Prominent leader of the first-century church, an apostle to the gentiles, and the author of 13 New Testament letters.
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Family and Cultural Background
Paul was born around AD 10, a Jew in a family of Pharisees (Acts 23:6) of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5) in Tarsus of Cilicia (Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3). Tarsus was a center of commerce and learning that embraced the Hellenistic spirit and Roman politics. It was a city of which he could be proud (21:39). His parents named him Saul, perhaps after the first king of Israel, who was also a Benjaminite (1 Samuel 11:15; Acts 13:21). But Acts 13:9 notes that he “was also called Paul.” He uses the Roman name Paul throughout his letters.
Paul received knowledge of the Law and Prophets and the Hebrew and Aramaic languages from religious parents (Acts 21:40; 22:2–3; 23:6; Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:5–6). Tarsus, however, was not a Jewish city. Rather, it had a Greek character, being a place where the Greek language was spoken and Greek literature was cultivated. This accounts for Paul’s familiarity with Greek (Acts 21:37), the language of the streets and shops of Tarsus.
Jews were brought to Tarsus, the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, in 171 BC to promote business in the region. At that time Paul’s ancestors were probably given Roman citizenship. Paul inherited from his father both Tarsisian and Roman citizenship. This would prove to be of great value to Paul in his later life as he traveled with the gospel throughout the Roman Empire (Acts 16:37; 22:25–29; 23:27). Paul may have had several brothers and sisters, but Acts 23:16 mentions only one sister, whose son saved Paul's life.
Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:3). He may have learned this trade from his father, or he may have selected it as a means of self-support, as was the custom of those in rabbinical training. Tarsus was well known for the goat’s-hair cloth called cilicium. By weaving and fashioning this cloth into tents, sails, awnings, and cloaks, Paul gained economic independence during his apostolic ministry (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 28:30; 2 Corinthians 11:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8).
Education
Although born in Tarsus, Paul testified to the Jews in Jerusalem that he had been brought up in this city and studied under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). It is not clear when Paul was first brought to Jerusalem, but it is likely that sometime between the ages of 13 and 20 he began his formal rabbinical studies. His teacher, Gamaliel, was the grandson of Hillel, founder of a Pharisaic school whose teachings are still present in Talmudic writings today. This is the same Gamaliel whose wisdom persuaded the Sanhedrin to spare the lives of Peter and the apostles (5:33–40). Certainly, it was while studying under Gamaliel in Hillel’s school that Paul began to advance in Judaism beyond many Jews of his own age and became extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers (Galatians 1:14). Perhaps then also Paul began to experience the struggles with the law he would later describe in Romans 7.
While Paul was studying the Jewish law in Jerusalem, Jesus was working as a carpenter in Nazareth. Then Jesus gathered the disciples who would one day be Paul’s coworkers in the gospel. Jesus fulfilled his ministry, and accomplished redemption on the cross (AD 30). Christ’s resurrection gave birth to the church, which was baptized in the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1–13).
Saul the Persecutor
Shortly after these world-changing events, the members of certain synagogues in Jerusalem, including the Cilician synagogue, where Paul was from (Acts 6:9), could not resist the wisdom and spirit (verse 10) of a member of the church in Jerusalem named Stephen (verses 5, 8). They accused him of blasphemy before the Sanhedrin (verses 11–15). After Stephen's eloquent defense (7:1–53), they dragged him out of the city, where he was stoned to death. He became the first Christian martyr. The record does not fully reveal Paul's role in these events. But we know he was present and prominent because the witnesses against Stephen, who were required to throw the first stones in the execution, “laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul [Paul]” (verse 58).
At Stephen’s trial, Paul heard Stephen’s historical method of defense. Paul later used it himself at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:16–41). He witnessed the man with the face of an angel (6:15), full of the Holy Spirit, looking above and proclaiming “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (7:56). Stephen’s death initiated the events that would culminate in Paul’s conversion and commission as the apostle to the gentiles. But at that time Paul was a leader of the oppressors of the church. He breathed threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (9:1). He persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it (Galatians 1:13) by imprisoning Christians, both male and female (Acts 22:4), in many cities.
