Chapter 15: The Story of Paul's Life and Ministry

1. Chapter 15:The Story of Paul's Life and Ministry

2. Paul's Early Life • Paul (Saul) was born in city of Tarsus as a Diaspora Jew. • Paul was likely a Roman citizen. • Paul was raised in a devout Jewish family and trained as a Pharisee, probably in the zealous Shammaite wing of the Pharisees, in Jerusalem.

3. Paul's Persecution of the Church • Early persecution of the church seems to have been linked to suspicions about Christian attitudes towards the temple and Torah. • Paul's participation in persecution is unlikely to have been motivated by detailed theological disagreements. • Paul describes his persecution as belonging to the tradition of zeal or violent protection of Israel's holiness that stretches back to Phinehas.

4. Paul's Christophany and Conversion • Paul had been given authority from the chief priests to travel to Damascus and bring any followers of 'the Way' back to Jerusalem by force. • On the road, he experienced a vivid and arresting encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. • Paul was 'converted' in the sense that he shifted from pharisaic Judaism to the messianic Judaism of the Jesus movement, but he did not 'change religions.'

5. Paul describes his encounter with Christ in ways that echo the call of prophetic figures in the Old Testament.

6. Paul and the 'Tunnel Period' Little is known about Paul's life between his conversion around 33 AD and his first letters, starting around 48 AD, but the following reconstruction appears most likely: • While still based in Damascus, Paul made a visit to Arabia to discern his own new path; he had to flee Damascus after returning due to plots against his life around 36 AD. • Paul briefly visited Jerusalem and then spent considerable time in Syria and Cilicia; after a decade at home in Tarsus, he was asked to join the Antioch fellowship and became a central leader and teacher.

7. Paul's First Missionary Journey • The Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to Cyprus and southern Asia. • After their return, there were disputes about the status of Gentile believers, and Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem for the Jerusalem council.

8. Paul's Missionary Career • Paul's missionary endeavors after the Jerusalem council were focused on cities on either side of the Aegean Sea, in Asia Minor and Greece. • Paul and Barnabas split after the Jerusalem council, and Paul adopted Silas as a new missionary partner. • Paul planted Gentile-majority churches in urban centers from 50-57 AD. Paul's Second Missionary Journey

9. Paul's Third Missionary Journey • During this time, Paul wrote a number of letters to the fledgling churches he had founded. • Paul organized a collection of money for the church in Jerusalem, but during the trip when he delivered it, he was arrested under the pretense that he had brought Gentiles into the temple. • Paul was kept in detention in Caesarea for three years (ca. 57-60 AD) until he appealed to his Roman citizenship in order to move his trial to Rome.

10. 'And So We Came to Rome' • Paul's journey to Rome involved voyaging through the south coast of Turkey and around Crete, followed by a shipwreck on Malta; after the winter, the party traveled past Sicily and arrived at Puteoli in Italy. • Paul arrived in Rome ca. 60 AD and was kept under house arrest for two years. • The legitimacy of the Pastoral Epistles is debated, but if they are authentic, they belong to a time in Paul's life that Acts omits or after the time of his imprisonment in Rome.

11. Paul's Journey to Rome • Early Christian literature suggests that Paul was released and visited Spain between writing 1 and 2 Timothy, being executed by Nero after a second trial in Rome, but this may reflect guesswork based on Paul's travel plans in Romans and the Pastoral Epistles.