Paul by Walter Wangerin

First published: Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000

Genre(s): Novel

Subgenre(s): Biblical fiction; historical fiction (first century)

Core issue(s): The cross; faith; freedom and free will; grace; Jesus Christ; salvation

Principal characters

• Paul, a first century missionary
• Barnabas, an early missionary partner
• James, leader of the Jerusalem church and an opponent of Paul’s theology
• Timothy, a young protégé and assistant
• Titus, the first gentile convert
• Aquila, a tent maker from Corinth
• Prisca, Aquila’s wife
• Seneca, a contemporary Roman philosopher

Overview

The task of writing an account of Paul carries with it a number of challenges. The primary biblical sources, Paul’s own letters and Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, do not always agree on important details. Even with Paul’s own letters, scholars debate which are authentic and which were written by subsequent generations. Likewise, there is the question of what information to include from second and third century “apocryphal” works. Then there is always the question of what liberties to take with the gaps in Paul’s life and which details to add from what modern historians, archaeologists, and social scientists have learned about the first century Greco-Roman world.

Walter Wangerin, Jr., addresses some of these issues by writing a fictional account of Paul’s life with multiple storytellers. The main perspectives come from Timothy and Prisca, who give their impressions in thirty-two of the book’s ninety-nine chapters. Others, such as James and Barnabas with nine chapters each and Titus with four chapters, play a less prominent role because they are limited to certain periods in Paul’s life. Rhoda gives voice to only one short chapter as a character borrowed from Peter’s story to depict Paul’s impact on Jerusalem’s younger generation. The character Jude appears in only six early chapters to fill out the scanty details about Paul’s Damascus road experience. Among these imaginary reflections by biblical characters, Wangerin intersperses twelve chapters by Luke, simply recounting, word for word, the story of Acts. Similarly, five chapters convey the very words of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, Galatians, and Corinthians (with the latter divided into shorter fragments according current scholarly views).

Taking a cue from second century apocryphal letters, Wangerin includes eight carefully positioned chapters that describe key movements in the life of the contemporary Stoic philosopher and playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger). While never mentioned in the biblical text, Seneca provides an appropriate comparison and contrast to the character and career of Paul; both were martyred under Roman emperor Nero in the mid-60’s.

Generally, the novel follows the outline of the Book of Acts, with chapters organized in five geographical sections: Damascus (chapters 2-16), Antioch (chapters 17-33), Corinth (chapters 34-58), Ephesus (chapters 59-78), and Jerusalem (chapters 79-95). With the prologue (chapter 1) set in Corinth, it is clear that Wangerin’s focus is on the missionary Paul. In the epilogue, four chapters sum up Paul’s later years in Rome.

As in Acts, the story begins in Jerusalem with Paul’s involvement in the trial and death of Stephen. “I did like Stephen.” With those words James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, is introduced as Paul’s eventual antagonist, leading the confrontation of a law-oriented Christianity with the freedom-thinking Hellenists. Paul journeys to Damascus, where God changes his life forever. It is through the eyes of the aged Jude, however, that this event is viewed. Jude provides a physical description of Paul similar to the apocryphal Acts of Paul: bald with one continuous eyebrow, small in stature, energetic, a fast walker with bowed legs, and an equally fast talker. The question is, What did God’s intervention mean? For Paul’s companions, and also for Jude, it is God’s judgment. For Paul, however, it is God’s call to become apostle to the Gentiles.

The story skips quickly to Antioch, where Paul works in a church, presented at its idyllic best. The lovable Barnabas cannot get enough of delicious pork; Titus, moved by the spirit, sings and dances; and the Christians gather weekly to hear Simeon of Cyrene recount the story of the cross. A prophetic message by Simeon’s wife sends Barnabas and Paul out as missionaries. Paul’s effectiveness is evidenced by his preaching and healing at Lystra. So is the danger, as he is stoned and left by the roadside for dead. Paul, however, is a determined fellow. A young widow offers a special request: that Paul teach her son Hebrew and his Jewish heritage. Thus Timothy follows, and Paul’s traveling seminary begins. Paul is then summoned to Jerusalem to discuss the gentile mission. The noncompromising side of Paul leads to fractured relationships, both in Jerusalem and in Antioch, but Paul’s position prevails. The Gentiles are saved by faith; circumcision will not be required.