Conversion and Calling
Paul had obtained letters from the high priest in Jerusalem to the synagogues in Damascus authorizing him to arrest the believers there and bring them to Jerusalem for trial (Acts 9:1–2). Paul traveled to Damascus for this purpose. Then, on the outskirts of the city, came the event that was to transform this law-keeping persecutor of Jesus Christ and blasphemous destroyer of the infant church into the chief propagator of the gospel of grace and master builder of the church (1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Timothy 1:13). This was the occasion of Paul’s conversion (around AD 31–33). It was of such revolutionary and lasting importance that three detailed accounts of it are given in the book of Acts (Acts 9:1–19; 22:1–21; 26:1–23). Many references are also given to it in Paul’s own writings (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8; Galatians 1:15–16; Ephesians 3:3; Philippians 3:12).
At that time a light from heaven, brighter than the midday sun, shone around Paul and his traveling companions, and they fell to the ground (Acts 26:13–14). Only Paul, however, heard the voice of Jesus instruct him in his commission as a minister and witness to the gentiles (verses 14–18). Temporarily blinded, Paul was led into Damascus (9:8). There, the disciple Ananias and the Christian community forgave Paul. They baptized him, and helped him through the bewildering event of his conversion (verses 10–22). After a short time with the church there, Paul was threatened with death by the Jews to whom he preached Jesus (verses 20–22), but he was protected by the believers and ingeniously delivered from his persecutors (verses 23–25).
Preparation for Ministry
Then began a period of preparation, which lasted about 13 years. During this time, Paul first was in the desert of Arabia for three years. Here was his opportunity to pray and reflect on Stephen’s defense to the Sanhedrin, the momentous significance of his conversion, the vision he received of Jesus Christ, and the meaning of all this in the light of Jewish theology. Following this, Paul returned to Damascus and then visited Peter in Jerusalem for 15 days (Galatians 1:17–18).
At first, the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of him because they did not believe he was a disciple of Jesus (Acts 9:26). But he was championed by Barnabas and thus accepted by the believers in Jerusalem (verses 27–28). While there, Paul may have heard the oral gospel, a summary of the words and deeds of Jesus, handed down to all converts. This would have included the institution of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23–25), specific words of the Lord (Acts 20:35; 1 Corinthians 7:10; 9:14), the appearances of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3–8), and the spirit and character of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:1; Philippians 2:5–8). Paul also preached in Jerusalem, perhaps in the same synagogues in which he had heard Stephen. However, when his life was again threatened by the Jews, the believers sent him away to Tarsus (Acts 9:29–30; Galatians 1:21).
The end of Paul’s preparation came when Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for him and bring him to Antioch. By this time Paul had lived for 10 years in Cilicia. Since his conversion, before being sent to Tarsus, he had proclaimed Jesus (Acts 9:20), speaking boldly in the name of the Lord (verse 27). There is no reason to think he did otherwise while living among the gentiles in Cilicia. In fact, his work may have been so effective that he began to attract attention in Antioch. During these years, Paul probably underwent many of the sufferings mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:24–26. Several scholars think that the ecstatic experience mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:1–9, with its accompanying “thorn in the flesh,” also took place before he came to Antioch.
Sent Out from Antioch
The church in Antioch had its origins in the persecution fomented by Paul after the death of Stephen. Until they arrived in Antioch, the scattered believers had only spoken the word to Jews (Acts 11:19). It was here that the gentiles first heard the good news (verse 20), and many became believers (verse 21). It is fitting that Paul, the apostle to the gentiles (Acts 22:21; Romans 11:13), who was as yet unknown by sight to the churches of Judea (Galatians 1:22), should appear in Antioch to formally begin the ministry to which he was called (Acts 26:17–18).
Barnabas and Paul stayed with the church in Antioch for a year. Their work there was so blessed that a new name, Christian, was coined to distinguish the believers in Antioch from gentiles and Jews (Acts 11:26). Hearing of a famine in Judea, the disciples in Antioch determined to send relief to the believers in Judea and did so by Barnabas and Paul (verse 30). Such a gift displayed to the Jewish churches the potency of the gospel among the gentiles. Their mission complete, Barnabas and Paul returned to Antioch with John Mark (12:25), Barnabas’s cousin (Colossians 4:10).
