Paul, also known as Saul of Tarsus, is very important in the Bible; he wrote over half of the letters of the New Testament. The Acts of the Apostles tells much of the known story of Paul.

Tarsus was in southeastern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. Paul was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin. He trained with the Pharisees (a sect with a strict linguistic interpretation of the Mosaic Law). Paul was also born a Roman citizen, which indicates that his family had high standing.

As the Christian church grew, Paul and others had to keep the faithful following the correct teachings. Two of the early discussions were very interesting. First was circumcision; As part of Jewish law, they were circumcised, but Gentiles weren't. So It became a bone of contention whether the Gentiles would have to submit to circumcision when they joined. Also, since the church was growing so fast, different areas had different concepts about their religion. Therefore, Paul kept busy straightening out philosophies and teachings.

A tradition says that Paul was martyred in Rome during Nero's reign. I learned a great deal about Paul during this book. I thought the author wrung every drop of information about Paul possible, but some maps showing Paul's travels would have been helpful.

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