Who Was Paul in the Bible?
Paul the Apostle, also called Saul of Tarsus, was a first-century Jew born in Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor located in present-day southern Turkey near the Mediterranean Coast. He was trained as a Pharisee and educated in Jewish law under the renowned Rabban Gamaliel (Acts 22:3; see 5:33-39). Paul was also a Roman citizen, a status that later played a role in his missionary work and eventual martyrdom.
Before his conversion, Paul actively persecuted early Christians, and Scripture attests that he approved of the martyrdom of St. Stephen (Acts 7:58). On the road to Damascus, St. Paul encountered the risen Lord in an apparition. This divine intervention and subsequent events marked the beginning of Paul’s mission as an apostle of Christ (Acts 9:1-19).
Along with his fellow Roman martyr and pillar of the Church St. Peter, the Catholic Church especially celebrates St. Paul on June 29. The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is normally celebrated on January 25, except when it falls on a Sunday, as in 2026.
Was Paul One of the Twelve Apostles?
St. Paul was not one of the Twelve Apostles during Jesus’ earthly ministry. This has led people to question whether he should be regarded as a true apostle.
The word apostle means “one who is sent.” Like the Twelve, Paul receives his apostleship directly from our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:1, 17),while other apostles, beginning with Matthias (Acts 1:15-26), received their call from Christ through the mediation of his Church. At the same time, Paul submits himself to the God-ordained authority of the Church, both in receiving baptism (Acts 9:18) and in being affirmed in his mission to serve the Gentiles in distant lands (Gal. 2:7-9; Acts 13:3). He is known as the “Apostle to the Gentiles” given his primary mission (Acts1:16; see Rom. 11:13); and yet, like Peter (Acts 15:7),Paul gave witness to both Gentiles and Jews (Acts 9:15).
Is Paul’s Rebuke of Peter a Refutation of the Papacy?
Many Protestant Christians argue that St. Paul’s rebuke of St. Peter in Antioch disproves the Catholic claim that Peter and his papal successors have primacy of authority in leading the Church, including as infallible teachers.
Let’s take a closer look. The Catholic Church has never taught that the pope is infallible in everything he says and does, but only when teaching definitively on a matter of faith and morals. We also must distinguish between impeccability, i.e., being incapable of sinning (which applies only to Jesus by nature), and infallibility, which is a divine protection against teaching error. At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter teaches definitively that Gentile converts to Christianity, the restored and fulfilled New Covenant Israel, do not need to be circumcised (Acts 15:6-11), in contrast to what was required in Old Covenant Israel (Lev. 12:1-3; see Exod. 12:44, 48).
When Paul confronts Peter at Antioch, it’s not because of Peter’s erroneous teaching but for his personal conduct: Paul rebukes Peter for pulling back from eating with Gentile Christians because Peter didn’t want to offend Jewish converts who wrongly insisted that circumcision is essential for eternal salvation as a member of God’s New Covenant people. And it’s precisely because Peter has primacy over the Church that Paul specifically reproves him and not the apostle Barnabas (Acts 14:14), nor others who had been negatively impacted by Peter’s deficient leadership decision:
But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity (Gal. 2:11-13).
In addition, Paul’s use of “Cephas” in naming Peter is instructive, because this Greicized form of the Aramaic Kepha affirms that Peter is indeed the rock upon which Jesus founded his one Church and against which the gates of hell will not prevail (Matt. 16:18-19), not a mere stone (Petros) vs. the big rock (petra) of his profession of faith or of Jesus himself, as many Protestants claim in misinterpreting Matthew’s play on Greek words in chapter 16 of his Gospel. There is no doubt that Jesus is the cornerstone of the Church, and yet he builds his Church upon the rock of St. Peter and the foundation otherwise of his apostolic confreres, while he, Christ, divinely safeguards Peter, his papal successors, and the Church in general (Eph. 2:19-22).
Do Jesus and St. Paul’s Teachings Contradict Each Other?
There is a saying in Catholic apologetics that Christians who don’t have an unbroken salvation history need to account for that lack of history, which means that if you disagree with the beliefs of the visible, hierarchical Church that has undeniably existed for two thousand years, you need to argue that this visible Church has gone astray and otherwise discredit its historical and salvific importance. One example is “the Great Apostasy” theory. Another is dispensationalism—which dates only to the 1800s—in which the current “dispensation of grace” (the Church) will precede the “dispensation of the future Kingdom,” when Jesus will return to the earth, restore the kingdom of Israel, and reign for a thousand years.
As a result, dispensationalists believe that most of Jesus’ teachings apply to the future Kingdom age, and thus are not binding on Christians, who are saved by “faith alone” through grace, which they view as a distillation of St. Paul’s teaching.
