Although most New Testament scholars simply assume that Paul had never seen Jesus prior to Paul’s Damascus Road experience, Stanley Porter raises the fascinating possibility that Paul and Jesus had indeed crossed paths before Paul’s conversion. The argument can be found in summary form in: Stanley E. Porter, The Apostle Paul: His Life, Thought and Letters (Eerdmans, 2016), 33-38. A more extensive (and expensive) version can be found here: When Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Got Lost in History (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Porter’s case is based upon several lines of evidence.

First, Jesus spent much of his time in Galilee, but went to Jerusalem on several occasions. Jesus also spent the last part of his messianic mission in the city. Given the fact that Paul too spent significant time in Jerusalem as a teen studying under Gamaliel, and that Jesus was a very well-known and controversial figure within Pharisaical circles, Paul likely knew of Jesus’ presence in Jerusalem, even if he had not seen him personally. But given Jesus’ controversial ministry among Jews in the city, a zealous young rabbinical student like Paul very likely would have been quite interested in evaluating Jesus for himself, possibly on one or more occasions. Paul and Jesus were in the same place at the same time so it is very plausible that Paul would have been curious enough to go and see Jesus for himself.

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