Sergius Paulus
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Acts 13:7)—proconsul of Cyprus, converted to faith in Christ through the Apostle Paul and afterward baptized. Like many Roman patricians, he had admitted the influence of magicians and false prophets who exploited the widespread expectation of a world savior. Bar-Jesus, one of them, opposed Paul’s work and was miraculously struck blind: “there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.” Seeing this, Sergius Paulus believed. The source records the patristic opinion of Jerome and Augustine that Saul began to be called Paul in remembrance of this event.