Jump directly to the Content

Who Canceled the Apostle Paul?

Lessons from the first Christian influencer on how to lead when you are hated.
Português
Who Canceled the Apostle Paul?
Image: Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons

Next to Jesus, of course, the apostle Paul is the most well-known figure of the Christian faith. Intrepid apostle, church planter, theologian, pastor, writer. Paul is our hero. He models the faith for us.

But a careful reading of his letters demonstrates that he had many enemies both inside and outside the church, and it appears the Christians of his time found him controversial. Sectors of the Christianity of his time passionately challenged and even despised Paul and his ministry. For example, when Paul the prisoner writes to the Philippians, he informs them that some believers around him were talking up Christ, as it were, just to get Paul in more hot water (Phil. 1:15–17). They wanted to ruin his ministry; they wanted to ruin him.

Perhaps the most obvious place to look for an all-out throwdown between Paul and a rival form of Christianity is in 2 Corinthians, where Paul had to defend himself against the attacks of the so-called “super-apostles” (11:5). They slandered ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
7 Ways to Rate Your Church
7 Ways to Rate Your Church
How to measure your church's ministry.
From the Magazine
Should the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?
Should the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?
Controversy over Bibles in Jamaica, the Philippines, and Germany reveal the divide between the sacred and the relatable.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close