pieces of evidence are weighed, it looks most likely that Paul
encountered Gallio some time in the second half of 51, or very
early in 52 at the very latest. This is a considerable advance on
the vague chronology offered by Acts.Paul’s Roman patron?
It is well known that Paul was once called Saul. This Aramaic
name is associated with his career before his conversion, when,
as an official of the high priest of the Jerusalem temple, he was
charged with persecuting Jesus’ followers. His Roman name Paul
is associated with his post-conversion career as an apostle. The
familiar story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is
most fully elaborated by the author of Acts, rather than by Paul
himself (see p. 121). What is interesting, however, is that Acts
does not notice Paul’s change of name at this point of the narra-
tive, but continues to call him Saul. Only later, when the apostle
was at Paphos on the island of Cyprus, does Actsintroduce us to
‘Saul, who is also called Paul’ (Acts13.9). Why the delay in
noting Paul’s change of name? Intriguingly, Paul’s most impor-
tant convert on Cyprus was the island’s Roman governor, Sergius
Paullus. The fact that Saul now adopted a name identical to that
of the governor (both are spelled ‘Paulos’, with a single ‘l’, in
the Greek text of Acts) has prompted questions about some sort
of link between Saul’s change of name and his connection with
Sergius Paullus. Here, however, there has been some consider-
able difference of opinion between ancient historians and New
Testament scholars.
Let us consider first the most common opinion of New
Testament commentators, which can be boiled down to a simple
formula: the change of name from Saul to Paul is associated with
Sergius Paullus merely as a literary flourish. Thus, in the view of
Hans Conzelmann’s authoritative commentary in the Hermeneia
series, the author of Acts‘uses the opportunity provided by the
name of “Paul’s” first convert (Sergius Paulus) to introduce Paul
into the mission under his generally known name. The connectionCONTEXTS FOR THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY
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