" PAST " SAINT PAUL PART VI THE MISSIONARY Part III SECOND SEGMENT

 

St Paul Writes from Corinth, Second Segment

The Letter to the Romans

SIX YEARS HAVE PASSED since St Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonians from Corinth. In these busy, tumultuous years St Paul has covered thousands of miles back and forth from Damascus to Illyricum the Roman province across the Adriatic from Italy which marked the Imperial border with the barbarian regions to the North. He is now the mature Apostolic missionary. His exertions in preaching, teaching, travel on foot, shipwreck, imprisonment, beatings and narrow escapes from death have taken their toll.

Yet he remains keen to bring more and more Gentiles to Christ. In the East he has established many churches, visited and re-visited them, and set over them bishops and priests he knows will do as much as can be done to keep them faithful. Now he has his sights set on Spain. But, on his way to that Western bulwark of the Empire of Rome, he plans to satisfy a long-held desire to visit the well-established church in Rome itself.

Announcing this intention, he writes to the Romans a remarkable epistle – the largest he wrote. It is a complex letter and far from being “an easy read”. When we consider the background, we begin to understand why.

St Paul has built up a vast experience in his missionary journeys. This letter is intended to mark the close of his activity in the East, and to provide a distillation of that experience from a theological and a pastoral perspective. In addition there is a diplomatic complication to be considered. In the past, Paul has usually been going to found churches or to re-visit those he has founded. But in Rome he knows he will find a largely Gentile convert church for which he has had no responsibility, a church renowned throughout the world for its success and devotion and overseen by the Prince of the Apostles. He knows also that there is a small but influential Jewish convert component in that church – just the element that has caused him so much trouble elsewhere. The fact that the letter is dictated to an amenuensis (we know his name – Tertius- because he inserts his own comment in the letter) as St Paul so often did, and that it must have been dictated over some days, and that we know St Paul to be somewhat volatile, also works to make it complex.

Structure

The Epistle is broadly constructed as follows:

Greetings – Reason for visit

Condition of mankind before Christ - Gentiles and Jews

Condition of mankind with Christ

Faith, Hope, Love, Salvation

Justification

Freedom from the Law for Christians

Activity of the Holy Spirit

Jewish Rejection of the Gospel

Moral Duties of Christians

His Plans, Commendation and Individual Greetings

Greetings and Reason for Visit

Paul’s greeting emphasises his Apostleship from Christ Himself, Christ’s Resurrection as evidence that He is the Son of God and the importance of the obedience of Faith. In expressing his desire to visit the Romans, St Paul affirms his high opinion of them : “your faith is proclaimed all over the world” (Rom. 1:8) and “ unceasingly I make mention of you” (Rom. 1:9) He wants the visit to bring some spiritual grace to them and to be comforted with them in their shared faith. He wants to preach to them just as he has done to other Gentiles in other places. He stresses the importance of faith which provides a great theme for the Epistle.

Mankind without Christ – Gentiles

Paul reviews the state of pagan mankind. He shows that knowledge of the one true God is available to them by reason, from the evidence of His works. They have however pursued mere idols and “worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator”. (Rom. 1:25) In view of this pagan activity they are denied God’s grace and give themselves up to every sort of depravity and shameful action. Paul reminds his readers that such people will be judged by God according to the Natural Law, written on their hearts.

Jews

The situation of the Jews he says, is quite different. They had the Law and will be judged according to it. They are circumcised to evidence their subjection to the Law. But circumcision will avail them nothing if they do not follow the Law. True “circumcision is a matter of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter” (Rom. 2:29) Here, in responding to some calumny brought against him, Paul directly enunciates the principle that we may not do evil even if some good comes of it. Paul is seeking to get the Jews thinking aright – he makes it clear that the Law effectively defines and thus introduces sins,. It does not justify. It does not save.

Mankind with Christ – Faith

With the coming of Jesus Christ salvation is available to all who have faith in Him. They have no need of the Law. He has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.

The works of the Law do not justify – faith in Jesus Christ does- it is the true circumcision.

Abraham

To ensure correct thinking by the Jews, Paul goes back to their father, Abraham. He reminds them that Scripture says that Abraham was justified by his belief in God – by faith, not by the works of the Law. And Abraham was at the time as yet uncircumcised, Paul stresses. Paul really hammers home this point, the promise made to Abraham and his posterity came not through the works of the Law or through circumcision, but through Abraham’s faith.

