A Summary of Paul’s Life
Before Conversion
Paul, the “Apostle of the Gentiles,” was born in Tarsus, capital city of the Roman province of Cilicia, in southeast Asia Minor. A strict Pharisee who was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, we first find him in Jerusalem, where he was present at and consented to the death of the Christian martyr Stephen. He then began a vicious campaign of persecution against Christians.
Conversion
As Paul – who was also known as Saul – was on the road to Damascus to extend his ravages, he suddenly saw a blinding light and fell to the ground, hearing Jesus speak to him. He was then led by hand, blind, to Damascus, where a Christian named Ananias met him. Paul was cured of his blindness, believed on Jesus, and was baptized.
First Years
Immediately following his conversion, Paul departed to Arabia, eventually returning to Damascus. Fleeing an assassination plot in that city, he headed to Jerusalem, where two events of great importance for his future life occurred. First, he met a Fellow-Christian and future companion, Barnabas. He also saw a vision in the temple that commanded him to take the gospel to the gentiles. Another assassination plot sent him fleeing to Caesarea, then back to Tarsus. Eventually, ending up in Syrian Antioch, he partnered with Barnabas and took a short journey down to Jerusalem to bring relief to that church, after which time he returned to Antioch.
First Missionary Journey
While in Antioch, both Paul and Barnabas were clearly called to the Lord’s service. They soon set sail for Cyprus, where they met two men. Paul preached to Sergius Paulus, a Roman deputy who believed the gospel, despite the efforts of Barjesus, who was blinded for trying to hinder Paul. Setting sail, the evangelists continued on to Perga, Pisidian Antioch (where Paul delivered his first evangelistic sermon to the Jews), Iconium, and Lystra – all cities of Asia Minor. While in Lystra Paul healed a cripple, which almost caused the city to worship him; when Jews arrived, the citizens changed their mind and stoned him, leaving him for dead. After recovering, Paul and Barnabas returned to Syrian Antioch.
Second Missionary Journey
The ‘Jerusalem Council,’ the great council of the early
church, convened in Jerusalem to discuss the question of the law. After determining that Christians were not bound by the law of Moses, it sent Paul as a messenger to deliver the verdict. Paul traveled northwest through Anatolia before crossing into Macedonia. While in Philippi he cast out a spirit of divination but ended up in prison as a result. After the jailor was converted, he was free to travel to Thessalonica, where a great persecution against Christians soon broke out. Journeying south into the heartland of Greece, he delivered his famous Mar’s Hill Sermon at Athens. The journey concluded with time at Corinth before heading back to Jerusalem.
Third Missionary Journey
Paul’s intention after leaving Jerusalem was to strengthen the churches of Galatia and Phrygia in Anatolia. Weaving his way over the roads of Asia Minor, he eventually came to the bustling coast city of Ephesus, where he lived for some time. As the church grew, the new Christians burned their occult books, but trouble was in the air. Demetrius, a silversmith who made idols, stirred up the whole city into an uproar, forcing Paul to leave Ephesus.
The apostle headed to Greece, where he stayed three months, then returned through Macedonia. Sailing along the coast of Anatolia toward Jerusalem, he revived a young man named Eutychus at a stop in Troas. At Miletus he met with the Ephesian elders and exhorted them in their noble work. He remained firm in his decision to visit Jerusalem even as he received a prophecy from Agabus about his imminent arrest.
Journey to Rome
After visiting with James in Jerusalem, Paul headed to the heart of the city, the temple. He was quickly surrounded by a murderous mob who believed he had defiled the sacred space, yet the commander of the Roman garrison rescued him, only to threaten him with scourging. With Roman security, Paul was given permission to address the mob twice, only to require further Roman rescue.
Soon, the Jews began plotting even more elaborately, and the Romans were forced to evacuate their prisoner to the safety of Caesarea, the Roman provincial capital. Here the apostle defended himself before Felix and Festus, finally appealing to Caesar as a Roman citizen. After another eloquent defense before King Agrippa, Paul was put on a ship for Rome.
