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50 free Apostle Paul Bible trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Paul wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else and walked more of the Roman world than most legionaries. This Bible trivia about Paul covers the man from Tarsus who trained under Gamaliel, held the coats at Stephen's stoning, was blinded on the Damascus road and spent the rest of his life planting churches from Antioch to Corinth. You will meet Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Lydia, Priscilla and Aquila, the jailer at Philippi, the silversmiths of Ephesus, Felix and Festus, and the islanders of Malta, plus the letters themselves: which ones scholars consider undisputed, which is the shortest, and who took Romans to Rome. Fifty questions for Bible study groups, youth groups and anyone who loves Acts.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Before his conversion, Paul was known by which Jewish name?
Saul
Like King Saul, he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; Paulus was simply a second, Roman name rather than a post-conversion change.
Q 02Paul's home city of Tarsus was the capital of which Roman province?
Cilicia
Tarsus, in today's Mersin Province in Turkey, was a major Mediterranean trading centre with a renowned academy.
Q 03To which tribe of Israel did Paul say he belonged?
Benjamin
He called himself 'a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee'.
Q 04Under which famous teacher of Jewish law was Paul educated in Jerusalem?
Gamaliel
He was sent there young; scholars doubt he was training to become a legal scholar himself.
Q 05What trade did Paul practise to support himself, partnering with Priscilla and Aquila?
Tentmaking
Unlike Peter and the other apostles, he refused to live off the young churches, hoping it would build his credibility.
Q 06According to Acts, Paul was born with which legal status that later let him appeal to Caesar?
Roman citizen
Some suggest his ancestors were freed Jewish slaves taken by Pompey in 63 BC, since freed slaves of citizens gained citizenship.
Q 07At whose martyrdom was Saul present as a witness, according to Acts?
Stephen
Stephen, a deacon in Jerusalem, is venerated as Christianity's protomartyr after being stoned for blasphemy.
Q 08Paul was on the road to which city when he was blinded by a light from heaven?
Damascus
He carried a mandate from the High Priest to arrest followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners.
Q 09For how many days was Saul blind before his sight was restored?
Three
He neither ate nor drank during that time and had to be led into the city by the hand.
Q 10Who laid hands on Saul to restore his sight and baptized him?
Ananias
He greeted him as 'Brother Saul' and said the Lord had sent him so Saul could see and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Q 11In Galatians, Paul says that after his conversion he first went to which region?
Arabia
The trip is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible; some think he went to Mount Sinai to meditate in the desert.
Q 12Three years after his conversion, Paul stayed in Jerusalem for 15 days with which apostle?
Peter
He also met James, the brother of Jesus, on that visit around 35 or 36 AD.
Q 13Which companion went to find Paul and brought him to the church that launched the Gentile mission?
Barnabas
Antioch then became the base for the mission to the Gentiles; it was also where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.
Q 21Lydia of Thyatira, regarded as the first documented Christian convert in Europe, sold what?
Purple cloth
She is also called 'Purpuraria' and 'the Woman of Purple'; Paul met her at Philippi.
Q 22What event in Philippi led to the conversion of the jailer holding Paul and Silas?
An earthquake
The prison gates fell open, but the two men stayed put rather than escape.
Q 23In Philippi, Paul angered local masters by casting a spirit out of whom?
A fortune-telling slave girl
Her owners were unhappy about losing the income her soothsaying brought in.
Q 14In which city were the followers of Jesus first called 'Christians'?
Antioch
Antioch, on the Orontes in what is now Antakya, Turkey, became the alternative centre for believers after Stephen's death.
Q 15Paul’s partner on the first journey, born Joseph, was a Levite from which island?
Cyprus
Born Joseph, he was nicknamed Barnabas by the apostles and is traditionally held to have been martyred at Salamis on the island.
Q 16On the first journey’s island stop, Paul rebuked and blinded which magician?
Elymas
It is in that Cyprus episode, Acts 13:9, that Saul is first called Paul.
Q 17Which young helper left the first missionary journey at Perga and returned to Jerusalem?
John Mark
The departure later caused a rift; Barnabas, usually identified as Mark's cousin, wanted to take him on the next journey.
Q 18The Council of Jerusalem, described in Acts 15, settled what key question?
Whether Gentile converts must be circumcised
Peter, James and John, whom Paul called pillars of the church, accepted his mission to the Gentiles there.
Q 19In the clash he recounts in Galatians, Paul confronted which apostle over eating with Gentiles?
Peter
The dispute was over Peter's reluctance to eat with Gentile Christians; Paul says even Barnabas sided with Peter.
Q 20In which city did Paul and Silas meet the young disciple Timothy?
Lystra
Timothy had a Jewish Christian mother, Eunice, and a Greek father, and later became the first bishop of Ephesus.
Q 24Paul's Areopagus sermon was delivered in which city?
Athens
He had fled trouble in Thessalonica and Berea and was distressed to find the city full of idols.
Q 25At the Areopagus, Paul built his sermon around an altar bearing what inscription?
To an unknown god
Among his converts there were a woman named Damaris and Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council.
Q 26Which philosophers did Paul debate in the agora before being taken to the Areopagus?
Epicureans and Stoics
They met his ideas with confusion and wonder and took him to the city's high court to explain himself.
Q 27In which city did Paul first meet the couple Priscilla and Aquila?
Corinth
The pair are named seven times in the New Testament, always together; Paul says they 'risked their necks' for him.
Q 28Which Roman proconsul, mentioned in Acts, helps historians date Paul’s second journey?
Gallio
The Gallio Inscription at Delphi pins his term to about 51 to 52 AD.
Q 29Why did Paul have his hair cut off at Cenchreae in 52 AD?
Because of a vow
The village near Corinth was also home to Phoebe, the deacon who carried the letter to the Romans.
Q 30Paul stayed almost three years in which city, an important centre of early Christianity?
Ephesus
He probably worked there as a tentmaker and wrote four letters to the Corinthians during the stay.