Justified in Christ

“When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son”(Rom3:10) “we exult also in God through Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”.(Rom. 3:11)

Through Adam mankind inherited sin and death. Through Christ mankind inherits grace and the possibility of eternal salvation.

Paul points out very firmly that the baptised Christian has no obligation under the Law. He frames his statements on this point with great care, for he knows it touches Jewish sensitivities in two ways: firstly, as to the obligations of the Jewish converts themselves, and secondly, as regards the views some Jewish converts held about what was proper for the Gentile converts. Many Jewish converts had in his experience, sought to burden the Gentile converts with the Law and circumcision. Paul seeks, gently but firmly to teach the Truth.

He goes on to consider at length, the spiritual struggle between the will of the Christian believer and the temptations and inclinations of the flesh. “For I am delighted with the law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin that is in my members”. (Rom. 7:23) But the grace of God through Our Lord Jesus Christ delivers him. “For what was impossible for the Law, in that it was weak because of the flesh, God has made good. By sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, He has condemned sin in the flesh….” Those who remain steadfast in the spirit will not only be adopted as sons of God but joint heirs with Christ to the glory in which He has been raised.

No present sufferings, Paul says, can compare with that future glory.

In a very brief section of the Epistle, St Paul now opens to us one of the most consoling and encouraging revelations in Sacred Scripture : “But in like manner the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself pleads for us with unutterable groanings. And He who searches the hearts knows what the Spirit desires, that He pleads for the saints according to God”. (Rom. 8 :26-27)

This is a truly remarkable revelation of the inner life ( if we may use a human analogy) of the Blessed Trinity which leaves us breathless but rejoicing at the depth and workings of God’s love for us.

Paul reminds the Romans (and us) that for those who love God, all things work together to produce good. God knows who will be saved and glorified. “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8: 31) He reminds his readers that Christ is at the right hand of God interceding for us. No peril or disaster, or evil force, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord.

The Jewish Rejection of the Gospel

Paul, so proudly a Jew himself, reveals his great distress at the rejection of the Gospel by the Jewish leaders and the bulk of the Jewish people. Their fault lies in their refusal of faith in the Gospel and stubborn self-satisfaction with the external observances of the Law alone. They rejected both the preaching and the teaching of the Lord Himself, and even after the Resurrection they refused the preaching of the Apostles. Paul reminds the Romans of the Prophet Isaias’ saying “All day long I stretched out my hand to a people unbelieving and contradicting.” But Paul rejoices in the remnant of Israel that has accepted the Gospel, the Jewish converts.

How easy it is for anyone- Jew or Gentile – Paul points out, to accept the Gospel and demonstrate their faith in Jesus Christ Thus the hardness of heart of the bulk of the Jews grieves him greatly. He urges the Gentile converts to humility and fidelity, reminding them that they have been grafted onto the stem of the true religion which has its origin in the faith of Abraham and has been brought to glorious fulfilment in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

He makes it clear that Israel will be converted when the full number of Gentiles accept the Gospel. He concludes this section of the Epistle with his now proverbial insistence that God’s judgements are incomprehensible to us and His ways unsearchable.

Moral Teaching

Paul begins to wind up his Epistle with an exhortation on the duties of Christians. His phrasing is beautiful as he urges the Romans, surrounded by pagan society, to “be not conformed to this world, but be transformed in the newness of your mind” (Rom. 12 : 2)

Quite the opposite of the grasping pagan world about them, he urges them to moderation and respect for the role and person of each of the brethren. He bids them to love one another in fraternal charity, anticipating one another with honour and practising hospitality. He seeks to have them be models of every kind of Christian virtue and “overcome evil with good”. (Rom. 12 : 21)

He encourages every one of them to be obedient to legitimate authority which ultimately comes from God. They must respect their lawful obligations to the civil government.

Paul emphasises the moral imperative of love of our neighbours and the importance of conforming one’s life to Christ in expectation of His coming.

Obviously having an eye to the possible activities of Judaizers in the Roman community, he bids all to exercise mutual forbearance. In essence he says that if a Jewish convert feels obliged to still follow the prescriptions of the Law, there is no harm even though it will do him no good, and, if the Gentile converts wish to exercise their legitimate freedom from the Law no-one should trouble them. He urges all to preserve charity and peace. In preserving the peace, he begs them all to practise self-denial and patience so that all may be one in spirit, glorifying God as one.

