"a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit"         (James 2:15-16 NKJV)

Paul of Tarsus

Paul The Apostle (born ca. 10, died ca. 67) (שאול התרסי in Hebrew), the "Apostle to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:8) was, together with St. Peter, the most notable of Early Christian missionaries. Unlike the Twelve Apostles, Paul did not know Jesus in life; he came to faith through a vision of the risen Jesus (1Corinthians 15:8–9) and stressed that his apostolic authority was based on his vision. As he wrote, he "received it [the Gospel] by revelation from Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11–12); according to Acts, his conversion took place as he traveled the road to Damascus.

Paul is the second most prolific contributor to the New Testament (after Luke, whose two books amount to nearly a third of the New Testament). Thirteen letters are attributed to him with varying degrees of confidence.^[1] The letters are written in Koine Greek and it may be that he employed an amanuensis, only occasionally writing himself.^[2] The undisputed Pauline epistles contain the earliest systematic account of Christian doctrine, and provide information on the life of the infant Church. They are arguably the oldest part of the New Testament. Paul also appears in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, attributed to Luke, so that it is possible to compare the account of his life in the Acts with his own account in his various letters. His letters are largely written to churches which he had founded or visited; he was a great traveler, visiting Cyprus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Macedonia, mainland Greece, Crete, and Rome bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, first to Jews and then to Gentiles. His letters are full of expositions of what Christians should believe and how they should live. What he does not tell his correspondents (or the modern reader) is much about the life and teachings of Jesus; his most explicit references are to the Last Supper (1Corinthians 11:17–34) and the crucifixion and resurrection (1Corinthians 15). His specific references to Jesus' teaching are likewise sparse, raising the question, still disputed, as to how consistent his account of the faith is with that of the four canonical Gospels, Acts, and the Epistle of James. The view that Paul's Christ is very different from the historical Jesus has been expounded by Adolf Harnack among many others. Nevertheless, he provides the first written account of the relationship of the Christian to the Risen Christ—what it is to be a Christian—and thus of Christian spirituality.

Paul's influence on Christian thinking has, arguably, been more significant than any other single New Testament author.^[3] His influence on the main strands of Christian thought has been massive: from St. Augustine of Hippo to the controversies between Gottschalk and Hincmar of Reims; between Thomism and Molinism; Martin Luther, John Calvin and the Arminians; to Jansenism and the Jesuit theologians, and even to the German church of the twentieth century through the writings of the scholar Karl Barth, whose commentary on the Letter to the Romans had a political as well as theological impact.

In trying to reconstruct the events of Paul's life, scholars use both Paul's letters and the book of Acts. Different views are held as to the reliability of the latter. Some scholars, such as Hans Conzelmann, dispute the historical content of Acts. These scholars argue that even allowing for omissions in Paul's own account, which is found particularly in Galatians, there are many differences between his account and that in Acts. On the other hand, scholars who argue for the historicity and reliability of Acts regard both sources as equally important and equally historical. (Please see the full discussion in Acts of the Apostles). For purposes of this article, both Paul's letters and Acts have been consulted to give the events of his life, and any ambiguities or difficulties have been noted.

According to Acts 9:30, Acts 11:25, and Acts 22:3, Paul was born in Tarsus, Cilicia in Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey, under the name Saul, "an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day" (Philippians 3:5). However, Paul's own letters never mention this as his birthplace, nor is the name "Saul" alluded to. Acts records that Paul was a Roman citizen—a privilege he used a number of times in his defence, appealing against convictions in Judaea to Rome (Acts 22:25 and 27–29). According to Acts 22:3, he studied in Jerusalem under the Rabbi Gamaliel, well known in Paul's time. He supported himself during his travels and while preaching—a fact he alludes to a number of times (e.g., 1Corinthians 9:13–15); according to Acts 18:3, he worked as a tentmaker.

He first appears in the pages of the New Testament as a witness to the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:57–8:3). He was, as he described himself, a persistent persecutor of the Church (1Corinthians 15:9, Galatians 1:13) (almost all of whose members were Jewish or Jewish proselytes), until his experience on the Road to Damascus which resulted in his conversion. Paul himself is very reticent about the precise character of his conversion (Galatians 1:11–24) though he uses it as authority for his independence of the apostles. In Acts there are three accounts: the first is a description of the event itself (9:1–20) in which he is described as falling to the ground, as a result of a flash of light from the sky, hearing the words "Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?"; the second is Paul's witness to the event before the crowd in Jerusalem (22:1–22); the third is his testimony before King Agrippa II (26:1–24). In the accounts, he is described as being led, blinded by the light, to Damascus where his sight was restored by a disciple called Ananias and he was baptized.

