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

Mark WILSON

Article Details

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

Authors:

Mark WILSON

Publisher:

Mersin University

Journal:

OLBA 2003 Issue 8, pp.87-108

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

10/2003

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2000532177

Frequency:

Annual

eISSN:

2687-6558

pISSN:

1301-7667

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.

Article Details

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

Authors: Mark WILSON

Publisher: Mersin University

Journal: OLBA 2003 Issue 8, pp.87-108

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 10/2003

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2000532177

Frequency: Annual

eISSN: 2687-6558

pISSN: 1301-7667

Issues

Authors:

Mark WILSON

Publisher:

Mersin University

Journal:

OLBA 2003 Issue 8, pp.87-108

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

10/2003

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2000532177

Frequency:

Annual

eISSN:

2687-6558

pISSN:

1301-7667