Looking for Paul

[JLG]

185)

Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

Romans Chapter 2 - Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, if you judge; for when you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

- As we are men, we are all sinners! - Thus we can’t judge others except God and Jesus! - As a matter of fact, we are all ready to judge others and it is easy to do it without knowing the real facts! - It happened in the bible! - It happened in human history! - It is happening today! - So we should be careful if we want to look like God and Jesus!

 

[JLG]

186)

Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

1 Corinthians Chapter 2

- So when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with extravagant speech or wisdom declaring the sacred secret of God to you. For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him executed on the stake. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling; and my speech and what I preached were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might be, not in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power.

- No extravagant speech! - There is no need for great speakers but people who speak with their hearts and according to their acts! - Not like the Pharisees who say but don’t do! - In weakness! - We can make mistakes but we must use them to become stronger in faith and in defending it! - We don’t need persuasive words of wisdom! - Simply God’s word! - With a demonstration of spirit and power! - The more we study and read God's word, the more we make it ours and the more we fill it inside ourselves! - The more we can see things the more we can speak about it! - But if we are not accustomed to it, we won’t be able to speak about it! - No man's wisdom but God’s power we can get through the Bible!

 

[JLG]

187)

Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

Galatians Chapter 2

- Then after 14 years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus along with me.

- Interesting! - Paul only again went up to Jerusalem after 14 years! - Because he had a special mission! - He was the apostle of the nation! - Jesus specially chose him for this mission! - Except for the problem in relation to circumcision, he didn’t go back to Jerusalem and to the apostles! - It is something to think about! - He was by himself!

 

[JLG]

188)

Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

Ephesians Chapter 3

- For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you, the people of the nations - if, really, you have heard about the stewardship of God’s undeserved kindness that was given to me for your sakes, that by way of a revelation the sacred secret was made known to me, just as I wrote previously in brief.

- Paul was a prisoner of Christ Jesus! - He was ready to become a prisoner! - He was ready to go to prison! - Because of the sacred secret he had to transmit to the nations! - In fact, he was ready to anything and especially to die! 190) Looking for Paul Where does it come? How does it grow? Philippians Chapter 1 - For in my case, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Paul was ready to live according to God’s word! - He was also ready to die! - Dying meaning not to fight to keep demonstrating his faith to God! - it was done by dying!

 

[JLG]

189) Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

Colossians Chapter 2

- For I want you to realize how great a struggle I am having in your behalf and in behalf of those at Laodicea and in behalf of all those who have not personally seen me.

- It was indeed an incredible mission!

- With incredible dangers!

- And all the time!

- He had no rest!

- Danger could come from anywhere!

- At any time!

- From outside and inside!

 

[JLG]

190) Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

Thessalonians Chapter 2

- On the contrary, we become gentle in your midst, as when a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. So having tender affection for you, we were determined to impart to you, not only the good news of God but also our very selves, because you became so beloved to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our labor and toil. We were working night and day, so that we would not put an expensive burden on any one of you, when we preached the good news of God to you.

- Gentle like a nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children!

- Having tender affection!

- That is a sign!

- How to recognize those who come from God!

- Not the wolves!

- Of course, it is rare in this commercial and artificial and selfish world!

- Thus everybody has to make efforts and work on oneself!

 

[JLG]

191) Looking for Paul
Where does it come from?
How does it grow?

1 Timothy 2:1,2

- Petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving for all men!
- For kings and all men in authority!
- Why?
- So that the disciples can lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity!
- Thus the disciples are encouraged to pray to Yah.weh so that people with authority let them live as Christians according to the mission they have received from Yah.weh!

 

[JLG]

https://www.cursillos.ca/action/st-paul/paul01-nation.htm​

• The text is originally in French and I used google translation!

• Very interesting text which, thanks to the context, highlights the text itself!​

• We can see a text in 3D!
• We are given a lot of information which makes the text alive!

______________________________________________________________________________

1- Saint Paul, the Apostle of the nations
Paul of Tarsus was and still is today one of the greatest figures in the history of Christianity. This is why it is in our interest to know this pillar of our Church.
There are many ways to approach his work.

We can study

his personality,

his theology,

his missionary journeys,

his many conflicts

his letters to the communities,

his relations with his friends and his enemies,

his influence through the ages,

etc., etc.

I think the best way to get to know this pioneer of Christianity well is to “follow his footsteps” from birth to death. He had an exceptional life, full of surprises and twists. He experienced scenarios worthy of the greatest action movies.

This approach is longer but it allows us to better discover all the richness and all the complexity of the character.
Many of us have a good knowledge of the four gospels: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, but Paul, the author of the Epistles, remains an enigma and a question mark.
I hope to inspire you to read Paul of Tarsus, to pray with him and to meditate on his life and his writings.
I will endeavor to shed some light on this man, through his tortuous journeys, his theological development, his conflicts with the community of Jerusalem, his missionary journeys, his pastoral care for the churches and his passionate letters.

Determined, sometimes stubborn, touchy on occasion, Paul had many friends and many enemies. He played a leading role in the beginnings of Christianity and his influence continues to this day.

I will avoid getting involved in the innumerable controversies of specialists on the life of Paul, on the authenticity of some of his letters, on what Luke says of him or what he saw fit to pass over in silence. I would like to present to you the “life of Saint Paul” with all the richness that this unique apostle offers us. You will see him in action in the great cities of the Roman Empire, traveling from East to West, always eager to carry the Good News further, to the limits of the known world.

