2004
Volume 58, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 0165-8204
  • E-ISSN: 2667-1573

Abstract

Abstract

This paper gives a discussion about the place and year of birth of Paul, the great missionary of early Christendom. These reflections were induced by Fik Meijer’s book on the life of Paul (2014, first edition 2012). Meijer follows, after Jerome Murphy O’Connor, a late-4th-century source that suggests that Paul was not born in Tarsus in Cilicia, as is broadly accepted, but in Gischala in Galilea. According to this view, Paul would not have been a descendant of diaspora Jews; his place of birth lay in ancient Palestine. As to Paul’s year of birth, Meijer claims quite an early date, in the year 6 BC or shortly thereafter, making Paul practically the same age as Jesus. The author of this paper tries to indicate several flaws and faults in Meijer’s reasoning and in his use of sources on both topics. In doing so, and by including other sources and argumentations, the author hopes to give a more plausible approach to determine Paul’s place and date of birth.

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