He reminds them of several passages in Sacred Scripture which foreshadow the role of the Gentiles, and concludes this section as follows: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit”. (Rom. 15 : 13)

Conclusion

In Paul’s concluding words there is an element of apology – unusual for St Paul- “But I have written to you rather boldly here and there, brethren”. (Rom. 15: 15) This is yet another reflection of the pre- eminent position of the church in Rome, and of the fact that Paul has had no part in its formation.

Nowhere in this letter does he make direct mention of St Peter. He evidently knew that he was then absent from the capital, but Paul is obviously sensitive to any possible chance of being criticised from any quarter for intruding or acting inappropriately. It is interesting to see the normally forceful Paul dealing with circumstances calling for great discretion on his part.

He goes on to recount the missionary plans which he has, plans which will bring him to Rome which he has long hoped to visit, on his way to Spain. He will travel via Jerusalem bringing to the saints financial aid from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia.

He asks for the Romans’ prayers and looks forward to coming to them in joy, God willing, to be refreshed with them. He adds to the letter a commendation of Phoebe from the church in Cenchrae, for whatever assistance she may need.

He sends greetings to nearly thirty individuals in Rome, some of whom we know of, others we do not. Their number reveals the wide extent of St Paul’s activities and the consequent large number of contacts he has with other people who are regular travellers. The Roman Empire was a great facilitator of travel, as we know from Roman history. The same sources evidence the large numbers of people travelling from the East – Paul’s past region of activity, to the centre of the Empire.

P.S. and P.P.S.

In what we would term a ”P.S.” Paul adds a final warning to the Romans about troublemakers. ”who cause dissensions and scandals contrary to the doctrine that you have learned…. avoid them.” (Rom. 16 – 17 )

A further addition includes greetings from Timothy and other fellow workers and enables Tertius the amanuensis to speak up with his own greetings.

Doxology

The great letter concludes appropriately with praise of God and its dedication to Him.

St Paul and St James

There are those who have tried to set at odds St James – faith without works is dead and St Paul- faith justifies, not works.

The suggestion is a nonsense as any honest reading of the two epistles shows. To support the proposition one would have to be soft in the head, or a knave. It is crystal clear that St Paul is talking about the prescriptive works required by the Law – the multiple observances the Jews were obliged to keep. St James on the other hand is talking about the good works of charity and proper moral life which flow spontaneously from Christian life. These are the same works that St Paul commends to the Romans as essential to Christian life.

It was this very point that the knave Martin Luther was to make one of the bases for his deformation of Christ’s Church as he invented his “Faith Alone” teaching (“sola fides”) in the 16th Century.

Summary

The Epistle to the Romans is not an “easy read” and one can sympathise with St Peter who wrote of “our dearest brother Paul” …”In these epistles there are certain things difficult to understand, which the unlearned and the unstable distort….” (2 Peter 15: 16) Across the centuries he seems to see and rebuke Luther and so many “spirit of the Council” theologians and preachers.

In this epistle St Paul is distilling all of his thinking, teaching and experience on the subjects of faith and the Law- Christian freedom and Jewish legalism. Paul takes the Lord at His word : “and the Truth shall set you free.” He applies the same distillation to Christian life of which he has had such wide experience.

This is a fitting exercise in preparation for his intended visit to Rome and her pre-eminent church. It is also timely at this stage of his apostolic work. His efforts in the East are now mature and he is looking westward for new challenges.

Little did he know how challenging the road to Rome would prove.

 Tony Dixon
Copyright This article first appeared in the December, 2008 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL Part VI THE MISSIONARY iV PAUL WRITES FROM CORINTH FIRST SEGMENT

 

St Paul Writes from Corinth


ST. PAUL’S VERY FIRST LETTERS WHICH WE HAVE, WERE WRITTEN IN 51-52 AD from Corinth when Paul was 47–49 years old. Six years and thousands of missionary miles later, now aged 53–55 years, he once again wrote from Corinth.



As we have seen, Corinth lies 40 miles west of Athens on the Ionian coast, a few miles across a narrow neck of land from the Aegean port of Cenchrae. Two hundred miles of coastline separated the two ports, including the treacherous Cape Malea

Here Paul, after being effectively driven out of the synagogue, taught from the house of a convert – Titius Justus – next door to the synagogue. Re-assured by a vision of Our Lord, he remained in Corinth preaching and teaching for 18 months.

