Ten Things You Need to Know about Paul*
1. Paul was born less than ten years after Jesus
We don’t know the exact date or even year, but we can narrow down Paul’s birth to the first decade of the first century. His generation was among those who grew up the same time as Jesus did and were the first to encounter Jesus’ followers, who were known back then as “the way.”
2. Paul was Jewish
Paul was born to Jewish parents of the tribe of Benjamin, whose family had in generations past relocated from Galilee to Tarsus, a Roman colony on the southern coast of what is now Turkey. Paul was part of his three-part Roman name. His Jewish name was Saul, in honor of his tribe’s most famous member, Israel’s first king.
3. Paul was a Roman citizen
The family business was leather-working, and some time before Paul was born his forefathers gained Roman citizenship, which was rare for people living far from Rome and even rarer for Jews. We don’t know exactly how or when Paul’s family obtained both their city and Imperial citizenship, but once they did it was a valuable thing to pass down to their children. Paul utilizes his rights as a Roman citizen a few times when facing legal issues within the Empire, including his appeals to have a hearing before Caesar.
4. Paul was highly educated
Paul’s writings and speeches reflect someone who was familiar with a wide body of literature and philosophical thought, making it likely that he was rhetorically trained in his home city. He also sought biblical training in Jerusalem as part of an established rabbinical school.
5. Paul persecuted the early church
Readers of the book of Acts are first introduced to Paul at the death of the church’s first martyr, Stephen. Those responsible for stoning Stephen reported to Saul/Paul. Paul focused his efforts on persecuting Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, sometimes chasing Christian refugees out of Jerusalem and even out of Judea. It was on such a persecuting trip north to the Syrian city of Damascus where everything changed for Paul in an instant.
6. Paul converted to Christianity
Paul shares his conversion story three times in the book of Acts. He had official papers from the Jewish High Priest to persecute known Christians who fled Jerusalem north for Damascus. He and his traveling party were almost to their destination when a light from heaven flashed around them, startling their horses and causing Paul to drop to the ground. He then heard a voice that said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked the voice who it was and the voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Paul got up and went to the city, temporarily blinded by the bright light, fasting for three days as he processed what just happened.
Meanwhile in Damascus, God prompted a Christian there named Ananias to go to Paul, welcome him, and baptize him.
7. God Commissioned Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles
When God spoke to Ananias he revealed his plans for Paul. Paul would be a special servant to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, even appearing before kings on God’s behalf. He also says that Paul will suffer much for God’s name.
8. Paul was himself persecuted
Ananias and others had difficulty trusting Paul’s conversion, and likewise Paul’s former crew that persecuted Christians were greatly enraged at his change of heart. Wherever Paul went in Jesus’ name as a missionary, trouble often followed. In one of his letters Paul recounts the amount of times he was whipped, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and shipwrecked.
9. Paul wrote about one-fourth of our New Testament
Paul’s letters include Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
Some people think he might have written the book of Hebrews, but there are good reasons to think this unlikely, including the fact that Paul identifies himself in each of his letters. Go ahead and look it up. Literally, the first word in each of Paul’s letters is. . .“Paul.”
Some scholars question whether Paul really wrote 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, but their reasoning for thinking that includes arguments about vocabulary, as if your personal letters obviously must include the same set of words as the letters you would write to an entire church.
10. Paul died at the hands of the Roman state
The book of Acts concludes with Paul in prison in Rome awaiting his hearing before Nero, the Caesar at the time. Other sources piece together that Paul was likely released from that imprisonment but less than three years later imprisoned again in Rome, awaiting a hearing before the same Caesar. This second time, however, Nero had already begun a campaign against Christians and likely had Paul executed as part of it. Ancient historians place Paul’s beheading by sword around AD 65 near the Tiber River just a few miles south of ancient Rome’s walls.
*This list was produced with the help of F. F. Bruce’s “Paul in Acts and Letters” in the IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters.
We don’t know the exact date or even year, but we can narrow down Paul’s birth to the first decade of the first century. His generation was among those who grew up the same time as Jesus did and were the first to encounter Jesus’ followers, who were known back then as “the way.”
2. Paul was Jewish
Paul was born to Jewish parents of the tribe of Benjamin, whose family had in generations past relocated from Galilee to Tarsus, a Roman colony on the southern coast of what is now Turkey. Paul was part of his three-part Roman name. His Jewish name was Saul, in honor of his tribe’s most famous member, Israel’s first king.
3. Paul was a Roman citizen
The family business was leather-working, and some time before Paul was born his forefathers gained Roman citizenship, which was rare for people living far from Rome and even rarer for Jews. We don’t know exactly how or when Paul’s family obtained both their city and Imperial citizenship, but once they did it was a valuable thing to pass down to their children. Paul utilizes his rights as a Roman citizen a few times when facing legal issues within the Empire, including his appeals to have a hearing before Caesar.
4. Paul was highly educated
Paul’s writings and speeches reflect someone who was familiar with a wide body of literature and philosophical thought, making it likely that he was rhetorically trained in his home city. He also sought biblical training in Jerusalem as part of an established rabbinical school.
5. Paul persecuted the early church
Readers of the book of Acts are first introduced to Paul at the death of the church’s first martyr, Stephen. Those responsible for stoning Stephen reported to Saul/Paul. Paul focused his efforts on persecuting Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, sometimes chasing Christian refugees out of Jerusalem and even out of Judea. It was on such a persecuting trip north to the Syrian city of Damascus where everything changed for Paul in an instant.
6. Paul converted to Christianity
Paul shares his conversion story three times in the book of Acts. He had official papers from the Jewish High Priest to persecute known Christians who fled Jerusalem north for Damascus. He and his traveling party were almost to their destination when a light from heaven flashed around them, startling their horses and causing Paul to drop to the ground. He then heard a voice that said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked the voice who it was and the voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Paul got up and went to the city, temporarily blinded by the bright light, fasting for three days as he processed what just happened.
Meanwhile in Damascus, God prompted a Christian there named Ananias to go to Paul, welcome him, and baptize him.
7. God Commissioned Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles
When God spoke to Ananias he revealed his plans for Paul. Paul would be a special servant to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, even appearing before kings on God’s behalf. He also says that Paul will suffer much for God’s name.
8. Paul was himself persecuted
Ananias and others had difficulty trusting Paul’s conversion, and likewise Paul’s former crew that persecuted Christians were greatly enraged at his change of heart. Wherever Paul went in Jesus’ name as a missionary, trouble often followed. In one of his letters Paul recounts the amount of times he was whipped, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and shipwrecked.
9. Paul wrote about one-fourth of our New Testament
Paul’s letters include Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
Some people think he might have written the book of Hebrews, but there are good reasons to think this unlikely, including the fact that Paul identifies himself in each of his letters. Go ahead and look it up. Literally, the first word in each of Paul’s letters is. . .“Paul.”
Some scholars question whether Paul really wrote 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, but their reasoning for thinking that includes arguments about vocabulary, as if your personal letters obviously must include the same set of words as the letters you would write to an entire church.
10. Paul died at the hands of the Roman state
The book of Acts concludes with Paul in prison in Rome awaiting his hearing before Nero, the Caesar at the time. Other sources piece together that Paul was likely released from that imprisonment but less than three years later imprisoned again in Rome, awaiting a hearing before the same Caesar. This second time, however, Nero had already begun a campaign against Christians and likely had Paul executed as part of it. Ancient historians place Paul’s beheading by sword around AD 65 near the Tiber River just a few miles south of ancient Rome’s walls.
*This list was produced with the help of F. F. Bruce’s “Paul in Acts and Letters” in the IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters.
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