The Historical Paul: 10 Facts That Even Atheist Skeptics Agree On

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The historical Paul, as an apostle and one of the most influential figures in early Christianity, remains a subject of both reverence and intrigue. From his transformation from a fierce persecutor of Christians to a passionate proponent of Christ, Paul’s life is marked by significant personal and theological developments. His letters, which form a cornerstone of Christian doctrine, offer us a glimpse into his beliefs, struggles, and experiences. In this article, I’ll explore 10 fascinating facts about the historical Paul the Apostle.

Before I begin, though, I want to establish the parameters of the sources I’ll use for this article. James Tabor notes that for the vast majority of scholars, some biblical sources about the historical Paul are better than others. Tabor writes that scholars generally agree the most reliable sources are Paul’s own undisputed letters: 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon. It is best, then, to use these authentic letters as sources about Paul in the Bible. This excludes the book of Acts, written long after Paul’s death, as well as disputed letters written in Paul’s name. Fortunately, however, there is plenty of information in the undisputed letters if you read carefully.

#1 – Paul was proud to be Jewish

In Philippians 3, Paul argues against a group of Christian teachers who have a different version of the gospel. In order to establish that his authority as an apostle is just as valid as that of the other teachers, he speaks of his own Jewish identity, for which he provides evidence in Philippians 3:4-6:

He does a similar thing, once more against those he calls false teachers, in 2 Corinthians 11:22:

Far from rejecting his identity as a Jew, Paul is clearly proud of it and sees it as an essential part of his credibility as a teacher.

#2 – He initially persecuted Christians

In Galatians 1:13, Paul writes:

Among the well-known facts about Paul the Apostle is that he was a persecutor of Christians. Unfortunately, Paul isn’t specific about what he did to the Church. The Greek verb he uses can mean pursuing or hunting (either animals or humans) but can also mean prosecuting in a legal sense.

The main point here, however, is that Paul says several times in his letters (see also Philippians 3:6 and 1 Corinthians 15:9) that he initially hated the Christian movement so much that he was attempting to destroy it.

#3 – The historical Paul believed he had seen the risen Jesus

Just a few years after the death of Jesus, Paul experienced some kind of vision in which he claimed to have seen him. This is one of the interesting facts about Paul the Apostle that appears several times in the Bible. Here’s what he says about it in Galatians 1:11-12:

In 1 Corinthians 9:1, Paul makes it clear that this was a visual experience, asking his readers “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” This experience drove Paul for the rest of his life to convince communities to whom he preached of what he believed he had received in this vision.

In addition, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:4 that this experience included auditory features in which he “was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.”

#4 – Paul had some kind of disability

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Paul writes that his visions and revelations could easily have made him boastful had God not given him something to balance and humble him.

Paul never explicitly says what this disability is. However, we do know that he came to see it as necessary.

#5 – Paul was not married

In 1 Corinthians 7, in answer to a question from the Corinthian communities about sexual practices, Paul writes that since it is hard for many people to remain entirely celibate, it is best to get married. However, in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, he also writes about his own marital status as in this directive:

While he clearly does not condemn marriage in general, Paul himself is unmarried, at least during the time that he was writing these letters.

#6 – Paul had a disagreement with the original apostles

The first and second chapters of Galatians are Paul’s account of his past and his mission to his community in Galatia who are having doubts about his teachings. Apparently, other apostles have come in Paul’s absence and told the Galatians they must follow the Jewish Law, including being circumcised, in order to be part of the Jesus movement. Writing in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, H.D. Betz notes that Paul vehemently opposes this, telling the Galatians his story in order to show that his credibility is as good as that of the other apostles and even the original 12 apostles.

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In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul boasts that he stood up to Peter, whom he calls by his original Aramaic name, Cephas, when Peter had apparently acted uncharitably toward Gentiles.

Of course, we only have Paul’s version of the incident here. We don’t know exactly what happened or what Peter’s response was. However, it is clear that Paul, a contentious person as evidenced by his letters, disagreed with some of the original 12 apostles.

#7- Paul went to Jerusalem only three times

Speaking of the original apostles, Paul tells the Galatians that he had only gone to visit the Jerusalem church after his visionary revelation, and that no one there knew him. The book of Acts, on the other hand, says he had studied as a young person in Jerusalem, but Paul never says this in his letters.

Instead, he says that three years after his revelation of Christ, he went to Jerusalem and stayed with Peter for 15 days. He also says he didn’t meet the rest of the 12 apostles, but did meet James, the brother of Jesus.

Fourteen years after his revelation, according to Galatians 2, Paul visited Jerusalem again, where he met the apostles of the Jerusalem church and presented his gospel for their approval. According to Paul, they approved of his mission to the Gentiles.

Paul’s third Jerusalem visit is not recorded in his letters beyond his intent. In Romans 15:25-33, Paul writes that he is about to go to Jerusalem to deliver a collection taken from the communities he founded to the apostles. It is probably during this trip that he was arrested and brought to Rome.

#8 – Paul claims to have performed miracles

One of the surprising facts about Paul the Apostle is that he claims to have done miraculous things. In 2 Corinthians 12:11-13, as Paul is defending his apostleship against other teachers, he validates his apostleship this way:

Although Paul never tells us what these “signs and wonders” were, he claims some of the Corinthians witnessed them and that this confirms his apostolic status.

#9 – Paul supported himself through manual labor on his missionary journeys

In the earliest of Paul’s authentic letters, 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes to his beloved church in Thessaloniki that “You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God (1 Thes 2:9).” He makes other references to manual labor he did (1 Corinthians 4:12, 1 Corinthians 9:6, 12, 15) as well. He never explicitly says what kind of labor he performed, although Acts 18:3 claims he was a “tentmaker,” and this is certainly possible.

#10 – Paul was incarcerated in Rome in the early 60s CE

In Philippians 1:12-26, Paul writes that he is imprisoned. Many scholars believe he wrote this letter from Rome, although Ronald Hock writes in the HarperCollins Study Bible that he might also have been in Caesarea or Ephesus. This is what he says in verses 12-14:

The fact that Paul is interacting with the imperial guard (or praetorium, in the original writing), probably indicates that he was in Rome. Furthermore, Paul seems to indicate that his execution is a distinct possibility:

Paul indicates here that whether he lives or dies, God’s purposes will be served. Most scholars believed he was executed in Rome around 64 CE.

Conclusion

If we use only the authentic, undisputed letters of Paul as source material, we have a lot of gaps in his life story. In addition, human memory is notoriously inaccurate, making it difficult to determine exactly what happened in the life of the historical Paul. However, his letters are certainly the best evidence we have for Paul’s biographical details. What do they tell us?

Paul was a proud, zealous Jew, a Pharisee, in fact. This zealousness was focused into hatred for the nascent Jesus movement, which he must have seen as heretical to the traditions of his people. However, after a visionary experience of Christ, Paul became just as zealous about Jesus, traveling vast areas and preaching the gospel he said he had received.

We can confidently say, from his letters, that he was unmarried, had some sort of disability, and supported himself by manual labor on his journeys. In addition, he had a disagreement with Peter and other apostles, believing himself to be just as much an apostle as they were since he had experienced the risen Jesus.

Pauline Chronology: Reconstructing the Timeline of Paul's Letters

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

A few years ago, I remember eagerly anticipating the release of Paul, the Apostle of Christ. As someone deeply invested in early Christian history, the idea of seeing an apostle Paul timeline portrayed on the big screen was genuinely exciting. But when the movie finally hit theaters, my enthusiasm gave way to mixed feelings.

While the cinematography and performances were engaging, the story leaned heavily into a Hollywood-style dramatization, missing, in my view, some of the more complex and historically fascinating aspects of Paul’s life. Still, the experience reminded me of just how central Paul remains, not only to Christian theology but to the very shape and identity of early Christianity.

And Paul's life? Nothing short of extraordinary. A staunch persecutor of the early Jesus movement who became its most zealous proponent, Paul crisscrossed the Mediterranean world, founding communities, writing letters, and enduring hardship at nearly every turn.

Yet, reconstructing an Apostle Paul timeline is no easy task. His writings offer tantalizing clues, while the Book of Acts provides a parallel (but often conflicting) narrative. The task for historians is to sift through these sources, weigh their historical reliability, and place Paul’s letters within the broader flow of his life and ministry.

In this article, we’ll walk through that reconstruction process, beginning with a brief overview of who the apostle Paul was and why his voice matters so much. Moreover, we'll focus in particular on the scholarly attempt to arrange these writings in chronological order — an effort that helps us understand the timeline of Paul.

By the end, we’ll present a working timeline of Paul’s letters alongside key events in his life. While debates remain and certainties are few, scholars have made remarkable progress in outlining the shape of Paul’s ministry. 

Understanding the Apostle Paul’s timeline, even in its provisional form, offers an unparalleled glimpse into the birth of Christianity. Not as a sudden event, but as a process shaped by time, struggle, and letters.

When it comes to Paul and his influence, one thing is worth highlighting: Dr. Bart D. Ehrman offers an outstanding course titled Paul and Jesus: The Great Divide. In it, he explores the fascinating differences between the two most influential figures in Christian history — Paul and Jesus — through sharp historical analysis. Ever wondered whether the two would have seen eye to eye? If so, this course is for you. Don’t miss it — check it out today!

Contextualizing the Apostle Paul Timeline: A Brief Overview of His Life

Before we delve into our Apostle Paul timeline, it’s worth pausing to consider who he was and why his life left such a lasting mark on the development of early Christianity.

Unlike Jesus, Paul left behind a series of writings that provide direct insight into his thoughts, experiences, and theological convictions. Alongside these letters, the Book of Acts offers a narrative account of his missionary journeys and interactions with other leaders of the early Church.

While Acts supplies an interesting biographical framework, historians approach it with caution, recognizing that its theological agenda often diverges from the self-representation found in Paul’s letters.

Paul’s background is as complex as his legacy. Born into a Jewish family and trained in the traditions of Pharisaic Judaism, he described himself as zealous for the Law and blameless in its observance.

Initially, he opposed the Jesus movement and actively sought to suppress it. His transformation came through what he describes not as a conversion but as a divine revelation: A sudden and overwhelming encounter with the risen Jesus.

From that moment, Paul believed he had been commissioned to bring the message of Jesus to the Gentiles. This shift, as Larry Hurtado notes, didn’t amount to a rejection of his Jewish identity, but rather a radical reinterpretation of God's promises in light of what he understood as the climactic event of Jesus’ resurrection.

