After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the concept of Christianity was in its infancy struggling to survive. Conflicts with traditional Judaism arose that lead to charges of heresy and persecution of Christians. These clashes were sometimes violent resulting in the death of the proclaimed heretic. Then a savior of a different sort emerged and brought muchly needed order and organization to the early Christian Church. We know him today as Paul the Apostle.
The Pharisee: Paul (Saul) was born into a devout Jewish family in Tarsus, a city located just inland from the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now known as Turkey. The year of his birth is not known for sure, but is believed to be between 5 BC and 5 AD. His family had a strong attachment to Pharisaic traditions, and he considered himself to be a Pharisee. Some biblical scholars believe that he was born a Roman citizen, but others disagree. At a young age he traveled to Jerusalem to attend the school of Gamaliel, one of the best teachers of Jewish law. However, scholars believe although he did attend the school, he was not educated to become a scholar of Jewish law and may not have had much contact with the leaders who taught it. He was fluent in Greek and likely also Aramaic. He continued to live in Jerusalem along with some other members of his family. Little else about his early life is known other than he became an apprentice in the leather maker and tent making professions. After witnessing the stoning death of Stephen, an early Christian advocate who was persecuted, things began to change.
The Epiphany: The early Christians were often persecuted as the religion was considered to be a rogue spinoff of Judaism. As Saul was a Pharisee, he was one of the persecutors. The Book of Acts in the Bible’s New Testament tells us that on the road to Damascus one day he had a vision of the ascended Jesus calling out to him “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He further was knocked to the ground by a blinding light and didn’t recover his vision for three days. Biblical scholars both Jewish and Christian, have conflicting viewpoints as to this episode of his life. Further, this event is not corroborated in his letters where he wrote that he barely escaped death in Damascus—not on the way there. But in the final analysis, most scholars agree that he had some sort of epiphany—either a vision, a dream, or a comeuppance, that led to a serious change of heart about the treatment of early Christians. He used this occurrence to provide validity to his efforts to teach and advance Christianity.
The Missionary: Upon his conversion to Christianity, Saul became Paul. He determined that having faith in Christ’s resurrection was the way to salvation before God. Further, as a former Pharisee he was also an apocalyptist (one who believed in the imminent overthrow by God of the ruling powers on earth), and he decided to go on a mission to convert as many people to Christianity as he could before time ran out. This theory of apocalypticism was taught by Christ and embraced by some early Christians. He began his missionary work in urban areas of what is now Greece, Turkey, Cypress, and adjacent regions. Although the Book of Acts suggests that he began his ministry by working out of synagogues, biblical scholars do not all agree that this was the case. Somewhat unconventionally, he apparently did not use established religious sites to convert people. Instead, he would open up a tentmaking or leather working business, and would preach to and convert people who came to him there. He further did not limit his ministry to converting only Jews. Gentiles of all stripes were welcome as well as Romans and other pagans. He also emphasized that it was not necessary to strictly follow all Jewish laws to gain salvation. With the help of the Apostle Barnabas, he began establishing churches throughout that same area with the first one located in Antioch (now Hatay, Turkey). Antioch had a large community of Christians who departed Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen and other persecution by Jewish authorities. The Christians in Antioch provided a base of support for Paul for his early missions. He had at least three major missionary journeys that took him to such places in antiquity as Southern Asia Minor, Ephesus, Pamphylia, Tarsus (his birthplace), Derbe, Lystra, Phillipi, Corinth, Rhodes, Tyre, and many others. Before the second mission he split with Barnabus over a dispute about their associate, John Mark, and he joined up with Silas who accompanied him on his other missions. His travels were sometimes interrupted by naysayers, pagans, Jews, and others who scoffed at the new religion. But in most of the places he went, Christian churches were established and their memberships began to grow.
The Letters: The only other documentation about Paul that survived were his thirteen letters, seven of which were undisputably done in his handwriting. Biblical scholars do not agree that the other six were, in fact, written by him. The letters (especially the seven confirmed letters) were written to various churches he helped establish that had encountered theological questions or problems since he departed. The early Christian church grew so fast that it often grew in directions different from those intended by their founders. Questions such as do Christians need to follow Jewish laws could cause confusion with the fundamentals of Christianity and needed to be straightened out. The church in Corinth in particular had a number of problems that included separate factions developing in the church’s leadership. Paul’s letters did the best he could in the times considering logistics, distance, and the ability to travel. The letters’ most important contribution to the historical view of Paul’s ministry was their reaffirmation or corroboration of other sources of information about where he went and what he did. They also aided in forming the backbone of the Christian religion as much of his philosophy was revealed in them.
The Tomb: There are divers threads of information about Paul’s death including the year he died—between 64 AD and 68 AD. As best as can be determined he returned to Jerusalem after his third major mission sometime in 57 AD. Initially he was well received, but after a time he ran afoul of the Jewish leaders who believed that he was preaching to Jews not to follow Jewish laws, mores, or customs. Then one day he was accused of defiling the temple by bringing gentiles in, and was accosted by an angry mob. When the Roman tribune heard of the ruckus, he sent soldiers over to settle things down and they returned with Paul in chains. The case against him was not open and shut, and the premise that he was (potentially) a Roman citizen prevented him from serious punishment. But he remained in custody for about two years. The governor was replaced and the new governor allowed him to travel to Rome and be tried there. In Rome he remained under house arrest for another two years awaiting trial. It is believed that he was put to death by Nero during a persecution, but no real proof exists, and accounts of his death differ by writers of the times. One thing that appears to be consistent is where he was ultimately buried. The location was outside the wall of Rome at the second mile of the Ostian Way, on land owned by a Christian woman named Lucina. Later, in the 4th Century AD, Emperor Constantine built a church on that same site that was enlarged over the following centuries until it eventually became today’s Papal Basilica Outside the Walls. During some excavation at this Basilica in 2002, a marble sarcophagus inscribed with the Latin words that said “Paul Apostle Martyr” was discovered. It was declared to be Paul’s tomb, and confirmed in 2009 by carbon dating analysis of bone fragments that went back to the 1st or 2nd centuries AD.
Conclusions: Paul the Apostle’s contribution to today’s Christianity is often overshadowed by other religious leaders both in antiquity and in modern times. But it is hard to imagine that any one individual, other than Christ Himself, contributed more towards making Christianity the great religion of billions of people that it is today.
Sources: National Geographic History Magazine, Christianity Struggled to Grow Until This Skeptic Became a Believer, by Jean-Pierre Isbouts, December 1, 2022.
Wikipedia, Paul the Apostle.
The Great Courses, The New Testament, by Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, The Teaching Company, 2000.