Dispensationalism misses the mark for various reasons, including that Jesus restores and fulfills the kingdom of Israel in founding his visible Church, the New Covenant “kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19; Gal. 6:14-16), over which he reigns from heaven and yet always remains with his people on earth (Matt. 28:20), guiding them through the apostolic hierarchical leadership structure he established. Just before his Ascension, the apostles ask Jesus when he will restore “the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6), because they still anticipate a triumphant political/military kingdom in this world. On Pentecost, though, they realize that the kingdom of Israel has been restored in King Jesus, both in a visible and invisible/spiritual manner. Now they clearly understand the angel Gabriel’s prophecy that Jesus would receive “the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:31-33), as Peter affirms that the reign of New Covenant Israel has begun with the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus (Acts 2:30-36). St. James concurs at the Council of Jerusalem, noting that the Gentiles, and not simply the Jews, are called into this restored Davidic house/kingdom of Israel (Acts 15:13-18).
So the Kingdom age is not a future reality restricted to the Jewish people who have not yet accepted Jesus as the Messiah, to whom Jesus will come to minister after the rapture of the “true church.” Rather, as Jesus makes clear at his Great Commission to his apostles following his Resurrection, it’s a present reality. In addition, his teachings apply to “all nations [i.e., Gentiles]” (Matt. 28:18-20), not simply to the Jews who have yet to profess faith in him. Consequently, his teachings on good works in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7), to the rich young man (Matt. 19:16-26), etc., bind all Christians, Jew and Gentile alike, and St. Paul concurs that we can accept or reject God’s gift of eternal salvation through our good works or unrepentant bad works (Rom. 2:5-11).
Did Paul Meet Jesus?
Paul did not meet Jesus during Christ’s public ministry, but he did encounter the risen Christ after the Resurrection. This apparition was real (Acts 9:1-9). Through this encounter, Jesus directly appointed St. Paul an apostle, similar to how he did with the Twelve.
Was Paul’s Name Changed from Saul?
Many people assume Paul’s name was changed after his conversion, like Abram to Abraham or Simon to Peter. Scripture and history otherwise do not support this. Saul and Paul were two names used in different cultural contexts. Saul was his Jewish name and Paul was his Roman name. St. Paul was known by the Gentiles as Paul, since it was familiar and accessible to them.
Paul’s Mission
Paul undertook several missionary journeys across Asia Minor, Greece, and eventually Rome. He founded Christian communities, preached publicly, and provided pastoral leadership through letters. His preaching emphasized salvation through Jesus Christ as members of his mystical body, the Church, unity between Jews and Gentiles, and fidelity to the teaching of the apostolic Church in general (1 Tim 3:15).
Paul often returned to Jerusalem to consult with Church leaders, demonstrating his unity with the wider Church. His ministry shows that early Christianity was structured, sacramental, and hierarchical—key Catholic claims about the early Church. In particular, St. Paul teaches on the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and Jesus’ related Real Presence.
Further, St. Paul showed himself a savvy evangelist who did his homework.
What Books in the Bible did St. Paul Write?
St. Paul wrote thirteen books in the Bible, also called the epistles (epistolē in Greek, meaning “letter”), including Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians. While modern scholars debate the authorship of some of these letters, the Church continues to affirm their Pauline authorship. Because St. Paul was wealthier than the other apostles, he may have had a scribe write some letters on his behalf. Also, Paul may have written the Letter to the Hebrews.
Was Paul Married? Did He Condemn Marriage?
Paul conveys in 1 Corinthians 7 that he himself is not married, reaffirming the teaching of Jesus that some members of the body of Christ, like himself, are called to be single “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:10-12; see 1 Cor. 7:7-8, 25-28, 32-38)). At the same, Paul, like Jesus explicitly affirms the goodness of marriage (1 Cor. 7:38; Eph. 5:21-33; see Matt. 19:1-9).
How Did St. Paul Die?
St. Paul the apostle was martyred in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero, around A.D. 64-67. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, the authorities gave him the less painful execution by beheading, while they crucified his apostolic confrere Peter, whom Nero’s empire also martyred. Every year on June 29, the Church celebrates these great Roman martyrs and pillars of the Church.
St. Paul’s Witness Is Essential to the Early Church
Paul’s importance rests on three important considerations:
- His divine commission as an apostle of Jesus Christ
- His theological and doctrinal contributions preserved in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
- His role in spreading the gospel and helping unify the early Catholic Church
In his epistles, St. Paul, strengthens the doctrine Jesus established a visible hierarchical structure in founding his Church on the apostles and their successors. The apostle Paul’s life also testifies to the redeeming power of Christ even with his most ardent human persecutors (Acts 9:3-5; see Eph. 6:12).
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