Paul the Apostle

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"Saint Paul" redirects here. For other uses, see Saint Paul
(disambiguation).
Saint Paul
Apostle of the Gentiles

Saint Paul by Bartolomeo Montagna

Native ‫התרסי שאול‬
name (Sha'ul ha-Tarsi, Saul of Tarsus)
Personal details
Born c. AD 5[1]
Tarsus, Cilicia, Roman Empire[2]→
Died c. AD 67 (aged 61–62)[3]
probably in Rome, Roman
Empire[3]
Sainthood
Feast January 25 (Feast of
day the Conversion of Saint
Paul)
February 10 (Feast
of Saint Paul's Shipwreck in
Malta)
June 29 (Feast of
Saints Peter and Paul)
June 30 (former solo
feast day, still celebrated by
some religious orders)
November 18 (Feast
of the dedication of the
basilicas of Saints Peter
and Paul)
Canoniz by Pre-Congregation
ed
Attribut Sword
es
Patrona Missions; Theologians; Gentile
ge Christians
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Paul the Apostle (Latin: Paulus; Greek: Παῦλος, translit. Paulos; c. 5 –
c. 67), commonly known as Saint Paul and also known by his Jewish
name Saul of Tarsus (Hebrew: , translit. Sha'ul ha-Tarsi; ‫שאול התרסי‬
Greek: Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, translit. Saulos Tarseus),[4][5][6] was an apostle
(though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of the
Christ to the first century world.[7]
Paul is generally considered one of the most important figures of the
Apostolic Age[8][9] and in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD he founded
several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He took advantage of his
status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish
and Roman audiences. According to writings in the New Testament
and prior to his conversion, Paul was dedicated to persecuting the
early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem.[10] In the narrative of
the Acts of the Apostles (often referred to simply as Acts), Paul was
traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to
"arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem" when the resurrected
Jesus appeared to him in a great light. He was struck blind, but after
three days his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus and Paul
began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and the
Son of God.[11] Approximately half of the book of Acts deals with Paul's
life and works.
Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have
traditionally been attributed to Paul. Seven of the epistles are
undisputed by scholars as being authentic, with varying degrees of
argument about the remainder. Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the
Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted
in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.[12] It was almost unquestioningly accepted
from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of
Hebrews,[13] but that view is now almost universally rejected by
scholars.[14] The other six are believed by some scholars to have come
from followers writing in his name, using material from Paul's surviving
letters and letters written by him that no longer survive.[7][8][15] Other
scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the
disputed epistles raises many problems.[16]
Today, Paul's epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology,
worship and pastoral life in the Catholic and Protestant traditions of the
West, as well as the Orthodox traditions of the East.[17] Paul's influence
on Christian thought and practice has been characterized as being as
"profound as it is pervasive", among that of many other apostles and
missionaries involved in the spread of the Christian faith.[7] Augustine of
Hippo developed Paul's idea that salvation is based on faith and not
"works of the law". Martin Luther's interpretation of Paul's writings
influenced Luther's doctrine of sola fide.