Who was this man called Paul? Was he the thirteenth apostle, the apostle to the Gentiles, or one of the twelve apostles of Christ? This paper will attempt to not only tell who Paul was, but what his life was all about and the influence he had on Christ’s church.
According to Martin Dibeluis, “Paul’s parents had lived at Geschala in Galilee, the capture of which had caused them to be transported to Tarsus.” Saul was the Jewish name given to Paul, but he was proud of the Roman citizenship he inherited from his father so he used his Roman name of Paulus instead of his Jewish name. Paul was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia (now part of Turkey). “The notion that Paul had an unhappy adolescence, tortured by religious doubts and an uneasy conscience, is based on a misunderstanding of the letter of Paul to the Romans in chapter 7.” (Encyclopedia Britanica). “No one knows what Paul’s state of mind was or what his early development was like. So it is fruitless to attempt to psychoanalyze Paul.” (Segal)
Paul was a member of three different worlds by birth and education. He was a Roman citizen by birth, which gave him some standing and rights in the great Roman empire. Growing up in Tarsus a community of Hellenistic Hebrews linked him to the Jewish world, we know this by his avowal that he was a”A Hebrew born of Hebrews” (Philipians 3:5). He was lifted out of the Hellenistic community by Judaism, which had its own peculiar character, shunned by some and aspired to by others. The Judaism caused him to travel to Jerusalem to study to become a Pharisee during which time he used the name Saul. Thus, he was at the same time a Roman citizen, a Hellenistic Jew, and a Jerusalem scribe. Being a member of these three worlds was a very significant throughout his journeys.
Paul excelled all his contemporaries in his zeal for the Law of Moses, and by its standards his life was blameless. Paul was trained as a rabbi under Gamaliel I, and this is born out by his frequent use of rabbinic methods of interpreting the Bible. As a rabbi, he learned a trade like most. His trade was tentmaking, by which throughout his missionary career he could make a living. Paul never met Jesus; however, he had learned enough about Jesus to consider him a menace to Pharisaic Judaism, for Paul first appeared in history as a persecutor of the Christian Church. In the judgment of Paul the Pharisee, Jesus and his followers had openly broken the law and had been justly condemned under the curse of the Old Testament.
Paul went before the high priest and asked if he could travel to Damascus to the synagogues to find the followers of Christ and bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined around about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, “Saul, Saul why persecutes thou me?” And he said, “Who art thou, Lord?” and the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutes: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” and he trembling and astonished said , “Lord, what will thou have me to do?” and the Lord said unto him, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” (Acts 9:3-6)
Paul was blinded for three days. He arose and was lead into the city. “It was in Damascus that he was received into the church by Ananias, and here, to the astonishment of all his hearers, he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, declaring him to be the Son of God.” (Peloubert)
In Galatians, he says: “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.” For Paul, Christ, not the Law, was the full, final revelation of God’s nature and purpose; and all of his passionate devotion was transferred to this new center. Along with his conversion came his call to be Apostle to the Gentiles and to break down the barrier of prejudice and hostility that the Law had erected between the Jewish people and their neighbors. (Encyclopedia Britanica)
Once in Damascus Ananias gave Paul his sight back and started him down his long path of preaching the word of God. Paul was occupied by his study for many days up to the time when imminent danger drove him from Damascus. After this Paul withdrew into Arabia. It is not told why but it is assumed that it was to think over what had happened to him and to study the word of Christ. He then returned to Damascus where he was forced to flee over a wall because of the hostile Jews waiting at the gates of the city. Paul then traveled to Jerusalem.
Paul spent two weeks in Jerusalem visiting Peter and James. Jerry Sanders said, “Here he revealed his gospel of salvation by grace to the twelve apostles.” (Sanders interview) The apostles were all afraid of him at first and did not believe he was a disciple. The introduction of Barnabus removed the fears of the disciples and Paul was with them. He then left Jerusalem and returned to his home country Cilicia where he was out of view for about 10 years.
