Paul the Apostle

Paul, who also had the name Saul, was, according to the surviving sources, the most active preacher of early Christianity, particularly known as the apostle to the Gentiles. His letters are generally recognised as the earliest surviving Christian documents.

Life

The sources for Paul's life are the Acts of the Apostles and his own epistles.

He was born, possibly brought up, in Tarsus, a town in Asia Minor. He described himself as a Hebrew born of Hebrews, but had inherited Roman citizenship from his father. He came to Jerusalem, where, as a student of orthodox Judaism. he was active in persecuting Christians. In due course he obtained a commission from the High Priest to go to Damascus for the same purpose. On the road to Damascus an event occurred which is described three times in the Acts of the Apostles, though these accounts are inconsistent with each other, and once, more vaguely, by Paul himself in the Epistle to the Galatians. This event had two consequences for Paul: it converted him to a follower of Jesus, and it convinced him that he was directly commissioned as an apostle, needing no endorsement from the leaders of the Christian community in Jerusalem. He immediately went off to "Arabia" to preach for three years, returned to Damascus and then went to Jerusalem to meet the church leadership. Afterwards he went for a time to Antioch and in the following years travelled extensively in Asia Minor, Cyprus and Greece, preaching to Gentiles as well as Jews, and establishing new churches.

On Paul's last visit to Jerusalem the troubles caused by orthodox Jews caused him to be taken into custody by the Roman authorities. He appealed to Caesar and was sent to Rome. Here the narrative in Acts ends. According to tradition, he was martyred in Rome.

Epistles

It is generally accepted that the Pauline epistles are the earliest Christian documents which have come down to us. As such they give some indication of what was taught by the early Christian church.