Finding out the details of Paul's travels and adventures is important, but it does not necessarily lead us to become attached to his person. So this chapter will focus on appreciating this man who did more than anyone else in his time to bring people to see what Jesus Christ meant to the world.

1. Images of Paul

   What image does Paul evoke? Most known paintings or statues of Paul are imaginative recreations of dramatic moments in the Acts of the Apostles, showing Paul being struck from his horse on the road to Damascus, or Paul debating with philosophers in the halls of a school in Athens, or Paul being shipwrecked on his sea voyage to Rome. Sometimes there is a chiaroscuro of a bald Paul writing a letter by the flickering light of a candle. The common symbolism of Paul with a sword echoes the tradition that Paul was martyred by beheading in Rome.

   Paul's own words do not seem to have fueled the artistic fantasy. Yet his writings are the most autobiographical in the NT; in fact, in the entire Bible, only Jeremiah matches Paul in self-revelation. One passage, in particular, creates indelible images:

   Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman - I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant? (2 Cor 11:23-29)

   To appreciate the impressive reality of this description, the modern reader may need some context. For example, the phrase "frequent journeys" gives a vivid mental picture if one imagines a place on the ground in the yard, near the fire, or, a little more expensively, a (probably insect-infested) bed in a room off the yard. Often, however, he had to sleep somewhere near the road, in the middle of the cold, rain and snow. As a poor man, he would have been easily victimized by robbers, especially in rural areas less well controlled by the police. Traveling by sea was not much safer. Coming from the east, the winds helped, but going west was dangerous; and in both directions there were many shipwrecks. Being a passenger on the open deck of a freighter, eating the few provisions you brought on board, was not much more comfortable than traveling on land.

   The difficulties were not over when Paul arrived at his destination. Today, those who walk through the magnificent ruins of a city like Ephesus cannot help but recognize the grandeur and power of Greco-Roman culture, embodied in majestic buildings, shrines, temples and statues. Yet a Jew, with his backpack on, hoped to challenge all this in the name of a crucified criminal before whom, he proclaimed, every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth should bow. The scorn and mockery of the sophisticated Gentiles toward this idea-gatherer reported in Acts 17: 18 rings true. Moreover, the accounts in Acts, where he is dragged before magistrates and imprisoned, shed light on Paul's report of the "dangers of the Gentiles." These dangers might have been bearable if his own race (2 Cor 11:26) had given him a warm welcome when he proclaimed a Messiah descended from David. But both the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters record struggles and hostility. Paul did not have the status to demand a place in a public building for his message; Acts 16:13 finds him preaching in a riverside prayer ground. Often he had to preach where he lived and worked, that is, in the low-rent houses and stores of the big cities. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he found himself in synagogue meetings where, quite often, he was not welcome (because he was addressing Gentiles and causing trouble?); this is confirmed by the five times he received thirty-nine lashes "from Jews," a punishment associated with synagogue discipline. Paul himself testifies to the fact that his struggles were not over when he brought people to believe in Christ. He spends much of Gal countering other Christians whom he considered "false brethren" because they were undermining his work by trying to preach another gospel. The Corinthian correspondence also shows strikingly his concern for the churches.

2. Paul's Motivation

   Why did Paul submit to all these "vexations"? Before this dramatic moment in the mid-30s of the first century CE, Paul was at peace with his upbringing, with himself and with his God. The Greek style of his letters shows that he had received an adequate education in the dominant Greco-Roman culture. As far as the Jewish tradition is concerned, he claims to be more advanced than many of his contemporaries (Gal 1:14). It seems that he had good relations with the religious authorities of Palestine to the point of receiving a mandate to prosecute the Christian Jews of Damascus. As far as religious observance was concerned, he was blameless (Phil 3:5-6). What caused the radical change that turned all this into so much "dross"? Acts 9:3-8 and Galatians 1:12,16 offer a partial explanation: God was pleased to reveal "his Son" Jesus Christ to Paul. "I consider everything a loss because of the great value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil 3:8). Revelation and knowledge, however, do not adequately explain the motivated missionary we saw above, the "new creature" (to use Paul's own language: 2 Cor 5:17). Nor is it clear from scholarly speculation whether this revelation brought an immediate understanding of what Christ meant for Gentiles who could be justified without doing the works of the law. Something far more significant had occurred on a personal level.

