Full Text for Galatians- Volume 4 - Paul's birth name was Saul. Was he also given the name of Paul at birth? Or did that name only come later? (Video)

No. 4. >> Dr. Just, I'm Eric. And I'm curious. I think this question will require only a brief moment of your time. In your comments just now, you mentioned that Paul's birth name was Saul. Was he also given the name of Paul at birth? Or did that name only come later? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: Eric, this is a good question. And I'm not sure that anybody knows the full answer to this. Saul is clearly a Jewish name. And Paul, as a Jew from Tarsus, would have been given this name at his birth, at his circumcision, just like John was named at his circumcision. Paul is a Roman name and it's clearly the name that Paul is called after his conversion. And perhaps Saul/Paul is a way in which Paul was able to maintain both his Jewish heritage, his Roman citizenship, and his ability to have access to a Gentile community. Your question really raises the significance of why Paul was chosen as the apostle to the Gentiles. One would not think that this Pharisee, this fierce person who has this incredible intensity for the law would be a good evangelist for the Gentiles. But remember, Paul grew up in a Gentile world. In a Roman world. He was trained in rhetoric, in the sciences of the university in the early years of his life. He certainly would travel back to Tarsus. That's where his family was from. He was a Roman citizen. He understood the Gentile Hellenistic world. And so having both the name Saul and Paul showed that Paul had both aspects of this to his personality. He was a Jew. But he was a Roman citizen. He was a man of the world in a sense. And he was able to have access to people because he understood them. Perhaps you remember that line from one of Paul's epistles, that he's going to be all things to all people. In a way Paul could do that. And yet the most important thing for Paul was that he was a Christian. He was baptized. And it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ that defined him more than anything else.