PAUL THE APOSTLE, SAINT

original name Saul Of Tarsus born AD 10, ?, Tarsus in Cilicia [now in Turkey] died 67?, Rome 1st-century Jew who, after being a bitter enemy of the Christian church, became its leading missionary and possibly its greatest theologian. His extensive travels and his vision of a universal church were responsible for the speed with which Christianity became a world religion. Over half of the Acts of the Apostles deals with his career, and this, together with the letters written by him or in his name, comprises one-third of the New Testament. Paul, a Roman citizen whose formal education must have been strictly Jewish, was trained as a rabbi and learned the trade of tentmaking. Although he never met Jesus, he regarded him as a threat to Pharisaic Judaism and persecuted his followers. He was converted to Christianity through a vision he experienced on the road to Damascus, and he accepted his call to be the apostle to the Gentiles. After spending time in Arabia and in Damascus, he visited Peter and James in Jerusalem and eventually went with Barnabas to Antioch, where the idea of a planned mission first arose. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem, consulted with the leaders of the Christians there, and reached agreement on future missionary policy. When Peter later visited Antioch, Paul insisted on disregarding the law that forbade Jews to eat with Gentiles. Paul then began a series of three missionary journeys that took him to cities throughout Asia Minor and Greece. He maintained contact with the churches that he established by means of letters that taught, corrected, encouraged, and sometimes chided the young Christian communities. Paul paid his last visit to Corinth in AD 57 and then went to Jerusalem, where he was arrested. After being imprisoned at Caesarea for two years, he appealed to the emperor. He arrived in Rome in AD 60 and was kept in custody awaiting trial, during which time he wrote several letters.