018.

Media Resources

Constantine R. Campbell, In Pursuit of Paul. NT scholar at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, takes us on a journey to know Paul better in the following videos from Our Daily Bread. All these videos open in a new tab.

Episode 1: From Persecutor Saul to Apostle Paul. 20.29 mins.
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Episode 2: Where Paul Prepared Himself for His First Missionary Journey. 21.03 mins.
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Episode 3: The Apostle Paul's First Missionary Journey. 25.40 mins.
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Episode 4: The Apostle Paul's Second Missionary Journey. 23.40 mins.
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Episode 5: The Apostle Paul's Third Missionary Journey. 23.06 mins.
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Episode 6: The Last Days of Paul's Ministry. 21.50 mins.
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Episode 7: The Last Days of Paul.. 21.20 mins.
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Guy Waters, The Life and Theology of Paul. Ligonier Ministires. This is a series of 12 lectures. The site has its own menu.
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Hans Bayer, Life & Letters of Paul. Covenant Theological Seminary. This is a series of 35 episodes. Audio N

N. T. Wright, Paul's Background. N.T. Wright OnLine. 17.15 mins. video N

Dr Reggie Kidd (Reformed Theological Seminary), The Heart of Paul's Theology. 4 studies. Thirdmill.org. Available in various formats, Video, Audio, and/or Word/Pdf. The site has its own menu. N

Print Resources:

Douglas Campbell, "The Atonement in Paul," Anvil 11.3 (1994): 237-250. pdf pdf

Bruce Longenecker, "Perspectives on Paul and the Law," Anvil 16.2 (1999): 125-130.pdf

J. Duncan M. Derrett, "Paul as Master-Builder [1 Corinthians 3:10-13; Romans 15:20; 2 Corinthians 10:13-16]," The Evangelical Quarterly 69.2 (Apr.-June 1997): 129-137. pdf

Bernardo Cho, "Subverting Slavery: Philemon, Onesimus, and Paul’s Gospel of Reconciliation," Evangelical Quarterly 86.2 (April 2014): 99-115. pdf

John A. Battle, "Paul's use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:25-26," Grace Theological Journal 2.1 (Spring 1981): 115-129. pdf

David S. Dockery, "Romans 7:14-25: Pauline tension in the Christian life," Grace Theological Journal 2.2 (Fall 1981): 239-257. pdf

David Alan Black, "Paulus infirmus: the Pauline concept of weakness," Grace Theological Journal 5.1 (Spring 1984): 77-93.pdf

Colin J. Hemer, "The Name of Paul," Tyndale Bulletin> 36 (1985): 179-183. pdf

Joel Marcus, "The Evil Inclination in the Letters of Paul," Irish Biblical Studies 8.1 (Jan. 1986): 8-21. pdf

Donald P. Ker, "Missionary Motivation in Paul: the Jewish Environment," Irish Biblical Studies 8.4 (Oct. 1986): 162-178. pdf

Hamilton Moore, "Paul and Apocalyptic," Irish Biblical Studies 9.1 (Jan. 1987): 35-46. pdf

William S. Campbell, "Paul’s Missionary Practice and Policy," Irish Biblical Studies 12.1 (Jan. 1990): 2-25. pdf

Trevor J. Burke, "The Characteristics of Paul’s Adoptive Sonship (HUIOTHESIA) Motif," Irish Biblical Studies 17.2 (April 1995): 62-74. pdf

Gordon Campbell, "The Struggle for the Progress of the Gospel at the heart of the Pauline Mission," Irish Biblical Studies 21.2 (May 1999): 59-78. pdf