Was St. Paul married?

[Akathist]

Was St. Paul married? Was he a widower?

St. Peter was married but I don't know anything about his wife? What is her story?

Any good links to information on these two Saints we honor during this fast by their name coming up?

 

[Macarius]

St. Paul was celebate, as per his comments on celebacy and marriage in First Corinthians.

St. Peter was married, but we know nothing about his wife, other than that her mother was alive when Christ healed her from a fever.

 

[Matrona]

St. Paul wasn't married, but he did have a sister and a nephew.

 

[buzuxi02]

The only thing i remember about St Peter's family is something i read long ago in the apocrypha (and no, i dont remember which writing it was). Peter had a daughter who was disabled and a multitiude came to him asking why he has the gift of healing but cannot heal his own daughter. Peter immediately raised her up and healed her. The crowd was astounded at how beautiful she was, at that point Peter returns her to her disabled state, saying that he did indeed had healed her (this is from my memory)her but either that she almost fell into depraved temptation or that men tried to tempt her (something to that extant).

 

[Julina]

St. Peter was married? St. Paul had a sister?

how is all of this known?

i heard rumors that St. Paul was gay. no idea where that came from.

 

[MariaRegina]

An Orthodox priest once told me that St. Paul had to have been married since rabbis were married men. However, this priest was a protestant convert and I think he might have been influenced by his education at a Protestant Bible college. He believed that Paul divorced his wife and lived as a celibate. That is why Paul preferred celibacy, but Paul did say that it was better to marry than to burn with temptation.

Nevertheless, Christ was called 'Rabbi' but He was celibate. So, I question the theory that Paul had to have been married, widowed, or divorced.

The Lives of the Holy Apostles published by Holy Apostles Convent does not mention anything about Paul being married, divorced, or widowed. Instead they are silent and give the impression that Paul was young, celibate, and never married at the stoning of Stephen, his relative, and at the start of the Christian persecution by Paul.

Another book I read also said that Paul was the young man who was present at Stephen's stoning. This gives the impression that Paul was quite young and celibate when he had that conversion experience on the road to Damascus.

 

[Julina]

An Orthodox priest once told me that St. Paul had to have been married since rabbis were married men.

i think this is why some believe that Jesus was married

 

[MariaRegina]

Whatever are they teaching in Protestant seminaries these days (to paraphrase C.S. Lewis)!

 

[Dorothea]

St. Paul was celebate, as per his comments on celebacy and marriage in First Corinthians.

St. Peter was married, but we know nothing about his wife, other than that her mother was alive when Christ healed her from a fever.

Yes, I remember that. He was pretty adamant about celibacy, moreso than marriage.

 

[Matrona]

St. Peter was married? St. Paul had a sister?

how is all of this known?

St. Peter's wife's mother is mentioned in the Gospels (Jesus comes to the house and heals her), and St. Paul's sister and her son are mentioned in Acts.

i heard rumors that St. Paul was gay. no idea where that came from.

St. Paul's epistles attest that homosexual behavior is sinful and so some have seen this as an indication that St. Paul had some kind of grudge against homosexuality out of self-hatred. Nothing in Christian tradition backs this up.

ETA: I wanted to mention that I found the mention of St. Paul's sister and her son in Acts 23 - Paul's sister doesn't play a direct role (she may not even have been alive at this point) but her son saves Paul from an assassination plot.

 

[ProScribe]

It seems that St. Peter was married.

St. Paul, in1 & 2 Corinthians Epistle sets a -very- high standard for marriage.
. . .

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Another book I read also said that Paul was the young man who was present at Stephen's stoning. This gives the impression that Paul was quite young and celibate when he had that conversion experience on the road to Damascus.

St. Paul was indeed present at St. Stephen's stoning. He was still known as Saul then:

Acts 7:58:

and they cast him [Stephen] out of the city and stoned him And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.


