This is the suggestion of Lynn Cohick in a recent post on Zondervan’s blog Koinonia. I have not come to a conclusion myself regarding the citizenship of Paul. His citizenship plays a significant role in Acts, but is nowhere mentioned in Paul’s actual letters. Historically speaking, then, I think those who argue that Acts invented Paul’s citizenship actually have a decent case (Cohick dismisses the idea as a “minority” viewpoint). But it is entirely possible that Paul could have been a Roman citizen, as the empire often used citizenship as a “carrot” or reward for individuals as I understand it. One view is that Paul’s father gained citizenship through his business dealings with the Romans (a view that Prof. Ronald Mellor recently gave in a lecture for the 300+ student course “History of Rome” at UCLA).
Cohick suggests a different take, based upon her understanding of “licit” and “illicit” relationships and the transference of citizenship to children. She suggests that it is more likely Paul’s mother was a citizen and transferred her status on to her son. I am intrigued. I suppose the question then is: how did Paul’s mother become a citizen?
Dr. Cohick is one of the three co-authors of the new textbook The New Testament in Antiquity, about which I am growing more and more excited. The textbook seems to be written from the angle of social history, which is where I am rooted in my UCLA program. This is one of the few New Testament surveys, as far as I can tell, that is both written by evangelicals (all Wheaton profs) and also seeks to incorporate social history so thoroughly.
