# Who was Paul in the Bible? Paul, also called Saul, was a Jewish Pharisee from Tarsus who hunted the first Christians. On the road to Damascus the risen Jesus stopped him, and he became the church’s best-known missionary. He traveled across what is now Turkey and Greece starting churches, wrote letters to them, 13 of which carry his name in the New Testament, and was taken to Rome as a prisoner. - When: Converted about AD 33 to 36. He traveled and wrote through the 40s and 50s, and reached Rome about AD 60. - Read: Acts 7–28 and his letters, Romans to Philemon. Start with [Acts 9](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/9). Source: https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/paul. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation. ## Paul’s life, in order 1. **Born in Tarsus** ([Acts 22:3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/22#3)). A Jew born in Tarsus, a Roman citizen from birth, trained in Jerusalem under the teacher Gamaliel. Map: [Tarsus](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#tarsus). 2. **At Stephen’s death** ([Acts 8:1-3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/8#1-3)). Saul guards the coats of the men stoning Stephen and approves. Then he goes house to house dragging believers off to prison. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem). 3. **The road to Damascus** ([Acts 9:1-19](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/9#1-19)). A light from heaven throws him down. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Blind, he is led into the city and baptized. Map: [Damascus](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#damascus). 4. **Sent from Antioch** ([Acts 13:1-12](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/13#1-12)). The church at Antioch sends Paul and Barnabas out. They sail to Cyprus and on into Galatia. Map: [Antioch](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#antioch). 5. **Into Europe** ([Acts 16:22-34](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/16#22-34)). A vision calls Paul to Macedonia. At Philippi he and Silas are beaten and jailed, and sing in the night. Map: [Philippi](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#philippi). 6. **Athens and Corinth** ([Acts 17:22-31](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/17#22-31)). He speaks to the philosophers on the Areopagus, then stays 18 months in Corinth making tents. Map: [Athens](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#athens). 7. **Three years in Ephesus** ([Acts 19:8-20](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/19#8-20)). He teaches daily in a lecture hall, and a riot breaks out over the goddess Artemis. Map: [Ephesus](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#ephesus). 8. **Arrested in Jerusalem** ([Acts 21:27-36](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/21#27-36)). A crowd seizes him at the temple. He spends two years held at Caesarea and appeals to Caesar. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem). 9. **Shipwreck** ([Acts 27:39-44](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/27#39-44)). Sailing to Rome as a prisoner, his ship breaks up off Malta. All 276 aboard reach land. Map: [Malta](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#malta). 10. **Rome** ([Acts 28:16-31](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/28#16-31)). In Rome he lives two years under guard in a rented house, preaching openly. Acts ends there. Map: [Rome](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#rome). ## Key verses > We know that, for those who love God, all things work together toward good—for those who are called in keeping with his purpose. ([Romans 8:28](https://www.lumin.faith/read/romans/8#28)) > I have been crucified with Christ. I am no longer the one living; Christ is the one living in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I am living by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and handed himself over for me. ([Galatians 2:20](https://www.lumin.faith/read/galatians/2#20)) > I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ([2 Timothy 4:7](https://www.lumin.faith/read/2-timothy/4#7)) ## What the Bible says, and what tradition adds ### Did God change Saul’s name to Paul? **In the Bible.** No. Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman one. Acts keeps calling him Saul for years after Damascus, then says “Saul, who was also called Paul” and uses Paul from then on. See [Acts 13:9](https://www.lumin.faith/read/acts/13#9). ### How did Paul die? **Tradition, not the Bible.** Acts ends with him alive in Rome. Early Christian writers say he was beheaded in Rome under Nero, in the mid 60s AD. The Bible does not tell it. See [2 Timothy 4:6](https://www.lumin.faith/read/2-timothy/4#6). ### Did Paul write all 13 letters with his name? **Readers disagree.** The church has long held that he did. Many scholars are sure of 7 of them and doubt some or all of the rest, such as 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. ### Did Paul write Hebrews? **Not known.** Hebrews does not name its writer. Some early Christians said Paul. Many others, then and now, thought someone else wrote it. ### What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? **Not known.** He does not say. Guesses include poor eyesight, illness, and the people who opposed him. See [2 Corinthians 12:7](https://www.lumin.faith/read/2-corinthians/12#7). ## Related people - [Peter](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/peter): Fisherman, apostle, denied Jesus, led the first church. - [Moses](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/moses): Led Israel out of Egypt. Received the law at Sinai. - [Daniel](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/daniel): Taken to Babylon young. Served its kings. Kept praying.