When did Paul spread Christianity?

Answer 1

Yes Paul began the first christian church, and it was not Jesus.

Answer:No, he did not. The church came into being in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. Prior to his conversion, Saul of Tarsus (later to become the Apostle Paul) dedicated himself to persecuting members of the new "cult." See Acts 22:4 and 26:11; I Corinthians 15:9 and Galatians 1:13. Roman Catholic AnswerNo, Paul did not start the Church of the Christian religion. The only Church of the Christian religion is the Catholic Church started by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Catholic faith emanated from God from the beginning of time, and was established on earth definitively from the side of Christ on the cross when He side was pierced by a spear. Then it was shown to the world at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

759 "The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share his own divine life." (Lumen gentium 2) to which he calls all men in his Son. "The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ." (Lumen gentium 2) This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Alliance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time. (Lumen gentium 2)

766 The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The origin and growth of the church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the 'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'" Sacrosanctum concilium 5) As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. (Cf. St. Ambrose, In Luc. 2, 85-89: J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina {Paris: 1841-1855} 15, 1666-1668)

767 "When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church." (Lumen gentium 4; cf. Jn 17:4) The "the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun." (Ad gentes 4) As the "convocation" of all men for salvation, the Church in her very nature is missionary, sent by Christ to all the nations to make disciples of them. (Cf. Mt 28:19-20; Ad gentes 2; 5-6)

Answer 2

It is very unlikely that Paul organised the first Christian Church. In Galatians he admits to having persecuted the Christians, so there were probably already Christian communities in the region. He also talks of going to Jerusalem, where he met James, Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars of the Jerusalem church.

Answer 3

A:The year of Paul's conversion remains a debated topic, with various estimates. These estimates are usually based on interpretations of Acts of the Apostles, which is seen by many scholars as an unreliable history. This suggests that Paul's conversion took place in the mid-30s and that he continued preaching to around 60 CE or a little later.

Whenever possible, scholars prefer to rely on Paul's own epistles, rather than Acts. Paul provided some information from which we may be able to estimate the date he commenced his mission. In his Epistle to the Galatians, Paul said that after his conversion, he travelled to Arabia, then Damascus (bypassing Jerusalem), Jerusalem, then Syria and Cilicia, and back to Jerusalem (1 Galatians 1:16-2:1). At some stage after the last visit to Jerusalem, he appears to have visited Antioch with Peter. He must have spent 3 years in Damascus, 14 years in Syria and Cilicia, and indeterminate periods in the other centres. Therefore, his conversion would have been at least 18 to 20 years before he wrote Galatians. All we have to do is estimate approximately when he wrote Galatians.

Several of his epistles mention a collection for the 'poor', who can be identified as the Christians in Jerusalem. The best explanation for the urgency of this collection and the effort and political capital he put into seeking contributions is that the collection took place during the empire-wide famine that occurred between the years of 44 and 48. True, Acts places this famine almost immediately after Paul's conversion and gives an entirely different reason for Paul's own collection, but I believe that the author was mistaken, and that Paul wrote his epistles largely to seek help for the famine-struck Jerusalem church, and that his conversion took place many years earlier. The Jerusalem Christians needed help from abroad, perhaps because the famine was more severe in the eastern Mediterranean area. The Galatian Christians, geographically closest to Judea, were initially keen to contribute but finally unable to assist, probably because they were also suffering. Therefore, in my view, the best date for Galatians is 44 CE, or very shortly afterwards.

18 years before 44 CE is 26 CE, placing Paul's conversion long before the traditional date for the crucifixion of Jesus, which most non-academic people will say is a nonsense. Nevertheless, however we look at it Paul must have been preaching his gospel long before that famine and therefore long before Acts says his conversion took place. The reason for this is that Paul says that he escaped from Damascus after preaching there for three years, when the governor under Aretas, king of the Nabateans, had a garrison deployed to arrest him because of his Christian activities (2 Corinthians 11:32-33). Aretas was king from 9 BCE to 40 CE and even given the improbable coincidence of Paul's escape occurring on the very last year of his reign, Paul's conversion could not have occurred as late as reported in Acts. It is hard to place the start of Christianity as late as 30 CE, if Paul was persecuting Christians long enough to become well known for his persecutions and if his conversion to Christianity took place from 26 to shortly after 30 CE.

We can not say when Paul began to spread Christianity. He could have begun in 26 CE or even earlier; he could have been preaching as late as 60 CE or even later. Clement of Rome believed (1 Clement) that he travelled to the farthest reaches of the west (Spain) and finished his mission there.