Beginning from the Day of Pentecost, the work in the gospel had been casual and incidental. Contacts were made in the homes, the marketplace, the streets, synagogues, highways, and other similar things. (Acts 3:1; 5:12, 42; 8:26–29; 10:22). But in Antioch the Holy Spirit initiated a determined effort to evangelize a section of the Roman Empire (13:1–3). By the Holy Spirit’s instructions, the church separated Barnabas and Paul for this work. With the prayers and encouragement of this church, and with John Mark as their assistant, Barnabas and Paul, sent out by the Holy Spirit, sailed for Cyprus (verse 4).
Traveling with Barnabas
Arriving in Salamis, they preached in the synagogues as they traveled the length of the island to Paphos (Acts 13:5–6). There the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, wanted to hear the word of God (verse 7). A magician named Elymas Bar-Jesus tried to prevent the proconsul from believing in Jesus but was stricken with temporary blindness by Paul’s command (verses 8–11). This was the first manifestation in Paul of the signs of an apostle (2 Corinthians 12:12). From then on, the name Paul, not Saul, is used in Luke’s record of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 13:9), and Paul replaced Barnabas as the leader of the party. So “Paul and his companions” set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga of Pamphylia (verse 13). John Mark deserted them at Perga and returned to his home in Jerusalem (verse 13). This caused discord (15:39), but Paul and Mark were later reconciled (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11).
Paul’s travels with the gospel now continued through the Roman province of Asia, specifically in the southern portion of Galatia, the areas of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. The coastal area where the party landed is a hot region affected by malaria. It is thought that Paul contracted malaria there and so traveled inland through the mountains to the 4,000-foot- (1,219.2-meter-) high tablelands. Such a journey would have been full of dangerous rivers and bandits (2 Corinthians 11:26), but Paul was well cared for by the Galatian highlanders when he arrived (Galatians 4:13–15). He was rewarded with a warm reception to his message (Acts 13:48–49).
Paul and Barnabas were asked to speak at the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:15), and Paul delivered a discourse full of the characteristics of the gospel he would later record in his letters to the churches (verses 16–41). He was invited to speak the next week (verse 42). Nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the word of God (verse 44). This aroused jealousy in the Jews who opposed Paul’s words (verse 45), causing the apostles’ dramatic turn to the gentiles (verses 46–47). Many gentiles in Antioch believed and spread the word throughout the region, but Paul and Barnabas were forced out and went to Iconium in Lycaonia (verses 48–51).
The success in Antioch was duplicated in Iconium as was the Jews’ opposition (Acts 14:1), and the apostles fled from the threat of a stoning to Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia (verses 5–6). In Lystra the signs of an apostle were again seen when Paul healed a man who had been crippled since birth (verses 8–10). The idolatrous citizens of the town, however, primed by the popular belief that Jupiter, accompanied by Mercury, had once visited their region, worshiped Paul and Barnabas as these deities (verses 11–13). Even the convincing words of Paul, whom they mistook for Mercury, hardly restrained the crowds from offering a sacrifice (verses 14–18).
It was in Lystra that Paul first encountered the same kind of treatment he had previously inflicted on Christians. The Jews stoned him, dragged him out of the city, and left him for dead (Acts 14:19). Timothy (16:1–3) may have been among the new disciples surrounding Paul as he lay outside the gate (14:20). Timothy was Paul’s son in the faith (1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Tm 1:2), eyewitness to his suffering (2 Timothy 3:10–11), faithful companion, and fellow worker (Acts 19:22; 20:4; Romans 16:21; 1 Thessalonians 3:2). The next day Barnabas and Paul went on to Derbe (Acts 14:20).
After making many disciples in Derbe, the apostles retraced their steps through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia. They strengthened and encouraged the new believers and appointed elders in each church (Acts 14:21–23). Arriving again in Perga, they sailed back to Antioch of Syria. There they reported to the church the wonderful news that God had provided an opportunity of faith for the gentiles (verses 25–27).
