Paul , [ a ] also named Saul of Tarsus , [ b ] commonly known as Paul the Apostle [ 7 ] and Saint Paul , [ 8 ] was a Christian apostle c.
The main source of information on Paul's life and works is the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. Approximately half of its content documents his travels, preaching and miracles. Paul was not one of the Twelve Apostles , and did not know Jesus during his lifetime.
According to the Acts, Paul lived as a Pharisee and participated in the persecution of early disciples of Jesus, possibly Hellenised diaspora Jews converted to Christianity, [ 12 ] in the area of Jerusalem , before his conversion.
After these events, Paul was baptized, beginning immediately to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish messiah and the Son of God. Fourteen of the 27 books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul. Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Today, Paul's epistles continue to be vital roots of the theology, worship and pastoral life in the Latin and Protestant traditions of the West , as well as the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions of the East.
Christians, notably in the Lutheran tradition, have classically read Paul as advocating for a law-free Gospel against Judaism. Polemicists and scholars likewise, especially during the early 20th century, have alleged that Paul corrupted or hijacked Christianity , often by introducing pagan or Hellenistic themes to the early church.
