The Life of Paul
New Testament Division—Third Period (Concluded)
PRINCIPAL EVENTS
His Early Life.—Born (as Saul) at Tarsus, in Cilicia (Acts 22:3), the date of his birth not being known. His trade was that of tentmaking (Acts 18:3), and this he found useful later (1 Cor. 4:12). He was educated under Gamaliel, a noted Rabbi (Acts 22:3; 5:34).
His First Appearance in the gospel story is at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:3) and he became an active persecutor of Christians (Acts 9:1; 26:10, 11; 9:13).
His Conversion took place on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-22; 22:3-13; 26:9-18). He went to Arabia (Gal. 1:15-17) and worked in Syria and Cilicia (Gal. 1:21). He was brought by Barnabas to Antioch (Acts 11:25, 26) and remained there a year.
His First Missionary Journey began at Antioch (Acts 13:1-3) and is described in Acts 13 to Acts 15:35, when a return to Antioch was made. He was stoned at Lystra (Acts 14:8-19) and made a number of disciples (Acts 14:20-24).
His Second Missionary Journey began at Antioch, where he and Barnabas disagreed (Acts 15:36-40) and is recorded in Acts 15 to 18:22. Timothy joined him (Acts 16:1-3), he heard the call of need from Macedonia; crossing to Europe (Acts 16:8-10) he planted churches (Acts 17:1-9; 18:1-17) and again returned to Antioch.
His Third Missionary Journey began at Antioch, and is recorded in Acts 18:23 to Acts 21:26. It included a stay of three months in Greece, and ended at Jerusalem, where he made a report of his Gentile ministry (Acts 21:15-26).
His Voyage to Rome began with arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-36). A plot to kill Paul failed (Acts 23:12-14). He was sent to Cæsarea and appeared before the Roman rulers (Acts 24, 25, 26), remaining there over two years (Acts 24:27). He suffered shipwreck (Acts 27:1-44), but reached Rome at last (Acts 28:1-31).
His Sufferings are outlined in 2 Corinthians 11:25-28.
TIME.—About A. D. 2 to A. D. 63.
PLACES.—Tarsus, Jerusalem, Arabia, Damascus, Antioch, Cyprus, Perga, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Malta, Galatia, Troas, Corinth, Athens, Caesarea, Rome. (Details of [Paul's journeys] are given in the [Appendix].)
SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.—Paul bequeathed to his Christian posterity the record of a life unreservedly consecrated to service and a series of letters which set forth the philosophy of Christian belief in a manner that for simplicity and depth has never been surpassed.