The Council of Jerusalem
The Jews had closely followed Paul and Barnabas throughout Galatia. They continued to pursue Paul and Barnabas, seeking to bewitch the gentiles there. The Jews convinced them to desert the grace of Christ and submit to the Jewish law (Galatians 1:6; 3:1). Shortly after the apostles’ return to Antioch, Judaizers [Christian Jews who attempted to impose the Jewish way of life on gentile Christians] came from Judea to Antioch, teaching salvation by the law (Acts 15:1). This began the war against the gospel of grace, which Paul preached.
The church in Antioch sent Paul, Barnabas, and others to Jerusalem to settle the controversy of the law versus grace with the apostles and elders there (AD 49, Acts 15:2). Along the way to Jerusalem they spread the news of the conversion of the gentiles. This brought great joy to the believers (verse 3). Such joy was not shared by some in Jerusalem, who in the first meeting of the council said that the gentiles should be ordered to keep the law of Moses (verse 5).
After this meeting, Paul and Barnabas met privately with Peter, John, and James (Galatians 2:1–10). They explained the gospel they had been preaching to the gentiles. These three leaders of the church in Jerusalem saw the grace that had been given to Paul to bring the gospel to the gentiles and extended to him the “right hand of fellowship” [an expression of unity and partnership]. This private meeting seems to have decided the question of compliance to the Jewish law because in the next general meeting Peter said, “We believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11). James decided that “we should not cause trouble for the gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:19). This was a great victory for Paul and Barnabas, and the news was received with rejoicing by the church in Antioch (verses 30–35).
Later, Peter visited Antioch and freely associated with the gentile believers as he had timidly done in Cornelius’s house (Acts 10:28). This continued until “certain men came from James.” Their presence brought fear to Peter, clouding the light of the gospel of grace, and causing him to separate himself from the gentiles. Peter’s action influenced others, including Barnabas, to do the same (Galatians 2:12–13). Paul rose to the challenge of this serious crisis. He confronted Peter publicly and charged him with Judaizing and hypocrisy (verse 14). Paul won the battle and rescued Peter and Barnabas with eloquent words on justification by faith (verses 15–21), but the Judaizers had resumed their war. From this time on, they did not rest. Rather, they tormented and persecuted Paul all over the world. But the apostle did not submit to them for a moment. He was engaged in the fight of his life so that the truth of the gospel might remain with the gentile believers (verse 5).
Further Travel
Paul wanted to visit the new believers and see how they were doing. So he proposed to Barnabas that they return to the cities where they had previously preached about Jesus (Acts 15:36). Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, but Paul would not take him since he had deserted them during their earlier journey (13:13). This sharp disagreement ended Barnabas’s association with Paul (15:37–39). Silas, a leader among the brothers in Jerusalem (verse 22), accompanied Paul as he set out by land through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches (verses 40–41).
Beginning from Derbe in Galatia, Paul and Silas revisited the churches Paul had established with Barnabas. While in Lystra, they were joined by Timothy (Acts 16:1–3). The apostles delivered to these young churches the letter drafted by the elders and apostles in Jerusalem concerning the observance of the law (15:23–29), thus strengthening and increasing them (16:4–5).
It is likely that Ephesus, a major city in the Roman province of Asia, was the party’s main objective for the advancement of the gospel. But “the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia” (Acts 16:6). Then they attempted to turn north and enter the region of Bithynia, “but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them” (verse 7). In this way they were forced by God to continue straight westward to Troas on the Aegean Sea. There Luke joined them (“we” in verse 10), and Paul had a vision in which he was called out of Asia into Macedonia (verses 8–9). Paul and his party immediately crossed by boat into Europe (verse 11) where they carried the gospel to Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth.
