Did St. Paul go on the missionary journeys after his name was changed to Paul?

Answer 1

Paul himself never mentioned ever having been known by a different name, although he could not have hidden the fact if it was true. On the other hand, Acts of the Apostles, written anonymously some decades later, says that his name was changed from Saul to Paul during his first missionary journey. Again, Paul never mentions that first missionary journey and his own account of his itinerary seems to rule out the possibility of that journey. So, we have two conflicting accounts and in one there was no first missionary journey and no change of name, while in the other, Saul became known as Paul during his first missionary journey.

Acts, written some decades after the time of St Paul, is regarded by some scholars as being subtly anti-Paul. If so, the name that the author of Acts attributed to Paul in his early years may be based on another person mentioned by the Jewish historian, Josephus. In his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus talked of a riot in Jerusalem, led by a 'Saulus', after the stoning of James. Elsewhere, Josephus portrayed this Saulus as a collaborator with the Romans and the Herodians. Overall, Saulus would have been considered an unsavoury person by Jews and Christians alike. If indeed Paul was never really known as Saul, then this information could explain the reason this was placed in Acts of the Apostles.