During a routine stop at Crete, Paul advised the sailors to winter in the secure harbor; when they ignored his warning, the ship wrecked off the coast of Malta. Paul eventually made it to Rome where he lived for two years, preaching the kingdom of God. The Biblical account ends here, though there is speculation that Paul was freed for further years of ministry, until he again ended up in a Roman jail and was beheaded by the Roman tyrant Nero.
Do we know what Paul did in Arabia?…not speculation but from other scripture or contemporary writings.
Hi David, unfortunately we don’t have any other record of Paul’s journey into Arabia beside his mention of it from Galatians 1:17. But it’s an interesting question!
thanks alot
for all your effort to show us the real true of apostle paul
pls how can i chat you
Hi, you can contact me through the ‘contact’ link at the top of the page!
Thanks this helped so much! Really appreciate it!
Thank you. I truly admire Paul’s ministry
This was a clear and easy read. Thanks for this summary on the life of Paul.
Well I think Paul was one tough dude to put up with all that Go through it with his head held high still write the Bible That’s one bad dude And I thank God for Paul
Wow! This actually really helpful. As a student in st pAul we must know the life of our Patron Saint. Rally Nice and Thnks for the effort by the way!
What is the summary of Pauls Preaching in Rome?
Hi Jacinta, We don’t have a lot of information about Paul’s time in Rome, but you can read about it in Acts 28:16-31. There we are given an address that Paul delivered to the Jews who lived in Rome. In that speech, Paul emphasizes that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. His preaching in Rome is summarized by saying that he was, “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Hope this helps!
Thank you very much . This is so enlightening . I can now understand Apostle Paul better .
This is really interesting and I now understand Saul’s conversion a lot more. Was Saul Paul’s Hebrew name and did he change it when he was converted?
Hi Imi,
Sorry for the slow response. You are correct that ‘Saul’ was his Hebrew name, and ‘Paul’ was his gentile/non-Hebrew name. However, we do not know why or when this change happened. Some people think that he had both names and used them based on the context that he was in; others think that he took the name of ‘Paul’ after his conversion. Unfortunately, we just don’t know. But it’s an intriguing question!
Daniel
Thank you very much.This was helpful
Who had the most influences on Paul? Whom did he influence the most?
Hi Attila,
Good questions. Paul was influenced heavily by his Jewish upbringing and his Greco-Roman cultural learning. However, theologically speaking, Paul asserted that he was not significantly influenced by the other Christian leaders of his day. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul claims that he learned “through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
In terms of his influence, Paul had a significant influence on Luke the Physician, who wrote both the ‘Gospel of Luke’ and the ‘Acts of the Apostles,’ which second book contains a detailed narrative of Paul’s missionary journeys. Paul’s influence on the Christian church in general was huge, especially on the Gentile wing of the church. Later on in church history, the Protestant Reformation sprang from a renewed understanding of ‘justification by faith alone’ which was a cornerstone of Paul’s theology.
Hope this helps. Blessings,
Daniel
How long was Paul in prison and who helped him get released? Was Paul in prison more than once?
Hi Sandra,
We don’t know how long Paul was in prison. It appears that he was in prison for at least several years. The Bible does not record what happened at his trial, or any of the end of his life. It seems that he was brought before the Roman Emperor, defended himself, and was released. He probably travelled around the Roman Empire, preaching, and was arrested a second time, taken again to Rome, and executed for preaching Christ. Paul also had other minor imprisonments, but these were the two major imprisonments in his life. I hope this helps.
Blessings,
Daniel
What were some conflict or dissent he experienced from the community he visited?
