Paul, John (1777–1848), Reformed Presbyterian minister, was born at Tobernaveen, Co. Antrim, only son of John Paul, farmer; nothing is known of his mother. His classics teacher was a Mr Matthews; Paul attended the University of Glasgow and the Divinity Hall, and on 16 November 1803 was licensed by the Reformed Presbytery to preach; on 11 September 1805 he was ordained in the congregation of Loughmorne, near Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. He remained there until his death, and had a classical school in the town. In 1819 he published a pamphlet opposing the views of the American unitarian minister William Henry Channing, who had preached in Belfast, and later the same year, in a work published as a volume of letters, Creeds and confessions defended, came out very strongly in favour of the subscription to the Westminster confession. In 1826 he wrote A refutation of Arianism and defence of Calvinism, criticising the sermons of William Bruce (qv), and another publication in 1828 attacked the views of Henry Montgomery (qv). All his controversial works became well known; many copies were sold, and the three mentioned were reprinted in one volume in 1855.
Paul also achieved prominence in a controversy with a colleague, Thomas Houston (qv) of Knockbracken. He took exception to Houston's articles in 1831 in the Covenanter magazine on the role of the civil authorities, a topic of great moment in covenanting theology and thought; both men published pamphlets and articles, and the controversy was discussed at synod in 1831, 1832, and 1833. Houston issued a libel against Paul, and brought it to synod; synod held it in retentis for a year, but in that time Houston published the libel in the Covenanter. Though he apologised after the meeting in 1833, the argument flared up again in 1835 over whether or not church members should vote in civil elections, and in 1836 Paul and a small group of supporters dissented from synod's position on the national establishment of religion. They reiterated their views in a protest to the synod of 1840, in which they stated that Houston (and by inference the main body of their church) taught persecuting principles. Reconciliation was impossible; Paul with four other ministers and twelve ruling elders withdrew their congregations from the Reformed Presbyterian synod, and in 1842 formed the Eastern Reformed Presbyterian Synod. This lasted until 1902, when half the congregations of the breakaway group rejoined the parent synod, while half, including Loughmorne, opted to join the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Paul was one of 800 delegates to a meeting in London (10 August 1846) at which the Evangelical Alliance was founded. He received the degree of DD from Union College, USA, in 1836. In his last illness in Carrickfergus, after a stroke, he was visited by ministers of all protestant denominations, including his opponents; he died 16 March 1848 and was buried in Loughmorne.
He married (1808) Rachel Smith of Ballyearl, Carnmoney; they had two daughters and possibly other children. His widow died in 1861, aged 83.