Template:Pauldied

Death of Paul

The Book of Acts ends with Paul and Luke waiting in Rome for Paul's hearing before Caesar Nero. But Paul's death may have not been in Rome. Common tradition suggests that both Peter and Paul died in Rome although the accounts of the circumstances of their deaths are often different. There is some evidence that he won his case but went in a western direction which would include what we call Spain.

• "having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached

the farthest bounds of the West [Spain]; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance."

• "Ignatius of Antioch, Rom. 4.3 and Irenaeus, Haer. 3.3.2-3 are other second-century sources that connect Paul with Rome but do not mention his martyrdom there. Ignatius, for example, contrasts himself as “a condemned man” with Paul who was “free”. Because Ignatius was going to Rome to be martyred, we might expect him to compare himself with Paul, not draw a contrast, if he was to be killed in the same city."

"In the pseudepigraphical Epistle to the Tarsians, “Ignatius” reflects an awareness of the tradition of Paul’s death in Rome (Ep. Tars. 3.3). The likewise spurious Martyrdom of Ignatius states that the bishop rejoices when he lands at Puteoli on his way to Rome, because he desires to follow in the footsteps of Paul (Mart. Ign. 5.3). None of these, however, demonstrates anything other than later traditions." David L. Eastman says, ‘Paul: An Outline of His Life’