Articles
“Was Paul a Gladiator?”
What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
1 Corinthians 15:32
In the midst of Paul’s discussion on the truth of the general resurrection based on the truth of Jesus’ own resurrection, he makes several compelling arguments about the futility of the exertion of human will if the resurrection was a farce. One of which is a colorful description of a gladiatorial battle between the apostle himself and some frightening “wild beasts at Ephesus.” Who or what are these “wild beasts”? One interpretation is to take Paul’s words literally, that the apostle was actually thrown into a public gladiatorial ring with roaring lions and bears for the entertainment of the masses at Ephesus. It is true that during the time of Paul’s ministry in Asia, there was a massive theater in Ephesus that seated around 25,000 spectators where such battles took place (Acts 19:29).
However, being a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), Paul would have been exempt both from death by crucifixion and death in the gladiatorial arena. It would have been against Roman law to punish Paul in the arena making the literal interpretation of this text unlikely. So if Paul isn’t talking about lions, tigers and bears in 1 Corinthians 15:32, who or what are the “wild beasts?”
His letter to Titus holds a clue. Paul quoted a Cretan prophet’s words of self-abasement: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12). This was obviously a metaphorical use of the phrase “wild beasts” to describe the lack of self-control and animalistic nature of the general Cretan populace (2 Pet. 2:12; Jude 1:10). This fits well with what we know of Paul’s experience in Ephesus during his journey through Asia minor (2 Cor. 1:8).
The great theater in Ephesus wasn’t just a venue for bloody fighting. It also housed theatrical plays, musical performances and even political and religious gatherings. Paul caused one such impromptu political/religious gathering in Acts 19. The gospel of Jesus Christ was sweeping through Ephesus aided by the extraordinary miracles done by Paul by the power of God (19:11-12). The occult magical practices that dominated that pagan city were beginning to dwindle in favor of the true power of the word of the Lord (19:19-20).
This departure from pagan practice provoked “Demetrius, a silversmith, who made shrines of Artemis” (19:24), in fear of losing his livelihood, to round up a gang of his fellow tradesmen and drag Paul’s companions “into the theater” (19:29). There a confusing riot ensued that was quelled by the cool words of the town clerk (19:35-41). How does this help our understanding of 1 Corinthians 15:32? Paul may have been using the graphic image of “wild beasts” to figuratively describe the fierce attacks of his enemies. This is not unprecedented (cf. 1 Cor. 16:8-9; 2 Cor. 1:8). In the previous verse (1 Cor. 15:31) Paul used the phrase “I die daily” in a purely figurative sense as well. There is no need to take these “wild beasts” as literal animals in context.
With all that being said, we mustn’t lose ourselves in the details and miss the pioint. However we interpret the nature of these “wild beasts” the thrust of Paul’s message is clear: Why would the apostle risk his life for the gospel if there is no resurrection? Paul’s point is, “I did risk everything because the resurrection is real.”
Was Paul a gladiator? Probably not. But he was a soldier for Christ (2 Tim. 2:3-4) shod with the gospel armor (Eph. 6:10-17) who fought the “good fight” of faith (2 Tim. 4:7). His physical presence may have been weak (2 Cor. 10:10) but he was made mighty by the Lord who equipped him with divine weapons that could level the fortresses of arrogance and “every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:3-6).
He may not have fought off any bears or lions like David (1 Sam. 17:37) but Paul defended the gospel from “wild beasts” all the same. For the Lord, Paul willingly suffered many dangers (2 Cor. 11:23-28) that he describes as “momentary, light affliction” (2 Cor. 4:17). He suffered because he believed that “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you” (2 Cor. 4:14). He was looking to the “things which are eternal,” the “glory yet to be revealed” (2 Cor. 4:18; Rom. 8:18), the reality of the bodily resurrection.
