Paul, the apostle of Jesus originally known as Saul, was converted from Judaism to Christianity by unexpectedly meeting Jesus. Luke describes the events in Acts 9 and also reports two occasions on which Paul himself described his conversion in Acts 22 and Acts 26. Paul also comments on the surrounding events in Galatians 1 & 2. The goal of this article is to put together these four records in chronological order.

The chronology of Paul’s conversion and subsequent work as a preacher to the Gentiles seems clear and simple on a first reading of Acts. Chapter 7 introduces us to Saul as a young man who supported the killing of Stephen and looked after the clothes of those who did the killing. Chapter 8 describes the subsequent persecution that caused the believers to scatter and greatly increased the spread of the gospel. Chapter 9 begins with Saul’s determination to eradicate The Way and the desperation that led him to pursue believers even into foreign lands. However, the trajectory of Saul’s life – and history itself – changes when Jesus appears to him as he approached Damascus. Blinded by the sight of Jesus and choosing for the first time to follow Jesus’ instructions, Saul goes into Damascus and thinks, fasting and praying for three days.

After that time, a disciple named Ananias visits him and Paul regains his sight and is baptised.

Complications

The story is clear and simple, but we also need to look at Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia. In chapters 1 and 2 he feels the need to describe the events surrounding his conversion from Judaism. Reading his retelling of the events makes us immediately sit up and take notice, because it seems different from an initial reading of Luke’s narrative in and after Acts 9.

Luke describes Paul as spending several days with the disciples and immediately going into the synagogues of Damascus to preach. He then reports that after many days, the Jews in Damascus plotted to kill Saul so that he had to escape from the city at night, being lowered down the wall in a basket then going to Jerusalem. There Barnabas presented him to the leaders and other believers, until Paul’s bold preaching triggered a plot to kill him – on discovery of which, he was sent away, first to Caesarea and then to Tarsus.

This reads simply enough, but from Paul’s commentary in Galatians, it appears the simplicity is misleading.

From the start, I hasten to say that this does not mean that Luke is wrong. Multiple witnesses of any event will recount what happened in different ways. One witness’ report may concentrate on a particular aspect which another witness completely omits from his report, choosing instead to concentrate on other aspects he considers more significant, or more conducive to a clear presentation of what happened.

This variation can sometimes cause readers to feel that they know all the details regarding an event of importance, until a wider reading of witness reports suddenly makes it clear that there are more details to fit into the timeline.

When we read the gospels, this is exactly what we see. Each gospel tells a coherent and accurate story, but none of them is complete. In fact, John observes that if everything Jesus did was written down, the world itself couldn’t contain all the books that would be written. The gospels we have are curated summaries of Jesus’ life, not exhaustive lists of everything that he did. Each gospel includes some events and omits others. Sometimes one gospel reports events as bald facts while another explains the reasons behind the events.

Putting all of these different reports together into a more complete picture is the task of the discerning reader or writer.

For some reason, Paul found it necessary to straighten out the story of his conversion as it was generally accepted among the believers in Galatia. After explaining the more complete order of events, he adds:

Obviously people had questioned Paul’s assertions about these events before, and he wants to spell out the truth once and for all!

With this knowledge, we should approach the record of Paul’s conversion in Acts with some caution – not because it is wrong, but because it may be open to misunderstanding, and perhaps may even read most easily in a way that contradicts Paul’s statements in Galatians 1 and 2.

Paul’s visits to Jerusalem

In Galatians, Paul seems to concentrate on two visits to Jerusalem after his conversion and how or when he got to know believers in Jerusalem. He mentions two time periods in his explanation: three years before a first visit to Jerusalem, and 14 years before a second visit. The implication is clear that he made no other visits during these time periods.

To help us identify these two visits in Acts, we can list the first four possible times Paul is described as visiting Jerusalem. When you read the passages, you may see why I have included four and not just stopped at two!

Alternative 1

This probably describes the first visit Paul refers to in Galatians 1:18-19. Luke gives a clear picture of the believers in Jerusalem being initially terrified of Paul, yet welcoming him after Barnabas had vouched for him. One could easily get the impression from this passage that Paul visited the apostles at Jerusalem quite soon after his conversion, and joined the believers there for quite some time. In Galatians, Paul makes it clear that he did not go to Jerusalem soon after his conversion but that he first went to Arabia before returning to Damascus, and only then – three years later – did he visit Jerusalem. Not only so, but he also makes it clear that he did not mix freely with the apostles and believers; in fact, he met only two apostles and a few believers before leaving after 15 days. When we know this, we can see that, while the wording in Acts would not suggest the details Paul describes in Galatians, it does not contradict those details. The record in Acts simply omits some details and emphasises others in a way that gives the impression of a visit longer than a mere 15 days. Perhaps this is why Paul felt it necessary to write those clarifications in Galatians – although we can only guess why it was so important to clear up the misunderstanding.