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The years that followed this revelatory moment were marked by intense missionary activity. Paul traveled across the eastern Mediterranean, preaching in cities like Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus.

What emerges from his writings is a deeply personal and theological vision of life in Christ. As Mark A. Powell observes in Introducing the New Testament, Paul wasn’t only the most prolific early Christian writer but arguably its most influential thinker. 

His passion, rhetorical skill, and unwavering sense of purpose shaped both the communities he founded and the broader theological contours of the Christian tradition.

Understanding the man behind the letters is crucial for any attempt to reconstruct the flow of his ministry. His teachings on faith, grace, and the inclusion of Gentiles weren’t simply doctrinal positions but deeply tied to his lived experience and self-understanding as an apostle.

As Bart D. Ehrman and Hugo Mendez point out in The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, Paul’s insistence that Gentiles need not adopt the Jewish Law to become part of God’s people was one of the most revolutionary (and controversial) aspects of his mission.

It’s within this larger historical and theological framework that scholars have sought to piece together the sequence of his letters and journeys. 

Reconstructing the apostle Paul’s timeline, then, isn’t just about dates and events. It’s about tracing the arc of a life that helped shape the very identity of Christianity in its formative decades.

Before we begin delving into Pauline chronology, let’s break down the timeline of his letters in a nice chart that will help you follow the rest of our article! We are the best, I know.

What Is the Chronological Order of the Pauline letters?

Paul’s impact on early Christianity is preserved most tangibly in the letters that bear his name — thirteen epistles in total, forming a foundational part of the New Testament. Scholars typically classify these writings into three categories based on linguistic style, theological content, and historical context:

#1 – The seven undisputed letters
#2 – Deutero-Pauline Epistles
#3 – Pastoral Epistles 

The stylistic and conceptual distance between these groups of letters reflects different phases of early Christian development and the influence of Pauline school traditions. 

Needless to say, only the first group goes back to the historical Paul. Other letters were probably written after his death by later followers who tried to back up the claims they made by identifying themselves as Paul.

Furthermore, in his book Einleitung in das Neue Testament (Introduction to the New Testament), Udo Schnelle notes:

Understanding the basic information about this literary corpus, therefore, is essential before attempting to map Apostle Paul’s timeline.

While all thirteen letters are included in the New Testament canon, not all can be used equally as historical sources. The seven undisputed letters form the bedrock of any reconstruction of Paul’s chronology, offering relatively direct windows into specific moments of his ministry. For that reason, we’ll focus on those and leave the rest for future articles!

Timeline of Paul’s Letters: A Scholarly Reconstruction

When it comes to reconstructing the sequence in which the apostle Paul wrote his letters, scholars generally operate within two competing models. The traditional view follows the structure of Paul’s missionary journeys as outlined in Acts, aligning them with references in his epistles.

In contrast, revisionist models suggest earlier or alternative datings. A smaller but influential group of scholars supports this approach.  Their reconstructions depend heavily on different dates of Jesus' crucifixion and differing levels of trust in Acts versus Paul's letters.

Raymond E. Brown, in his An Introduction to the New Testament, outlines both approaches, but ultimately supports the traditional model, in which Paul’s major letters were composed between roughly 50 and 58 CE. Still, as Brown notes, precise dating remains elusive.

Still, as Brown notes, precise dating remains elusive. Even with careful source analysis, any Pauline chronology remains provisional — an educated guess at best!

The one widely accepted anchor point is his appearance before Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12-17). This event provides a rare fixed point in the New Testament chronology. As Daniel Marguerat explains in his recent monograph, Paul de Tarse (Paul of Tarsus):

With this benchmark in place, most scholars agree that 1 Thessalonians is likely the earliest of Paul’s extant letters, written from Corinth around 50–51 CE. The letter addresses a young Christian community in Macedonia that Paul had recently founded but was forced to leave due to persecution.

Paul’s next surviving letters, 1 and 2 Corinthians, were likely written between 53 and 56 CE, during his extended stay in Ephesus and later travels through Macedonia. 

1 Corinthians addresses internal divisions, moral lapses, and questions about marriage, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection, while 2 Corinthians reveals a more personal and vulnerable Paul who defends his apostolic authority and criticizes the so-called “super-apostles.” 

Galatians, though harder to date precisely, was likely written between 52 and 55 C.E., either before or just after 1 Corinthians. The debate hinges on whether Paul was addressing communities in northern or southern Galatia — a question with implications for the letter’s place in his itinerary.

Regardless, the epistle is a fiery defense of his gospel: Salvation by faith in the resurrected Jesus apart from the works of the Law. More specifically, Paul insists Gentile believers need not adopt Jewish practices such as circumcision, a claim that placed him at odds with other early Christian leaders. 

The dating of Philippians and Philemon presents a particularly interesting scholarly challenge, as Paul wrote both letters while in prison. Yet, the precise location and time of that imprisonment remain uncertain. 

The traditional view holds that these two letters were composed during Paul’s Roman imprisonment around 60-62 C.E., a position supported by the narrative at the end of Acts (28:16-31). This dating would make these letters among the final texts written by Paul before his presumed execution under Nero.

However, some contemporary scholars argue for an earlier date and different location, suggesting that both letters were written during a previous imprisonment in Ephesus, likely between 54 and 56 C.E.

Udo Schnelle, for instance, affirms this as a viable alternative, noting that recent scholarship increasingly favors Ephesus as the place of composition.

Daniel Marguerat is more cautious, summarizing the debate and arguments by focusing on the Epistle to Philemon:

While certainty remains out of reach, acknowledging both options allows us to appreciate the fluid and context-dependent nature of Pauline chronology. 

Finally, Paul’s Letter to the Romans! Günther Bornkamm famously referred to it as “Paul’s testament.” 

Why? Basically, it’s the closest we can get to the systematic outline of Paul’s theology. As Mark A. Powell notes, Romans represent “a good starting point for understanding Paul precisely because it offers a mature and articulate presentation of some of his key ideas.”

Similarly, Marguerat explains:

So, how does Romans fit into the apostle Paul timeline? Well, it was likely written from Corinth around 57 C.E., as he prepared to bring the collection from his Gentile churches to Jerusalem.

In his Commentary on Romans, Robert Jewett notes:

As such, Romans stands not only as a theological synthesis of Paul’s gospel but also as a carefully timed appeal to a community he hoped would support the next phase of his mission — a letter shaped as much by doctrinal conviction as by strategic foresight at a pivotal moment in his ministry.

Apostle Paul Timeline: Chart

Before we conclude our exploration of the Apostle Paul timeline, we thought it would be helpful to provide a concise overview of the key events in his life just to give you (our favorite readers!) a clear sense of how his ministry unfolded in real historical circumstances!

Conclusion

Reflecting on my experience watching Paul, the Apostle of Christ, I now recognize more clearly why the film (despite its dramatic strengths) left me wanting more. What was missing, I believe, was the intricate, historically grounded picture that emerges when we examine Paul not just as a saint or martyr but as a complex, dynamic historical figure.

His letters, written across the span of a turbulent and demanding life, are not isolated theological tracts but deeply contextual pieces of communication. By stepping into the world behind those writings (his travels, his imprisonments, his interactions with communities), we begin to see just how remarkable and layered the apostle Paul’s timeline truly is.

And yet, this timeline remains, in many ways, a puzzle in motion. While the traditional model offers a coherent narrative, it cannot claim final certainty. Scholarly debate continues, fueled by new readings, archaeological discoveries, and evolving methods of interpretation.

Pauline Epistles: All 13 Letters In Order (With Summaries)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Paul stands as the most important, most controversial, and least understood figure in earliest Christianity. Once a zealous Jewish persecutor of Jesus’ followers, he became the faith’s most visible and provocative advocate.

Through his missionary work and writings, Paul was instrumental in extending Christianity’s reach to the Gentile world, forever altering the course of its development. Among his enduring legacies are the Pauline epistles — 13 letters that serve as the earliest written sources for the beginnings of Christianity, offering profound insights into its theological, ethical, and communal foundations.

Furthermore, Paul’s influence on the theological development of nascent Christianity is unparalleled. As James D. G. Dunn aptly observes in The Theology of Paul the Apostle:

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In this article, we’ll explore 13 Pauline's letters, placing them chronologically and summarizing their content and themes. We’ll begin with a brief overview of who Paul was and the definition of an epistle, focusing on the broader Greco-Roman world. 

Along the way, we’ll also address an important scholarly consideration: not all of the letters traditionally attributed to Paul were necessarily written by him. 

This adds a layer of complexity to our understanding of the Pauline epistles, making them not just historical documents but also subjects of ongoing academic debate. We have a whole article on that if you are interested! 

Finally, we’ll delve into concise summaries of each letter, uncovering their key messages and enduring significance. Whether you’re new to Paul’s writings or revisiting them with fresh curiosity, this guide to the Pauline epistles will illuminate their vital role in the story of Christianity.

However, before we immerse ourselves into the world of Apostle Paul, why not explore how his teachings compare to those of Jesus? Join Dr. Bart D. Ehrman’s online course “Paul and Jesus: The Great Divide” for a scholarly analysis of these two pivotal figures in Christian history – and uncover surprising truths that challenge conventional perspectives!

Who Was Paul? A Glimpse Into His Biography

Before we delve into the summaries of the Pauline epistles, it’s important to understand the man behind them. Paul’s life and identity were deeply rooted in the multicultural Mediterranean world of the first century CE, shaped by his Jewish heritage and religious commitments.

Whether or not Paul was educated in Jerusalem, as the Book of Acts suggests, his letters reflect a strong connection to distinctly Palestinian Jewish concerns. Among these is the worldview of Jewish apocalypticism — a perspective prominent across the New Testament documents, which envisions history as a cosmic battle between good and evil, culminating in God’s ultimate triumph.

Paul was a Pharisee, devoted to interpreting and practicing the Torah, which he regarded as the ultimate standard of human and divine righteousness. As he writes in his own letters (e.g., Philippians 3:6, Galatians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 15:9), Paul began his career as a zealous persecutor of Jesus’ followers.

However, Paul’s life took a dramatic turn following a profound religious vision on the road to Damascus — an encounter he interpreted as the appearance of the resurrected Jesus. 

While Paul does not provide detailed descriptions of this event in his letters, he uses the Greek verb ōphthē (meaning “he was seen”) to describe his experience of the risen Christ, distinguishing his claim as the only firsthand account of such an encounter in the New Testament.

