Was Paul A Christian?

Last week we discussed the issue of whether Jesus was a Christian. The issue is even more clear cut in the case of Paul, as he made several statements which define his religion for us.

The headings in many Bibles describe Paul’s (Saul’s) encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road as “Saul’s conversion”, as if he converted from Judaism to Christianity. That’s certainly not how he saw it in his later life. Much of his defense in the last half of the book of Acts involves his claiming that his message is identical to the Hebrew scriptures. (Acts 26:22)

Let’s take a look at some of his specific statements concerning his religion. When Paul was on trial before the Sanhedrin, he made the statement, “I am a Pharisee.” He didn’t say, “I used to be a Pharisee”; he said, “I am a Pharisee.” He clearly still considered himself to be a member of that branch of Judaism.

A little later, in his appearance before Agrippa, he made the statement, “According to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.” Here he is talking about the past. But he refers to “our religion”, the religion that he holds in common with Agrippa. What religion is that? And what religion is Pharisaism a sect of? Judaism, of course. Paul never thought of himself religiously as other than a Jew.

He did, however, identify also with another sect of Judaism. In his trial before Felix he says, “I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.” (Acts 24:14) Paul claimed religious affiliation with the Way, a sect of Judaism. He goes on to say, “I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets.” He’s being rather emphatic that his religion is Judaism. Even his accusers claim that “he is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect.” (Acts 24:5) A sect is a subdivision of a religion, and the religion referenced is clearly Judaism.

Some people think of Paul as the real founder of Christianity. Paul, like Jesus, never had any idea of starting another religion. His focus was Judaism the way it was intended to be, with Jesus as the promised Messiah and Redeemer.

Another misleading idea is that Paul had his name changed when he became a “Christian”. We’ve seen in the Hebrew scriptures that Abram, Sarai, and Jacob had their names changed by God. That’s not the case with Paul. The transition in his name occurred when he was already on a missionary journey. Acts 13:9 says, “Then Saul, who was also called Paul…” There is no name change, just a reference to another name by which he was known.

We need to realize that several people in the New Testament are called by different names depending on whether they were among Hebrew speakers, Greek speakers, or Aramaic speakers. “Saul” is a Hebrew-based name, shared with the first king of Israel, while Paul (Paulos) is clearly Greek.

Peter is another individual who went by three different names, Simon (Shimon) among Hebrew speakers, Cephas (Kefa) among Aramaic speakers, and Peter (Petros) among Greek speakers. Acts 1:23 tells of another man who went by three names, “Joseph (Hebrew) called Barsabbas (Aramaic), also known as Justus (Greek).”

Paul makes it easy to identify his claimed religion when he identifies himself as a Pharisee, which he calls a sect of our religion, and then claims to be a follower of the Way, also a sect of that same religion. We need to realize that the religion taught by both Jesus and Paul was essentially Judaism, with Jesus as the culmination of it.