The most productive period of Paul’s career began just before A.D. 50. Paul started his three missionary journeys, which are described in Acts. He traveled along preaching salvation by grace. This is Paul’s gospel:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried , and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
On the first missionary journey Paul was accompanied by Barnabus and John Mark. Mark left the group along the way. Barnabus and Paul began their work in Cyprus, “to Jews only” (Peloubet). They then moved to the southern coast of Asia Minor. Paul moved quickly from place to place preaching first in synagogues to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. After being rejected by the Jews he again began using his Gentile name of Paul.
At Lystra, Paul healed a cripple. When this took place the Gentile heathens there mistook Paul and Barnabus for gods and began worshipping them. When Paul and Barnabus told them differently, it provoked them and the Jews from Antioch encouraged their hostility until the people stoned Paul to death and drug him from the city. Paul gives an account of being called up to the third heaven during the time he was dead. (II Corinthians 12:1-4). He then arose the next day and continued on his journeys. After finishing the journey Paul and Barnabus returned to Jerusalem where Paul continued to preach salvation by grace.
Paul took Silas, a Roman citizen like Paul, along on his second missionary journey, in which he visited northwest Asia Minor and then crossed to Macedonia bringing Christianity to Europe. On this journey it is easy to see Paul’s objective of preaching in large cities to spread his gospel as quickly as possible.
On the third missionary journey Paul set out on a tour of the Galatian churches, which covered much of the same territory as the second journey. Paul wrote fou letters to Corinth during this journey, two of which are in the Bible as I & II Corinthians. After this, he traveled to Greece where he wrote the letters to the Romans and Galatians, both of which are recorded in the Bible. Paul then atarted on his last trip to Jerusalem to bring offerings from the Gentile churches. Many of his brethren pleaded with him not to go but he was willing to die for the name of Jesus Christ.
Paul’s preaching to the Gentiles had angered the Jews greatly. Once in Jerusalem, Paul was sighted in the temple by Jews from Asia that had come up for Pentecostal Feast. They believed him to have brought Gentiles into the temple, which kindled their hostility, and they drug him out of the temple and he was imprisoned. The people would have killed him if he had not have been a Roman citizen, which entitled him to a fair trial.
A plot of more than forty Jews was discovered to have pledged not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. The chief captain Claudius Lysias determined to send Paul to Caesarea for his protection. In Caesarea Paul went before the governor Felix. Felix heard the case but gave an excuse for putting off the matter. Felix handed Paul over to his successor Festus. Festus never would rule on Paul and sought the help of Prince Agrippa, a jewish prince. Agrippa heard Paul’s case and said the Paul had done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment and could have been set free if it had not have been for Paul’s appeal to Caesar.
After being heard by Agrippa Paul was sent to Rome to be tried by Caesar. On the way to Rome the ship that Paul was on wrecked. This caused them to be delayed on the island of Malta for three months.
Upon arrival in Rome, Paul was treated with special consideration and was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him. “He was now free to preach the gospel to those that were at Rome also and proceeded to act upon his rule- “to the Jews first.” (Peloubet) Just like always, the Jews rejected his message and he turned to the Gentiles.
Paul lived this was for about two years in his own house, being watched by the Roman guard, preaching to whomever he wished. While he was being imprisoned in his home he wrote letters to Philemon, to the Colossians, to the Ephesians and to the Philippians. (Note the books were not written in the same order that they are arranged in the Bible.)
Ater two years of imprisonment Paul was acquitted by Nero and left Rome. He spent time visiting Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor and Spain. During the latter part of this time, he wrote the letters to Timothy and Titus from Macedonia. After these were written he was arrested again and taken to Rome. Paul was this time treated as a felon instead of an honorable state prisoner, but he was allowed to write the second letter to Timothy.
No one is sure what happened to Paul next. Many believe he was beheaded by Nero in the great persecutions of the Christians. No matter what happened to him, he set the foundation for many to be saved through his gospel of salvation by grace and opened up the word of God to the Gentiles, before which could not reach Heaven unless they went through a Jew. “Paul was a revealer of a mystery that was never seen before.” (Jerry Sanders)