This transformative vision not only redirected Paul’s life but reshaped his theological understanding. As Luke T. Johnson explains in The Writings of the New Testament:

Following this transformative event, Paul devoted his life to establishing and nurturing Christian communities throughout Asia Minor and Europe. Acts and the Pauline epistles sometimes diverge on details of his travels, but both sources agree on the overarching pattern of his work. 

He embarked on missionary journeys, often traveling with companions like Barnabas or Timothy, and wrote letters to address the needs, questions, and disputes of the communities he founded. These letters, known collectively as the Pauline epistles, remain our earliest and most direct window into the beliefs, challenges, and dynamics of early Christianity.

As for the final chapter of Paul’s life, historical details are scarce and often clouded by tradition. According to early Christian sources, Paul likely met his death in Rome under Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians during in the mid-60s C.E. While later traditions describe his martyrdom, no contemporary account survives to confirm this.

What Are the Pauline Epistles?

Since we’ve mentioned the Pauline epistles a few times already, it’s worth pausing to define what a letter was in the ancient world and to explore the specific role Paul’s letters played within the nascent Christian movement.

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, an epistle, or letter (epistolē in Greek), was typically a formal composition addressed to an individual or a group. While letters could be personal and intimate, they were often public documents meant to be read aloud to larger audiences.

The typical structure of an ancient letter followed a standard format. It began with a greeting or salutation, usually identifying the sender and the recipient, often accompanied by a wish for health or well-being.

This was followed by a thanksgiving or blessing section, where the writer expressed gratitude or invoked divine favor. Mark A. Powell juxtaposes Paul’s rhetorical technique with the world of Greco-Roman letter writing, explaining: 

The main body of the letter would contain the core message, ranging from instruction to rebuke to encouragement. Finally, the letter concluded with personal greetings, a closing blessing, and sometimes a signature or final exhortation. Paul’s letters largely follow this conventional structure, though he often, as Powell notes, expanded on it creatively to suit his theological aims.

Within the early Christian movement, the Pauline letters served distinct and critical functions. They were theological treatises, pastoral guidance, and practical tools for community building all rolled into one. Johnson highlights important features of the epistles of Paul: 

#1 – His letters are occasional: They are written in response to real situations (e.g. conflict within the community in Corinth) rather than as the vehicle for systematic theology. 

#2 – The epistles of Paul are, in a sense, official. They are not written for personal news or

entertainment but as a message from an apostle to the “church of God” or his delegates in a certain place.

#3 – Pauline epistles are complex in composition and rich in theological nuances. They are often considered “mixed types,” as they don’t fit neatly into any single category outlined in ancient rhetorical handbooks. Instead, the letters of Paul blend elements from various Greco-Roman letter types, adapting their forms and functions to address a wide range of purposes.

In summary, the Pauline epistles are more than ancient artifacts; they are dynamic documents that bridged distances and connected early Christian communities in a way no religious tradition has done before! 

Pauline Epistles: The Chronological Order

In our journey through the Pauline epistles, a table summarizing their approximate dates and authorship feels like the perfect addition! But before we dive in, a quick disclaimer: The 13 letters of Paul didn’t come stamped with a date of composition or a “published by” note at the end.

The sources relied on are less informative than we’d like — think of a treasure map missing half its clues. The dates provided here are approximations, pieced together through careful deduction and heated scholarly debates that, frankly, show no signs of cooling down anytime soon! So, take these dates as well-informed guesses rather than gospel truth.

This table reflects the approximative chronological order of Pauline epistles based on scholarly consensus available in standard and widely recognized college textbooks, such as Bart D. Ehrman’s The New Testament: An Introduction.

Now that we’ve provided a short insight into Paul’s life and letters, we can turn our attention to summarizing each of these letters of Paul (including those he didn’t write but bear his name), starting with the 1 Thessalonians! Let’s get into it.

Pauline Epistles: Summary

1 Thessalonians

Our exploration into the summaries of the 13 letters of Paul starts with a text written to a small and fragile community! 

Widely regarded as the earliest of the Pauline epistles, 1 Thessalonians addresses the fledgling Christian community in Thessalonica (Greece). The letter is pastoral, meaning it focuses on providing spiritual guidance, encouragement, and moral support to a community facing challenges. In this case, Paul urges the Thessalonians to remain steadfast in their faith despite persecution, offering reassurance and hope in light of their struggles.

A central theme is the anticipation of Christ’s return, or the Parousia, as Paul provides assurance about the fate of deceased believers and urges the Thessalonians to live holy and disciplined lives in preparation for this eschatological event.

In his An Introduction to the New Testament, Raymond E. Brown notes: 

How many people did Paul convince in his message and how many of them left the community? I wish we could know the answer! Unfortunately, the scarcity of evidence prevents us from piecing together details of life in one of the earliest Christian communities!

Galatians

The letter to the Galatians is a forceful defense of Paul’s gospel message, emphasizing justification by faith rather than adherence to the Mosaic Law. Written to counter opponents who advocated for the necessity of circumcision for Gentile converts, this epistle is a passionate argument against legalism.

In Paul’s opinion, the basis for salvation lies elsewhere. As Delbert Burkett explains: “Paul justified his position by arguing that salvation came through faith in Jesus, not through keeping the Jewish Law. Gentiles therefore did not have to keep the Law to be saved.”

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians offers a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of an early Christian community in Corinth (Greece) grappling with internal divisions and moral dilemmas. Paul addresses a range of issues, from factionalism caused by social inequalities and sexual immorality to disputes over spiritual gifts and the resurrection. 

The epistle’s famous chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13) is one of the most eloquent pieces of early Christian literature. It encapsulates Paul’s vision for unity and selflessness within the body of Christ.

If you’re interested in exploring the challenges faced by Christians in Corinth and the reasons behind this epistle, Gerd Theissen's groundbreaking study The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity is an excellent resource. For a free guide to 1 Corinthians, be sure to check out our article dedicated to this pivotal epistle!

Philemon

A personal and highly unique letter, Philemon is written to a Christian slave owner concerning his runaway slave, Onesimus. The epistle encourages Philemon to accept Onesimus not merely as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.

While short, the letter raises significant questions about the social dynamics of the early Christian movement, showing that the first Christian communities, as illustrated in detailed studies by scholars such as Edwin A. Judge and Wayne Meeks, were a “mixed bag” consisting of people from different social backgrounds.

Philippians

As one of the Pauline epistles, Philippians is often described as a letter of joy and encouragement, written to a community that had been particularly supportive of Paul’s ministry. The letter emphasizes humility and unity, famously portraying Jesus as a model of selflessness in the so-called “Christ Hymn” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Another important feature of this epistle is its complex composition history. As it turns out, most scholars believe that what is now known as "Philippians" was originally more than one letter. Bart Ehrman explains:

Romans

Considered the most theologically rich of the Pauline epistles, Romans is a profound exploration of themes like justification by faith, the universality of sin, and God’s plan for salvation.

Written to a community Paul had not yet visited, the letter systematically presents his gospel, aiming to unify Jewish and Gentile believers. It also addresses practical issues, such as living a life of obedience to God and love for one another.

2 Corinthians

In 2 Corinthians,  Paul reflects on his turbulent relationship with the Corinthian church, offering a mix of personal defense and theological teaching. The letter emphasizes the nature of apostolic ministry, highlighting themes of weakness and divine strength.

Paul’s discussion of the “new covenant” and reconciliation underscores his understanding of God’s transformative power at work through suffering and human frailty. To learn more about this amazing letter, make sure to check our article devoted to the in-depth analysis of its authorship, date, and themes.

Colossians

This letter focuses on the supremacy of Jesus and the dangers of false teachings that threaten the community’s understanding of the gospel. As James D. G. Dunn notes in his Commentary:

Scholars debate whether this epistle was written by Paul or a later follower influenced by his theology. Regardless of authorship, the letter urges readers to resist heretical teachings and remain rooted in Jesus, who is portrayed as the cosmic reconciler and head of the Church.

What kind of "heresy" was the challenge that caused the composition of this letter? We can't be sure! Scholars differ significantly, and we'll cover these nuances in a separate article devoted entirely to Colossians.

Ephesians

Considered one of the disputed Pauline epistles, Ephesians is a theological reflection on the unity of the Church as the body of Jesus. It emphasizes the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles through Jesus and outlines ethical guidelines for Christian living.

Many scholars suggest that this letter may have been a circular one, intended for multiple communities.

2 Thessalonians

This letter addresses concerns about the timing of Jesus’ return, cautioning against claims that the Day of the Lord had already arrived. Most scholars recognize abrupt changes in theology between the 2 and 1 Thessalonians, concluding that Paul probably didn’t write the former letter.

In his Einleitung in Das Neue Testament (Introduction to the New Testament), Udo Schnelle explains the main reason for doubting Paul’s authorship of the 2 Thessalonians:

1 Timothy

One of the Pastoral Epistles, 1 Timothy provides instructions for the governance of the Church, emphasizing qualities of leadership and sound doctrine. Its advice for appointing elders and deacons reflects an interest in organizational structure as the Christian movement matured by the end of the 1st century.

It is in this letter that we read an infamous warning to women: 

This text has sparked significant scholarly debate, particularly because it represents a more rigid stance on women's roles than what we find in undisputed Pauline letters, such as Romans 16, where Paul commends women like Phoebe (a deacon) and Junia (prominent among the apostles). He also acknowledges women praying and prophesying in the church (1 Corinthians 15). This is just one of the many reasons why virtually all scholars agree Paul didn’t pen any of the pastoral letters.

2 Timothy

Among the final letters that the early Church put under the umbrella of Pauline epistles, 2 Timothy is both personal and reflective, often seen as a farewell message. The writer encourages steadfastness in faith and endurance in the face of suffering.

Themes of perseverance, loyalty, and hope permeate the text, which also highlights the importance of Scripture for teaching and spiritual growth. 

Titus

As the last of the Pastoral Epistles, the letter to Titus offers guidance on Church leadership and the ethical behavior expected of Christians. The letter is directed to a trusted associate of Paul, and focuses on the importance of sound teaching and good works. As with the other Pastoral Epistles, its authorship is widely debated, with most scholars attributing it to a later period in the development of the early Church.

From a bird’s-eye perspective, the Pastoral Epistles reveal the early Church's remarkable ability to adapt and reinterpret its message in the face of unmet expectations. Although the anticipated Parousia didn’t occur as Jesus' earliest followers had believed and hoped, the nascent Christian movement not only survived but flourished. 

