Interesting facts about Apostle Paul include his letters, because four of them went to places in today’s Turkey: Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. The seven facts below add more about the man, and a short look at those four letters comes after them.
- Apostle Paul spent three years studying the Jewish scriptures after his baptizing and becoming a Christian. He tried to find explanations for the Christian teachings in Jewish scriptures.
- Paul was an apocalyptic writer. Being apocalyptic can sound very negative to a modern reader today but apocalyptic has a different meaning. Apocalypse does not mean the end of everything as we know, it actually means ending leading to a new beginning.
- Paul could speak at least 3 languages. These were Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew.
- Apostle Paul could have easily journeyed more than 10,000 miles in his lifetime. This was an unbelievable deed Considering travelling conditions and dangers of the world on the first century BC.
- The year of 2008 was declared and celebrated as Saint Paul’s year by Pope Benedict XVI.
- Paul was extremely tolerant for his time. People of the first century BC didn’t get along well with people of different colors and races. But Paul was welcoming to both his Ethiopian converts and fair skinned Romans.
- As it is stated in the Acts 14:8–10, Apostle Paul healed a crippled man in Lystra. Following this miracle people of the region thought Paul and his companion Barnabas were god and decided to sacrifice animals for them. Paul had to stop them.
Interesting Facts About Apostle Paul and His Letters
Galatians is addressed to “the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2), in the middle of today’s Turkey, and Ephesians to the believers in Ephesus. I wrote about all of them in my post on the Seven Letters of Paul Tied to the Cities of Asia Minor.
Colossians and Philemon belong together. Colossae lay nearby Laodicea in the Lycus Valley, close to today’s Honaz. Paul probably never visited it, but he asked the church to share its letter with the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16). Philemon was probably a Colossian, and Paul sent his runaway slave Onesimus back to him with that short letter.
Timothy came from Lystra (Acts 16:1), and Paul left him in Ephesus to help church there (1 Timothy 1:3). I listed Lystra and the other towns Paul visited in my post 7 Unknown Facts About Apostle Paul.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Paul visit Colossae?
Probably not. In Colossians 2:1 he writes about Christians who had not seen him face to face, and the church was started by his friend Epaphras (Colossians 1:7). Most of the old city is still buried under a grassy mound.
What is Paul’s shortest letter?
Philemon, with only 25 verses in one chapter. Paul wrote it as a prisoner (Philemon 1:1), and it is a short, personal note, not a long teaching letter.
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