Paul’s Visits to Jerusalem

The problem of how Paul’s visits to Jerusalem noted in Galatians, line up with Luke’s record in Acts, is well known and the debate over this has been going on for a very long time. After exploring a range of papers on this issue that span a century and a half, this paper briefly introduces the reader to Willis J. Beecher, and summarises his thesis. Beecher proposed that the Galatians 1 visit, is the first visit the converted Paul made to Jerusalem, but it is not recorded in the book of Acts. The Galatians 2 visit is then seen to be the visit Luke records in Acts 9. This unique and creative approach to the two documents demands a rethink of the chronology from Paul’s conversion to the first missionary journey. There are also some new questions that arise because of this alignment and the author grapples with these as well. The article concludes with an appeal: it is time to ignore this theory no longer, but rather we should allow it to be seriously considered when the questions arise concerning the way Galatians and Acts inform our understanding of the converted Paul’s early years of activity.