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Paul.

Saul of Tarsus — Pharisee, Roman citizen, student of Gamaliel — was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians when the risen Christ appeared to him and called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Renamed Paul, he undertook three missionary journeys across the Roman Empire, planting churches in Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, and (after appealing to Caesar) reaching Rome itself. He wrote thirteen of the New Testament's twenty-seven books. Tradition places his execution in Rome under Nero around 67 AD.

Timeline

• Educated under Gamaliel (Acts 22)
• Approved Stephen's stoning (Acts 7)
• Damascus Road encounter (Acts 9)
• Three years in Arabia (Galatians 1)
• Three missionary journeys (Acts 13–21)
• Arrested in Jerusalem; appealed to Caesar
• House arrest in Rome
• Wrote about half the New Testament
• Tradition: beheaded in Rome under Nero (~67 AD)

Key verses

• Acts 9:4 →
• Galatians 2:20 →
• Philippians 3:8 →

Why Paul matters

Paul is the New Testament's most influential theologian. His letters — Romans, the two to Corinth, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, the Pastorals — define justification by faith, the nature of the church as Jew and Gentile together, the Christian life in the Spirit, and the resurrection hope. Without Paul, Christianity would have remained a Jewish sect; with him, it became a faith for all peoples. His theological synthesis is still the foundation Western Christianity builds on.

Related tools

• All 29 figuresThe full index
• Bible verse lookupAny reference, ESV
• Trivia categoryApostle