   In this revelation, Paul, who already knew the love shown by the God of his Israelite ancestors, discovered a love that was beyond his imagination. He felt "conquered" by Christ Jesus (Phil 3:12). With amazement, Paul exclaimed, "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). What he confesses in Romans 8:35-37 must have been uttered many times in the pains described above: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall distress, anguish, persecution, hunger, want, danger, the sword? as it is written: For your sake we have been put to death all day long, we have been considered as beasts of the slaughter. But in all this we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." This love became the driving force of Paul's life when he realized how all-encompassing it was: "The love of Christ moves us as soon as we come to the conviction that one died for all" (2 Cor 5:14).

   And how can people know the love of Christ if they don't hear about it? "And how can they hear it without a preacher? And how can there be preachers unless they are sent?" (Rom 10:14-15). Thus, the mission to the Gentiles who would otherwise not hear is not for Paul an abstract conclusion, but an inevitable translation into action of the overflowing love he had experienced. Although Paul offers arguments to justify his position that the Gentiles were not required to accept the observance of the law of circumcision, his most fundamental argument would have been existential: they were to be aware of the love manifested by God in Christ, and nothing was to stand in the way. Paul's attitude toward the Law for the sake of the Gentiles was part of his willingness to be all things to all people so that they might be saved (1 Cor 9:21-22).

   The trials encountered in mission became for Paul more than means to an end. If God's love was shown in Christ's self-giving, how else could Christ's love be shown to others than in the same way? "We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves" (1 Thess 2:8). By bearing the death of Jesus in his body, Paul revealed the life of Jesus (2 Cor 4:10). "If we are afflicted, it is to encourage you" (2 Cor 1:6). To end the divisions in Corinth, Paul offered an extraordinarily moving description of love. It was his own experience that led him to affirm that of all the gifts or charisms given by God in Christ, "the greatest is love" (1 Cor 13:13). In the language of 1 Cor 13, to preach a Christ who embodied the love of God, Paul had to be patient in his love and endure everything. In the midst of discouragements, Paul had drawn on Christ's love for hope in all things; and he had to make sure that the love that burned within him remained Christ's love, without seeking his own interests or brooding over wounds. In response to God's love by which "Christ died for us while we were still sinners" (Rom 5:8), it was Paul's responsibility to rejoice when Christ was proclaimed, even by those who sought to harm him (Phil 1:17-18).

3. Paul's Living Heritage
   1. Those Whom Paul Brought To Christ

      As we saw earlier, thanksgivings are part of the epistolary format of this period, but Paul's have their own particularities. Certainly he was following his heart as well as his form when he gave thanks for those who had been chosen to experience God's love in Christ, just as he had, and who therefore lacked no spiritual gift (1 Cor 1:7). They were his hope, his joy, his crown, the stars of his universe (1 Thess 2:19-20; Phil 2:15). He was comforted by their faith; he could even say, "We live now if you stand firm in the Lord" (1 Thess 3:8). "Yes, as God is my witness, I cherish you all in the love of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:8). Paul was their father in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 4:15; 1 Thess 2:11); he was in labor as a mother until Christ was formed in them (Gal 4:19), and as gentle with them as a nursing mother (1 Thess 2:7). They were his brothers and sisters. Indeed, he could call the Philippians (1:7) his partners in the gospel. They completed his joy by being of the same mind about Christ, united in heart by the same love (Phil 2:2.5).

