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Paul

5CE-57/68CE

  • Paul is a diminutive of the name "Paulus", meaning "small", "little", or "humble" (in Latin).
  • There is no evidence for Paul's existence anywhere, including church tradition, before the mid 2ND century.
    • The Erastus inscription does not mention Paul.
      • Multiple Erastus inscriptions/references exist.
      • Andrew D. Clarke writes about other inscriptions. One discovered in 1960 that dates to the 2ND century.
      • A marble stele was found in the Athenian Agora inscribed with two decrees which were passed during the archonship of Erastus.
      • An inscription from Athens, dated to 164BCE-163BCE.
      • Additional examples: SEG 11, 622 (Laconia, Hadrian's reign), and 994 (Messenia, 2ND or 1ST century BCE); SEG 25, 194 (Attica, 3RD or 2ND century BCE); SEC 28, 1010 (Erastus of Memmius, Bithynia, 2ND or 3RD century CE); CIC 269; 1241 (Sparta); 1249 (Sparta); 6378.
    • The Galio (proconsul of Achaia) inscription does not mention Paul.
    • Excavations of Ephesus, Philippi, and Thessalonica only confirm locations, not the existence of Paul.

    This is only evidence for those people and locations, not Paul. Just like how New York isn't evidence for the existence of fictional characters that live in New York. Likewise, historical figures in the works of Shakespeare aren't evidence that the events in Shakespeare's plays actually happened.

  • Paul is cited as being a murderer, but he was never recorded as having killed anyone in the New Testament. He approved and stood near while Stephen was stoned and "breathed murderous threats" against followers of Jesus but never claimed or recorded committing murder himself.
  • In the epistles attributed to Paul, there are inconsistencies in tone and content that suggest multiple authors or later interpolations.
  • Only the book of Acts makes the claim that Paul's name used to be "Saul".
  • Paul never met Jesus, and there is no record of any interaction between Paul and Jesus in historical sources. The accounts in the New Testament describe a vision or hallucinations.
  • The book of John (written after Galatians) explictly says Jesus' brothers didn't believe in him. Saying he "saw none of the other apostles—only James, the lord's brother." Is a peculiarity. Additionally, the earliest form of Galatians didn't include Paul meeting James or the next verse in chapter 1:20 (swearing to god that he isn't lying), the earliest form is shown in The New First Testament Marcion's Scriptural Canon by J.D. BeDuhn on page 230.
  • Only the book of Acts tells about Paul's conversion experience (hallucinations). It's not in the epistles attributed to Paul. It's told three times and each account offers different versions about what he and his companions experienced, what was said by "Jesus", and his blindness. Depending on the translation, "Jesus" quotes The Bacchae (405CE) by using the phrase "kick against the pricks/goads."
  • Paul appoints himself as an apostle. Claiming to have gotten it through Jesus, who he never met.
  • The character of Paul harms his own reputation by claiming he isn't lying before being challenged about a claim, which is the equivalent to "Trust me bro." Paul admits to playing different roles to different groups of people, utilizing deception as a strategy in order to persuade them. He also admits to robbing Macedonia so he doesn't burden the Corinthians.
  • The first references to Paul are within the New Testament canon presented by the Marcionites.
  • Marcion means "little Mark." Paul could be a reference to Marcion.
  • Only 6-7 of the epistles attributed to Paul are considered authentic by modern scholars. The remaining letters are considered pseudepigraphical (false authorship). While the 6-7 "authentic" letters could have been written by a single person or a collection of people, that doesn't mean they aren't pseudepigraphical.
  • This view is supported by the scholar Dr. Nina Livesey whose recent book "The Letters of Paul in their Roman Literary Context: Reassessing Apostolic Authorship" argues that all of the letters are pseudonymous and none of them were written by Paul.
  • Bart Ehrman states that Jesus must have existed because Paul meets Jesus' brother, but he's operating on the assumption that Paul existed because some of the epistles bearing his name are authentic. Epistolary fiction was a popular genre in ancient times with examples from authors such as Homer and Philostratus. Another great example is Ovid's Heroides.
  • The earliest codex/manuscript of Paul's letters (Papyrus 46) is dated to between 150CE-399CE using Palaeography, which is limited to the amount of texts that appear similar from a known time period. They're still dated well after Paul's supposed death.
  • In Acts 28 Paul survives a shipwreck and ends up on the island of Malta. While placing wood on a fire, he is bitten by a viper. There are no vipers on Malta and only one of native species is mildly venomous.

