Q: Why did God change Saul's name to Paul after his conversion?

A: Actually, God didn't change his name. It was Paul's own choice to go by his Latin name—and that choice teaches us an important lesson about evangelization. (short thread)

Saul of Tarsus was born a Jew (Phil 3:5) with the Hebrew name Saul, but, because his father was a Roman citizen (and therefore Saul inherited Roman citizenship), Saul also had the Latin name Paul (Acts 16:37, 22:25-28), the custom of dual names being common in those days.

Growing up in a strict Pharisee environment, the name Saul was by far the more appropriate name to go by. But after his conversion Saul determined to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, so he dusted off his Roman name and became known as Paul, a name Gentiles were accustomed to.

Adopting his Roman name was typical of Paul’s missionary style. His method was to put people at their ease and to approach them with his message in a language and style they could relate to. We should take this as a cue from Paul as we engage in apologetics work.

No, we don’t need to adopt new names, but we should accommodate ourselves to our audiences (even as small as one person). We want to speak to people in their own styles, so far as we can, and we want to address their particular concerns.

We don’t want to raise people’s hackles before we even have a chance to raise issues. As Paul explained, "Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became a Jew to win over Jews; to those...

"...under the law I became like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win over those under the law. To those outside the law I became like one outside the law. To the weak I became weak to win over the weak....

"I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it" (1 Cor 9:19-23; see also 1 Cor 10:33, Rom 15:1).

St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, pray for us!

P.S. Another important element of apologetics? A firm grasp on the basics. We've got a free book to help you with that: https://give.catholic.com/give/317112?utm_source=Radio_Drive&utm_source=website&utm_medium=button2&utm_content=cta_2&utm_campaign=free_book#!/donation/checkout