Philippi was a Roman colony and military outpost where there were few Jews, so Paul went to a place by the river where the local Jews prayed. He spoke to some women there, notably Lydia, who believed and with her household was baptized (Acts 16:12–15), beginning the first church in Europe. Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a girl in Philippi, and as a result, he and Silas were jailed (verses 16–24). The events of their night in jail made the jailer a believer in God (verses 25–34). He and his family were added to the church in Philippi, which met in Lydia’s home (verse 40). When Paul disclosed his Roman citizenship, he was released and was asked to leave the city (verses 35–39).
At Thessalonica, the Jews, aroused to jealousy by the success of Paul’s gospel message, raised a mob to search for the apostles. They complained to the city authorities that the people “who have turned the world upside down have now come here” and accused the apostles of “saying that there is another king [besides Caesar], named Jesus” (Acts 17:5–7).
Paul and Silas quickly left Thessalonica by night and arrived in Berea, a city thereafter distinguished by its citizens who eagerly and thoughtfully received the gospel (Acts 17:10–12). The Thessalonian Jews did not rest but trailed Paul to Berea to incite the crowds. The believers then sent Paul away to Athens, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind (verses 13–15).
The Athenians called Paul a babbler but let him express his views before the Areopagus. Paul’s speech there was alive with his broad knowledge. He alluded to Greco-Roman philosophy (Acts 17:27), poetry (verse 28), sculpture (verses 25, 29), architecture (verse 24), and religion while proclaiming the existence of an “unknown god” (verse 23). But he was rudely cut short by scoffing and indifference when he mentioned the resurrection (verse 32). Though Paul’s words delighted the minds of many, they influenced the will of few. So when he arrived in Corinth, he determined not to proclaim the mystery of God in eloquent words of wisdom so that the believers’ faith would not rest on human wisdom but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1–5).
In Corinth Paul met Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2–3), Roman Jews with whom he lived and worked as a tentmaker and who would become prominent among the churches (Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). He stayed in Corinth 18 months from AD 50 to 51. There he raised up a church (Acts 18:11) on the strength of a vision from God (verses 9–10) and despite the attacks of the Jews (verses 12–17). Paul wrote the first and second letters to the Thessalonians from Corinth to establish the believers in a holy, industrious life (1 Thessalonians 3:13; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:7–12) in hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1 and following).
Accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, Paul sailed from Corinth for Syria. He left his fellow workers in Ephesus, sailed to Caesarea, briefly visited Jerusalem, and returned to Antioch (Acts 18:18–22). Paul stayed in Antioch for a while but did not remain absent from the field of his labors for long. Alone, he departed from Antioch, went from place to place in Galatia and Phrygia strengthening all the disciples, and eventually arrived in Ephesus (18:23; 19:1).
Labor in the Gospel
A Jew named Apollos had ministered in Ephesus before Paul’s arrival and had recently gone over to Corinth (Acts 18:24–28). There Apollos innocently became the cause of such discord (1 Corinthians 3:3–9) that he left and refused to return even at Paul’s request (16:12). Paul’s earlier visit to Ephesus (Acts 18:19–20), Apollos’s ministry, and the presence of Priscilla and Aquila had prepared Ephesus so that the apostle could preach the gospel of Christ.
Paul began his work in Ephesus by correcting the misconceptions of some ill-informed disciples of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1–7). He then spent three months preaching at the local synagogue until members of the congregation “publicly maligned the Way [the Christian faith]” (verse 9). Paul then took the disciples and continued his arguments on the neutral ground of Tyrannus’s school (verses 8–9), where Jews and Greeks were free to come. He continued there for two years and “that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord” (verse 10).
The work in Ephesus was a great success (Acts 19:10, 20, 26). Paul enjoyed an opportunity for effective work (1 Cor 16:9), bolstered by extraordinary miracles (Acts 19:11–17), a public burning of valuable books of sorcery (verses 18–19), and the assistance of friendly officials from the province of Asia (verse 31). There were also many adversaries (1 Corinthians 15:32; 16:9), especially among the artisans associated with the temple of Diana. Paul’s ministry had hurt their trade to the extent that they were incited to riot (Acts 19:23–41). Paul had intended to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost (1 Corinthians 16:8), but this tumult seems to have hastened his departure (Acts 20:1).
