Apostle Paul

Paul the Apostle, known in his earlier life as Saul, was a first-century Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia and a Roman citizen by birth. He belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and was trained as a Pharisee. The Acts of the Apostles states that he was brought up in Jerusalem and instructed at the feet of Gamaliel. As a young man he was a vigorous opponent of the followers of Jesus, taking part in the persecution of the church in Jerusalem and beyond. Acts depicts him as present at the killing of Stephen and as obtaining authority to arrest disciples in Damascus.

According to both Acts and Paul’s own letters, he underwent a decisive conversion when he encountered the risen Christ while travelling to Damascus. After a period of blindness and then baptism, he began to preach that Jesus was the Messiah. He later wrote that he did not immediately consult with the apostles in Jerusalem but went into Arabia and returned to Damascus, visiting Jerusalem only after three years. He then worked in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Barnabas later brought him to Antioch, where the two taught a mixed Jewish and Gentile community and from which they were sent on missionary journeys. Paul travelled through Cyprus, southern Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia, establishing churches in cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. He insisted that Gentile believers were not required to be circumcised or to keep the whole Mosaic law, a stance that produced conflict with some Jewish Christians and was addressed at a meeting in Jerusalem.

Paul’s surviving correspondence is among the earliest Christian writings. The letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Philippians, the Thessalonians (at least the first), and Philemon are widely accepted as his; other New Testament letters that bear his name are of disputed authorship. In these texts he develops a theology of justification, the role of the law, the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ, and the ethical life of the churches. He supported himself at times by tentmaking. After a riot in the Jerusalem Temple he was arrested by the Roman authorities, detained at Caesarea for a lengthy period, and, having appealed to Caesar, was conveyed to Rome. Acts concludes with Paul living under house arrest in Rome for two years, receiving visitors and teaching.

Christian tradition from the late first century onward holds that Paul was put to death in Rome during the Neronian persecution, commonly by beheading as a Roman citizen, and that he was buried on the Ostian Way south of the city. The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls stands over the traditional tomb. First Clement, written in Rome near the end of the first century, already refers to his witness and death. He was venerated from an early date as the Apostle to the Gentiles and, together with Peter, as a principal founder of the Roman church. His principal feast is celebrated on 29 June with Saint Peter; the Conversion of Saint Paul is kept on 25 January. His letters and the portrait in Acts have shaped Christian theology, missionary practice, and spirituality across the churches.