Understanding how and why some new religious movements endure initial setbacks while others fade away is a fascinating field of study! As Hans Conzelmann observes, the success of Christianity can, in part, be attributed to the thematic framework of the Pastoral Epistles.

These letters reflect a deliberate shift, emphasizing the importance of sound doctrine, orderly leadership, and practical ethics as a means to sustain the faith community in the absence of Christ's imminent return. Conzelmann notes:

Conclusion

The Pauline epistles, whether written by Paul himself or attributed to his name, offer a unique window into the development of early Christianity. These letters reveal a faith community grappling with theological, social, and ethical challenges while navigating the growing pains of a nascent religion in a diverse and sometimes even hostile world

From the earliest letter, 1 Thessalonians, to the complex themes in Romans and the disputed authorship of the Pastoral Epistles, each letter contributes to a multifaceted understanding of Christian doctrine, community, and identity.

What strikes me most about these 13 Pauline letters is their remarkable complexity, diversity, and adaptability. Despite the vast differences in themes, style, and circumstances, the early Church demonstrated an extraordinary ability to find common ground.

It succeeded in building a cohesive community that transcended regional, social, and cultural boundaries — ultimately laying the foundation for what would become the world’s most influential religion. James D. G. Dunn captures this phenomenon perfectly, stating:

Did Paul Meet Jesus? (While Living or Resurrected)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

After his conversion, the Apostle Paul’s life centered around Jesus, whom he believed to be the Messiah. But did Paul meet Jesus? This question is more complicated than it may appear. For in Paul’s view, there were two phases of Jesus’ life. In the first phase, Jesus was a 1st-century Galilean preacher who was crucified by Roman authorities.

One question, then, is whether Paul met this earthly Jesus.  The second, though, concerns the resurrected Jesus whom Paul believed to have conquered sin and death and been raised up to heaven, later appearing to a number of people. Was Paul one of these people? Did Paul see Jesus after his resurrection? Let’s delve into these two questions.

Would It Have Been Possible for Paul to Meet Jesus? (Did They Live at the Same Time?)

In order to determine whether Paul met Jesus before the crucifixion, we have to start with a simple question: Did Paul and Jesus live at the same time?

While none of our sources talks directly about Paul’s birth, L. Michael White and the scholarly consensus say that he was born between 5 BCE and 5 CE. In addition, Raymond Brown notes that Paul was executed near the end of Nero’s reign, probably in 67 or 68 CE.

Most scholars place Jesus’ birth, on the other hand, between 6 and 4 BCE, at the end of the life and reign of Herod the Great, according to Geza Vermes. Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd agree with the scholarly consensus that Jesus’ death occurred between 30 and 33 CE.

This tells us that Jesus and Paul definitely lived at the same time. But did they live in the same place?

Did Jesus and Paul Live in the Same Place?

Although the Gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, scholarly consensus agrees that it’s much more likely that he was born in Nazareth, which Mark 6:1 calls his hometown (Greek: patrida).

This also places Jesus in the northern Palestinian region of Galilee. The Synoptic Gospels are clear that Jesus spent the vast majority of his life and ministry in Galilee. As a Galilean Jew, Jesus probably spoke only Aramaic, as did his Galilean disciples.

The book of Acts says that Paul, on the other hand, was born in the city of Tarsus in the region of Cilicia (modern-day Turkey). Although Paul never says he was born in Tarsus in his letters, scholars find no reason to doubt it. After all, Paul was clearly a Greek-speaking Jew – writing all his letters in Greek – and Greek was the primary language in Cilicia.

But Acts 22:3 also has Paul announce that although he was born in Tarsus, he was raised in Jerusalem and educated by the famous rabbi Gamaliel. Couldn’t he have met Jesus there?

I noted in another article that the book of Acts is not always historically reliable. Its portrayal of Paul, for example, frequently contradicts Paul’s own words from his letters. Since Paul never mentions being raised in Jerusalem or being educated by Gamaliel – both of which would have given him added credibility with the communities to whom he wrote his letters – most scholars dismiss this as a literary invention by the author of Luke-Acts.

So, we’ve established that Paul and Jesus were indeed contemporaries. Although they were Jews of roughly the same age, they were born and raised far from each other. An actual meeting between the two would have required Paul to travel to Palestine since Jesus apparently never left. Could this have happened before the crucifixion?

The book of Acts, which again is historically suspect, also says that Paul started out by persecuting Christians in Jerusalem before his conversion. If he was in Jerusalem then, couldn’t he have been there for several years and thus have met Jesus?

It turns out that Paul’s own letters make it seem doubtful that he was persecuting Christians in Jerusalem before his conversion. Bart Ehrman points out, for example, that in Galatians 1:22, Paul says that he “was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.” In other words, members of the church in Jerusalem had never seen him before.

This suggests that he had never been among them, which also suggests that he was persecuting Christians in other regions, not Jerusalem or anywhere else in Judea. But where was Paul when Jesus was being crucified?

It seems strange, given how widely-known Jesus is now, but he was relatively unknown before his crucifixion. This is not to say that he didn’t have followers; he clearly did. But it’s unlikely that anyone outside of Palestine had heard of him before stories about his resurrection started to circulate.

So the most likely answer is that Paul was still in Tarsus, his hometown, when Jesus was being crucified. He was probably unaware of Jesus until he discovered the post-resurrection movement based on him, a movement whose identification of a crucified criminal as Messiah infuriated him and made him want to persecute its members.

All this evidence, added to the fact that Paul never claims in his letters to have met the earthly Jesus, makes one conclusion inevitable: Jesus and Paul never met during Jesus’ earthly life.

What Does Paul Write About Meeting Jesus?

Since Paul never even claims to have met the earthly Jesus, we have to examine what he says about encountering the resurrected Jesus. His entire life after post-conversion, was devoted to the resurrected Christ. But what actually happened during this encounter? Did he actually see and/or hear Jesus?

Most scholars agree with Paul Barnett that Paul’s conversion experience took place 3-7 years after the death of Jesus, placing it between 33 and 37 CE.

The best-known Bible verse of Paul’s encounter with Jesus is Acts 9:1-9. It’s worth looking at the whole thing here:

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

This is a very dramatic scene and has inspired many famous paintings, such as The Conversion of Saint Paul by Caravaggio. The scene is related twice more by Paul himself in the book of Acts with some minor details changed (see Acts 22:1–21 and 26:9–23). However, the major elements of a blinding light and the voice of Jesus are common to all three.

So according to Acts, Paul definitely met the risen Jesus. But what does Paul say in his letters about his own conversion experience? Does it match the scene in Acts?

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-9, Paul writes about appearances of the resurrected Jesus to others, including Peter, the disciples, 500 other Christians at one time, James the brother of Jesus, and finally the apostles (presumably different from the disciples). At the end of this list, he writes “Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Note that he says “last of all,” indicating that Jesus’ appearance to him was the last to occur. Rabbi Shira Lander notes that the Greek word translated as “untimely born” actually refers to a stillbirth. In other words, Paul refers to his time persecuting the church as a time when he was (metaphorically) dead, while his encounter with the resurrected Jesus brought him to life.

This passage speaks broadly of an appearance of the risen Jesus to Paul, but doesn’t give us a lot of detail about that experience. A passage in 2 Corinthians gives us a bit more information.

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-5, Paul, referring to himself in the 3rd person, a convention which Alan-Avery Peck says was common to apocalyptic literature, says this:

It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.

This gives us more information, but only if we understand its context.

First of all, Paul acknowledges in this letter that he had been rhetorically attacked by someone in the Corinthian community. He therefore tells of his “visions and revelations of the Lord” in order to boost his credibility with the Corinthian community, insisting that he really has gotten his gospel straight from God (see also Galatians 1:11-12).

Avery-Peck also notes that the “third heaven,” according to mystical Judaism, was where one obtained a vision of God. What Paul is saying, then, is that he had a kind of out-of-body experience in which he had a vision of God.

He doesn’t mention Jesus by name, however. We also don’t see the blinding light or hear the voice, although he does say he heard something there that he cannot repeat. Perhaps this came from the voice of Jesus, but Paul doesn’t say. All in all, the experience seems quite different from that of Acts.

Which Jesus Mattered Most to Paul?

It's important to note that Paul says very little in his letters about the earthly Jesus. He does occasionally refer to some of Jesus’ teachings, but it’s not always clear if they came from the earthly Jesus or from Paul’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, for example, he says

For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.

This “by the word of the Lord” could mean that it’s something he was told by the risen Jesus, although it could also be something the disciples had repeated to him from the earthly Jesus. Since we don’t find this teaching in the Gospels, it’s hard to know.

It’s evident, though, that for Paul, Jesus’ heavenly, post-resurrection identity was always more important than anything the earthly Jesus said or did. As Bart Ehrman writes, Paul says a lot about the cosmic significance of Jesus, but very little about the historical Jesus.

What he says the disciples passed on to him, the fundamentals of the faith, so to speak, are listed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

Those are the basics and Paul will repeat them in other letters. But he spends far more time on theological ideas about Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return in his authentic letters. It’s certain, then, that for Paul, the risen Jesus is the one that mattered most.

For that reason, as well as his own descriptions of his conversion experience, we can definitely say that Paul had some kind of experience of the risen Jesus.

Conclusion

That Jesus and Paul were contemporaries is undeniable. They were born around the same time and both were raised in Jewish environments. They did not, however, live anywhere near each other.

Paul’s command of Greek, as seen in his authentic letters, makes it clear that Greek was his first (and probably only) language, making it likely that he was born and raised in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia as the book of Acts says.

The earthly Jesus, however, was born in Nazareth in Galilee and would have grown up speaking Aramaic. If the Synoptic Gospels are to be believed, he spent most of his life in Galilee, only leaving to go to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, an occasion which would also bring about his death.

So, did Paul meet Jesus? It’s quite clear that although Paul and Jesus could conceivably have met, they never did.

Paul did, however, have some kind of mystical encounter with the risen Jesus. People of faith take Paul’s word on this as gospel (pun intended). For historians, though, it’s evident that Paul fully believed he had genuinely met the resurrected Jesus and that this changed the course of his life, which, of course, changed the course of Christianity.