Though feeling defeated in the East, Paul is met in Corinth with a spiritually uplifting moment on Acro-Corinth. Prisca, wife of the Corinthian tent maker Aquila, is drawn to Paul’s spoken message, and she and Aquila host the now aging and scarred preacher in their workshop-home. The church grows and thrives; even Erastus, the manager of public markets, joins the throng. Still, growth also brings divisions and countermessages oriented to glory or to law. In Corinth, Phoebe’s intervention rescues Paul in court. Later, in Ephesus, Prisca risks her life to free Paul from prison. Paul’s long correspondence with the Corinthians works to restore unity.

Paul returns to Jerusalem, where he presents the personally gathered collection to assist a group of Nazarites to keep their vow. This leads to misunderstanding, arrest, and imprisonment while Paul awaits his eventual transfer to Rome. Just as in Luke’s story, Paul’s arrival and preaching in Rome offer a fitting climax.

Christian Themes

For Wangerin, Paul is the embodiment of the living voice of the Gospel. So it is that the first word out of Prisca’s mouth in the prologue is “There was a Voice in the morning. There came a Voice through the wet air, like a long flag lifted on the wind. . . .” Just as most Christians’ encounter with Paul is through an oral reading of his letters each Sunday, so they are linked with Prisca, who hears for the first time the voice of Paul preaching in Corinth’s busy market. The words are the same: “I would not have you worry about those fallen asleep,” copied carefully by Timothy for the letter to Thessalonica while Paul preached on that spring day in 50 c.e.

Wangerin is particularly concerned with how the voice of Paul connects with human need. Prisca is a hurting individual, newly arrived in Corinth after having been driven away from her family and her Roman home, alienated from religious conflict under Claudius, and just learning of her mother’s sudden death. Paul’s message speaks directly to her heart, giving her hope and purpose. Certainly others of Prisca’s world were in a similar predicament. The aged Jude of Damascus, for example, who is haunted by loneliness after the death of his wife and threatened by anything new, retreated to his security of tradition. Likewise Seneca, facing illness in Egypt, the death of an uncle, shipwreck, and exile, turns to Stoicism and eventual suicide.

Something about Paul’s message resonates with Prisca. Christ’s message “Behold I make all things new!” comes to life through Paul’s voice, providing the excitement of life in the spirit as well as the risk of carrying the wounds of Christ in one’s body. Wangerin’s Paul always proclaims anew the message of life in the risen Jesus, articulates faith in relationship to the crucified Christ, and announces the freeing power of the spirit and the unifying principle of love that formulated the Christianity of Prisca’s day and continues to speak today.

Sources for Further Study

Bornkamm, Günther. Paul. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1995. The previous generation’s best-known fictional biography of Paul, originally written in German.

Dunn, James. Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2006. Based primarily on Paul’s letter to the Romans, Dunn reconstructs his theology and thoughts on God, humankind, sin, Christology, salvation, the Church, and the Christian life.

Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. Paul: A Critical Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. An account of Paul’s life based primarily on information gathered from the letters themselves rather than from the Acts of the Apostles. Includes contextual information from numerous first century sources.

Roetzel, Calvin J. The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. Treats each letter’s possible dating, situation, and literary structure. Includes arguments for dividing later letters from authentic letters of Paul.

Stendahl, Krister. Paul Among Jews and Gentiles. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1977. A series of essays based on careful word study that shows Paul’s primary goal, to incorporate Gentiles into the family of God.

Wright, N. T. Paul in Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 2006. Part 1 focuses on themes of creation and covenant, Messiah and apocalyptic, Gospel and empire. Part 2 deals with structures such as rethinking God, reworking God’s people, and reimagining God’s future.