Paul Southern was born at Stephenville, Texas on April 16, 1901 and died at Abilene, Texas on July 16, 1999.

He preached the gospel for more than 60 years. Churches of Christ he served included: the South Main congregation in Weatherford, Texas; the Armstrong Avenue congregation in Denison, Texas; the Central congregation in Abilene, Texas (1937-45); the Napoleon Boulevard and the Bardstown congregations in Louisville, Kentucky; and again in Abilene, Texas the following congregations: 16th and Vine (1948-57), Woodlawn (1957-62) and Westgate (1962-70).

Paul was married to Margaret Moore on June l0, l930 in Fort Worth, Texas. They had two children. Paul Jr became a medical doctor, an internist and authority on tropical medicine, who was on the faculty of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Sylvia became a counselor with a private practice in individual, marriage, and family counseling.

Paul and Margaret traveled extensively, doing mission work in various parts of the United States and in more than 35 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Denmark.

Paul Southern received a bachelor of arts degree in Bible from Abilene Christian College in 1930. He earned his master's degree from Texas Christian University at Fort Worth, Texas. And he earned a doctorate in 1948 from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His doctoral dissertation was entitled: "The Distributive Use of KATA."

He first taught at Abilene Christian College/University in 1937, and served as chairman of the Bible department from 1951 until his retirement in 1970.

After retiring, he taught courses at Columbia Christian College in Portland, Oregon; European Christian College in Vienna, Austria; Michigan Christian College in Rochester, Michigan; Macquarie School of Biblical Studies in Sydney, Australia; and South Pacific Bible College in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Paul Southern assisted many people as a personal counselor, and served in numerous organizations including the Abilene Council on Alcoholism, the Texas Association for Mental Health and the National Council on Family Relations.