Was Paul a Historical Figure? Neville Goddard’s Surprising Take

Many readers approach Paul’s letters expecting to learn from a first-century apostle. Yet Neville Goddard completely reinterprets Paul’s role in Scripture—not as a biographical person but as another symbolic state of consciousness.

In his 31 March 1967 lecture “Seeing Christ Through the Eyes of Paul,” Neville goes so far as to point out that no contemporary records mention a man named Paul. He writes:

“Now, there is no mention of Paul in any contemporary work of the first century, nor is there any historical record of a man named Paul… Paul, like Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus Christ, is a state of consciousness.”

This declaration aligns Paul with every other biblical character in Neville’s model, each representing an inner process of awakening. Moses embodies the call to liberation; Abraham, the leap of faith; Jesus, the realised imagination; and Paul, the maturing of that realisation into teaching and praxis.

When we read Paul’s epistles under Neville’s guidance, we discover that they are not relics of ancient correspondence but transcripts of our own inner dialogue. His instructions on grace, faith, and spiritual warfare are lessons in shifting assumption—from limitation to freedom, from ego-dominion to divine consciousness.

In short, Neville does not affirm Paul’s historicity. Instead, he invites us to regard Paul as a voice within ourselves: the aspect of awareness that learns, grows, and ultimately teaches, guiding us to embody the creative power of imagination.