Beth-El Baptist Church

10/16/2011

Greg Tomlinson


Dealing with questions on Paul and his letters


I recently received a list of questions regarding Paul and his letters.


  1. How is Pal a Roman citizen, if he is a Jew?

    Acts 22:25-27


    1. What is meant by Paul being a Jew?

Philippians 3:3-6 Romans 11:1-5


When Paul speaks about himself being a Jew, he is speaking about the history of his ancestors. He is a direct physical descendant of Abraham, the father of the Jews.


    1. What is meant by Paul being a Roman citizen?

Acts 21:37-39 Acts 22:28-29

Ephesians 2:19 Philippians 3:20


When Paul speaks about himself being a Roman citizen, he is speaking about the location of his birth and his legal status before the courts of law. It is like someone today whose ancestors are Mexican, Chinese, or Japanese and yet they were born in America. They would be considered Mexican, Chinese, or Japanese and at the same time they would be considered to be American.


Historically it is said that the Jews “hated” the Romans. This is not to be understood that they hated Romans who were born in the land politically controlled by the Roman government but they hated the Roman governmental system that oppressed the Jews by refusing to allow them to operate as their own sovereign nation. These would be primarily gentiles, and also some Jews (tax collectors primarily), who held some sort of political power over the Jews.


  1. Why did Jesus call Paul “Saul”?

Acts 9:4-5 Acts 7:58; 8:1-4

Acts 9:8-14 Acts 13:6-9


Paul was originally called Saul. It would most likely have been his name since birth. In Acts 9, when Jesus speaks to Saul/Paul, he would have been going by the name of Saul. He is continually called Saul until Acts 13 when it is identified that Saul (who also is called Paul) takes place. There are two common answers for this change in name or Saul/Paul. One is that Saul was what he was known by amongst the Jews while Paul was what he was known by amongst the Greek gentiles. The second answer that is given is that in Acts 13, Saul preaches the Gospel to the “proconsul”, almost like a governor or senatorial ruler of a region of the Roman empire. Upon receiving the Gospel and believing this Roman ruler, names Sergius Paulus, may have adopted Saul as his “son” and heir giving him his own name to carry on. In Greek, the name Paul is Paulus.


If he was known as Saul amongst the Jews and Paul amongst the gentiles, then it would make sense for Jesus to call him Saul since Christianity at this time was a predominantly a branch of the Jewish faith. If he received the name Paul by adoption by Sergius Paulus, then Jesus would call him Saul since no one would have known him by the name of Paul.


  1. If Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament, why isn't his name on any of the books?

Romans 1:1-7 1 Corinthians 1:1-2

2 Corinthians 1:1 Galatians 1:1-2

Ephesians 1:1 Philippians 1:1

Colossians 1:1-2 1 Thessalonians 1:1

2 Thessalonians 1:1 1 Timothy 1:1-2

2 Timothy 1:1-2 Titus 1:1-4

Philemon 1:1


Looking at the letters of Paul, which are many, they all begin with his name “Paul” which in ancient writings was the custom to begin a letter with who the writer is. Later the targeted recipient of the letter is identified. In naming the letters written by Paul, they could have named them 1 Paul – 13 Paul or they could have named them based upon who received them. In Paul's case, the letters are named after the recipient. To some degree because of the number of the letters.


Hebrews 1:1-3


The letter of Hebrews does not specify who wrote the letter nor who the recipient is. It is named “Hebrews” since it is most likely an open letter written to the unbelieving Jewish or Hebrew community in order to explain to them how the Old Testament can only be understood as point to and being fulfilled by Jesus the Christ.


James 1:1 1 Peter 1:1

2 Peter 1:1 Jude 1:1


The letter from James, letters from Peter, and the letter from Jude identify the author but they are generic open letters to a very wide spread audience. It makes much sense to identify these letters by their author rather than their recipient.


1 John 1:1-3 2 John 1:1

3 John 1:1


These letters from John either do not identify the author (1 John) or simply identify the author as “The elder”. The recipient is mostly obscure with no identified recipient (1 John), the elect lady (2 John) and Gaius (3 John). In this case the collectors of the scriptures who named the letters decided to name them after who tradition held was the author. Part of this is to maintain a sense of the authority of these letters as scripture.


  1. What book(s) did Paul start and finish?

Romans 16:22-24 1 Corinthians 16:21

Galatians 6:11 Ephesians 6:20-22

Colossians 4:7-8 2 Thessalonians 3:17


Paul is the legitimate writer of all 13 of his letters. On some or all of the letters he used a secretary to write down on “paper” what Paul asked him to write. They are Paul's words and the Holy Spirit's words.