The Story of Paul in the Bible (Verses & Timeline!)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

When reading the New Testament, we first learn about a man named Saul in the book of Acts who oversees the execution of a man named Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  In fact, we learn that this same Saul is seeking to destroy the church.  But what happened next changed Saul’s life forever - and Christian history!  He converted to Christianity, changed his name to Paul, and became the most important missionary for the Christian church ever.  In this article, I will relay the story of Paul in the Bible from his early years, to his conversion, to his subsequent missionary journeys.

Karl Paul Donfried notes that telling Paul’s story is a difficult task for one principal reason:

The primary intention of the Gospels and other [New Testament] writings is not historical or biographical – they are documents of faith intended to proclaim, teach, and encourage the various early Christian communities.

While this is of course true, by using Paul’s letters combined with the book of Acts, we can trace with reasonable certainty the story of Paul’s life and his vast travels in the 1st century CE. Below is a timeline, based on one compiled by David E. Graves, of events in Paul’s life.

Take a look at it, then read on to look a bit closer at some of the most significant events of the story of Paul in the Bible. I’ll also include some of the verses in the Bible in which Paul’s story is found.

Timeline of Paul’s Life

Paul’s Early Life

Paul’s Jewish name was Saul, or Sha'ûl in Hebrew. He was probably named after King Saul, the first king of Israel, who, like Paul, was from the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. While many have told the conversion story of Saul to Paul in the Bible, Paul’s name wasn’t really changed according to Acts.

Instead, James D.G. Dunn notes that the Latin name Paulus, meaning “small”, was simply a second name which Paul used when he communicated with Greco-Roman people. This applies to the churches he wrote to in his authentic epistles which were made up of Greek-speaking gentiles.

In Acts 22:3 Paul gives a brief history of his background:

I am a Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city [Jerusalem] at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

In another article on Acts, I noted that its descriptions of Paul’s life in Acts often conflict with Paul’s own letters. While Paul was certainly a committed Jew and was likely born in Cilicia (although he never says that in his letters), Helmut Koester writes that it’s highly unlikely that Paul grew up in Jerusalem, which also means he never studied with the famous rabbi Gamaliel I.

Instead, Koester writes, Paul grew up in Tarsus as a diaspora Jew. This doesn’t make him less Jewish than the apostles, for example. In fact, Paul himself tells us how fervent his Judaism was. In Galatians 1:14, he says he “advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.”

In Philippians 3:5, he really emphasizes his bona fides as a righteous Jew:

circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee.

What does it mean that Paul was a Pharisee? Principally, the Pharisees were the ancestors of rabbinic Judaism, focusing specifically on interpretations of the Torah. All of this tells us that Paul was a passionate Jew, despite the fact that he did not grow up in Palestine.

In Romans 16:7, Paul refers to two people, Andronicus and Junia whom he calls “relatives”, and says that they became Christians before him. Perhaps this is how he was first introduced to Christianity, although it’s impossible to know.

Acts 18:2-3 indicates that Paul was a tentmaker by trade, which would imply that his father was a tentmaker as well since professions were usually passed from father to son in the ancient world. While this is certainly possible, Paul himself never says this in his letters so we can’t be sure.

Other than this scant information, this is all we know about Paul’s early life.

Paul the Persecutor

In Galatians 1:13–14 and Philippians 3:6, Paul writes that he persecuted the earliest Christians. James Dunn writes that it’s likely that Paul was mainly persecuting the Greek-speaking Christians (called “Hellenists” in Acts) living in Jerusalem at the time. Like Paul, they were Greek-speaking diaspora Jews. Unlike Paul, however, they had almost exclusively adopted Greek culture.

Dunn thinks this might explain Paul’s extreme antipathy toward them. Paul, as a Pharisee, was zealous for the Jewish Law, while these Jews who were culturally Greek and had adopted Christianity were probably not as concerned with Torah observance.

An alternative explanation comes from Bart Ehrman who says that Paul probably persecuted Christians because they claimed that a crucified criminal was the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah was supposed to be a great and powerful figure who would overthrow Israel’s enemies by military force. In that sense, Jesus did not fit the bill.

While Acts 8:3 says Paul persecuted Christians with the assent and authority of Jerusalem’s Jewish leaders, dragging Christians out of their homes and putting them in prison, this is unlikely. Paul never says this in his letters, but merely writes that he persecuted Christians (whatever that might mean).

Paul’s Conversion

In Acts, there are three accounts of Paul’s conversion which seems to have happened between 33 and 36 CE, just a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion (Acts 9:1-19, Acts 22:6-21, Acts 26:12-18). While there are differences between these versions, they all paint a dramatic picture of a blinding light and the voice of Jesus coming to Paul as he’s on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. Paul’s letters don’t say this at all.

Instead, Paul is quite circumspect about relating his experience. For example, in Galatians 1:12, he merely says that he did not receive the gospel he preaches from humans but from “a revelation of Jesus Christ.” In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, he says that after the resurrected Jesus appeared to Peter, the 12 apostles, and then 500 other Christians, “last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

The only indication we get of the actual experience of Paul's conversion is from Galatians 1:11-16:

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ...But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

Whatever happened to Paul, he emerged from it not only as a follower of Jesus but also as a zealous missionary, transferring his enthusiasm for the Jewish Law to his mission of converting gentiles to belief in Jesus. He believed, in other words, that God had given him this calling, and that Jesus’ resurrection was a sign that the end of the world was at hand.

With this brief background, let’s look at the three major missionary journeys Paul took. In most of his destinations, Paul established communities of Christ-followers who would then be the audience to whom he wrote his letters.

Paul’s First Missionary Journey

The story of Paul in the Bible cannot be told without acknowledging his relentless travel schedule. Paul believed God had given him a mission to convince gentiles to believe in the saving power of Christ. This mission drove his journeys all over the Roman Empire in an ancient world in which travel was anything but convenient. But can we retrace the steps of Paul’s life? 

Andreas J. Köstenberger writes that the best way to understand the chronology of Paul’s life “relies primarily on Paul’s letters… and supplements that with data from Acts.” That is, Paul’s letters are better historical data because they were written closer to the events they describe than Acts.

However, this presents us with a problem. Paul generally wrote his letters to communities he had founded in order to address specific questions and problems in those communities. This means that we don’t always get a lot of detailed travel itineraries in his letters. Our only other option, then, is to fill in the blanks with material from the Book of Acts.

After visiting Jerusalem in 37 CE and meeting Peter and James (Gal 1:18), he went to Antioch, Syria where there was a well-established Christian community. Paul seems to have become part of this community because according to Acts 13, they sent him, along with another missionary named Barnabas, on his first journey.

Acts divides Paul’s travels into three large journeys in which Paul visited different regions. Paul’s first journey, as best we can tell, took place from 46-48 CE, taking him and Barnabas to Cyprus, southern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and then back to Antioch, Syria.

They then sailed to Perga, a city in a region called Pamphylia in modern-day Turkey, then to a different Antioch, in the region of Pisidia which again is in modern-day Turkey. After this, he returned to Antioch, Syria, which continued to be his homebase, in 48 CE.

In 49 CE, an apostolic conference was held in Antioch. It was attended by Paul but also by Peter, and several others from the Jerusalem church. At this conference, Paul seems to have had a major conflict with Peter.

Paul, who felt that it was his mission to preach to the gentiles, believed that God did not require gentiles to be circumcised or otherwise follow the obligations of Jewish Law. He says In Galatians 2:11-14 that Peter and others from the Jerusalem Church disagreed:

But when Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood self-condemned, for until certain people came from James [Jesus’ brother], he used to eat with the gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas [Peter] before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul appears to be quite proud of having stood up to Peter, one of the leaders of the Jerusalem Church, on behalf of his own gospel. However, we have no idea what Peter’s response was. Acts 15, in an effort to make everything seem harmonious between the two, tones down any disagreement on this front.

By the way, if you’re interested in this conflict, Bart Ehrman has a new online course available called “Did Peter hate Paul?”

The following year, there was another apostolic conference, this time in Jerusalem, and Paul again attended. It seems that the same disagreement arose, but according to Paul, Jesus’ brother James as well as the apostles Peter and John, acknowledged the validity of Paul’s mission to the gentiles. Again, we don’t have the apostles’ side of the story.

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey

Paul and Barnabas then embarked from Jerusalem on Paul’s second major journey from 50-52 CE. They first stopped in Antioch where Paul and Barnabas had an argument, prompting Barnabas to leave Paul. Paul then took another missionary partner named Silas (in Acts) or Silvanus in Paul’s letters.

They initially went to Paul’s birthplace of Tarsus, then to the cities of Derbe and Lystra in modern-day Turkey. In Lystra, according to Acts 16, they met a Christian named Timothy who decided to come with them. Their next destination was the Greek city of Philippi, where, again according to Acts 16, Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a servant girl. This made the girl’s master angry and Paul and Silas were imprisoned.

After their release, due to a miraculous earthquake according to Acts 16:25–40, they traveled on in Greece where they visited the cities of Berea and Athens, after which Paul alone went from Athens to Corinth where he would start a major Christian community.

After founding the Corinthian community, Acts 18 says that Paul stayed in Corinth about 18 months with a Jewish Christian couple, Aquila and Priscilla, whom Paul worked with in their trade as tentmakers. They then went with him to the city of Ephesus where Paul would establish another Christian community.

He next visited the church in Caesarea in Palestine, before returning to his old homebase of Antioch in 52 CE where he stayed about a year.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

In 53 CE, Paul began his third massive journey. According to Acts 18:23-21:17, he visited the churches he had started in the regions of Galatia, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia. He also emphasized in his letters that one of his purposes was to collect donations of money from those churches for the Jerusalem Church (see Gal 2:10, 1 Cor 16:1-4).

He then went back to Ephesus where he stayed for three years (Acts 20:31). After this, he traveled on to the city of Troas, then returned to Macedonia. In 57 CE, he returned to his beloved Corinth in Greece. 2 Corinthians 2 indicates that Paul had a conflict with someone in Corinth but he seems to have reconciled with them by letter before his visit.

From Corinth, he traveled in 57 CE to Jerusalem to deliver the donations he had collected on his travels. According to Acts 21, while Paul was in the Temple in Jerusalem, several Jews who knew him by sight stirred people up by saying that Paul had taught against the Jewish Law and had defiled the Temple by bringing “Greeks” into it (Acts 21:27-40).