During his stay in Ephesus, the household of Chloe sent word to Paul from Corinth that there were divisions in the church there (1 Corinthians 1:10–13). This report generated a flurry of letters and travels. Paul wrote a letter, which is now lost, to this church (5:9). The church in Corinth wrote a letter (7:1) and sent messengers to Paul (16:17), and Paul sent Timothy to them (4:17; 16:10). Paul then wrote 1 Corinthians (AD 53) and sent it by Titus, who was to meet him in Troas to report the results (2 Corinthians 2:12–13).
After his hasty exit from Ephesus, Paul found an opportunity for the gospel in Troas. But he so longed to hear from Corinth that he continued on into Macedonia (2 Corinthians 2:12–13). There he was finally comforted by Titus (7:5–7) and rejoiced at the news of the Corinthians’ repentance, earnestness, longing, and zeal (verses 8–16). From Macedonia Paul wrote 2 Corinthians (AD 54), toured northwest to proclaim the good news of Christ in Illyricum (Romans 15:19), and then turned south for Achaia and his third visit to Corinth (Acts 19:21; 20:1–3; 2 Cor 13:1).
The time and place from which Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians is a topic of controversy. Some date it before the council at Jerusalem, about AD 45. Others say he wrote it from Corinth at this stage in his history. The latter opinion is the choice of this narrative.
A three-month winter stay in Corinth (AD 55–56) produced the Letter to the Romans, which firmly set the benchmark of the gospel for all time. Paul had many personal friends in Rome (Romans 16) and had long intended to visit there (1:10–15). He planned to deliver a collection from the gentile churches to Jerusalem (Acts 20:35; Romans 15:25–26; 1 Corinthians 16:1) and then visit Rome (Acts 19:21) on his way to Spain (Romans 15:23–24).
The Arrest in Jerusalem
Paul’s trip from Corinth to Jerusalem was marked by abundant warnings of the danger awaiting him in Jerusalem. The Judaizers’ acrimony toward Paul was common talk everywhere, but all alarms went unheeded (Acts 20:22–24, 38; 21:4, 10–15). However, the request for prayer in Romans 15:30–32 shows that Paul knew he might soon need a divine rescue from the unbelievers in Judea.
The travelers, carrying the collection for Jerusalem, journeyed swiftly in order to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost (Acts 20:16). They proceeded by land from Achaia, through Macedonia, to Philippi in time for the Passover (spring AD 56, verse 6). Crossing by sea to Troas, they visited the believers there (verses 7–12). They then sailed through the archipelago [a group of islands] of the eastern Aegean Sea to Miletus (verses 13–16). From Miletus, Paul sent for the elders of Ephesus, to whom he delivered an impassioned speech containing his own dire warnings for them (verses 17–38).
Parting from them, Paul and his companions set sail to Cos, to Rhodes, and then to Patara. There they changed ships for Phoenicia (Acts 21:1–2). A straight course to Tyre brought them within sight of Cyprus, with its memories of Barnabas and Sergius Paulus (verse 3). “Through the Spirit” the disciples in Tyre “kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem” (verse 4), but he pressed on to Caesarea. There he and his company stayed with Philip, who had formerly served with the martyred Stephen (21:8; compare 6:5). In Caesarea, Paul would not be persuaded by an especially dramatic prophecy of his coming arrest (21:10–14).
In Jerusalem, the group of apostles stayed with Mnason, an early disciple, and were warmly welcomed by the brothers there (Acts 21:15–17). James and the elders of the church praised God when they heard of the things he had done through Paul among the gentiles (verses 18–20), and when they received the collection from the churches (24:17). They told Paul of his bad reputation among the thousands of Jewish believers in Jerusalem and urged him to set right the Judaizers’ misrepresentation that he encouraged Jewish Christians to forsake the Mosaic customs (21:21–24). Acts 21:25 shows the Jerusalem elders understood that the gentiles were under no obligation to Moses. Their concern was for Paul to demonstrate that Jewish believers were free to continue their traditional observances.