Busy as he was in his very successful preaching to the Gentiles in Corinth (and also converting Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and his household), Paul still bore in his heart and mind the converts he had made in Thessalonica. It is that fatherly concern which led him to write the first and second letters to the Thessalonians in A.D. 51–52 .

He had already been a Catholic (though the term was yet to be coined ¬— but we should not forget that reality) for 17 or 18 years. Transformed by his miraculous encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and tempered by his years of prayer and fasting in the desert of Arabia, he had now been active in preaching and teaching for some years.

The Thessalonians are his spiritual children. Realist that he is, Paul knows that these converts from paganism will need continuing encouragement and more teaching than he had been able to give them when he first brought them to Christ. For this very reason he had sent his trusted young co-worker Timothy to them. Timothy we recall was himself a convert, from Lystra in Lycaonia (part of modern Turkey), son of a Gentile father and a Jewish mother. Paul had come to rely on him as on a son.

And what word does Timothy bring back to Paul of his Thessalonian converts? He “brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you – for this reason brethren in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith; for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord.”

In Paul’s first letter to the Catholics of Thessalonica we get an indirect glimpse of the local church he had formed. Here was a group of believers entirely counter-cultural to the pagan world around them – a world in which divorce, abortion, infanticide, promiscuity, homosexuality greed, slavery and cruelty were the norm  - Paul’s converts had forsaken all of this to follow Christ as he had preached Him. They looked forward confidently, keenly and enthusiastically to the Second Coming –the Parousia when their heavenly life would gloriously begin. Some were so strongly expectant that they saw no need to work or to be involved in the humdrum tasks of everyday life – glorious eternity was due any day they thought, why bother?

So Paul has his concerns, but good and wise father that he is, he carefully praises all that is good in what they have achieved. He encourages them to persevere in matters of physical morality – knowing the weakness of our human flesh and the seductions of their old pagan lives surrounding them. Knowing that God is love, as St. John would soon write, Paul counsels them to keep building up their love for one another.

Then he firmly presents the necessary correction –there must be no idlers. No one can know when the Lord will come – no-one will know. Everyone must work to support themselves, even as Paul had done when he was with them (with his tent making). He had the right to rely on their support, he points out – but he did not. Everyone in the community must work, he emphasises, not only for their own and the community’s good, but to ensure their good reputation among the pagan observers.

Some in the community were concerned that those of their number who had died since Paul’s time with them might not share in the Lord’s coming. Paul is quick to re-assure them that those who have died will most certainly be taken up by the Lord, as well as the living, at His coming.

Paul concludes by urging them to value and support the clergy he has left to lead their community and to be at peace among themselves. “Rejoice always, pray constantly” he urges them, “… do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil”.

Within a year Paul writes again to the Thessalonians, as in the first letter, sending greetings not only from himself, but from Silvanus and Timothy also.

The Thessalonians are enduring “afflictions”. The persecutors were no doubt the same Jewish elements who had Paul brought before the magistrates and had him driven out of Thessalonica and pursued and harassed him even on to Beroea. He reminds them that in God’s justice they will be granted rest when the Lord comes and those who afflict them now will then be punished. He assures them of his continual prayers for their welfare.

This letter is short and is, as it acknowledges, written in response to reports Paul has received about current issues among the Thessalonians. The real heart of the letter concerns the Second Coming which is still a matter causing disturbance among them. Paul emphasises that they must hold fast to what he has taught them and they must totally ignore anyone or any letter purporting to come from him, saying that the time is at hand. No-one will know the time in advance.

In any case Paul reminds them of the detail of his teaching especially regarding the Anti-Christ – the “man of lawlessness”, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

He re-emphasises the detail of his teaching regarding the Anti-Christ:

they are aware of what is restraining him now;

the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;

the Lord Jesus will destroy the Anti-Christ “with the breath of His mouth ‘at His coming;

the Anti-Christ will come with “power and pretended signs and wonders” by the activity of Satan.

He will succeed with all wicked deception against those who refused to love the truth and so be saved. This “rebellion” caused by the Anti-Christ will precede the Second Coming.

It is clear from all of this that the Apostolic teaching in this matter was quite precise and firm. The message retains its validity to-day.

He closes asking for their prayers and once again warning against idlers and slackers urging that they be treated as erring brothers, admonished lovingly but firmly.

