Was PAUL a Jew or a Gentile ?

Question

There are sooo many different opinions and interpretations from nearly every poster that I can hardly find two common points between 10 people.

Several posters told me there was no way I could call Paul a Rabbi since he was not a Jew. Somehow I beg to differ !

My understanding was that Saul (Paul) was a Jewish Roman Citizen.

Hay or Nay ?

.

Answer 1

Paul was definitely a Rabbi. Not only that he was a Pharisee, having studied with one of the most prominent teachers of his day. Paul was such a devout Jew that he had authority from the High Priest to arrest Jewish Christians. Paul was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church.

Fr. Michael Callahan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old_catholic/

Answer 2

He was a Jew, and he said as much in his letters. He did NOT claim to be a rabbi. He only claimed to have studied under Gamaliel. In his day, the term "rabbi" was often applied loosely to anyone who proclaimed a specific interpretation of Torah. But as Paul, he spoke against Torah, comparing it to a kind of blind slavery. That doesn't sound very rabinnical to me. Apostle, yes, but as a Christian preaching Christian ideas, he could not pretend to be a "rabbi" of any kind. What would be the point?

There is at least one theory that Saul had been an agent of the Sadduccees rather than the Pharisees, despite his claims. His arrests were under the authority of the High Priest, who would not have been a Pharisee. His Roman citizenship doesn't enter into the issue at all.

Answer 3

Paul was a Jew. He persecuted Christians because he felt he was keeping Jewish doctrines clean from heresy. As the famous story goes, on the way to Damascus (Syria), he had a vision of Jesus Christ that made him convert.

He began to preach to people about Jesus. This included the gentiles, since the Roman Paul would have had many of them in his life, unlike the apostles who were sort of just in their own crowd of Jews.

The gentiles were not circumcised, and thus deemed to be foreign from the Jews. Paul told them that if they wanted to follow Christ, they didn't need to circumcise themselves for it (pretty much cause it hurts!).

The Apostles didn't agree with Paul, so they set up a meeting to discuss it. In the end, Saint Peter decided that Paul's way was okay too, so they let him preach to the gentiles while the other Apostles stuck largely to talking to the Jewish population.

So, Paul was a Jew, but he was the "Apostle to the Gentiles."

(NB, Paul wasn't an actual Apostle in the sense of being one of the 12. If you're wondering, no, he wasn't Judas Iscariot's replacement. In fact, Paul never even knew Jesus in our Lord's lifetime.)

P.S.: It's silly to say he used Christianity to gain popularity. Christianity was an outlawed cult at the time and it ended up with Paul being killed. Paul's occupation was a Roman enforcer, if you will. Christianity was seen as potentially seditious, able to cause riots and disharmony, which was why they killed Jesus. If Paul wanted to be his people's hero, he would have stayed out of Christianity and just been a Jew. Jews, even though they were treated as the underclass, were still at least recognised for the antiquity of their religion, which Christianity didn't have. Christians were outlawed, outcasts to Jews, killed off. All except one of the Twelve Apostles were killed. Why on earth would a career-stumping Paul want to be a member of such a cult? There's no prestige to be gained.

Answer 4

Okay I have gone in and rewrote my reply so it makes better sense. Paul was born Saul. He was technically a Gentile, but yes considered a Jew. He was openly against the early Christians up until he heard Christ speaking to him after he had Stephen stoned to death.

Acts 22:3
Then Paul said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today."

Okay, there is your Biblical proof.

editing as I go...:
He studied Jewish law and became a Pharisee. Though, I recall vaguely learning he was also a Gentile and I truly cannot find any proof to that sort. I think it was because he was born in Tarsus, a very Greek town.

Answer 5

Yes, Paul was a Jew and may have been a Roman citizen. He also spoke Greek as his primary language.

Answer 6

An Israelite or the tribe of Benjamen
born in Tarsus..he was a roman citizen from birth but born to Hebrew parents
he received instruction from the Pharisee Gamaliel suggesting Paul was from a prominent family

Answer 7

All i know is that Paul was assigned to deal with gentiles, and Peter to deal with Jews.

Answer 8

He was likely Jewish but, definitely not a Rabbi.

he was likely a Jewish merchant that used Christianity to gain power and notoriety.

Answer 9

jew

Answer 10

i think he was a self-hating jew