PaulB007 wrote:Do we have any records of Paul's existance outside of the New Testement?
From "The Apostolic Fathers: Clement, Ignatius and Polycarp, Second Edition" by J. B. Lightfoot
Clement of Alexandria, The Epistle of S. Clement to the Corinthians, Chapter 5 (AD 94,95)
"Let us set before our eyes the good Apostles. ...By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and West, we won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; 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, To the Romans, Chapter 4 (August 23, 97 AD)
"I do not enjoin you as Peter and Paul did. They were Apostles, I am a convict; they were free, but I am a slave to this very hour."
Polycarp, Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Chapter 3
"For neither am I, nor is any other like unto me, able to follow the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Paul, who when he came among you taught face to face with the men of that day the word which concerneth truly carefully and surely; who also, when he was absent, wrote a letter unto you, into the which if ye look diligently, ye shall be able to be builded up unto the faith given to you, which is the mother of us all, while hope followeth after and love goeth before--love toward God and Christ and toward our neighbor. For if any man be occupied with these, he hath fulfilled the commandment of righteousness; for he that hath love is far from all sin."
In the part about Clement, Lightfoot argues that Clement probably knew the apostles, including Paul, personally.
There is also reference to Paul in "The Acts of Paul and Thecla" (
http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/ ... lnthec.htm), and of course in 2 Peter 3:15.
Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. [25] And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
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