Tertiary sourceDocument1913
St. Paul entry, Catholic Encyclopedia
F. Prat · 1913
An early 20th-century encyclopedia article surveying Paul's life, travels, and letters, including debates over ancient sources about him.
This encyclopedia article surveys Paul's life and the ancient sources and legends about him.
About this source
What it is
This is an entry on Paul written by F. Prat for the Catholic Encyclopedia, published in New York in 1913. It surveys questions about Paul's life, discussing ancient apocryphal texts such as the Acts of Paul, a Coptic papyrus studied by Professor Schmidt, and other early writings about him.
Why it matters
The entry shows how scholars in the early 1900s pieced together evidence about Paul from fragmentary ancient manuscripts, including Coptic papyrus fragments painstakingly reconstructed from about 2000 pieces. It reflects how both Catholic and Protestant scholars debated the authenticity of ancient sources about Paul's life and legend.
Why it matters
Look closer
- Why might an encyclopedia from 1913 treat apocryphal texts about Paul differently than modern scholars might?
- What does the mention of competing scholars (Catholic and Protestant) tell you about how historical debates work?
- How reliable is a tertiary summary like this compared to the ancient sources it describes?
This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Paul on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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