Through this "biography", we will also be able to lift the veil on the daily life of the first Christians and on the many communities founded by Paul.

I hope to inspire you to read Paul of Tarsus, to pray with him and to meditate on his life and his writings.

Hundreds of excellent volumes have been published by scholars who have great admiration for Paul and a deep knowledge of his missionary work. At regular intervals, I will give you the name of some of these authors, the title of their book, the edition and a photo of the volume mentioned.

This will perhaps encourage you to obtain one or other of these volumes, in order to better appreciate all the richness of Paul de Tarse.

 

[JLG]

It highlights:

• Paul's fragile health!
• The fierce opposition of Jews, Gentiles and Judeo-Christians!
• His letters were written before the 4 gospels!
• His friends who remained faithful to him until the end!
• He worked with everyone without exception, including women, which was contrary to the spirit of the time!
• His 3 missionary journeys took place between 46 and 58 AD!
• He lived during the time of Emperors Claudius and Nero
• The population of the Roman Empire included 50 million people!
• The difference between Roman citizens and non-citizens, free men and slaves!
• A world of injustice!
• All of these conditions will benefit the expansion of Christianity!
• We learn that Rome then had about 1,000,000 inhabitants, Ephesus 650,000, Antioch of Syria 500,000, Tarsus 300,000 and Jerusalem 25,000!
• In the Roman Empire, we spoke and thought Greek!

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2- Paul, the unknown apostle

For most Christians, Paul is a complete stranger. We don't know him or know him badly.
It is true that his writings often come to us through the second reading of the Sunday Eucharist, in pieces and unrelated to the first reading and the Gospel. Some priests even avoid this "second reading", and it is very rare for the celebrant to give a homily on the text of Saint Paul.

Although not well known, Paul remains one of the most popular figures in the history of Christianity. Hundreds of churches, many parishes, thousands of volumes are dedicated to him and, in the history of art, we find his portrait everywhere through the centuries. It is presented to us in painting, sculpture, mosaic, fresco, watercolour, icon, ivory, stained glass, illumination, etc. It is present in catacombs, caves, palaces, houses, churches. Few great figures have been depicted as often as Saint Paul.

Character of a rare
intensity, he is disconcerting
by his contradictions
After two thousand years, he is still being talked about. His grandiose missionary work never ceases to surprise and fascinate us. With so few means, he overcame enormous obstacles. Despite fragile health, he embarked on perilous journeys, on land and at sea.
During his missionary career, Paul faced fierce opposition from Jews, Gentiles, and Judeo-Christians. He was the victim of the most odious calumnies and continually had to defend his apostolate. He was attacked on all fronts. Sometimes he was betrayed by his own disciples. He was arrested, beaten, flogged, imprisoned, stoned, expelled and finally beheaded. Nothing was spared him until the day of his martyrdom.

During the first years of Christianity, Paul was the only one to understand that the message of Christ had a future only when addressed to everyone and not only to the Jews. Christianity had to be universal or it would not survive. Paul understood the universal mission of Christ: "Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:18)
Paul imposed this Christian view long before the four gospels were written.
This great missionary was throughout his life a character of rare intensity. He is disconcerting in his contradictions. A true mystic, he is also an outstanding organizer. Endowed with a bad temper, he is continually surrounded by many friends. Accused of being intolerant, misogynistic, anti-Jewish, he worked with several women, which was not acceptable in the culture of his time, and remained truly Jewish until his death. Despite his fiery character, his communities remained faithful to him until the end.

To know S. Paul, we have several sources.
First there are his letters (13 in all – I exclude here the letter to the Hebrews). These Letters speak of his travels, his constant struggles, his founding of churches, his many conflicts. They are essential to understanding Paul's character, his theology and his message. The Epistles of Paul lift the veil on the daily life of the first Christian communities.


Then we have the Acts of the Apostles of Saint Luke, the great admirer and chronicler of Saint Paul. He offers us a portrait that has little equivalence in the history of antiquity. Thanks to Luke, Paul is better known than most of the great figures of ancient Rome.


So two portraits: that of Luke and that of Paul himself. There are also some somewhat later writings: the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Peter, the Epistle of the Apostles, the Didakê which add to this information.


The history of the Roman Empire and archaeological discoveries complete the portrait of the man from Tarsus. They introduce us to the institutions, culture, economy and means of transport of the first century. They thus enrich our knowledge of the Apostle and of Christian communities.

Paul's three missionary journeys are between the years 46 and 58 CE.
At the beginning of these travels, Claudius was emperor and at the end, Nero, ruled the Empire. During all these years, the imperial government tried to concentrate power and wealth in the capital. This policy dated back to the previous century, when the Republic gave way to the Empire under Julius Caesar. The emperors sought to maintain the "Roman Peace" (Pax romana), which favored international trade and the collection of taxes.
It's to a Multicultural world that Paul sends the Good News of Christ.

