Introduction to The Pauline Letters 2025.docx

Pauline Letters

1. MATONGO SEMINARY – February, 10th.
TDE 122 INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
DR. ELTON FISCHER
PAUL’S LIFE
Born as Saul in the city of Tarsus, he grew up in the capital of the Roman province of
Cilicia. The city had a heavy Greek cultural influence. The flow of St. Paul’s written
Greek indicates a great familiarity with the ancient Greek language. Because Tarsus
was the Roman capital, this is how Saul obtained Roman citizenship. He trained under
the Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and was “a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts
23:6). Tarsus was known for its tentmaking materials, and Paul learned the trade to
help support his ministerial positions (Acts 18:1-3).  
Despite the difference in names, Saul/Paul did not have a divinely-given new name like
Simon who became Peter. It was common in those times for Jews to use a name more
common in Greek (or Latin) for purposes of business. The apostle dealt with Jews
under his given name, Saul, and with Greeks under his “pagan” name,
Paul. Interestingly, the Navarre Bible commentary points out that the Apostle went by
Saul from his introduction in Acts of the Apostles for the first 13 chapters. After that, he
went exclusively by Paul (Romans & Galatians, pg. 13).
The next events of Paul’s life are the most famous: his persecution of Christians,
especially his consenting to the stoning of St. Stephen (Acts 7:54 – 8:1), and his vision
of the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). That encounter with the
Risen Jesus changed Saul’s life, altered the course of Christianity, and changed the
world.  Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel to Jews and
Gentiles alike. He founded churches, corresponded with them, and worked with a team
of trusted disciples to continue the mission.   
St. Paul died a martyr’s death during the end of the reign of Nero (around 64-68
A.D.). Ancient sources aren’t in agreement on when he died in relation to St. Peter,
though both apostles died during Nero’s persecution of Christians.  
 
FOUR MISSIONARY JOURNEYS
Biblical scholars have pieced together four of St. Paul’s missionary journeys based on
Acts & the epistles. I find it helpful to have a visual—if there are no maps in your Bible, I
encourage you to look at these links or something similar. Then imagine walking or
sailing everywhere!  
The first journey started in Antioch (see beginning of Acts 13) and took him to the
southern parts of modern-day Turkey. The second journey started with a bang with the
Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15: ), discussing whether Gentile Christians had to keep the
Jewish Law to become Christians. St. Luke joins Paul in Troas (Acts 16:10) which we
can see from the shift from the third-person narrative (“he”, “they”) to a plural, first
person narrative (“we”). The third journey was lengthier, with a three-year stay in
Ephesus. The fourth journey features Paul’s imprisonment by the Romans, and his
appeal to the emperor.  
St. Luke concludes the Acts of the Apostles with Paul awaiting his trial at the emperor’s
court. In his letter to the Romans, Paul alludes to his desire to go to Spain (see 15:24,
28), but we don’t have any hard evidence. Some of the early Church Fathers think that
Paul’s appeal to Rome was successful, and that he took advantage of his Roman
“holiday” to head over to nearby Spain.

2. ST. PAUL THE AUTHOR
St. Paul is a major figure for most of Acts of the Apostles and left the Church a number
of letters, or epistles. Scholars collect the epistles in a few groups. 
Romans and Galatians deal with similar topics, with Romans being more fully (and
lengthily) developed. The letter to the Romans is Paul’s great tome that covers many
topics vital to the faith: morality, baptism, union with Christ, and salvation. 
The Pastoral Letters are 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. These two saints were some
of Paul’s close coworkers in the Lord’s vineyard, and gain mention in many books of the
New Testament. The Captivity Letters are so called because Paul wrote them while
imprisoned. Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and the letter to Philemon fall in this
category. We have the most content of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians—29 chapters—
than any of his other letters. We owe a debt of gratitude to the community at Corinth for
its problems! Finally, the two letters to the Thessalonians share some themes as the
others, but do not fall neatly into any of the previously-mentioned categories.
Throughout Church history, the Letter to the Hebrews has been lumped into Paul’s
letters. Unfortunately, no author names himself in the letter. The linguistic style of the
letter is markedly different than Paul’s other letters but retains many of Paul’s
themes. Without much concrete evidence one way or the other, it’s impossible to assign
authorship.
Available at: History of early Christianity | Beliefs, Characteristics, Organization, & Map
| Britannica
BBC - Religions - Christianity: Paul