A BOY NAMED SAUL

Have you ever heard good news? Maybe you were invited to a birthday party or your Grandma called to ask if you'd like to go to the zoo. Or maybe you found out you were getting a new puppy.

Do you remember how excited you felt? What did you do? Did you hurry to tell all your friends?

Long ago, there was a man named Paul who heard good news. It was the best news ever. He wanted to tell everyone about it. After he heard the Good News about Jesus he spent the rest of his life traveling around, spreading that news.

How do we know about this man Paul? He lived 2,000 years ago. For one thing, we know about him from archaeological evidence. Scientists called archaeologists have found many things from Paul's life. They have found cities he visited. They have found buildings he spoke in. They have found roads he walked on.

Most of what we know about Paul, however, comes from the Bible. There is a book in the Bible called Acts. It is part of the New Testament. And it tells us a lot of information about Paul's life.

Acts was written by a man named Luke. He was a friend of Paul's. Luke was an eyewitness to many things Paul said and did.

There are a lot of other books in the Bible that tell us about Paul too. These are letters Paul wrote that later became books in the Bible. We know even more about Paul's life from these books. Most important, from these books we know what Paul thought and believed about Jesus.

We know that Paul was born in the city of Tarsus. Tarsus was the capital of Cilicia. Today it is in the country of Turkey.

Tarsus was an important city in the Roman Empire. Many famous rulers went there. Julius Caesar, one of the most famous emperors in Rome, visited Tarsus. Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, sailed there to meet Mark Antony, a powerful Roman ruler.

Tarsus was a major city for trade. Ships stopped near Tarsus along the coast. Traders traveled on land through Tarsus on their way to other parts of the Roman Empire.

Tarsus was also known as a city of great learning and culture. There was a university there. The culture of Tarsus was influenced by Greece as well as Rome.

Paul grew up in Tarsus. As a boy his name was Saul. He had a Hebrew name because he was a Jew. Many people spoke Hebrew because it was the language of the Jews. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Many people also knew Greek. That was the language the New Testament was written in.

At that time, Jews lived in cities all throughout the Roman Empire. One of their ancestors was named Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel by God. He had twelve sons. Each of those sons became a leader of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Benjamin was one of the tribes in Israel. Paul was born into the tribe of Benjamin.

Paul was also a Roman citizen. This was very important in those days. Not everyone was. It cost a lot of money to become a citizen of Rome. But Paul didn't have to pay because he was born a Roman citizen. This made him even more important.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Bible has two sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament tells the history and beliefs of the Jews before Jesus was born. The New Testament tells the history and beliefs of Jesus and his followers. These are also known as the Scriptures.

BIBLE HEROES

Luke—Luke was a doctor. At times, he traveled with Paul. They went all over the Roman Empire to tell everyone about Jesus. Luke wrote the book of Luke and the book of Acts in the Bible. Jesus—Many people believed Jesus was the Messiah. They believed he was God. These people became his followers. Some were eyewitnesses to his death and even saw him after he came alive again.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

Like Paul, Strabo traveled all over the Roman Empire. He wrote about the different cities he visited. Of Tarsus, Strabo said, "The inhabitants of this city apply to the study of philosophy and to ... learning with so much ardor that they surpass Athens, Alexandria, and every other place which can be named where there are schools and lectures of philosophers."

DID YOU KNOW?

Critics used to think Luke was not a very good writer. They thought he made things up to put in the Bible. But now, information has been found that shows what Luke wrote is true. Bible scholar Charlie H. Campbell says, "More than eighty details in the Book of Acts have been confirmed by historical and archaeological research."