In Paul's time, the population of the Roman Empire was around 50 million, with very varied statuses: there were Roman citizens and non-citizens, people from the cities and those from the countryside, free men and slaves, men and women, civilians and soldiers. It was a world of disparities and injustices. All this will play an important role in the success of nascent Christianity.
Rome had about 1,000,000 inhabitants, Ephesus 650,000, Antioch of Syria 500,000, Tarsus 300,000 and Jerusalem 25,000.
In the Empire, there was a common culture. Everywhere people spoke and thought of Greek, even among the Romans who would have liked to impose Latin as the universal language, but that would not happen until much later.
Throughout his travels, Paul took advantage of the many Jewish settlements of the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jews across the empire). In almost every city there were synagogues, which allowed him to have a quick first contact wherever he went.
Paul's world is that of the big cities, open, pluralistic and cosmopolitan. It is to this multicultural world that Paul addresses the Good News of Christ.

 

[JLG]

We learn that Paul was a little younger than Jesus!

How small, thin, energetic, bald and bearded he was!

Paul means small!

He had unfailing endurance!

He insists on his great education!

He studied in Tarsus and then in Jerusalem!

Culturally, he was very different from the other apostles!

Paul spoke four languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and probably Latin!

He also knew how to swim!

He lived under the reign of 5 emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero!

He was able to move freely thanks to the “pax romana” established under Emperor Augustus!

He was able to take the many roads built by the Romans and take advantage of the navigation network that criss-crossed the Mediterranean!

Paul was also able to take advantage of the presence of numerous Jewish colonies spread throughout the territory of the empire!

Carlos Mesters divides Paul's life into four main periods:

From birth to age 28: the practicing Jew.

From 28 to 41: the ardent convert.

From 41 to 53 years old: the itinerant missionary.

From 53 to 62 years old: the prisoner and the organizer of the communities. He would have been put to death at the age of 62.

______________________________________________________________________________


3- Who is Paul of Tarsus?

Paul was born around the year 8 of our era. He would therefore be about ten years younger than Jesus of Nazareth. Of his parents and his childhood, we know little. In his letters, he says nothing about his family. Saint Luke tells us that Paul had a married sister, residing in Jerusalem and a nephew who will save his life (Acts 23, 16).

All his life, he maintained his belonging to the Jewish people: "Circumcised from the eighth day", "of the race of Israel", "of the tribe of Benjamin".

Physically: small,

lean, energetic,

bald and bearded

Saul (pronounced [SAWL] in English), is the Hebrew name given to him at circumcision. To this Semitic name he would later add that of Paulus. He has not changed his name but he has a double name: Saul-Paulus which means "little", "little". Very quickly, he will be known by this name alone.

The Acts of Paul, a small book written around the middle of the 2nd century, gives us the following portrait of the apostle to the Gentiles: We saw him coming , a short, bald-headed, bow-legged, vigorous man, eyebrows together, nose slightly aquiline. Throughout the centuries, tradition has preserved this image of Paul: small, thin, energetic, bald and bearded.

Paul may not have had an athletic body, but he was propelled by exceptional strength and vigor. In the 2nd letter to the Corinthians, he writes:

“Often I was close to death. Five times I received thirty-nine lashes from the Jews; three times I was scourged by the Romans; once stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked. I happened to spend a day and a night in the sea! Travels without number, dangers of the rivers, dangers of the brigands, dangers of my compatriots, dangers of the pagans, dangers of the city, dangers of the desert, dangers of the sea, dangers of the false brothers! Labor and fatigue, frequent vigils, hunger and thirst, repeated fasts, cold and nakedness!” (2 Corinthians 11, 25-27)

Despite his fragile appearance, he was of an endurance to all tests.

Paul is a man of great education. He did his first studies in Tarsus, his native city, and then he studied in Jerusalem, with the most famous Jewish teacher of his time: Gamaliel.

Those who met him realized very quickly that he was an educated person. During his arrest in Caesarea, the Roman prosecutor Porcius Festus will say to Paul: “You are mad, Paul; your great knowledge makes you lose your head”. (Acts 26, 24)

Culturally, Paul is very different from the apostles who were viewed by Jewish authorities as ignorant people. After the resurrection, during their arrest in Jerusalem, Peter and John will be judged by the members of the Sanhedrin as people without education: "Considering the assurance of Peter and John and realizing that they were people without education or culture, the members of the Sanhedrin were amazed. (Acts 4, 13)

Paul spoke four languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and probably Latin. Aramaic was his mother tongue and Greek that of Tarsus and the Empire. He was well acquainted with Hebrew, the language of the Holy Scriptures. A Roman citizen, he probably spoke the language of the masters of the Empire. He had studied the philosophy and literature of Greece, he excelled in geography, navigation and sport. His vast culture contrasted with the narrow religion of his ancestors.

Not only did Paul know how to read and write, he also knew how to swim: “Three times I was shipwrecked and I happened to spend a day and a night in the sea.” (2 Corinthians 11, 25) This was among the Greeks a sign of education. Four centuries before Jesus Christ, Plato who lived from -428 to -348 wrote: "The ignorant is a man who can neither read nor swim".

Paul's life took place under the reign of five emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Three of them became real bloodthirsty monsters. Paul was born in Tarsus, in the East, he died in Rome, in the West.

Paul lived in a time that favored travel. He was able to move freely thanks to the “pax romana” established under Emperor Augustus. Taking the many roads built by the Romans and taking advantage of the navigation network that criss-crossed the Mediterranean, it covers thousands of kilometres. The organization of the Empire allowed not only the armies but also the population in general to move in safety. For thirteen years, he traveled on the sea and undertook long journeys through hills and mountains, under the snow in winter and by 40¤ heat in summer. During his travels, Paul was able to take advantage of the presence of numerous Jewish colonies spread throughout the territory of the empire.