In the ensuing chaos, Paul was arrested by Roman soldiers. As a result, he was imprisoned by a governor named Felix in Caesarea for two years. Later, a new governor named Festus took over (Acts 23:23 – 26:32). To Festus, Paul insisted he be tried before the emperor. Festus acquiesced and sent him as a prisoner to Rome.

It’s important to note, by the way, that at this point, we don’t have any letters from Paul describing the situation so we have to rely on Acts for this part of the story.

As Paul and his guards sailed toward Rome, they were shipwrecked on the island of Malta (Acts 27:1 – 28:16), probably in about 60 CE. Acts 28:7 says that a “leading man” on the island gave them provisions which allowed them to sail on to Italy.

They eventually arrived in Rome where Paul was put under a kind of house arrest in 60 CE.

According to Acts 28, Paul was allowed to preach from this house and people came often to hear him.

Nero was the emperor of Rome at this time. In 64 CE, there was an enormous fire in Rome which caused huge amounts of property damage and loss of life. According to Roman historian Tacitus, some thought that Nero had set the fire. To deflect suspicion from himself, Nero blamed Christians for the fire, arresting, torturing, and killing many of them over the next few years.

Paul was probably caught up in this persecution and was likely beheaded in 67 or 68 CE.

Conclusion

When you look at the sheer scope of travel that Paul accomplished in the 1st century CE, it’s mind-blowing. One would have to be obsessed in order to travel that far for that long. And indeed, Paul was obsessed, or at least very dedicated.

He was absolutely certain that God had given him a mission to bring the gentiles to the God of the Jews through Christ. He believed that this mission was absolutely crucial to God’s plan to bring about the end of the current world and the beginning of God’s Kingdom.

It was for this reason that Paul tirelessly went all over the Mediterranean basin, founding communities of Christ-followers so that when the end came (and Paul thought it could happen any moment), all these people would be saved.   

The Road to Damascus - The True Story of Paul’s Conversion

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Saul of Tarsus, originally a fervent Pharisee and a staunch persecutor of the early Church, undergoes a profound transformation on the road to Damascus. This event marks the beginning of his journey from the Church's adversary to its most passionate advocate, especially among the Gentiles. 

However, the path ahead for Saint Paul, as he would come to be known, was fraught with challenges. He faced opposition not only from non-Messianic Jews but also from within the Christian community and the Roman authorities. To some, he appeared misguided; to others, delusional or even dangerous. Yet, it was this pivotal encounter on the Damascus road that reshaped his life and, consequently, the future of Christianity.

In this article, we aim to explore the true story of Paul's conversion. We will delve into the historical context of Paul's life, the narrative of his transformation as presented in various sources, and the debates surrounding the differing accounts of this event. Our goal is to present a comprehensive and objective view that is accessible to all readers, regardless of their prior knowledge of the subject.

By examining the available evidence and scholarly interpretations, we hope to shed light on the significance of Paul's conversion and its impact on the early Church and beyond. Through this exploration, we invite readers to gain a deeper understanding of one of Christianity's most transformative moments.

But before we delve deeper into the complexities of Paul’s conversion, consider enriching your understanding of early Christianity with the new, free online course "Did Peter Hate Paul?" offered by a renowned expert, Bart D. Ehrman. This course dives into the nuanced relationship between Peter and Paul, exploring early Christian writings and the intriguing evidence of their interactions/conflicts. 

Paul’s Conversion: Understanding the Historical Context

Before his transformative experience on the road to Damascus, Paul's life provides a fascinating backdrop to one of history's most pivotal moments. 

When we begin to explore Paul's story, our main sources are the letters he wrote and the information about his life and work derived from the Acts of the Apostles. It's important to note that Paul's letters are considered primary sources, offering a direct window into his thoughts and teachings. 

However, they also present a subjective view, primarily focusing on how Paul saw himself and occasionally reflecting on how others viewed him, according to his perspective. Moreover, Paul probably wrote only 7 of the 13 letters attributed to him in the New Testament. Others were forged by later Christians to push their theological ideas across the early Christian communities. 

The Acts, on the other hand, are seen as secondary sources, written up to 70 years after Paul's death. This text aims to provide a theological perspective on Paul's ministry, often highlighting the divine guidance behind both Jesus' mission and the early Christian community's efforts. 

This means that while Acts offers valuable insights, it does so with a specific interpretative lens, as pointed out by Bart Ehrman. Ehrman emphasizes that the author of Acts wasn’t just recording events but was crafting a narrative with a clear purpose, showcasing the divine plan at work.

Before his profound encounter on the road to Damascus, Paul was a Greek-speaking Jew from the Diaspora. In other words, he lived outside the traditional Jewish homeland and communicated primarily in Koine Greek. 

His writings reveal that he came from the tribe of Benjamin and was a Pharisee, a group known for their flexible interpretation of Jewish Law and their belief in apocalyptic eschatology, including the coming of a Messiah and the resurrection of the dead at the end times. 

These beliefs aligned with early Christian (apocalyptic) views, suggesting that Paul's conversion didn't require a complete overhaul of his fundamental beliefs. What changed dramatically was his perspective on Jesus as the risen Messiah, a shift that began with his journey on the road to Damascus.

This shift, from persecutor to proponent, underscores the profound impact of Paul's conversion, setting the stage for our deeper dive into what happened on that road to Damascus.

Summary of Paul’s Conversion in the Bible

The story of Paul’s conversion is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, with three separate accounts found in chapters 9, 22, and 26 - each giving different perspectives and details of the event. We’ll return to these differences in the next section. For now, let’s try to present a summary of his conversion as depicted in the New Testament. 

According to these three accounts, Paul was on his way to Damascus. His mission was to arrest Jesus’ followers and bring them back to Jerusalem for persecution. As he was getting closer to Damascus, a sudden light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”. 

The voice identified itself as Jesus, instructing Saul to continue into Damascus, where he would be told what he was to do. Blinded by the experience, Saul was led into the city by his companions.

In Damascus, a disciple named Ananias, following God's vision, healed Saul's blindness and baptized him. This event marked Saul's conversion, and he began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God, astonishing those who knew his former fervent opposition to Jesus' followers.

The accounts in Acts emphasize the miraculous nature of Paul's conversion and highlight the direct intervention of Jesus and the immediate change in Paul's beliefs and actions.

Unfortunately, Paul never gives a detailed account of what happened in his letters. At most, he alludes to the experience on the Damascus road without giving any further details. In his letter to the Galatians (1:15-16), for example, he describes his revelation as an immersion call and explains that “it pleased God to reveal his Son to me” so that he could preach among the Gentiles.

This emphasis on divine revelation and calling is consistent across Paul's letters, underscoring the personal and transformative nature of his experience, though without the dramatic narrative elements found in Acts.

But what can we reveal if we compare these accounts - not as theologians looking for a profound meaning but as historians wanting to reconstruct the past?

Paul’s Conversion: A Comparative Perspective

When we delve into the narratives of Paul's transformative encounter on the road to Damascus as recorded in the Acts, we encounter a series of discrepancies that remind us of the difficulties in understanding the details surrounding Paul’s life. They are excellently summarized in Bart Ehrman’s book Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene. 

Firstly, there is a notable difference in how Paul’s companions experienced the event. In Acts 9, it’s stated that they “heard the voice but saw no one”, implying an auditory experience without a visual counterpart. Constranstigly, Acts 22 recounts that the companions “saw the light but did not hear the voice”, presenting a direct inversion of their experience. 

This discrepancy not only raises questions about the specifics of the vent but also about the nature of oral traditions and the reliability of witness testimony. 

Secondly, the physical reactions to the vision vary: Acts 9 mentions that Paul's companions remained standing while Paul was struck down, whereas Acts 26 describes all parties falling to the ground, suggesting a collective experience of the divine presence.

Lastly, the guidance Paul receives post-conversion differs across accounts. In the first narrative, he is directed towards Ananias in Damascus for further instructions, but in the final account, Jesus himself provides the directions, bypassing the need for an intermediary.

For a clear presentation of these discrepancies, take a look at the table below. 

These discrepancies could stem from “Luke’s” editorial choices, suggesting that he either had access to different traditions about the road to Damascus encounter or chose to adapt a single story to fit different narrative contexts. This adaptation could serve various theological or literary purposes, highlighting different facets of Paul's conversion experience.

While these are all interesting hypotheses, they don’t help us a lot in answering what the German historian Leopold von Ranke emphasized as the key task of historians: To know “Wie es eigentlich gewesen (How it really was?)?”

And still, the curiosity of a historian remains: What happened to Paul on the road to Damascus? Can we extrapolate the gist of the event? Let’s take a closer look! 

Conversion of Saul: What Happened?

The transformative event on the road to Damascus remains one of the most debated episodes in early Christian history. Based on that event, some scholars even argued that Paul was the true founder of Christianity - a notion we examined in our earlier article! 

Nevertheless, this experience is central not only to understanding Paul's shift from a persecutor of Christians to a principal apostle but also to interpreting the broader narrative of early Christian theology.

However, it's crucial to approach this event with the understanding that the limits of natural explanations and causes bind historians. As previously discussed, the validity of miraculous claims is beyond the historian's purview. We are left to navigate the terrain of historical facts and the interpretations that arise from them.

Despite the varied accounts and the sparse details, the essence of what occurred on the road to Damascus can be distilled from the texts. Paul himself attributes his transformation to an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. 

In his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:8-11), he places himself as the final witness to Jesus' resurrection, marking the inception of his transition from an adversary of the nascent church to one of its most ardent advocates. This encounter is further alluded to in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 1:16) where he claims that God revealed his Son to him. 

As Klaus Haacker points out, "The nature of this event is attested by both types of evidence – Acts and Pauline letters – as a visionary encounter with Jesus, risen from the dead and normally hidden in the realms of heaven." 

This consensus suggests that, at its core, Paul's experience was a deeply religious one, interpreted as a direct interaction with the risen Christ - an interaction that convinced him of the imminence of the end times, Jesus’ return, and the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth.

Johan C. Becker explains the immediate consequences of Paul’s conversion: “The Christophany [the appearance of the risen Jesus to Paul] then is interpreted by Paul in terms of his prior apocalyptic convictions, and it both modifies and intensifies those convictions radically. It signifies for him primarily the inauguration of the reign of God, which according to God’s purpose must embrace his whole creation, that is, both Jews and Gentiles, and for which Paul must prepare the way.”

However, the scholarly debate extends to how we should categorize Paul's experience. The term "conversion" is frequently used, but it may not fully encapsulate the nature of Paul's transformation. 

