Paul the Apostle, also known by his Jewish name Saul, was one of the most influential figures in early Christianity. He was not one of the original Twelve, but his letters identify him as an apostle called by Jesus Christ. Acts and Paul’s own writings describe a dramatic change from persecuting the early Christian movement to preaching Christ.
Paul before his Christian mission
Paul describes himself as a Jew with strong commitment to ancestral tradition. Acts associates him with Tarsus in Cilicia and portrays him as participating in the persecution of Christians. His letters confirm that he had once persecuted the church.
Paul’s call
Acts gives three accounts of Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus near Damascus. Paul himself describes the event in terms of revelation and calling. Afterward, he became a missionary, especially among non-Jews, while continuing to engage Jewish communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
Missionary work
Paul traveled through regions that are now parts of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and the eastern Mediterranean. He helped establish or strengthen Christian communities and maintained contact with them through letters, coworkers, and return visits.
His ministry also produced conflict. Paul faced opposition from civic authorities, rival teachers, and fellow Christians who disagreed over questions such as circumcision, Torah observance, leadership, and the inclusion of Gentiles.
Letters attributed to Paul
Thirteen New Testament letters are traditionally attributed to Paul. Modern scholarship generally regards seven—Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon—as undisputed Pauline letters. Authorship of the others is debated to varying degrees.
Major themes in Paul’s letters include the death and resurrection of Christ, grace, faith, justification, life in the Spirit, the church as the body of Christ, Christian ethics, resurrection of the dead, and unity between Jewish and Gentile believers.
Paul’s death
The New Testament does not narrate Paul’s death. Early Christian tradition places his martyrdom in Rome, commonly during the reign of Nero in the first century. Later details about the manner and exact date of his death belong to tradition rather than the biblical record.
Paul’s letters are among the earliest surviving Christian writings and remain central to Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and academic study of early Christianity.
Paul and the Jerusalem apostles
Paul’s letters show that he remained in contact with leaders in Jerusalem even while defending the independence of his mission. Galatians names Cephas, James, and John as recognized leaders and describes debates over Gentile converts. Acts presents related events from a different narrative perspective.
Major theological themes
Paul’s thought cannot be reduced to one slogan. His letters discuss God’s faithfulness, the Messiah, the cross and resurrection, the Holy Spirit, baptism, moral transformation, the unity of the church, Israel and the nations, suffering, hope, and the future resurrection.
His language about “faith,” “works,” law, and justification has been interpreted differently in Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and modern academic traditions. Reading individual passages within the argument of each letter is more reliable than treating isolated verses as a complete summary of Paul’s theology.
Paul in the New Testament
Acts provides a continuous narrative of Paul’s missionary career, while the letters provide his own voice in specific situations. The two sources overlap but are not identical in emphasis or chronology. Historians therefore compare them rather than assuming every detail can be combined without difficulty.