Paul was a real city dweller. He knew little of the countryside and the life of the farmers of his time, but he understood city life, military life and sports well. In his letters, he uses images of the army, urban politics and the Olympics. We find the following expressions: to continue the race, to win the prize, to obtain the laurel wreath, to fight without hitting the void, to run in the right direction. He knows the hardships and discipline of athletes.

Paul was a larger than life figure. Influenced by the values of Judaism, the depth of Greek philosophy, the rigor of Roman culture and the richness of Christian tradition, he became one of the most original thinkers in the history of Christianity.

Carlos Mesters divides Paul's life into four main periods:

From birth to age 28: the practicing Jew.

From 28 to 41: the ardent convert.

From 41 to 53 years old: the itinerant missionary.

From 53 to 62 years old: the prisoner and the organizer of the communities. He would have been put to death at the age of 62.

 

[JLG]

Paul is a Roman citizen!
To be a Roman citizen was to benefit from a very special status which gave the right to participate in public life and above all which granted legal and fiscal guarantees to those of the minority who had this privilege!
It was the highest title of nobility in the Roman Empire and the only symbol of social "standing" at that time!
Paul will benefit all his life from this dignity he inherited from his father!
There were then only four to five million Roman citizens in an empire of about 55 million, less than ten percent of the total population!
Roman citizenship conferred three main privileges: the right to vote, the right of immunity from dishonorable punishments and the right to be judged before the highest court of the Empire!
Roman citizenship largely explains Paul's broadmindedness
and his desire to expose the narrow-mindedness of the Judaism of his time!
Roman citizenship was an important asset in his effort to break through the narrow-mindedness of the Judaism of his time and arrive at a universal Christianity!

______________________________________________________________________________


4- The Roman citizen
Paul belonged to the three most important cultures of his time: Roman culture, Greek culture and Hebrew culture. His education and his roots thus gave him a broad mind, an exceptional versatility.

His Latin culture
This Jew from Tarsus was proud of his Roman citizenship. “I am a Roman citizen”. He will use this title to his advantage on many occasions. To be a Roman citizen was to benefit from a very special status which gave the right to participate in public life and above all which granted judicial and fiscal guarantees to those of the minority who had this privilege. It was the highest title of nobility in the Roman Empire and the only symbol of social "standing" at that time.
Roman citizenship granted three main privileges

Paul will benefit all his life from this dignity which he inherited from his father. There were then only four to five million Roman citizens in an empire of about 55 million, less than ten percent of the total population.
Roman citizenship conferred three main privileges: the right to vote, the right of immunity from dishonorable punishments, and the right to be tried in the highest court of the Empire.

The Pont du Gard aqueduct: monumental Roman architecture at the service of public health.

Roman road near Tarsus in Türkiye, birthplace of Paul.

The Coliseum of Rome still remains one of the main monuments of the city.

As for the right to vote, we do not know if Paul exercised it in his city of Tarsus. He could take part in the people's assembly where everything concerning the life and organization of the city was discussed and decided. Only Roman citizens had this right to participate in assemblies. Women, slaves, freedmen and foreigners were excluded. The Greeks called this system democracy, from demos (people) and kratia (government). In reality, it was not a "government of the people", but rather the government of a narrow elite of privileged citizens.

The second benefit included immunity from dishonorable punishments.

In the city of Philippi, Paul will obtain an apology from the judges who had sentenced him to be beaten without judgment. Later, in Jerusalem, it was by invoking this privilege that he narrowly escaped being flogged. Condemned to death, he will not be crucified, nor burned in the gardens of Nero, nor thrown to ferocious beasts in the arena, like many Christians. He will be beheaded, a more honorable death for a Roman citizen.

The third privilege will be useful to Paul during the first audience before the new governor Festus, at Caesarea maritima. In desperation, to escape the conspirators who had decided to assassinate him, he will ask to be tried before the supreme court of the emperor, in Rome (Acts 25, 11), a request which will be granted to him.

This "appeal to Caesar" may have been a tactical error on Paul's part. Indeed, as King Agrippa remarked after the audience: "We could have released this man if he had not appealed to Caesar" (Acts 26, 32); but Paul knew his fellow Jews much better than King Agrippa. If he had returned to Jerusalem, he would have been murdered on the way.

Rome was an irresistible attraction for Paul of Tarsus. Center of all powers, this city seems to have played a determining role in its missionary program. Its progressive, deliberate and bold advance, from East to West, corresponds to a pre-established plan of conquest for Christ, to the capital of the world. Rome became for him the symbol of the universality of Christianity.

Roman citizenship

largely explains

Paul's breadth of mind

and his desire to shatter the narrow-mindedness of the

Judaism of his time

Roman citizenship largely explains Paul's broadmindedness, his understanding of Gentiles, and his loyalty to the state, a loyalty that inspired him with kind words and invitations to prayer for the holders of public authority.

Roman citizenship was an important asset in his effort to shatter the narrow-mindedness of the Judaism of his time and arrive at a universal Christianity.

