caption canonized_by death_date death_place birth_place attributes feast_day title venerated_in name patronage birth_date major_shrine image article_title birth_name
'' saint paul '' by bartolomeo montagna pre-congregation ad 67 probably in rome in tarsus in cilicia -lrb- south-central turkey -rrb- sword january 10 -lrb- feast of saint paul 's shipwreck in malta 25 -rrb- june 29 -lrb- feast of saints peter and paul -lrb- -rrb- june 30 -lrb- former solo feast day , still the celebrated by some religious orders -rrb- november 18 -lrb- feast conversion of the dedication of the basilicas of saints peter and of paul -rrb- paul -rrb- february apostle of the gentiles all christianity paul missions ; theologians ; gentile christians ad 5 basilica of saint paul outside the walls bartolomeo montagna - saint paul - google art project.jpg paul the apostle
 saul of tarsus
paul the apostle

paul the apostle -lrb- ; c. 5 -- c. 67 -rrb- , originally known as saul of tarsus -lrb- ; -rrb- , was an apostle -lrb- though not one of the twelve apostles -rrb- who taught the gospel of christ to the first-century world .
he is generally considered one of the most important figures of the apostolic age .
in the mid-30s to the mid-50s , he founded several churches in asia minor and europe .
paul used his status as both a jew and a roman citizen to advantage in his ministry to both jewish and roman audiences .
according to writings in the new testament paul , who was called saul at the first , was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of jesus in the area of jerusalem .
in the narrative of the book of acts , while paul was traveling on the road from jerusalem to damascus on a mission to `` bring them which were there bound unto jerusalem '' , the resurrected jesus appeared to him in a great light .
he was struck blind , but after three days his sight was restored by ananias of damascus , and paul began to preach that jesus of nazareth is the jewish messiah and the son of god.acts 9:21 but all that heard `` him '' were amazed , and said ; is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in jerusalem , and came hither for that intent , that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests ?
approximately half of the book of acts deals with paul 's life and works .
fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the new testament have traditionally been attributed to paul .
seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic , with varying degrees of argument about the remainder .
the pauline authorship of the epistle to the hebrews , already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries but almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries , is now almost universally rejected by scholars .
the other six are believed by some scholars to have come from followers writing in his name , using material from paul 's surviving letters and letters written by him that no longer survive .
other scholars argue that the idea of a pseudonymous author for the disputed epistles raises many problems .
today , paul 's epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology , worship , and pastoral life in the roman and protestant traditions of the west , and the orthodox traditions of the east .
among that of many other apostles and missionaries involved in the spread of the christian faith , paul 's influence on christian thought and practice has been characterized as being as `` profound as it is pervasive '' .
augustine of hippo developed paul 's idea that salvation is based on faith and not `` works of the law '' .
martin luther 's interpretation of paul 's writings influenced luther 's doctrine of sola fide .
