It is often said that without Paul the Apostle there would have been no Christian Church.

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Certainly it was Paul who took the message of Christ beyond the region of Palestine to the Gentiles of Asia Minor and it was Paul who established the first Churches across Anatolia and beyond into the Greek Peninsula. It is arguable that if it had not been for Paul, the Church would not have become the worldwide Faith that it is today.

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This lecture sets the scene for Paul, placing him in his historical context. It addresses how, for example, Paul the Jew happened to be a Roman citizen who spoke Greek. As a Greek-speaking Roman Citizen he was able to travel around Asia Minor in a way that would have been impossible for most Palestinian Jews of the time. In other words, it was Paul’s status as a Roman citizen, with the freedom to travel around the Roman Empire, which facilitated the spread of Christianity in the First Century.

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This topic can also be adapted for a study day, which would allow more time to be given to the history of the Eastern Mediterranean leading up to the First Century AD.