 

[JLG]

- In addition to his Roman citizenship, Paul belonged to the Greek culture!
- He spoke and thought Greek!
- It was easy for him to make himself understood wherever he went!
- He was a cultured man and he used his knowledge!
- He spoke Aramaic at home, Greek in town and he also knew Hebrew!
- He was a citizen of the Greek city which implied the “right to say everything”!
- He used this freedom of expression all his life which will enrage his opponents!
- He grew up in this breadth of mind linked to Greek culture!
- For Paul, all were equal: men, women, citizens, non-citizens, slaves!

______________________________________________________________________________

5- The man of Greek culture​

In addition to his Roman citizenship, Paul belonged to Greek culture. In the huge empire, people spoke Greek and thought Greek. Because of this common culture throughout the Mediterranean basin, Paul feels at ease in all the big cities: Tarsus, Damascus, Antioch of Syria, Antioch of Pisidia, Thessaloniki, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome...

A man of great culture and great education, he knew well the philosophers and writers of his time. He often quotes them in his letters and knows how to draw inspiration from them.

At home, he used Aramaic, his mother tongue, but in the city where he grew up, he spoke “koine” or “common Greek”. It was the language of the people and it will be that of the New Testament. Paul also knew Hebrew, the language of the Bible, but at school he discovered the Scriptures in the Greek translation, composed in Alexandria of Egypt three centuries earlier (the Septuagint version).

Paul was a citizen of the "polis", the Greek city, particularly with regard to the inalienable right to say whatever one feels should be said, without fear of being gagged by anyone. The Greeks called this “parrèsia”, “the right to say everything”. This freedom of expression, Paul will use it abundantly throughout his life, which will sometimes provoke the anger of his opponents and he will integrate it into his conception of the Christian life. According to “the apostle of freedom”, Christian churches could not exist without this fundamental right. When under Constantine, in the 4th century, Christianity became the religion of the empire, this privilege would be put under trusteeship. Whenever religion is at the service of politics, Christians can no longer say what they think and find themselves obliged to defend the State and the institutions, rather than fight for justice and truth.

The Christian freedom preacher grew up in this spirit of openness

In Paul's time, Greek cities were distinguished from Roman cities by greater freedom allowing the development of personality and openness to foreign influences. As a member of this culture, Paul had a breadth of mind that opened him up to all that was beautiful and good in his multicultural world. He knew that in paganism there were a good number of elements which could be integrated into the Christian religion.

The influence of Greek civilization on Paul's mind was of paramount importance. He thought, spoke and wrote Greek as well as his mother tongue. To fully grasp the meaning of the Epistles and understand their expressions, images and feelings, we need to know this civilization.

The preacher of Christian liberty grew up in this spirit of openness. His powerful inspiration moves the readers of his letters, when he sings “the freedom by which Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

Thanks to the Greek culture that united the Roman Empire, Paul had the necessary preparation to accomplish his mission. He will succeed in destroying the wall which separated the Jews from the Gentiles:

“Yes, free with regard to all, I made myself the slave of all, in order to win the greatest number. I became a Jew with the Jews, in order to win over the Jews; subject of the Law with the subjects of the Law – I, who am not a subject of the Law – in order to gain the subjects of the Law. I made myself lawless with the lawless – I who am not without a law of God, being under the law of Christ – in order to win the lawless. I made myself weak with the weak, in order to win over the weak. I made myself everything to everyone, in order to save some of them at all costs. And all of this I do for the sake of the gospel, in order to have my share of it. (1 Corinthians 19-23)

The gospel of freedom preached by Paul placed everyone on an equal footing and thus enabled the development of the great family of God:
“For you are all sons and daughters of God, by faith, in Christ Jesus. All of you, in fact, baptized into Christ, have put on Christ: there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither man nor woman; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But if you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3, 26-29)

 

[JLG]

Paul was a Pharisee of Hebrew culture!
He learned the scriptures by heart!
Like any Pharisee, he practiced virtue and observed the duties imposed by tradition and the Law!
The Pharisees were Jewish nationalists!
By becoming a Christian, he was confronted with Orthodox Jews and Judeo-Christians!
By his training and his culture, he was prepared to announce the message of Christ to all nations!

______________________________________________________________________________

6- The Pharisee of Hebrew culture

Paul was a Jew, son of a Pharisee, destined for the rabbinate. He speaks more than once in his letters, and with pride, of his Jewish upbringing. I am “Hebrew, son of Hebrews” (Philemon 3, 5), “member of the tribe of Benjamin”.

He will have spent long hours in the school of the synagogue under the direction of the “hazzan” memorizing the Scriptures. He quotes them from memory about two hundred times in his letters.

Paul remained to the end passionately attached to his people, to this nation which defied history and which continues to do so today: "I would myself be anathema and separated from Christ, for my brethren, those of my race, according to the flesh. They who are Israelites, to whom filial adoption belongs; glory, covenants, legislation, worship and promises; and also the patriarchs, and from whom came Christ according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3-5).

The Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, were very close to the people, opening schools, welcoming the poor and the sick, helping immigrants and newcomers.

After the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the Jewish state in the year 70, the Pharisees were of vital importance for this people in distress. They are the ones who saved Israel. It is to them that Judaism owes its survival.

Among the Jews, the paternal home was "a family sanctuary", consecrated to the practice of virtue and the observance of the duties imposed by tradition and by law. The Pharisees ate only kosher foods, which ensured their purity and avoided any defilement.