      Sometimes Paul could be severe: he bitterly rebuked the Galatians and called them fools (3:1); he warned the Corinthians that when he returned, he would not be lenient (2 Cor 13:2). Yet he insisted: "I wrote to you with many tears, not to grieve you, but that you might know the abundant love I have for you" (2 Cor 2:4). And he could issue a challenge that few others in Christian history have dared to issue: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (2 Cor 11:1). And many of those he addressed found Christ in Paul: "You have become imitators of us and of the Lord" (1 Thess 1:6). This statement was not self-serving arrogance, as Paul's indignant reaction when some in Corinth confused adherence to him with adherence to Christ testifies: "Was Paul crucified for you?" (1 Cor 1:13). Although Paul had experienced failures, the enduring love of his converts and their gratitude for what he revealed to them about Christ was a major tribute to his apostolate.

   2. Paul's Letters

      No other disciple of Jesus in the NT era left a written testimony comparable to that of Paul. True, Luke-Acts (about 37,800 words) is longer than the thirteen letters attributed to Paul (32,350 words); but we hardly know the Lucan author, whereas Paul's personality stands out in his letters. He claims not to be an orator: "My speech and my message were not plausible words of wisdom" (1 Cor 2:4; 2 Cor 11:6). Biblical scholars have sought to analyze his oratorical techniques, but it is the way he communicates his love of Christ that is often unforgettable. In the entire library of Christianity, it is difficult to match his passionate eloquence. To what has already been quoted, we can add the following examples. "I died to the Law in order to live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (Gal 2:19-20). "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is to become a winner" (Phil 1:21). "I have decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). "Let me not glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world" (Gal 6:14). "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love" (Gal 5:6). "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:38-39). This eloquence was a key factor in Paul's continued appreciation by audiences in places and times he would never have considered.

   3. Paul's Disciples And Their Writings

      Paul was a man of great intensity and a wide range of emotions. He must also have been able to engender deep friendship, for Paul's letters show extraordinary loyalty from a wide range of people. Timothy, Titus and Silvanus are seen for many years carrying Paul's letters and messages, sometimes acting as ambassadors in very difficult circumstances; apparently their dedication was never questioned. Aquila and Priscilla (Priscilla) were ready to travel with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus and then to Rome to await his arrival. The slave Onesimus attached himself to Paul at the cost of offending his master (Philem), and both Onesimus and the woman deacon Phoebe (whom Paul considers a "sister": Rom 16:1-2) are warmly recommended by the apostle.

      Beyond these named disciples and companions, a lasting appreciation of Paul comes from the pen of those who remained anonymous while writing about him or in his name. The author of Acts (Luke?) has often been criticized for not fully understanding Paul's theology, for emphasizing themes that were not Pauline (salvation history), for simplifying Paul's career, and for avoiding many of the disputes in Paul's life. However, one should not overlook the extraordinary tribute he pays by devoting half of the long description of the spread of Christianity to Paul. Whether or not Paul was as important to non-Pauline Christians, Acts has forever placed Paul alongside Peter in the Christian "pantheon" as the two most important figures in the following of Jesus. In his own writings, Paul speaks of God's revelation of the divine Son "so that I may proclaim him among the Gentiles" (Gal 1:16). But would later Christianity have understood the full ramifications of this plan without the setting of Acts, which began Paul's story in Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, and led him to Rome, the Gentile capital, where he spoke definitively of the future direction of Christianity toward the Gentiles? Once again, the Acts of the Apostles has unforgettably fleshed out the journeys, imprisonments and afflictions described by the apostle. Paul says: "For the Jews I became a Jew, that I might win the Jews; ... for the strangers to the Law I became a stranger to the Law ... in order to win the strangers to the Law" (1 Cor 9:20-21). The Acts of the Apostles illustrates this ability to adapt in the various sermons attributed to Paul: when he addresses a synagogue (Acts 13:15-41), most of his words are taken from the OT; when he stands in the midst of the Athenian Areopagus (17:22-31), he not only uses a more literary Greek but also quotes philosophers. Paul's final speech to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:17-38) beautifully summarizes his career and reflects the tender love of his converts. Paul's own writings may be remarkably autobiographical, but the biography in Acts has contributed enormously to his image.