Paul had kept the Jewish feasts (Acts 20:6), as had Jesus and the early disciples in Jerusalem. He had also cut his hair in a vow at Cenchreae (18:18), so it was a small matter for him, a Jew, to ceremonially purify himself after becoming a Christian, especially if it would undermine the arguments of the Judaizers. To have refused the elders’ request would have lent credence to the Judaizers’ charge. The success of this plan is seen in that it was the Jews from Asia, visiting Jerusalem for the Pentecost feast of AD 57, who caused trouble for Paul (21:27–29)—not the Judaizers from Jerusalem.
The whole city was aroused by Paul’s persistent persecutors. A violent crowd dragged him out of the temple just as Stephen had once been hauled to his martyrdom. They tried to kill him, but he was rescued by Roman soldiers as the mob cried, “Away with him!”—just as they had done to Jesus (Acts 21:30–36). At this juncture, the educational and cultural diversity of Paul’s life came to his rescue. As he was carried for safety to the Roman barracks, he spoke in Greek to the tribune, who had mistaken him for an Egyptian assassin (verses 37–38). Permitted to speak to the crowd, he did so in the Aramaic language then common in Israel (verses 39–40). The hushed crowd eagerly heard Paul’s defense until he uttered the word “gentiles.” At this, the crowd resumed its threatening and violence, and Paul was brought into the barracks (22:1–24). There the Romans prepared to flog him, until Paul revealed that he was not only a Jew from Tarsus but also a freeborn Roman citizen. The tribune was afraid, since he had bound a Roman citizen. Wanting to know the charges against Paul, he brought him to the Sanhedrin (verses 25–30).
This meeting of the Jewish judiciary was shortly reduced to dissension and violence. Paul resorted to tactics justifiable in such a war and hopelessly divided the Sanhedrin on the subject of the resurrection (Acts 23:1–9). Paul again was rescued, this time from the contending factions of the Jewish leadership, and taken to the barracks, where the Lord encouraged him, promising that he would go to Rome (AD 56, verses 10–11).
In the meantime, 40 Jews plotted to murder Paul. They vowed not to eat or drink until they had killed the apostle (Acts 23:12–15). They almost succeeded, but with the help of the son of Paul’s sister (verse 16), the conspiracy was exposed. For safety, Paul was taken from Jerusalem to Caesarea under guard of 470 soldiers and handed over to the custody of Felix the governor (verses 16–35). Inconclusive hearings before Felix (Acts 24), his successor, Festus (25:1–12), and King Agrippa (25:23–26:32) occupied Paul in his two years of imprisonment in Caesarea. Festus, wanting to please the Jews, suggested that Paul be returned to Jerusalem for trial, but Paul knew the murderous intent of his accusers and again utilized his Roman citizenship by making a dramatic appeal to Caesar (25:9–12).
Voyage and Stay in Rome
To plead his case at Caesar’s court, Paul and his companions, Aristarchus and Luke, were taken on a dangerous voyage (AD 58, Acts 27:1–28:16). Their passage by ship from Caesarea to Rome is one of the most remarkable on record. Luke’s detailed account is a treasure of information on ancient ships, navigation, and seamanship. It is also a beautiful portrait of a heroic and dignified apostle Paul. Paul was the gospel’s ambassador in chains (Ephesians 6:20), who with the guidance and assurance of his God (Acts 27:23–26), led the 276 people on board to safety (verse 37).
Luke traces the voyage stage by stage through every crisis, with a change of ship at Myra, a delay at Fair Havens on Crete, and the shipwreck on Malta. Finally, in the spring of AD 59, they arrived at Puteoli, Italy, and made their way to Rome. They were welcomed by the believers along the Appian Way (Acts 28:13–16).
Luke provided a peaceful resolution to the Acts, even though the apostle was an imperial prisoner of Caesar Nero. Paul lived by himself in his own house, chained to a Roman guard (Acts 28:16, 30). There he received the local Jewish leaders—to calm any misgivings they may have had about him and, at the same time, to convince them about Jesus. His efforts had mixed success (verses 17–28). During Paul’s two or more years in Rome, the Judaizers seem to have withdrawn, only to be replaced by the peril of Eastern Gnosticism [a type of religious thinking that focuses on hidden and mystical knowledge, valuing knowledge over faith]. This is seen in Paul’s letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Ephesians, and to Philemon, all written at this time. It is unlikely that Paul’s accusers appeared in Rome to bring formal charges before Caesar, so Paul was probably released in AD 61.
