Was Paul married?

We can only surmise whether Paul was ever married. If he had a wife before his conversion, he does not appear to have one afterward. Perhaps he never married, or he may have been divorced, or he may have been widowed. When he says in 1 Corinthians 7:7, "I wish everyone to be as I am" he seems to be advocating celibacy. He acknowledges that not everyone has such a gift (a charism) from God, and then explains a few verses later, "Everyone should live as the Lord has assigned, just as God called each one" (7:17). Marcion, on the other hand, a second-century Christian, read 1 Corinthians 7:7 and concluded that not only was Paul celibate but also that he was issuing the directive that married believers must live celibate lives. Marcion and his followers were later declared heretics for several other distortions of Paul's explanation of the gospel.