WAS PAUL A CILICIAN, A NATIVE OF TARSUS? A HISTORICAL REASSESSMENT

Abstract

WAS PAUL A CILICIAN, A NATIVE OF TARSUS? A HISTORICAL REASSESSMENT

Abstract

R. Wallace and W. Williams in their recent volume The Three Worlds of Paul of Tarsus (Tarsuslu Pavlus’un Üç Dünyas›) assert that Paul as a citizen of Tarsus “need ever have visited the city, much less lived there.” This, they assert, is based on the fact that ancient civic citizenship passed through descent and not through domicile. Further, Paul’s return to Tarsus following his conversion suggests “only that some of the family still lived there, rather than it was Paul’s home town.” They conclude that attempts to develop a formative Tarsian context for Paul’s character and teaching “are built on insecure foundations.”1 This controversial claim runs counter to most biblical and classical scholarship as it relates to the background of the apostle Paul. In fact, as Riesner notes, “It is striking in the larger sense how seldom this bit of Lukan information has been doubted by skeptical scholarship.”2 If true, it would significantly diminish the historical connection between Paul and Tarsus of Cilicia as one of its most famous native sons. This paper will seek to reassess Paul’s connection to Tarsus and Cilicia in light of the comments by Wallace and Williams. In responding to their claims, we will first review the relevant biblical and historical background related to Paul’s three worlds

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