Final Years and Martyrdom
It is here assumed that the Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus) are truly Paul’s work. Only through them can the probable course of events in Paul’s final years be traced. Romans 15:28 shows that Paul intended to deliver the collection to Jerusalem and then to “set off to Spain by way of you [Rome].” The arrest and imprisonment in Jerusalem not only destroyed these plans but also extracted five precious years from the prime of a most productive life. Although Clement of Rome implied that Paul did fulfill his desire to go to Spain (Clement to the Corinthians 5), it is certain that the daily pressure of Paul’s anxious care for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28) did not decrease.
If Paul went to Spain, he may have been there when Rome was burned on July 19, AD 64. Tradition says that Paul traveled as far as Britain, but there is no evidence to confirm this. Returning east, he left Titus in Crete (Titus 1:5) and traveled through Miletus, south of Ephesus, where he left Trophimus sick (2 Timothy 4:20). Traveling toward Macedonia, Paul visited Timothy in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3). On the way, Paul left his cloak and books with Carpus in Troas (2 Timothy 4:13). This indicates that he intended to return there for his possessions. From Macedonia Paul wrote his loving yet apprehensive first letter to Timothy (AD 62–64). He had decided to spend the winter in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), northwest of Corinth on the Adriatic Sea, but was still in Macedonia when he wrote his letter to Titus. This letter is similar to 1 Timothy, yet with a somewhat harsher tone. In it is a final glimpse of the eloquent and zealous Apollos (Titus 3:13), who is still in association with Paul 10 or more years after his first appearance in Ephesus (Acts 18:24).
From here Paul’s path is obscure. He may have wintered in Nicopolis, but he did not return to Troas for his winter cloak (2 Timothy 4:13). At some point he was arrested by the Romans, because he spent a winter in Rome’s Mamertine Prison, suffering from the cold in that rock cell before he wrote his second letter to Timothy (AD 66–67). He may have been anticipating the coming winter when he requested that Timothy bring his cloak (verses 13, 21). The charges against Paul were possibly related to the burning of Rome (this is unknown). It was, however, now “illegal” to be a Christian since the “new religion” was no longer protected by Roman law as being part of Judaism (which was a legalized, recognized religion by Roman law).
It was dangerous to be associated with Paul at this time. Many deserted him (2 Timothy 4:16), including all his coworkers in Asia (1:15) and Demas, who loved the world (4:10). Only Luke, the physician and author of Luke and Acts, was with him when he wrote his second letter to Timothy (verse 11). Faithful believers still in hiding in Rome were also in contact with the apostle (1:16; 4:19, 21). He told Timothy to come to him in Rome and bring Mark also (4:11). Apparently Timothy did come and was imprisoned (Hebrews 13:23). Paul’s request for the books and parchments (2 Timothy 4:13) discloses that he was reading and studying the Scripture to the end.
The apostle Paul had two hearings before Caesar Nero. At his first defense only the Lord stood by him (2 Timothy 4:16). There he not only pleaded his own cause but also that of the gospel, still longing that all the gentiles would hear its message. Perhaps no decision was made, and thus he was “delivered from the mouth of the lion” (verse 17). Though he knew he would soon die, he was not afraid, but was assured that the Lord would give him a crown of righteousness on the last day (verse 8). Finally, the apostle himself recorded his seminal encouragement to all believers: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all” (verse 22). After this, the Scripture is silent regarding Paul.
Nothing is known of Paul’s second hearing but that it resulted in the sentence of capital punishment. History does not record Paul’s end. Nero died in the summer of AD 68, so Paul was executed before that date. As a Roman citizen, he must have been spared the lingering torture that had recently been suffered by his fellow martyrs. Tradition says that he was decapitated by the sword of an imperial headsman on the Ostian Road just outside of Rome, and buried nearby. This fulfilled Paul’s desire “to depart and be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).