      A greater tribute to Paul was paid by the disciples who wrote pseudonymous Deutero-Pauline literature in his name. Apparently, half a dozen authors found in the apostle, even after his death, a lasting authority to speak to the churches of the last third of the first century. For example, 2 Thessalonians shows Paul confronting the great evil of the end times and reassuring his Christian converts. Paul's life among them continues to be a model they should imitate: "Stand firm and hold on to the traditions you received through our word or letter" (2:15).

      The contribution of the author of Colossians is even more impressive. A master of a graceful liturgical style, he develops with new depth the Pauline themes of Christology, ecclesiology and eschatology. Scholars debate the authentic Pauline tone of some of the beautiful statements in Colossians; perhaps the more pertinent question is whether Paul would not have been pleased to have them incorporated into his legacy. In his lifetime, Paul was thinking primarily of the local churches - but, with Col, would he not have seen the need to apply his ideas to the larger vision of the church that is now developing? In any case, Paul's continuing influence is beautifully illustrated by the appeal to his sufferings in Col 1:24 - an appeal all the more impressive if Paul had already died ("absent in the flesh but with you in spirit" [2:5] in a deeper sense). Paul's use of "mystery" and "body" inspired Col's lush development of these motifs; and Paul's discourse on the domestic problems of husband, wife and slave was systematized and reshaped into a domestic code (Col 3:18 - 4:1). The hymn of Col 1:15-20 is a worthy companion to that offered by Paul himself in Phil 2:5-11.

      Probably the letter to the Ephesians, though close to Col, is the contribution of another admirer, the most talented of Paul's writing disciples. We noted above Paul's passionate eloquence about Christ. The words attributed to Paul in Eph 3:8 are along the same lines: "To me, the least of all the saints, was given the grace to proclaim to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ"; and in 3:17-19: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that rooted and grounded in love ... you may know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." If Paul professed that at the name given to the exalted Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Phil 2:9-10), equally majestic is the description in Eph 1:20-21 of what God "has wrought in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in heaven, far above all ... name that is named not only in this age, but also in the one to come." While Paul insists on the theme of "unity" (body, bread, spirit, mind: 1 Cor 10:17; Phil 1:27; Rom 12:5), he never reaches the grandeur of the description he motivates in Eph 4:4-6: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Imitating the master is a form of appreciation; being inspired by him to go further is an even greater contribution to his legacy.

   4. The Pastoral's Letters (Titus, 1-2 Tim)

      These letters have sometimes been dismissed as unworthy of the Pauline corpus because of their pedestrian concern with church structure, their diatribes against heretical dangers, and their devaluation of women. Certainly the writer (or writers) did not have the elegance of some of the deutero-Paulinists just mentioned. Yet the very concern that earned these letters the title "Pastorals" is true to Paul, and he might have become more systematic had he been faced with a dangerous disintegration of the Church at the end of the century. Moreover, a general disparagement does not do justice to some admirable passages, e.g., the hymn-like language of Titus 3:4-7; 1 Tim 3:16; 6:15-16, and the moving "sure (faithful) saying" of 1 Tim 1:15: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first." There is a truly remarkable capture of the Pauline spirit in 2 Tim (the last written work of the corpus?). Who could hope for a more poignant epitaph than: "I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. As for the rest, I have yet to receive the crown of justice which the Lord, the just judge, will bestow on me on that day" (2 Tim 4:7)? And the legacy continues, for Paul has prepared a new generation that can be just as effective as he was: "Fan the flame of the gift of God that is in you" (2 Tim 4:7). God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love" (1:6-7).

      Beyond this tribute, the author of 2 Tim realizes that the legacy of the great preacher, apostle and teacher (1:11) does not depend on one or two generations of disciples. In 2:8-9, we hear Paul say that he suffers in chains for the sake of the gospel; then he defiantly exclaims, "But the word of God is not in chains." Paul's ultimate gift is that he preached a gospel that had enormous power in itself and therefore could not be shackled or silenced, even when his followers were. Readers who keep in mind the apostle whose preaching unleashed the gospel will not allow the Pauline message to be buried under details as we now examine the thirteen NT writings that bear Paul's name.