Paul attended the synagogue regularly and strictly observed the sabbatical rest. He paid tithes and fasted according to the commandments of the Law. At the start of the day, he turned in the direction of the Temple of Jerusalem and said his first prayer: "Hear Israel, our God is the true God, the only God." At least three times during the day - in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening - he thanked God for the favors obtained.

In his father's house, Paul breathed an essentially religious atmosphere. In this environment also flourished Jewish nationalism, which linked it to Jerusalem and Palestine.

In the days of Caesar Augustus and Tiberius, the Jews of the Diaspora were protected by emperors who were harsh when molested. They had their own, albeit limited, jurisdiction and were allowed to follow their dietary rules. They were exempted from military service, so as not to be obliged to fight on the Sabbath day. They had the authorization to celebrate their worship on the condition of putting it in the form: the sacrifices in honor of Yahweh had for the Romans the value of homage to the emperor-god. Better still: they were allowed to levy an annual tax for the Temple in Jerusalem and channel this contribution to the holy city.

After his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus and during his missionary journeys, Paul came into conflict with the Orthodox Jews and with the Judeo-Christians. Without ever denying his people, he remained torn between the love he had for them and his fidelity to Christ, savior of all.

Paul of Tarsus was a man of many facets, of great cultural and religious richness: at the same time Roman, Greek and Jew, Pharisee and Christian, contemplative and man of action, evangelizer and doctor, audacious writer and profound theologian.

This great missionary can only be understood through his rich personality and his attachment to his faith in Jesus Christ. Few people were better prepared than him to announce the Good News “to all Nations”. With Paul, we witness the birth of universal Christianity, “where there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither free man nor slave, neither man nor woman”, but a new people of sons and daughters all loved by God.

 

[JLG]

Paul was a citizen of the city of Tarsus!
Tarsus was a great city in the Empire!
It had become Roman in 64 BC!
Rome experienced a civil war!
Caesar Augustus then transformed the Republic into a dictatorship!
Then he establishes a lasting peace, the “pax romana”!
Tarsus was a city where different religions and languages lived together!
Paul was therefore accustomed to this diversity!

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7- Citizen of the city of Tarsus

Location of Tarsus in Cilicia (present-day Turkey): a major port in the northeast of the Mediterranean Sea

“I am a Jew of Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of a city which is not without renown” (Acts 21, 39).

It is in these terms, imbued with Greek pride, that Paul expresses himself before the Roman tribune on the steps of the fortress adjacent to the Temple of Jerusalem.

His hometown then rivaled Alexandria and Athens for the palm of civilization. While being after Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Ephesus, one of the great cities of the Empire, it had an international port and its geographical location made it an important meeting place in the Roman world.

Remains of the site of Tarsus
The city of Tarsus lies at the foot of the Taurus, a large mountain range in the south of present-day Turkey, which overlooks the Mediterranean for several hundred kilometers. Fifty years before the birth of Paul, all sorts of wild animals were still found in these mountains: elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, bears, wild boars, panthers, etc.
In the 1st century, Strabo described Tarsus as follows: “a city situated on a plain, not far from the sea. The river Cydnos flows through the middle of the city, skirting the gymnasium of the young men. As the source of the river is not far from the city, and it crosses steep gorges before arriving there, its water is cold and rapid. As a result, it is of great help to animals and men who suffer from rheumatism.

Cleopatra's Gate at Tarsus.

Important figures lived in Tarsus, including Cleopatra and Marc-Antoine who met there.

In Paul's time, Tarsus was a 14-century-old city. Several peoples had conquered, ravaged, dominated it: the Assyrians, the Macedonians, the Seleucids, the Armenians. Cyrus and Alexander had been there.

The city of Tarsus had been annexed to the Empire of Rome in 64 BC. It then became the capital of the province of Cilicia. Pompey, Caesar and Cicero took advantage of its beauty and climate. It was in Tarsus that Cleopatra seduced Marc-Antoine and became his mistress and ally. Near the port, the ruins of "Cleopatra's Gate" still exist.

To understand the turbulent period preceding the long reign of Caesar-Augustus (31 BC to 14 AD), it is necessary to know a little about the bloody history that preceded the "pax romana", this peace of the empire which allowed Christianity to develop.

After the assassination of Julius Caesar, there was a period of civil war between Brutus, Marc Antony, Octavian and Cleopatra. In 31 BC, in Actium, the fleet of Caesar-Augustu, less numerous than that of his adversaries, annihilates the forces of Marc Antoine and Cleopatra. Having escaped the carnage and returned to Alexandria, Marc Antony threw himself on his sword and Cleopatra let herself be bitten by an asp (viper). Augustus made Caesarion disappear, the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar and the three children of Cleopatra and Marc-Antoine. It was then the surest way to neutralize the adversaries. Cleopatra herself had poisoned her own sister and asked Marc Antoine to make his brother disappear, in order to retain absolute power over Egypt.

After the decisive battle of Actium, Caesar Augustus having eliminated all those who could have claimed the throne, granted himself all the important titles of the religion and government of Rome and concentrated in his single person all the powers of the Empire. He replaced the Republic with a dictatorship, and succeeded in establishing a lasting peace, the “pax romana”.

