Paul the apostle latin paulus greek romanized paulos coptic hebrew c 5 c 64 67 commonly known as saint paul and also known by his hebrew name saul of tarsus was a christian apostle although not one of the twelve apostles who spread the teachings of jesus in the first century world. Paul was a follower of jesus christ who famously converted to christianity on the road to damascus after persecuting the very followers of the community that he joined however as we will see paul is better described as one of the founders of the religion rather than a convert to it. Paul of tarsus a city in cilicia in what is now turkey was also known by the jewish name of saul paul a name he may have had thanks to his roman citizenship was born early in the first century ce or late in the last century bce in a greek speaking area of the roman empire his parents came from gischala in galilee. But was paul a faithful follower of jesus and his teachings or an innovator who brought new and uncongenial ideas into christianity british scholar wenham looks at these difficult sometimes controversial questions systematically compares the teachings of jesus and paul and reveals the fascinating and challenging connections and differences between them