He closes the letter with his own special authenticating mark and imparts his blessing: “The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

As we come to consider the writings of St. Paul we can only marvel at the Divine Providence which has preserved these sacred texts for us. The existing manuscripts are in Greek: the Codex Sinaiticus (4th Century) and Codex Vaticanus (4th Century), and in Old Latin and Syriac Versions: Codex Alexandrinus (5th Century) which trace the text back to the middle of the second century, around 90 years after St. Paul’s martyrdom.

The Apostolic Fathers provide very many instances of the use of these texts as Sacred Scripture:

St Ignatius of Antioch (d A.D. 110-17) uses “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess.v 17) and writing to the Romans follows Pauline teaching in “I will that you please not man, but God”(1 Thess. ii 4).

The “Pastor” of Hermas (A.D.140)several times uses “be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. v 13).

Later:

St Irenaeus (A.D.181-9) cites 1 Thess.v 23 expressly as a quote

Tertullian (b A.D. 160) quotes passages at length from each of the five chapters of 1 Thess. in support of the resurrection of the Body.

St Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 190 – 210)repeatedly cites 1 Thess. in his writings.

So with great humility we come to these texts, usually dictated by St. Paul to an amanuensis, realising that from the very dawn of the life of the Catholic Church, they have sustained, encouraged and guided our brethren far distant in time, even as they do the very same for us to –day. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit still.

TONY DIXON
COPYRIGHT This article first appeared in the November, 2008 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL Part One THE MAN

 

BACKGROUND: "Set apart (by God) from the day of my birth" (Gal. 1:15)

Saul's upbringing and formation uniquely prepared him for his apostolic life. The Tradition in the early Church ( according to St. Jerome ) was that Saul's family originally came from Galilee. They moved to Tarsus in Cilicia and before Saul's birth, had acquired the prized Roman citizenship.

Paul, in later years , was insistent on the importance of three aspects of this background:

• He was a Hebrew, born of Hebrews ( that is, not just a Diaspora Israelite he belonged (Phillipians 3 : 5);
  
• "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city", he informs the Tribune in Jerusalem ( Acts 21 : 39). The Greek historian/ geographer/ philosopher Strabo ( 63/64 B.c - A.D. 24 ) says of Tarsus : " ....there was much zeal for philosophy and all other aspects of education generally among the inhabitants so that in this respect they surpassed even Alexandria, Athens and any other place ( Geog. 14. 5. 13 )." This pagan source backs up Paul's claim.
• "Tell me are you a Roman Citizen? And he said, " Yes....But I was born a citizen ." Paul insists on his rights as a Roman Citizen Again, he belonged. ( Emphasis added.)

 The decision of his devout Pharisaic Jewish family to send him at age 15 yrs to Jerusalem to be educated in the Law by the great Gamaliel, only enhanced the weight of his birth claim as a Hebrew. In stressing the importance of Tarsus he is reminding the Tribune that he is not just some yokel. When asserting his Roman citizenship he is asserting his standing, protecting his life and mission from the venom of the Jews and setting up the possibility of reaching Rome in due course when he appeals to Caesar.

EDUCATION

Not much is known of Saul's early education in the stimulating intellectual environment of Tarsus. We know enough of Pharisees and the practice of devout Jews, steeping their children in detailed study of the Law and scriptures. We also know that Saul spoke Greek well. When he first addresses the Tribune, the immediate surprised response is : " Do you know Greek?" ( Acts 21 : 37)

Among the Jews and most Middle Eastern peoples at that time, Aramaic was the everyday language. Paul also spoke Hebrew, the classical language of the rabbinical scholars. His use of it ( Acts 22 : 2 ) wins some respect from the Jewish mob that brought him before the Tribune. Further, Jesus speaks to him in Hebrew on the Damascus road ( Acts 26 : 14 ).

Paul's writing does not use the classical Attic Greek but Koine, the language of the ordinary people, not only in Greece but in the various international communities around the Mediterranean world. He makes several references, quoted in epigrams, to Greek literature in his writing :
1 Cor. 15 : 33 - Menander, Thais 218
Acts 17 : 28    - Epimenides : Aratus
Titus  2 : 12    - Epimenides

But as likely as not, these epigrams were in common use and not necessarily evidence of classical Greek education. We know from his own remarks that Paul sustained himself by his work as a tentmaker , so that he would be no burden on those to whom he preached. It seems at least possible that he acquired this trade during his time in Arabia where it would have been commonly needed and practised, and where he needed physical sustenance.