Hi, this is a great question. Paul experienced significant conflict from a group known as the ‘Judaizers’ who taught that one is saved if they believe on Jesus AND they keep the Law of Moses. These Judaizers taught that men must be circumcised if they were not from a Jewish background. Paul strongly disagreed with these people, and one of his letters (Galatians) is written to a church that had accepted the Judaizers. In addition to this, Paul experienced a great deal of conflict from many different people – for example, the church at Corinth was receptive to teachers who blamed Paul for being insufficiently ‘wise.’ Hopefully this answers your question!
I appreciated your article though I find it problematic that you seem to want to have a name change for Paul and relate it to his conversion. Being the Hebrew and Greek forms of the same name, Saul and Paul, both were used after his conversion, while, yes, eventually we only read of the Greek form being used. This is attested to in scripture. Please see Acts 9:22, 24, 27, 28; 11:25, 26, 30; 12:25; 13:1, 2, 7 and the crowning verse of Acts 13:9 “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ………..”. This is well after his conversion and clearly while ‘doing ministry’. It’s not a bit deal other than making a statement for which there is no Biblical support. Again, thanks for your precise summary of Paul’s life and ministry.
Thank you Keith, it was not a subject that I had looked into in great detail. However, I see the value of what you have mentioned and want to be precise (so that this article can be most helpful). I’ve updated the summary to reflect that.
Thank you for this story it make me understand the conversation of paul
Thanks for your efforts for giving brief note of Apostle Paul. May God continue to bless
Sir I am Daniel, from India. I want to clarify many things abt. Paul and his epistle. How can I start to read his epistle. Even if I read I have not understand yet. May I request u to help me to understand his epistels sir.
Hi Daniel, and thanks for the comment.
I recommend that you begin by actually reading the epistles themselves. This is the best way to learn.
You could also check out some courses found here, which cover each book of the Bible: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/courses/#new-testament
Blessings,
Daniel
thank you for this summary of Paul’s life.
Going to use his life for school assignment.
Even though Paul was doing everything he could do to be against God including killing his followers Jesus still Saved him and used him! Perfect answer for the Devil when he says we can’t be saved, the Devil is a lie!! If Jesus will save Paul he will definitely save you!!! Thank you Jesus!!!!!!
When a question says ,Appraise the ministry of Paul ,how do you go about?
Hi, thanks for the comment. I’m not sure that I understand what you are asking – could you explain further?
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for the great summary of the Apostle Paul`s life. Now my question is in regards to the two visits that Paul had to Jerusalem mentioned in Gal. 1: 18 & 2: 1)
In Galatians we see that Paul said he went up to Jerusalem after 3 years and just had time with Peter. (Gal. 1: 18) Then he went(back) into Syria.
Later, he went back to Jerusalem after 14 years and this time with Barnabas.
So it seems that Barnabas didn`t mentor Paul until much later.
Can you shed some light on this, thank you.
Hi Marilyn,
Thanks for bringing this up. It’s an interesting question. Unfortunately, it is also somewhat complicated. However, here is the short answer, from the research that I’ve done: Paul’s reference to going to Jerusalem after 3 years (in Gal. 1:18) probably refers to his time after the visit recorded in Acts 9:26-30. It was during these three years, then, that he was associated with Barnabas. Later, he would return to Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1 / Acts 15) with Barnabas as a co-laborer. We should note that Paul does not describe himself as being ‘mentored’ by Barnabas, because he is at pains in Galatians 1 to remind his audience that the gospel that he preaches was taught to him by the Lord, rather than by a human being. However, we can see that his relationship with Barnabas changed during these years, from Barnabas being a more mature ‘older brother’ in the faith, to being a co-laborer (whom Paul would go on to disagree with in at least one significant matter, Acts 15:39).
Blessings,
Daniel
Why was Paul arrested for preaching the gospel and did anything significant happen after his execution.
Paul was arrested because the Jews thought that he was bringing a gentile into the strictly Jewish area of the Temple (although he was not). The Romans took custody of him to prevent a riot. The execution of Paul is not recorded in the Bible, so we don’t know for sure what happened then.
Please what exactly did Paul do in Athens
You can read about it in Acts 17:16-34!