Problems with Paul

  • Says the Jews demanded signs/miracles and the Crucifixion is a stumbling block for them. Even though they were a large part of the audience to the miracles in the Gospels.
  • He mistakenly talks about Jesus appearing to the "twelve" disciples after the resurrection. Judas had betrayed Jesus and was no longer one of the twelve. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts correctly state eleven disciples. However, John also gets it wrong.
  • Never mentions Judas.
  • Never mentions miracles.
  • Never mentions parables.
  • Never mentions Jesus' life.
  • Never quotes or records any accounts of those who claimed to know Jesus.
  • No verifiable evidence that he met the disciples.
  • There is no evidence of letters written or addressed to Paul.

The books that mention Paul

  • Are supposedly written by Paul.
  • Are pseudepigrapha claiming to be him.
  • 2nd Peter which is pseudepigrapha that claims to be Peter.
  • Acts which was written years after the alleged death of Paul and contains many embellishments such as: Philips teleportation, Ananias and Sapphira dying for not giving all of the money from the sale of their own property, Peter's hunger dream, and Paul's marathon preaching, where Eutychus falls three stories and was thought to be dead. (It doesn't say Paul resurrected him. Paul just says he's alive.)

Paul's Timeline

Galatians

  • Legend has it that Paul converted 4-7 years after the alleged death of Jesus (29CE-33CE). Meaning Paul's conversion would have happened between 33CE-40CE.
  • Paul traveled to Arabia and returned to Damascus. 2 Corinthians mentions King Aretas having control of Damascus. King Aretas IV (d. 40CE) was the only King Aretas alive during this time but he did not have control of Damascus. King Aretas III had control of Damascus but he reigned from 87BCE-62BCE.
  • After 3 years Paul traveled to Jerusalem ~36CE-43CE.
  • Then Paul traveled to Syria and Cilicia.
  • After 14 years returned to Jerusalem, this is thought to be when the Jerusalem council takes place. He travels with Barnabas and Titus. This is the first time Barnabas is mentioned, while Acts has him accompanying Paul for a majority of the time. ~49/50CE-57CE.
  • Paul confronts Peter in Antioch.
  • Galatians places Paul in Antioch around 49CE-58CE.

Acts

The belief that the term "Christian" was coined in the 40-50's is based on the account in Acts 11:26. However, the verse only states the term originated in Antioch, it doesn't specify when. The proximity of the claim that it originated in Antioch and the account of Paul and Barnabas visiting Antioch could explain why people conflate the two. Ultimately, the timelines of Acts and Galatians do not align chronologically or geographically. Either Paul omitted multiple trips and durations in his own accounts or Acts fabricated them.

Antonius Felix places Paul in prison and after two years Antonius Felix is replaced by Porcius Festus. History says this happened in 60CE but the leading annotation in Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus it says it was 58CE. One would presume he started as procurator around 58-60CE, but the historical estimates are broad. According to Josephus, Porcius Festus' was dead in 61CE. Paul's timeline is wide enough to bring doubt because it could be 3 years too early or too late. There are no historical records of Porcius Festus interacting with Paul or being involved in any events related to Christianity outside of the New Testament.

Accounts of Paul's death aren't exact. Estimates are anywhere between 57-68CE. The Vatican places it exactly on June 29th, 67CE.. It should be noted that none of the cited sources for his death are from an offical record or secular account. The ealiest account listed is 1 Clement, but the date given is not valid. A detailed explaination is offered by Dr. M. David Litwa.

Between 2001CE-2011CE the Acts Seminar met twice a year. They state "Today we are convinced that Acts is a work of imaginative religious literature".