Mission

Following his stay in Damascus after his conversion, where he was baptised, Paul says that he first went to Arabia, and then came back to Damascus (Galatians 1:17). According to Acts, his preaching in the local synagogues got him into trouble there, and he was forced to escape, being let down over the wall in a basket (Acts 9:23). He describes in Galatians, how three years after his conversion, he went to Jerusalem, where he met James, and stayed with Simon Peter for fifteen days (Galatians 1:13–24). According to Acts, he apparently attempted to join the disciples and was accepted only owing to the intercession of Barnabas—they were all understandably afraid of him as one who had been a persecutor of the Church (Acts 9:26–27). Again, according to Acts, he got into trouble for disputing with "Hellenists" (Greek speaking Jews and Gentile "God-fearers") and so he was sent back to Tarsus.

We do not know exactly what happened in the fourteen years that elapsed before he went again to Jerusalem. At the end of this time, Barnabas went to find Saul and brought him back to Antioch (Acts 11:26). As he had been the object of suspicion by the Christians at Jerusalem, it is impossible to deduce how he might have been received when he returned to Tarsus and if he stayed without incident.

When a famine occurred in Judaea, around 45–46,^[4] help was sent by the hands of Barnabas and Saul; Saul then returned to Antioch. According to Acts, Antioch had become an alternative centre for Christians, following the dispersion after the death of Stephen. In Antioch, the followers of Jesus were first called Christians.

First Missionary Journey

According to Acts 13–14, Barnabas took Saul on what is often called the First Missionary Journey which took them to Cyprus, Barnabas's home, and thence to Paphos. Afterward he sailed onward to visit the towns of southern Asia Minor, which is in present-day Turkey: Perga, Antioch, Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.^[5] However, Paul's own letters only mention that he preached in Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:18–20). Acts records that Paul later "went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches" (Acts 15:41), but it does not explicitly state who founded the churches or when they were founded.

Council of Jerusalem

According to Acts 15, Paul attended a meeting of the apostles and elders held at Jerusalem at which they discussed the question of circumcision of Gentile Christians; scholars usually date this meeting around 50. Traditionally, this meeting is called the Council of Jerusalem,^[6] though nowhere is it called so in the text of the New Testament.

Paul and the apostles apparently met at Jerusalem several times. Unfortunately, there is some difficulty in determining the sequence of the meetings and exact course of events. Some Jerusalem meetings are mentioned in Acts, some meetings are mentioned in Paul's letters, and some appear to be mentioned in both. For example, in Galatians Paul makes no separate mention of the Jerusalem visit implied in Acts 11:27–30 when he and Barnabas brought famine relief to Judea. In Galatians 2:1, Paul describes a "second visit" to Jerusalem as a private occasion, whereas Acts describes a public meeting in Jerusalem addressed by James at its conclusion. Thus some scholars think that Paul in Galatians is referring to the meeting in Acts 11 (the "famine visit") and that the letter to the Galatians was written after the men had come to Antioch demanding circumcision and before the "Council of Jerusalem," the public meeting, had taken place—or even as he was setting out for it—this interpretation would make Galatians the earliest letter to be written (it is generally dated between 48 and 55). If the meeting was private, Luke's informants might have had no knowledge of it; however, it could not have taken place fourteen years after the first encounter (or seventeen from the date of Paul's conversion), because the famine relief took place in the reign of King Herod Agrippa, according to Acts; he died in 44. That would put Paul's conversion at 27, likely before Jesus' death.^[7] In fact, the famine did not reach its greatest severity until 48, after Herod's death. Many other conjectures have been offered: the "fourteen years" could be from Paul's conversion rather than the first visit;^[8] or "fourteen years" should be "four"; or Acts 11 and 15 are two alternative accounts of the same visit; or the visit is recorded in Acts 18:22. If there was a public rather than a private meeting, it seems likely that it took place after Galatians was written.

According to Acts, Paul and Barnabas were appointed to go to Jerusalem to speak with the apostles and elders and were welcomed by them. The key question raised (in both Acts and Galatians and which is not in dispute) was whether Gentile converts needed to be circumcised (Acts 15:2ff; Gal.2:1ff). Paul states that he had attended "in response to a revelation and to lay before them the gospel that I preached among the Gentiles" (Galatians 2:2). Peter publicly reaffirmed a decision he had made previously (see Acts 10 and 11), proclaiming: "[God] put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9), echoing an earlier statement: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). James concurred: "We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God" (Acts 15:19–21), and a letter (later known as the "Apostolic Decree") was sent back with Paul enjoining them from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality (Acts 15:29), which some consider to be Noahide Law.

