Yes he was. His original name was Saul, and he was a memeber of an anti-Roman group called the 'Zealots' (nowadays I suppose they would be called terrorists). He never actually met Jesus when he was alive, but he didn't agree with Jesus at all at first. Jesus spoke of love and peace and forgiving your enemies, but the Zealots believed that the world would be a better place if the Romans were kicked out, so they murdered Romans and burned Roman buildings. Then one day when Saul was travelling to Damascus, after Jesus had been crucified, he had a blinding vision and a voice from Heaven told him that he has been chosen to carry on Christ's work. He must change his name to Paul and become a Christian leader and preacher, the leading apostle of the time. Paul went on to write most of the New Testament part of the Bible, and after he died became SAINT Paul.