Alternative 2

Agabus prophesied a widespread famine. Luke then tells us that this prophecy was fulfilled in the days of Claudius, and the wording suggests that the original prophecy was given in the time of an earlier king. So who?

Roman emperors around this time were:

• Tiberius: Sept, 14AD – Mar, 37AD
• Caligula: Mar, 37AD – Jan, 41AD
• Claudius: Jan, 41AD – Oct, 54AD
• Nero: Oct, 54AD – Jun, 68AD

Based on this information, we suggest that the prophecy was probably made during the reign of Caligula and fulfilled in the reign of Claudius, sometime between 41 and 54AD. Luke’s commentary also makes it likely that he has included the fulfilment out of chronological order to tie up a loose end and make it clear that the prophecy was fulfilled – though not immediately. The fact that this reference to a visit by Paul to Jerusalem is probably not in chronological order is important, reminding us again of the fact that the “accepted story” of Paul’s visits to Jerusalem was not correct. Luke’s brief aside may have contributed to this misunderstanding (or reflected it). Unfortunately, we do not know where this visit may have fitted into the rest of the narrative: the famine began sometime between 41AD and 54AD, and the welfare assistance would have been dispatched from Antioch to Judea some time after the need became known.

Luke then starts Acts 12 by telling us that “about that time” Herod Agrippa I (who ruled from 41AD) killed James the apostle and brother of John, then tried to kill Peter also. The chapter finishes with God’s fatal judgement on Agrippa I, who died in 44 AD. Agrippa’s death may also be an out-of-order report to wrap up the subject of Agrippa I by reassuring believers of God’s punishment of evil.

In summary, then, chapter 11 finishes with a quick excursion into the future to confirm that God’s prophecies are fulfilled, and chapter 12 finishes with another quick excursion into the future to reassure readers that God will punish persecutors.

So where are we in time at the end of these two excursions?

Before we can answer that, we need to examine the last verse of Acts 12 and try to make sense of it!

Alternative 3

Some translations like that above say that Barnabas and Saul returned “to” Jerusalem, while most others say they returned “from” Jerusalem (e.g., KJV, RSV, ESV). Since I am no Greek scholar, I have to rely on the experts who translate our Bible. As most translations seem to say “from”, I will accept that as the most likely meaning. Note also that they took John Mark with them to Antioch.

This passage seems to follow on directly from Luke’s aside in Acts 11:30 where Paul and Barnabas took the collected gifts from Antioch to help the poor saints in Judea. It is as if the episode about Agrippa I has been inserted in the middle of Luke’s aside about the fulfilment of Agabus’ prophecy of famine. It is hard to see why this would be done, but possibly it forms another aside which finishes the narrative about the 12 disciples before switching the focus of Acts to Paul and his preaching, which begins at the start of Acts 13.

In general, Luke writes the book of Acts in chronological order, and these two examples may be the only places in the entire book where Luke looks forward a little with a view to neatly tying up the loose ends of a subject. Perhaps this is why the questions about the events and timing surrounding Saul’s conversion arose in the first place.

If there were no other possibilities, I would conclude that this must be the second visit mentioned by Paul, but at the same time would note that the context doesn’t seem to fit. In Galatians 2, Paul paints a picture of conflict, of false brothers, of people trying to take away the believers’ freedom in Christ. This does not seem to be the situation described in Acts 11, where the delivery of aid is given as the motive for the visit. Since we cannot be sure about the timing of this visit to Jerusalem, I think it is worth looking further on to see if another visit fits the bill better.

An exciting novel for young adults about a possible near future.

The repeated COVID pandemics and the years of trouble that followed have ravaged Australia, leaving the country fractured and society in retreat. In Melbourne, economic troubles and an ongoing fear of even more dangerous strains of the virus have led to increasing isolationism with tighter governmental control.

When the government announces new movement restrictions, Dan and his family seize what might be their last chance to escape the city and the shrinking territory of Victoria that surrounds it.

Others warn of the dangers in the “uncivilised” lands beyond the Western Margin, but for the family, the attractions of the Grampians – a former National Park where the family has spent many happy holidays in pre-pandemic days – overcome their fears.

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Will they regret their choice to go Beyond the Western Margin?

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