Speaking of Paul, What Did He Look Like?

A sixth century mosaic from Ravena

Of course, we have no idea what Paul looked like—the varied paintings and historic mosaics bear this out. The Bible is not concerned with such things, and there is no known description of Paul from his lifetime.

But there is one physical description of Paul, written about 160 A.D. It is found in an apocryphal writing, known as the Acts of Paul. Its veracity is a matter of some debate. Often, there is just enough truth in such accounts that they gain acceptance. Here is what we have:

And he (Onesiphorus) proceed along the royal highway to Lystra and stood expecting him, and according to the information of Titus, he inspected them that came. And he saw Paul coming, a man small in stature, bald-headed, crooked in legs, healthy, with eyebrows joining, nose rather long [lit. somewhat hooked], full of grace; for sometimes he appeared like a man, but sometimes he had the face of an angel.

So, Paul was short (like several Reformed theologians I know), bald (that’s a plus), bow-legged (like R. C. Sproul), healthy (his eye problems were behind him) had a uni-brow (like Anthony Davis), and a hooked nose (probably broken multiple times). His countenance was also remarkable—a “face like an angel” (no known Reformed theologian possesses such a thing).

Church tradition often provides food for thought . . .

BTW—The source is: M. R. James, “The Acts of Paul,” in The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1926), 273, and cited in Daniel J. Theron, Evidence of Tradition (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1957), 35.