Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I admit nothing without my lawyer present.

As to my earlier statement, it is plausible that a historical Paul was named Paul, not that I am certain about it.

But I was so fond of the anagram! ("General Religious Discussion")

Is it true that Paulus is a previously unknown name ? Mea culpa. Please forgive me. I have found examples in Plutarch. Paul is not a previously unknown name. :tombstone: It appears in Plutarch as a Latin "gens" name; presumably as a regular name elsewhere, I am not sure. I made the mistak...

Is it true that Paulus is a previously unknown name ? Mea culpa. Please forgive me. I have found examples in Plutarch. Paul is not a previously unknown name. :tombstone: It appears in Plutarch as a Latin "gens" name; presumably as a regular name elsewhere, I am not sure. I made the mistak...

MrMacSon wrote:

Peter Kirby wrote:The real name of the historical Paul, if there were one, is unrecoverable with any certainty.

Is currently unrecoverable; unless new information becomes available? (eg. newly discovered manuscripts)

Yes, this is how I meant to be understood.

Sounds about right, but we need to make this a new thread.

(I wrote this before I saw your last post. Thank you for being open-minded about the identity of 'Babylon', and please do understand that my own view on Rev. 11:8 is so far a minority of one. Maybe Michael Turton was convinced, since he liked it on Facebook.) Babylon was built in a flat alluvial pla...

Yes, Katherine, you're right. There is no proof of Jesus that would meet any known scientific or legal canons of satisfactory evidence. Our earliest scrap of physical material regarding Jesus is dated from 120 to 170 A.D., according to those who have looked at it paleographically, and it is just a f...

Besides, if the early Christians had to speak in code, why isn't "Epistle to the Romans" called "Epistle to the Babylonians"? The Epistle to the Romans is extraordinarily in favor of civil authority (Romans 13), compared to Revelation, and does not depict a situation of persecut...

Paulus is not a real name, just like Cephas is not a real name; both are common nouns unattested as actual names before Christianity. The Pauline epistles themselves don't contain the name Saul. I don't know why you accept at face value the interpretation of Acts that the real name of Paul is Saul....