This term implies a departure from Judaism and an entry into Christianity, a narrative that doesn't quite fit Paul's understanding of his mission. Paul saw himself as continuing within the Judaic tradition, preaching what he believed was the fulfillment of its teachings through the revelation of Jesus as the risen Messiah. 

This view suggests that "conversion" might not be the most accurate term to describe his experience. Consequently, some scholars prefer to describe it as a “call/conversion” - a divine summons that redirected his life and mission without necessitating a break from Judaism. This term, as Walter F. Taylor Jr. notes, “ensures that we do not claim too much for Paul’s Damascus Road experience but that we do claim enough.”

Moreover, the exact timing of Paul's road to Damascus experience is a subject of speculation among scholars. Speculations like those from Gerd Ludemann suggest the year 33, but it’s important to recognize the inherent uncertainty in pinpointing such dates with precision.

Regardless of the specific terminology used to describe it or the exact date it occurred, the event on the road to Damascus undeniably stands as a monumental moment in Paul's life and the history of early Christianity.

It represents a profound religious experience that dramatically altered Paul's perspective on divinity and salvation, shaping the trajectory of his missionary work and theological contributions. The importance of Paul’s conversion extends far beyond his life, influencing the development of Christian thought and doctrine in ways that continue to resonate through the ages.

Summing up Conclusions

Paul's transformation on the road to Damascus is not only a pivotal narrative in the history of early Christianity but also a fascinating case study of the dynamics of religious experience and identity transformation. 

Through examining the historical context, the varying accounts, and the scholarly interpretations of Paul's conversion, we've delved into the nuances of how religious identities and beliefs can evolve in response to profound experiences.

In concluding our exploration of Paul's conversion, it’s evident that this event isn’t just a cornerstone of Christian history but also an example of the transformative potential of personal experiences. I wouldn’t argue that Paul was a founder of Christianity, but his life and legacy influenced the future of a new religion in so many ways we can’t even begin to imagine. And there is no doubt that everything began with the mysterious experience Paul had while he was traveling to Damascus! 

Was Paul a Disciple or Apostle? (And Who Decided!)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The question of whether Paul was an apostle or a disciple is an interesting one. What is a disciple? What is an apostle? In this article, I’ll differentiate between the two terms. Then I’ll discuss which term defined Paul’s role and by what authority he got it.

First Things First: Definition of Disciple

The term disciple has become so common after two thousand years of Christian history that many never think about what it actually meant in Jesus’ time. So where does this term originally come from?

Remember that the entire New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek word we translate into English as “disciple,” is mathetes (our word “disciple” comes from the Latin equivalent discipulus). These days, some might consider a disciple a follower of any charismatic leader. However, when we look at how the word was used before the New Testament, another translation suggests itself: student.

This is illustrated in a passage in the philosopher Plato’s famous work The Republic where Socrates says, "this is the chief reason why it should be our main concern that each of us, neglecting all other studies, should seek after and study (mathetes) this thing.”  Mathetes could be used generally to denote a diligent student.

More specifically, however, in ancient Greece a mathetes was the student of a philosopher. Famous Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, for example, had disciples, students who learned philosophy from them. However, there was a bit more to this learning than sitting in a classroom.

The Roman philosopher Seneca, a contemporary of Jesus and his disciples, had this to say about Cleanthes, a disciple of the well-known Stoic philosopher Zeno:

Cleanthes could not have been the express image of Zeno, if he had merely heard his lectures; he also shared in his life, saw into his hidden purposes, and watched him to see whether he lived according to his own rules. Plato, Aristotle, and the whole throng of sages who were destined to go each his different way, derived more benefit from the character than from the words of Socrates.

Clearly, a disciple was not simply someone who listened to lectures or read the writings of a philosopher. Instead, he lived day to day with his teacher, following the teacher’s example and, in some ways, actually trying to become a living reflection of that teacher.

This seems appropriate when we look at Jesus’ disciples. It’s clear from the stories in the New Testament that they were with him day in and day out, learning from him but also attempting to imitate his way of life.

What is an Apostle?

Since the disciples are also called apostles in the New Testament, let me briefly define apostle. The Greek word is apostolos, which means “one who is sent” or  “a messenger.”

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus uses the term to mean messenger. Look at this passage, for example, in which the word apostolos doesn’t have any religious meaning at all:

Seeing this, the Lacedaemonians sent a messenger (apostolos) to enquire who they were and whence they came. They answered the messenger (apostolos) that they were Minyae, descendants of the heroes who had sailed in the Argo, and had put in at Lemnos and there begotten their race.

Herodotus wrote this work centuries before anything in the New Testament was written, and it’s clear that apostle was just an ordinary word for a messenger. So how did it come to take on such religious significance?

Jesus himself wouldn’t have used the exact term, since he spoke Aramaic and apostle is a Greek term. He may have used its Aramaic equivalent, however, which is shlikha (Shlee-khah). Why would he call his earliest disciples apostles?

Luke 10 gives us a clue:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go… “Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

Here we see both senses of the word apostle: “one who is sent” and “a messenger”. Jesus sends people out to other towns and he asks them to deliver a message. Since the message is of a divine nature, the word apostle eventually came to be associated with divinity among Christians.

Now that we understand the difference between a disciple and an apostle, which one was Paul (or was he both)?

Why Paul the Apostle and not Paul the Disciple?

Recall from my definition above what a disciple is: the student of a philosopher and/or a religious leader. Before his crucifixion, Jesus had 12 disciples. They lived with him day after day, listened to his teachings, and imitated his way of life. Being a disciple by definition involved living with the teacher. Does this describe Paul?

Paul never met Jesus while he was alive. While he was undoubtedly a contemporary of Jesus, he wasn’t born or raised in Palestine like Jesus and all his disciples. He never met Jesus and didn’t claim to have met him. Or at least not the earthly Jesus.

However, Paul believed that he had met the resurrected Jesus, the one who had been killed and then raised, exalted, and vindicated by God. Paul himself doesn’t say much about this meeting, although the book of Acts describes it like this:

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

It's a dramatic scene depicted in many famous paintings. Paul is blinded after this scene, but then recovers and believes Jesus has commissioned him to preach to the gentiles.

Paul does describe a mystical experience he had which could be this same experience. This seems to have been a private encounter, one that could not be verified by other people. In fact, he says in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 that he’s not even sure whether it was a physical experience or not.

However, his real feelings about his mission are often encapsulated in the greetings of his undisputed letters like this one in Galatians 1:1:

Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Note that Paul says he was “sent” not by humans but by the risen Jesus directly. A little later in Galatians 1:15-17 he elaborates on what Jesus sent him to do:

But when the one who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with any human, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me…”

Paul says that the risen Jesus called him directly to preach the gospel of Jesus to the gentiles, which is why he travels throughout the Roman empire starting Jesus-following communities and writing letters to them addressing their problems and questions.

This is why Paul calls himself an apostle and not a disciple. He believes that the resurrected Jesus sent him as a messenger to the gentiles. But did other early Christians believe Paul was an apostle?

Who Didn’t Believe that Paul Was an Apostle?

Paul makes the same argument for his apostleship several times in the undisputed letters. Why? He makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 9:1-2:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

Who are these others who think Paul is not an apostle? We don’t have a lot of information about them but Paul does compare himself to them later in 2 Corinthians 11:22-23, sarcastically calling them “super-apostles”:

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.

Whatever the merits of Paul’s argument, it’s clear that some Jewish apostles claimed that Paul was not a valid apostle? Why? It may be precisely because unlike the 12 disciples, Paul didn’t know the earthly Jesus. Ultimately, we don’t know.

Conclusion: Was Paul a Disciple or an Apostle?

What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle? The word disciple is from the Greek word mathetes which meant a student, usually the student of a philosopher. The word apostle is from the Greek word apostolos meaning one sent out and/or a messenger. One who is a disciple can also be an apostle.

Was Paul a disciple or an apostle? Since Paul never knew the earthly Jesus, he never claimed to be his disciple. Unlike the 12, Paul never heard wisdom directly from the mouth of Jesus before his death. However, he believed that the resurrected Jesus had chosen him to take the message of the gospel to the gentiles. For this reason, Paul considered himself an apostle, although not everyone agreed with him.

Who made Paul an apostle? Paul believed that the risen Jesus had made him an apostle, sending him to preach the gospel to the gentiles. This was the basis for his claim to apostleship since no one else could verify his meeting with the resurrected Jesus.

Paul's Christianity: How the Apostle Molded the Christian Faith

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Was Paul’s Christianity the same as what Jesus lived and taught? Many have discussed this question, since Paul’s influence on the development of Christianity is so enormous. Some have even claimed that Paul was the founder of Christianity.

In this article, I’ll examine the evidence and investigate whether Paul and Jesus preached the same gospel.

First Things First: What Are the Sources for Paul’s Theology and Jesus’ Teachings?

When it comes to Jesus’ life and teachings, our oldest sources are the Synoptic Gospels. Most scholars agree that these three Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – report more authentic sayings of Jesus than the Gospel of John because Matthew and Luke used Mark, our earliest written Gospel, as a source.

As for Paul, it turns out that not every New Testament book claiming to be written by Paul was authentic.

Scholars therefore break Pauline letters in the New Testament into three categories. There are  the Pastoral epistles (1-2 Timothy and Titus), the Deutero-Pauline epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians), and the undisputed Pauline letters (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon).

In short, the Pastoral epistles, though written in Paul’s name, were not written by him. The Deutero-Pauline epistles could have been written by Paul, but most scholars think they weren’t.

In order to really look at Paul’s theology in this article, I’ll stick to the undisputed letters, those which the vast majority of scholars agree were written by Paul.

Do Paul and Jesus Contradict Each Other?

It’s hard to deny that Paul and Jesus have some very different answers to the same religious questions. Bart Ehrman uses an interesting example to illustrate this at the most basic level. If you know the Gospel of Matthew, you might remember the story of the rich young ruler from Matthew 19:16-22:

16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

For Jesus, then, the way to eternal life is following the Jewish Law or Torah, and then, to really ensure your salvation, sell all you have and give to the poor. While these are not easy requirements by any means, they are straightforward and simple.

Since both Jesus and Paul were devout 1st-century Jews, they surely agreed on these requirements, right? What does Paul say about this in his letters?

In Galatians 2:16 and 21, Paul has this to say:

We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law….  21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

If that same rich young ruler had asked Paul how to obtain eternal life, would Paul say the same thing Jesus said? Clearly not.