Mary

 

[Shubunkin]

I, too, had heard that about St. Paul supposedly being gay. I think it comes from the gay agenda. They claimed Paul hated women, and made them subservient, also claimed that was his "thorn in the flesh" and then last but not least.... he preferred celibacy over marriage. That is a lot of (and I mean a LOT) of speculation.

 

[Dorothea]

I, too, had heard that about St. Paul supposedly being gay. I think it comes from the gay agenda. They claimed Paul hated women, and made them subservient, also claimed that was his "thorn in the flesh" and then last but not least.... he preferred celibacy over marriage. That is a lot of (and I mean a LOT) of speculation.

Yes, I think it is some type of agenda for those who are hardcore feminists or gay activists. All the writings on marriage show equality and respect.

 

[Julina]

Yes, I remember that. He was pretty adamant about celibacy, moreso than marriage.

i didn't like what the letters of Paul say about women or marriage. that whole submissive wife part really bothers me.
and the term 'gay agenda' is incorrect, but nevermind.

 

[heart of peace]

i didn't like what the letters of Paul say about women or marriage. that whole submissive wife part really bothers me.

With all due respect, it seems that many people like to harp on that aspect but seem to forget that what is described in that section is a dual submission. Husband submits and wife submits not in the same way (obviously) but in a way that truly 'fits.' It is very easy to be led to believe "the whole submissive wife" part as a bothersome but it actually makes sense and is not a sign of weakness. Remember, husband is to die to himself as Christ died and wife is to submit to husband as Church submits to Christ.

Have you studied this in depth or are you basing your opinion on it from a shallow understanding of it?

 

[Julina]

With all due respect, it seems that many people like to harp on that aspect but seem to forget that what is described in that section is a dual submission. Husband submits and wife submits not in the same way (obviously) but in a way that truly 'fits.' It is very easy to be led to believe "the whole submissive wife" part as a bothersome but it actually makes sense and is not a sign of weakness. Remember, husband is to die to himself as Christ died and wife is to submit to husband as Church submits to Christ.

Have you studied this in depth or are you basing your opinion on it from a shallow understanding of it?

i'll be honest it's probably a shallow understanding. i could've sworn there were some verses that only mentioned the women in marriage.

 

[heart of peace]

i'll be honest it's probably a shallow understanding. i could've sworn there were some verses that only mentioned the women in marriage.

I am not surprised at all that you formed this impression, Julina. My spouse often likes to gloss over that part as well. When I finally studied it in depth, I realized how perfectly set up God intended marriage to be. Equal partners with equally strong roles in the marital relationship that if engaged in with the intent God set forth, we would see the decline of the divorce rate. Submission is far from weakness, to me, it was through submission that I grew to understand true strength.

 

[Akathist]

I would refer again to St. John Chrysostom's writings on marriage. He gives a great commentary on these writtings of Paul.

From my own personal experience. The psychological make up of men and women are different. Men are naturally respectful of women but need validation (honor and respect). Women need to have validation in the form of being loved and accepted.

Miserable marriages consist of women who disresect their husbands and men who show no love for their wives.

I believe that St. Paul's words hit to the heart of these psychological differences. But that does not mean that women are submissive and men are oppressive. It means, women are respectful and men are loving.

I have seen too many unhappy marriages were the women treats her husband like another child in the home. And, men avoid having emotional intimacy with the women.

When women honor their husbands as equal but also as men, and men love their wives sacrificially, the marriage is as a mystery of God.

I always thought that pain in his side that Paul had was literally a physical pain from the beatings he endured in his lifetime.

Paul was not homosexual. No way.

 

[MariaRegina]

Several priests told us during bible study that the ailment St. Paul had was not physical, but perhaps spiritual and helped to keep him humble. It could have been guilt from persecuting the Christians prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus. Like St. Peter, St. Paul wept.

Others have said that perhaps he had an eye ailment when he wrote something like "See with what big letters I write my name?" That would make sense, as he was blinded and had to be led around until he was miraculously healed, but perhaps his vision was left somewhat impaired to remind him for the rest of his life.

Yes, I know that this is all speculation, but this is what several priests have shared with me.