The Pre-Christian Paul

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Paul, the first Christian author, the missionary to the Gentiles who may be said to be the founder of Christian theology, has long been a figure of prime importance to New Testament theologians. By contrast Saul, the Jew who had a vision on the Damascus road, has been almost forgotten. In this study Martin Hengel sets out to remedy the imbalance. He examines the question of the apostle’s origins and citizenship, his names, his social background and profession, his education, taking particular note of the differences between what is said in the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s own testimony. He discusses the nature of Pharisaic training in Jerusalem before the fall of the city in 70 CE and the connections between Pauline theology and rabbinic literature, while at the same time bringing out the features of Greek education current in Jerusalem at
the time. A final section considers how Paul came to be a persecutor of Christianity, taking the account to the eve of his dramatic conversion.