early life
- born in Tarsus 5AD, Jewish and Roman citizenship
- tent maker by trade, highly educated, Hellenistic culture
- went to Jerusalem when 20 to find Jewish roots, became a pharisee
- act of the apostles 8:3 “saul was ravaging the Church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women…to prison.”
act of the apostles 8:3
“saul was ravaging the Church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women…to prison.”
conversion
- 35AD road to Damascus, Paul had revelation of the risen Jesus, call to preach to the gentiles
- act of the apostles 9:1-5 “As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.” He replied.”
- conversion opened heart to God and transformed inner self, religions influence on Saul
- focused on urban centres, centres of Roman administration, greek culture and jewish presence
act of the apostles 9:1-5
“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.” He replied.”
journey one
accompanied by Barnabas, preaching, returned to Jerusalem for council
journey two
travelled with Silas, Athens and Corinth, preaching Jesus’ coming for all
journey three
revisited many he’d founded, Ephesus reached against worship of false Gods
journey four
visited Miletus, Timothy in charge of Ephesus church, Philippi in Macedonia, imprisoned in Mamertine prison, and beheaded in 67AD
letters
early
gospel
prison
pastoral
early letters
written in earliest part of ministry, 1 Thessalonians
gospel letters
written later and contained some of the most important teachings, letters to the Romans
prison letters
imprisoned, wrote letters to churches he founded, letters to Ephesians
pastoral letters
last letters written when he was old and aware death was imminent, second letter to Timothy
birthplace
- very important city, one of the largest trade centres in Mediterranean, known for tents
- population over a quarter of a million, rich city because of trade
- many who lived there were pagans
- invested heavily in education, exposed to the university’s dominant stoic philosophy
roman citizen
- tarsus a self-governing city, but roman citizenship was not automatic
- if social standing of four generations or more, granted citizenship
- many advantages involved
- if arrested automatically entitled to a fair trial, could appeal directly to emperor, could serve in government posts, vote in roman affairs
grecian culture
- education was very highly regarded and important
- hellenistic society, greek thoughts, influence and customs
- stoicism was the most congenial philosophy at the time, paul’s reasoning resembles
- only good is in virtue, meaning living in according with the will of god and nature
- many parallels between stoic doctrine and bible
judaism
- considered ‘official’ religion of the jews, influential religion
- based upon the laws given to Moses by god
- synagogues were places devoted to law of Judaism
- 3 sects, Pharisees, sadducees and essenes
- believed in following laws to the exact detail, set many rabbinic rules to ‘protect’ laws
influence during his time
- established christian communities in key cities e.g. rome, corinth, Ephesus
- spreading the word of Jesus, gave Jews and gentles a way forward, universal faith
- teaching about love fo God and neighbour over law
- challenged the leadership of the Jesus movement (gentiles allowed, acts 15)
- writings formulated key teachings about the nature of the church, importance of baptism
- teaching on resurrection explained that Jesus offers salvation
influence throughout history
- influenced theology and theologians
- st augustine of Hippo changed from an immoral life to one of faith after reading Pauls letter to the romans, his foundational works all derive from Paul
- martin luther studied pauls letters to the galatians and the romans, formulated belief in justification by faith alone and not good works
influential teachings
- the importance of love (1 Corinthians 13)
- christs call to a life of freedom and responsibility (Galatians 5:14)
- the physical self as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)
