Examining Paul’s Shipwreck in Acts 27 and 28

A gripping account of a shipwreck during Paul’s trek to Rome is recorded near the end of the Book of Acts. The event is carefully analyzed by Jefferson White in this excerpt: Apostle Paul’s Shipwreck: An Historical Examination of Acts 27 and 28, which provides insight from ancient nautical and meteorological narratives and other sources. The material on the site is a chapter from White’s more extensive work, Evidence and Paul’s Journey’s: An Historical Investigation into the Travels of the Apostle Paul, which affirms: “The Acts account of Paul’s journeys is as reliable as we may expect history to be. So far as it can be tested by objective evidence, Acts has proven to be an astonishingly accurate record of events.”

Paul later wrote: “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep“ (2 Cor. 11:25).

Paul: A Tentmaker by Trade

In this excerpt from The Social Context of Paul’s Ministry, Ronald F. Hock takes a close look at the type of manual labor in which the Apostle Paul was involved: tentmaking. Acts 18:3 explains: “And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.”

Ancient Corinth in photos

BiblePlaces.com has photos showing notable sites from ancient Corinth, including a panoramic view of the Peloponnese peninsula ; the now-silted harbor; and the Diolkos (a stone track upon which ships were lugged from one sea to another before the completion of the canal).

Acts 18:18 records Paul’s activities at one of Corinth’s ports: “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.”