Despite the agreement they achieved at the meeting as understood by Paul, Paul recounts how he later publicly confronted Peter (accusing him of Judaizing), also called the "Incident at Antioch"^[10] over his reluctance to share a meal with Gentile Christians in Antioch. Paul later wrote: "I opposed [Peter] to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong" and said to the apostle: "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?" (Galatians 2:11–14). Paul also mentioned that even Barnabas sided with Peter. Acts does not record this event, saying only that "some time later," Paul decided to leave Antioch (usually considered the beginning of his "Second Missionary Journey," (Acts 15:36–18:22) with the object of visiting the believers in the towns where he and Barnabas had preached earlier, but this time without Barnabas. At this point the Galatians witness ceases.

Second Missionary Journey

Following a dispute between Paul and Barnabas over whether they should take John Mark with them, they went on separate journeys (Acts 15:36–41)—Barnabas with John Mark, and Paul with Silas. Following Acts 16:1–18:22, Paul and Silas went to Derbe and Lystra, the Phrygia and northern Galatia, to Troas, when, inspired by a vision they set off for Macedonia. At Philippi they met and brought to faith a wealthy woman named Lydia, they then baptized her and her household; there Paul was also arrested and badly beaten. According to Acts, Paul then set off for Thessalonica.^[11] This accords with Paul's own account (1Thessalonians 2:2), though some question how, having been in Philippi only "some days," Paul could have founded a church based on Lydia's house; it may have been founded earlier by someone else. According to Acts, Paul then came to Athens where he gave his speech in the Areopagus; in this speech, he told Athenians that the "Unknown God" to whom they had a shrine was in fact known, as the God who had raised Jesus from the dead. (Acts 17:16–34).

Thereafter Paul traveled to Corinth, where he settled for three years and where he may have written 1 Thessalonians, possibly the earliest of his surviving letters. At Corinth, (18:12–17), the "Jews united" and charged Paul with "persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law"; the proconsul Gallio then judged that it was a minor matter not worth his attention and dismissed the charges. "Then all of them (Other ancient authorities read all the Greeks) seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things." (18:17 NRSV) From an inscription in Delphi that mentions Gallio, the year of the hearing is known to be 52, which aids in reconstructing the chronology of Paul's life.

Third Missionary Journey

Following this hearing, Paul continued his preaching, usually called his "third missionary journey" (Acts 18:23–21:26), traveling again through Asia Minor and Macedonia, to Antioch and back. He caused a great uproar in the theatre in Ephesus, where local silversmiths feared loss of income due to Paul's activities. Their income relied on the sale of silver statues (idols) of the goddess Artemis, whom they worshipped; the resulting mob almost killed Paul (Acts 19:21–41) and his companions. Later, as Paul was passing near Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem, Paul chose not to stop, since he was in haste to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost.^[12] The church here, however, was so highly regarded by Paul that he called the elders to Miletus to meet with him (Acts 20:16–38).

Arrest And Death

Upon Paul's arrival in Jerusalem, he gave the apostles his account of bringing Gentiles to the faith. According to Acts, James the Just confronted Paul with the charge that he was teaching the Jews to ignore the law and asked him to demonstrate that he was a law-abiding Jew by taking a Nazirite vow (Acts 21:26). However, that Paul did so is difficult to reconcile with his personally expressed attitude both in Galatians and Philippians, where he utterly opposed any idea that the law was binding on Christians, declaring that even Peter did not live by the law (Galatians 2:14). Various attempts have been made to reconcile Paul's views as expressed in his different letters and in Acts, notably the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Judaizers states.

"Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (1Corinthians 9:20). Thus he shortly after [the Council of Jerusalem] circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:1–3), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem (21:26 sqq)".

In any case, about a week after Paul had taken his vow at the temple, some Jews from "Asia" (Asia Minor or modern Turkey, Paul's homeland) spotted him in Jerusalem and stirred up the crowd shouting: "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." (21:28). The crowd was about to kill Paul but the Roman guard rescued him, and after an unsuccessful speech in Aramaic (21:37–22:22), imprisoned him in Caesarea. Paul claimed his right as a Roman citizen to be tried in Rome, but owing to the inaction of the governor Antonius Felix, Paul languished in confinement at Caesarea for two years. When a new governor Porcius Festus took office, he held a hearing and sent Paul by sea to Rome. It was while journeying to Rome that Paul was shipwrecked on Malta where Acts states that he converted the people to Christianity, St Paul being Malta's patron saint to this day. It is thought that Paul continued his journey by sea to Syracuse, on the Italian island of Sicily before eventually going to Rome. According to Acts, Paul spent another two years in Rome under house arrest: "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." (28:30–31). Of his detention in Rome, Philippians provides some additional support. It was clearly written from prison and references to the "praetorian guard" and "Caesar's household" may suggest that it was written from Rome.

Wikipedia the free encyclopedia