PRESENCE

Surprisingly in the New Testament context, where silence about the appearance of those mentioned is the norm, we know a good deal about St. Paul's appearance and manner. The lack of charity on the part of his critics gives us a dramatic picture, either directly or through Paul's responses :

2 Cor. 10 : 10   "...but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account"
Gal. 4 : 13-14    " You know that it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first; and though my condition was a trial to you ...."
2 Cor. 10 : 1      " I who am humble when face to face with you..."
1 Cor.   1: 17     " Christ...(sent)...me..to preach the Gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom  " (Knox translation : ..""not with an orator's cleverness").
1 Cor. 2: 1         " ...I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom" ( Knox Translation : "...without any high pretensions to eloquence or philosophy".)

Yet surely we know even more about his presence from its results. He founds and fosters burgeoning local churches around the Middle East. He has a host of dedicated disciples around the region seeking his return visits. He is treated like a son by the mother of Rufus (Romans 16 :13 ) son of Simon of Cyrene ( Mark 15 : 21 ).

He is treated with reasonable regard by the Roman Tribune in Jerusalem, by the Procurator Felix and by his successor Porcius Festus, by King Agrippa who has to resort to feeble humour to evade Paul's effort to convert him, and by the Roman Centurion Julius who is to conduct him to Rome for trial. And, under house arrest in Rome he makes converts even " in the Emperor's household" - no doubt some of the Emperor's Praetorian Guard, members of which guarded Paul in his house pending Caesar's decision.

These two sets of facts seem at odds. But perhaps the apocryphal "Acts of Paul and Thecla" can offer a solution. It contains the description : "....and he saw Paul coming, a man of little stature, thin haired upon the head, crooked in the legs, with eyebrows joining, and nose somewhat hooked, full of grace: for sometimes he appeared like a man, and sometimes he had the face of an angel." ( Emphasis added.)

The intense criticism of Paul comes from the Corinthians. Corinth, with its rich sea port was the largest city in Greece. It had been devastated in 146 B.C. when the Romans under Lucius Mummius sacked it, put all the men to the sword and sold the women and children into slavery. More recently it had been re-settled by Julius Caesar with freedmen from Rome. The new Corinth became famous for its wealth and luxury and the immoral and vicious habits of its people.

Paul's first visit in A.D. 51/52 lasted 18 months when Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was Pro-Consul.

It is clear that the citizens of worldly, wealthy Corinth tended to backslide when Paul had gone and became resentful of the firm teaching in Paul's letters.  The more recently arrived Apollos ( from Ephesus where Paul had asked Aquila and Priscilla to complete Apollos' Christian education) would seem to have had a classical background, and to have been an accomplished orator in the highly conventionalised style of Greek custom ( head raised, arms thus and thus and hand just so). They contrasted this with Paul's humility and sincerity and, in their worldly way, found Paul lacking.

But when we consider the list of Paul's sufferings :

" I have toiled harder, spent longer days in prison, been beaten so cruelly, so often looked death in the face. Five times the Jews scourged me, and spared me but one lash in the forty; three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned; I have been shipwrecked three times, I have spent a night and a day as a castaway at sea, danger among false brethren! I have met with toil and weariness, so often been sleepless, hungry and thirsty; so often denied myself food, gone cold and naked." ( 2 Cor. 11 : 23-27). He might well have appeared somewhat worn and       "crooked in the legs! "

Paul refers ( 2 Cor. 12 : 7 ) to a " thorn ...given me in the flesh" ( RSV Translation  - Knox Translation : " a sting to distress my outward nature.") The original Vulgate Translation from the Greek to Latin as "stimulus carnis" led to the conclusion that this was a sensual temptation. However Monsignor Ronald Cox suggests that Monsignor Ronald Knox' Translation of the passage is the better rendition of the original Greek and suggests some recurring malady, with external symptoms. In this connection, we note St. Paul's comment in Galatians (4 : 13-14 )  " you know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you first; and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus." This suggests some embarassing but not disabling physical condition which may have been recurring - something seriously troubling to Paul - a trial to be overcome.

As Paul says elsewhere ( 1 Cor. 9 : 27), " I buffet my own body,and make it my slave, or I, who have preached to others, may myself be rejected as worthless."