During this time of peace and calm, Tarsus became an active and prosperous city. It offered access to the Mediterranean and the riches of three continents from Alexandria, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome and Spain. It was a center of commerce and a place of transit, especially for the valuable construction timber brought by river from the Taurus Mountains. The river Cydnos was provided on both banks with quays, wharfs and warehouses. The city was one of the major ports in southern Turkey, a necessary passage between Anatolia, Cappadocia, the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

This opulent city, mixes

of all the races of the empire,

prepare him for his mission

“apostle to the nations”

In addition to being opulent, the city had occupied an important place in intellectual and political life for centuries. Strabo writes: "The inhabitants of Tarsus are so passionate about philosophy, they have such an encyclopedic spirit, that their city ended up eclipsing Athens, Alexandria, and all the other cities..."

It was at Tarsus that the tutors of the imperial princes of Rome were sought. In Paul's time a venerable teacher lived in the city: Athenodorus who had been the teacher and friend of the Emperor Augustus. The emperor was to remain faithful to him until his death. The old pedagogue did not hesitate to tell the truth to his imperial friend, frankly and on many occasions. Athenodorus spent the last years of his life in Tarsus and thanks to him, the emperor exempted the city from taxation.

In Tarsus, ethnic groups, religions and various languages cohabited smoothly. It was a meeting point of two great civilizations: the Greco-Roman civilization in the West and the Semitic civilization in the East. While being open to novelty, Tarsus was an austere city, attached to traditions, a city where both great decency and severe morality reigned.

In this pagan environment, Paul received an excellent preparation for his mission “as an apostle to the nations”. He will admit no difference between Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, free men and slaves, men and women (Col. 3, 11; 1. Cor. 12, 13). This opulent and commercial city, mixture of all the races of the empire, will mark its missionary pastoral. He will realize the vision of the Lord: “Many will come from the East and the West and will take their place at the feast, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8, 11).

In Paul's time, Tarsus had about three hundred thousand inhabitants. Lots of people, narrow streets, small houses piled up on top of each other, tight life, lots of noise! To the south, the city opened onto the Mediterranean; to the north, it huddled at the foot of mountains three thousand meters high. It had a very active port. The Roman roads that connected the East to the West passed through there.

After his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus and his stay in Arabia, Paul will visit Jerusalem and return to Tarsus. During many years of reflection, he will acquire a new look and a new way of seeing things.

 

[JLG]

Paul benefited from a long and serious intellectual training which enabled him to fight against narrow-mindedness and petty bigotry!
Particularly interesting and very instructive!
In the Greek environment - this is the case in Tarsus - education was accompanied by the learning of languages!
This is what the humanists took back!
Humans do not invent anything, they only copy or repeat the ideas of others!
You have to know how to recognize it!
But for some it is difficult!
They must think they're too smart for that!
Only, there is intelligence and intelligence!
Paul's epistles manifest a good knowledge of the categories of Greek rhetoric, especially in the use of antithesis and diatribe!
They also testify to his great ability to apply the Scriptures to new situations in daily life!
Paul was able to take advantage of the teaching of Gamaliel!
The attitude of the latter towards the other members of the Sanhedrin is also traced in the Acts!
Thus, the synagogues were not only places of prayer, preaching and teaching, some offered premises with bathrooms for foreigners passing through!
They could even contain prisons where one made undergo the synagogal sorrows, especially that of the whip!
What will happen 5 times to Paul!
The Pharisee tradition prescribed a father to teach his son a manual activity!
Paul's father insisted that he learn the trade of tentmaker!
And Paul will exercise this manual activity so as not to be a burden for the other disciples!
Ancient society had a great need for canvases and tents. It was needed in all circumstances of life: shelter for a single person or for a family, tarpaulins for carts and boats, and huge ceremonial tents, similar to our capitals, which could shelter up to four hundred people!
It is therefore easy to understand the interest of this manual activity!
Paul had a promising future ahead of him and the prospect of a brilliant career!
The irruption of Jesus in his life will upset this privileged situation!
Another reason that allows the judicious choice of Jesus to make Paul the apostle of the nations!

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8- Paul's education
Paul benefited from a long and serious intellectual training which enabled him to fight against narrow-mindedness and petty bigotry.

Paul attended Bible school in the synagogue from his childhood.
First of all, he received a biblical education not only within his family, but also in the school of the synagogue. In the Greek environment - this is the case in Tarsus - education was accompanied by the learning of languages. Paul had the mental categories to make himself understood in this very diverse world. In his first epistle to the Corinthians (14,11) he will write: “If I did not know the value of language, I would have the effect of a Barbarian on whoever spoke to me”.
Paul's epistles manifest a good knowledge of the categories of Greek rhetoric, especially in the use of antithesis and diatribe. (Romans 2, 1-6 and 10, 6-8). They also testify to his great ability to apply the Scriptures to new situations in daily life.

Paul continued his religious training in Jerusalem under the direction of Gamaliel, the greatest Jewish teacher of his time,

The first cycle of his education completed, his father sent him to Jerusalem to pursue religious studies there under the direction of the greatest Jewish master of his time, Gamaliel the Elder. It is he who makes a brief appearance in the story of Saint Luke, preaching moderation to the great council of the Sanhedrin, which was preparing to annihilate the Christian movement: "Israelites, be careful what you are going to do in the case of these people... I tell you, don't bother about them and let them go! If it is from men that their resolution or their enterprise comes, it will disappear of itself; if it's from God, you can't make it go away. Do not risk finding yourself at war with God!” (Acts 5, 35-39) Paul's fanaticism towards the first Christians therefore did not come from his revered master!