While Paul was a devout Jew (see Matthew Thiessen’s excellent book for more on this), he clearly thought that his gentile followers could not gain eternal life through the Jewish Law.

At the most basic level, Jesus and Paul seem to have disagreed with each other. Let’s look at some other similarities and differences between them.

Paul’s Christianity and Jesus’ Teachings: Similarities

In some fundamental ways, Paul and Jesus were alike. For example, both were deeply devout 1st-century Jews. More specifically, both seem to have been apocalyptic Jews. In other words, they thought that the world was controlled by evil powers and that God would come very soon to punish those powers and restore the world. Both also seem to have believed that love of others was basic to their religions.

That is basically the extent of their similarities, however.

Paul and Jesus: Differences

In terms of emphasis, Jesus focused on the coming kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven in Matthew), which is mentioned 121 times in the Synoptic Gospels. This kingdom would be the imminent restoration of the world after God came to reward the good and punish the wicked. It was an earthly, political kingdom in which God’s chosen one, the Messiah, would rule as king.

By contrast, Paul only mentions the kingdom of God 8 times in the undisputed letters.  It seems that in Pauline Christianity, the kingdom is a heavenly realm which those who believe in the salvific death and resurrection of Jesus will inherit after death.

This is why he says in 1 Corinthians 15:50 that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” Those who inherit the heavenly kingdom will not be mere humans but will live in the heavenly realm eternally.

What did Jesus say about faith? He taught that true faith was trusting in God, not only to take care of your basic needs but also to bring God’s restorative kingdom to earth (“Thy kingdom come,” he says in the Lord’s Prayer).

For Paul’s theology, however, faith meant believing and trusting that the death and resurrection of Jesus would save you from the wrath of God’s judgment.

Speaking of the judgment, Jesus, as noted above, explained that to escape God’s wrath, one must keep the Torah (as interpreted by Jesus himself). Paul may have believed that the Torah was important for Jews, but he definitely believed that for gentiles, trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection were the only thing necessary for salvation.

What did Jesus think about his own role? he says that his mission is to announce the imminent kingdom of God and to properly interpret the Torah so that people can follow it correctly.

Paul almost never mentions the earthly Jesus (whom he never met) and only rarely mentions his teachings. In 1 Corinthians 11:22-24, he says what Jesus supposedly said at the Last Supper. He gives two other teachings of Jesus, one on divorce which is slightly different from that in the Gospels, and another on whether preachers of the gospel should make a living from their preaching. That’s it.

For Paul, Jesus’ earthly ministry seems to have little or no importance. Instead, the resurrected Jesus has cosmic significance in that his death and resurrection offer salvation to those who believe in them.

It’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that the religion of Jesus is very different from Paul’s religion about Jesus.

Conclusion: Paul’s Christianity

What did Jesus Preach? While Paul and Jesus shared a Jewish heritage and an apocalyptic worldview, their versions of salvation were very different. Jesus taught that one must keep the Torah correctly and give one’s possessions to the poor in order to be saved from judgment.

What did Paul preach? Paul believed that Jesus, the Messiah, was killed and then resurrected and that those who believed or trusted in the power of these events to save them would be saved and given eternal life. Jesus’ earthly ministry apparently meant very little to Paul.

Did Paul and Jesus preach the same gospel? By now, it should be evident that Paul and Jesus preached very different gospels. However, Paul’s Christianity, which he spread personally and then through his letters after his death, would eventually come to dominate.

How Did Paul Die? Year, Age, & Location of the Apostle’s Death

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

Although so much of the New Testament was either written by or about the Apostle Paul, there’s one question that’s never answered there: How did Paul die? In this article, I’ll address this question, including the year Paul died, how old Paul was when he died, and where he died.

Who Was the Apostle Paul? A Brief Summary of His Life

We know very little about the early life of Paul. Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul, may have been born around the year 5 CE, if he was a rough contemporary of Jesus – though of course he could have been younger or older. The Book of Acts says that Paul was from Tarsus, which means he was a Jew born and raised outside Palestine in Cilicia, a small region in modern-day Turkey. As a diaspora Jew, Paul learned Greek as his first language, although he learned Hebrew as well.

In his letters, Paul also tells us that he was a Pharisee. Pharisees, the forerunners of rabbinic Judaism, studied and interpreted the Torah meticulously and strove to live following its teachings.

In his own words, Paul “advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.” In other words, Paul was a devoutly religious Jew.

As such, he initially saw the followers of Jesus as heretics. Paul writes that he “was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.” But then something happened.

Paul’s Conversion (or Calling)

According to Acts, Paul was heading to Damascus to persecute Jesus-followers when he saw a blinding light which knocked him to the ground. Then he heard a disembodied voice saying “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The voice identified itself as Jesus, who told Paul to go into Damascus and wait for instructions. This was the beginning of Paul’s mission.

This experience has long been called Paul’s conversion, in the belief that Paul abandoned Judaism at this point to follow Jesus. Most scholars don’t believe this anymore, believing instead that Paul remained a good Jew who simply thought Jesus was the Messiah. Many scholars have therefore called Paul’s experience a “calling” instead, not unlike the way that prophets were called by God in the Hebrew Bible.

Paul came to believe that God had designated him as an apostle of Jesus to gentiles. As such, he began a lifetime of missionary trips, forming gentile Jesus communities all over the Roman Empire and writing letters to them to solve problems and give them guidance.

These letters  would ultimately form the basis for much of later Christian doctrine. Paul’s influence on the formation of Christianity is incalculable.

Given how much information about Paul is in the New Testament, why don’t we know more about his death?

Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem

At the end of the book of Acts, Paul goes to Jerusalem, visiting the temple with several others. While there, Paul is recognized by some men in the temple, who cry out

Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.

They seize Paul and plan to kill him, but Roman authorities hear the uproar and come to see what the problem is. They arrest Paul as the instigator and put him under guard.

Subsequently, Paul, claiming that he is a Roman citizen, demands to be tried officially in Rome. He is taken there and spends two years under house arrest. While there, however, he is allowed to preach to people who presumably visit him, since he couldn’t leave.

However, Acts ends without telling us anything about Paul’s death.

Did Paul Go to Rome?

The last of the letters we know that Paul wrote was probably the Epistle to the Romans. Scholars agree that he probably wrote this letter around the year 57 CE from a city called Corinth in modern-day Greece.

While Paul usually wrote letters only to Jesus communities he himself had started, Romans is a letter in which he introduces himself and his gospel to a community he had yet to meet.

He also wrote of his plans to visit the Roman community:

I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints, for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to share their resources with the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

On all his missionary journeys, Paul would take up collections for the original Jesus community in Jerusalem. While he planned to visit Rome in the future, he tells the Romans that he is next going to Jerusalem to deliver these donations. This agrees with the account in Acts.

While some details of Paul’s arrest in Acts may not have happened, it is at least plausible that he was arrested for some reason in Jerusalem and transported to Rome.

When Did Paul Die?

Despite Acts’ silence on the matter, we do have accounts of Paul’s death outside the New Testament. The earliest comes from the letter of 1 Clement, around the end of the first century:

After preaching both in the east and west, [Paul] gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience.

From this letter, it sounds as if Paul actually made his journey to Spain, “the extreme limit of the west.” Was he released by the Roman authorities? We just don’t know.

However, while it also claims that Peter was killed in Rome, 1 Clement  doesn’t say anything about how either Peter or Paul was killed.

A 4th-century Church historian named Eusebius claims to have more details, blaming both Paul and Peter’s deaths on the emperor Nero.

After [Nero] had made clear that he was indeed the foremost enemy of God among them, he was stirred up for the slaughter of the apostles. It is therefore recorded that Paul was beheaded in Rome itself and that Peter was likewise crucified under him.

Nero was the first emperor to persecute Christians. Why? In the year 64 CE, during Nero’s reign, a huge fire swept through Rome, killing many and destroying huge areas of the city. A rumor was started that Nero himself had set the fire in order to clear an area for a new palace.

A Roman historian named Tacitus tells us what happened next:

Therefore, to scotch the rumor, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of people, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians… First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast numbers were convicted…

He goes on to say that the convicted Christians were tortured and killed in horrible ways. Some, for example, were set on fire and used as lamps to light Nero’s garden. This persecution apparently went on for several years until Nero died in 68 CE.

Paul wrote to the Romans in the year 57 CE that he was about to go to Jerusalem. If he was indeed arrested and transported to Rome, he would likely have been in Rome during Nero’s persecution. If he had been preaching the gospel of Jesus while under house arrest, Roman soldiers would have instantly understood that Paul was a Christian and had him executed.

Therefore, Paul was likely martyred in Rome between 64 and 68 CE. If he was born in about 5 CE, he would have been in his 60s.

How Was Paul Killed?

In another article, I noted that Christian tradition says that Peter was killed in Rome by being crucified upside down. This makes sense because crucifixion was generally only used on slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians, and foreigners. Peter, a Jewish Christian from Palestine, fit the bill. But what about Paul?

The traditions about Paul’s death, like Eusebius above, generally say that he was beheaded. While we can’t know for sure, this also makes sense. Remember that Paul was a Roman citizen. Roman citizens were almost never crucified. The preferred method of execution for them was decapitation.

Conclusion: How Did Paul Die?

Why was Paul killed? Paul was probably arrested in Jerusalem, perhaps for instigating some kind of unrest. Although we can’t be sure of all the details, he appears to have been transported to Rome by Roman soldiers and put under house arrest.

When did Paul die? Paul was in Rome at the time of Nero’s persecution of Christians. This started in 64 CE right after the Great Fire of Rome. Consequently, Paul was probably killed as part of that persecution between 64-68 CE.

How Did Paul Die? Since Paul was a Roman citizen, he would not have been executed by crucifixion like Peter. Instead, he was probably beheaded since that was the preferred method of capital punishment for Roman citizens.

What Books Did Paul Write in the Bible?The Surprising Truth!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

The Authentic Letters of Paul

How Many Books of the Bible Did Paul Write?  Critical Historians & and the Authorship of Pastoral Epistles 

Pseudonymity or Forgery: Non-Pauline Letters 

Forgeries in Antiquity: A Form of Deceit or a Moraly Accepted Category?

Evidence Is Important

How do Scholars Recognize Pauline Forgeries in the New Testament?

Setting the Chronology: Paul’s Life and Work

Uncovering Authorship: Summing Up Conclusions