PERSONALITY

In Saul we see a privileged, hyper zealous Pharisee, better educated in his religion than most, an activist we might say - but a leader - not one to " get his hands dirty". Saul goes with the mob which is to kill St. Stephen " and was consenting to his death" (Acts 8 : 1 ) but stood back minding the clothes of those who did the murderous deed. ( Acts 7 : 58 )

In his activist leadership role Saul secures from the Chief Priests a warrant to pursue Christians, even in remote locations. Evidently his scholarly brilliance and his zeal had opened doors for him. He was no doubt well connected, being a leading pupil of Gamaliel.

But on the Damascus road he encounters Jesus Christ - the encounter is overwhelmingly transforming. After his consequent blindness is lifted by Ananias in the house in Straight Street, Damascus, and he is Baptised, he is no longer the " clean hands" activist leader - no longer obsessed by the Law, but driven by the love of Jesus Christ and His commission to preach the Gospel to the World. 

So dramatic is the transformation, that 2,000 years later a " Damascus road experience " is still a common metaphor.

So powerful, so pervasive was this direct revelation by Christ that Paul, after his Baptism went off to "Arabia " for several years. He tells us nothing of what he did there. We hear relatively little of Arabia in the writings of the time. It lay to the East and the South of Judea constituting what is to-day Jordan and Saudi Arabia : largely desert. The region was at the time controlled by the Himyarites, a people who could not be subdued even by a 10,000 strong Roman Army under Aelius Gallus, despatched from Egypt by Augustus in 24 B.C.

We can only conclude that Paul spent his time in these desert lands in prayer, fasting and meditation on the profound Revelation he had received.

It was a transformed Paul who emerged onto the active mission field. He is right in the midst of the work. No more the elite zealot. He is personally involved in winning souls for Christ. Through the pages of the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's Epistles, we see a new man - marvellously matured, loving, vigorous, adventurous, brave, bold in preaching and extraordinarily learned in Sacred Scripture and in theological understanding.

Mentally, Paul is as sharp as a tack. His sometimes lengthy but always relevant expositions of the history of the Jewish people and religion are brilliant. Even more remarkable is his quick thinking under pressure. Dragged before the Chief Priests and under great threat, he nimbly diverts the whole proceedings by claiming he is being persecuted because he is a Pharisee and believes in life after death. He well knows the Pharisee vs Sadducee divisions among the priests, who then turn on each other. In Athens, he notices the shrine to "an unknown God" and wastes no time in telling the Athenians this is the One True God he is preaching. His analysis and enunciation of the consequences of the new dispensation for converted Jews is incisive and clear thinking in a situation which many found confusing and troubling. He insists that the Gentiles have no need to follow the observances of the Law and that the Jewish converts need no longer do so and must not try to impose them on Gentile converts.

His personal convictions, even in optional matters are strong. This did not always make him easy to get along with. Having concluded his first missionary journey ( according to our customary division of his travels) at Antioch, he proposes to his companion Barnabas that they should travel back the way they have come, re-visiting each of the churches. Barnabas wishes to take Mark with them, but Paul will not agree, since Mark had left their first journey when they reached Pamphylia rather than confront the rugged mountains and wild tracks of Galatia. Their disagreement was so sharp that  Barnabas returned to his native Cyprus with Mark. Paul went on as he had intended, with Silas. Interestingly, Paul later revised his view of Mark who was with him during his imprisonments in Rome. Barnabas remained in Cyprus for the rest of his life, becoming known as the Apostle of Cyprus.

Paul retains his human characteristics. Somehow the apocryphal " eyebrows joining" ring true. For in popular belief they are a sign of a fiery temper. Paul certainly shows signs of that. Though, as the years go by it is moderated under the influence of grace and love. And, in his writing, we are often taken along verbally as he warms to a topic, and in one or two notable examples most translations demurely modify or, shall we say, re-phrase some of his more excitable utterances.

But, through it all,we come to love Paul who spends himself totally for the love of Jesus Christ and His Church. It is easy to visualise Paul - this smallish man, of somewhat worn appearance, betrayed only by his eyes. Eyes that are aglow with the light of the fire that burns in his spirit and heart. As we read his words, his charismatic presence inspires us, his unflagging drive and boldness in bringing Christ to us opens our hearts and souls to the movement of the Holy Spirit as Paul continues to preach the Word made Flesh.

TONY DIXON
Copyright This article first appeared in the July 2008 Issue of FOUNDATION.



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