Paul the Apostle

About Paul the Apostle

Paul the Apostle, originally Saul of Tarsus, is one of the most consequential figures in the history of Western civilization, ranking #72 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index. Though he never met Jesus, his missionary journeys across the ancient Near East were fundamental in transforming Christianity from a small Jewish sect into a widespread religion accessible to Gentiles. His letters form a significant portion of the New Testament, cementing core theological concepts that have shaped millennia of religious and cultural thought across numerous civilizations.

Despite this profound historical weight, the modern internet's attention does not fully reflect his importance. Paul garners 2.0 million annualized Wikipedia pageviews in 2025. While this indicates significant contemporary interest, it places him in a noticeable 'Attention Gap' category-specifically, an overattention relative to his HPI rank. For comparison, his views are significantly lower than the modern political figure Joe Biden (#329 HPI, 10.6M views) and even less than the contemporary religious figure Pope Leo XIV (#127 HPI, 17.6M views), suggesting a disparity between deep historical influence and current digital search volume.

Encouragingly, the data suggests rising interest, with his 2025 views showing a strong year-over-year growth of +9.8%, though the recent momentum between Q1 and Q3 was flat at +1%.