Whatever happened to St. Paul's family after his conversion to Christianity?

[Operation_Ripper]

Not looking for a debate on Christianity here, but does anyone know of any theories / debates on the subject?

I have been googling and can’t seem to find anything. I was just wondering after having lived a life of ease (if I recall my Sunday school lessons correctly) what their reaction and ultimate fate was after St. Paul’s conversion.

Thanks for any information!
OR

[Thudlow_Boink]

What family? Assuming I’m interpreting I Corinthians 7:8 correctly, Paul wasn’t married: “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.” (As for why Paul says this, that’s a whole nother debate; I quote him here only as evidence that he didn’t have a family.)

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

Paul claimed he wasn’t married and the New Testament contains no information about his family of origin.

[robcaro]

I think the OP was referring to the parents and possible siblings of Paul.

[Operation_Ripper]

Welp, from my earlier googling here is what is in the bible about his family, from this website (haven’t read the rest of the stuff on this website, so don’t know if anything offensive appears on it, not claiming it as authoritative in other words):

Here Saul was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best education his native city could afford. His father was of the straitest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of pure and unmixed Jewish blood (Acts 23:6; Phil. 3:5). We learn nothing regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up, “touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:6). We read of his sister and his sister’s son (Acts 23:16), and of other relatives (Rom. 16:7, 11, 12). Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn.

[Walloon]

To his dying day, Paul never stopped thinking of himself as a Jew, and of Christ as the salvation of Jews and Judaism.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@Operation Ripper

Welp, from my earlier googling here is what is in the bible about his family, from this website (haven’t read the rest of the stuff on this website, so don’t know if anything offensive appears on it, not claiming it as authoritative in other words):

The stuff about his mother is pretty much rank speculation. It’s true that Acts claims he had a sister and nephew but tells us nothing about them. In Romans he greets a few people as “my kinsmen” but doesn’t say exactly what the relationship was and it may have been figurative. Some people also read Romans 16:3 (Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine) as implying that Rufus was Paul’s brother. I’m not so sure about that.

[aldiboronti]

As a Christian Paul may well have spurned his family. Many of the recorded utterances of Jesus vividly remind me of modern fanatical sectarians, who insist that the acolyte cut himself off from all family ties.

"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

“For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”(Matt. 10:35-37; Luke 12:51-53)

[rfgdxm]

@Diogenes the Cynic

The stuff about his mother is pretty much rank speculation. It’s true that Acts claims he had a sister and nephew but tells us nothing about them. In Romans he greets a few people as “my kinsmen” but doesn’t say exactly what the relationship was and it may have been figurative. Some people also read Romans 16:3 (Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine) as implying that Rufus was Paul’s brother. I’m not so sure about that.

Obviously Paul has a mother and father. And given family sizes in that era, siblings and nephews is probable. Thus unless Paul’s parents died when he was really young, siblings and a nephew are very likely. And if Paul was adopted, in the language of his day would it have been common to make sure to emphasize “step-sister” rather than “sister”?

[Grimpen]

The short answer is: we have no information whatsoever. As Diogenes notes, the suggestions regarding Paul’s mother are entirely speculation.

Somewhat longer answer: I don’t recall seeing anything about Paul’s family even in the later, post-New-Testament, writers. (I’d take hagiographical information from later sources with several grains of salt, anyhow; but to the best of my recollection there isn’t any.)

[yBeayf]

I’d take hagiographical information from later sources with several grains of salt, anyhow; but to the best of my recollection there isn’t any.

Nope. I just checked the most likely Eastern sources – the Synaxarion and the Prologue from Ohrid – and there’s absolutely nothing about his early life that’s not already in the Bible.

[jimmmy]

I hope this isn’t a highjack - it is related certainly and I will try to ties it closer to the OP. Can anyone illuminate any of the points below? I am unclear on the mechanics of all.

Paul was a tentmaker by trade. In circa 45 AD How did one become a tentmaker? Was there an expensive apprenticeship? Was it something a Dad might pass along to his kid (like a stone mason) or was it something a Dad might work at to push his son into something better (like a Pharisee)? Was it seen as a higher class trade? Or was it a trade that a wealthy and educated man might be embarrassed if his youngest daughter was married into?

Paul Studied under Gamaliel
How does one come to study under Gamaliel? Does it cost money? Is there an entrance exam or can you just show up?

[amarinth]

Acts 23:16-22. The passage begins “The son of Paul’s sister…”

Assuming we’re going with the text, he had a sister and a nephew. And toward the end of Paul’s life, the nephew still traveled in circles where he overheard the really good gossip.

After that episode, they disappear again.