Paul will later recall his years of apprenticeship in Jerusalem: “It is here, in this city, that I was brought up and that I received at the feet of Gamaliel a formation strictly conforming to the Law of our fathers. (Acts 22:3)

In Jerusalem, Paul probably lived with his sister. We know that she had a son who, when the time comes, will come to the aid of his uncle in danger. (Acts 23, 12-22)

Thanks to his studies in Tarsus and Jerusalem, Paul became a great connoisseur of the Bible

Every Saturday, the Sabbath day, Paul attended the synagogue. In the first century, there were reportedly 480 synagogues in Jerusalem. Each region of the world had its own, much like in Rome today, where each country has its national church. Synagogues were places of prayer, preaching and teaching. Some offered rooms with bathrooms for visiting foreigners. In some of them there were underground prisons where the synagogical punishments, especially that of the whip, were inflicted. During his missionary journeys, Paul was sentenced five times to "39 lashes" in Jewish prisons. In all the synagogues, especially in that of Cilicia where Paul went every Sabbath, there was regular discussion of Jesus of Nazareth and his followers.

Thanks to his studies in Tarsus and Jerusalem, Paul had become a great connoisseur of the Bible. He quotes it more than two hundred times in his letters. After his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, knowledge of the Scriptures will allow him to reinterpret the history of salvation and to accept Jesus Christ as Messiah and Saviour.

For the Jews, the Scriptures were most precious. During the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by the soldiers of Titus, in the year 70, the Jews abandoned the gold and silver utensils used for the sacrifices, the lamps and the candelabras, and many other precious objects, for save the scripture scrolls. The Bible was for them the true treasure of the Temple and it was the only one that escaped the flames and destruction.

Training in the trade of tentmaker (his father's trade) will allow him
to earn a living

In addition to his academic studies, Paul received from his family and according to Jewish tradition, a manual training that will allow him to earn a living. Among the Jews, unlike the Romans and Greeks, manual labor was valued and respected. The Pharisee tradition prescribed a father to teach his son a manual activity. Paul's father insisted that he learn the trade of tentmaker. It was a very fashionable profession in Tarsus and his father probably wanted to prepare his son to take over the small family business. The prosperity of Tarsus came from the textile trades. Along with embroidered fabrics, coarse goat hair fabrics were one of the specialties of Cilicia.
Ancient society had a great need for canvases and tents. It was needed in all circumstances of life: shelter for a single person or for a family, tarpaulins for wagons and boats, and huge ceremonial tents, similar to our capitals, which could shelter up to four hundred people.
In his youth, Paul could not foresee that he would one day have to practice his trade as a tentmaker in order to survive. This kind of work will allow him to meet many of his future co-workers in the gospel. During his missionary journeys, he will come into contact with many craftsmen and textile merchants: Lydia, purple merchant in Philippi, Aquila and Prisca in Corinth, and in Ephesus, dyers or wool merchants.
Fortunately, this Pharisee's son had applied himself from his youth to learn the trade of weaver. He was able to exercise it in Arabia, as he would later do throughout his missionary journeys. This will make it independent of any foreign aid.

In his youth, Paul therefore benefited from a solid education. Citizen of Tarsus, connoisseur of the Bible, speaking several languages, experienced weaver, disciple of Gamaliel, leader by birth, active member of his community, trained to succeed his father, all this places him among the elite of society. in terms of education, power and authority. In a world where the vast majority of people could neither read nor write, he belonged to a class apart. Paul had before him a promising future and the prospect of a brilliant career. The irruption of Jesus in his life will upset this privileged situation. He himself will say later: "Because of him I accepted to lose everything, I consider everything as waste, in order to win Christ and be found in him." (Philemon 3.8).

 

[JLG]

The Law of Moses, as interpreted in Jesus' time, suffocated life, when originally it was offered as a gift, as a gift to "serve life" (Romans 7:12). She had become a straitjacket!
Stephen interprets Scripture in an unorthodox way and bears witness to Jesus Christ. They put him to death for this reason alone!
Those responsible for the stoning had laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul of Tarsus.
And Luke adds that “Saul was among those who approved of this murder”. (Acts 7, 58 - 8,1)
Paul's story therefore begins with a complicity with Stephen's murderers!
In fact, the entire history of mankind is filled with murders perpetrated in the name of religion!
Which tells us who is behind!
In Acts 26, 1, he will say: "Going through all the synagogues I wanted, by my cruelties, to force them to blaspheme and, in the excess of my fury against them, I pursued them even in foreign cities."
“As for Saul, Saint Luke tells us, he ravaged the Church; going from house to house, he snatched men and women and threw them into prison”. (Acts 8:3). “Saul always breathed nothing but threats and carnage towards the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9, 1).
Saul was one of those people!
During this period, Paul considers himself so much fairer and better than others who are different from him. He wants to destroy the sect of the Nazarenes in order to protect the religion of his ancestors!
Habitual behavior that only the kingdom of Yah.weh will put an end to!
The violent death of Stephen was the price to pay so that the primitive Church could free itself from the Judaic and national framework and could move towards a universalism that would make it a Church open to all!


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9- Murder in the name of religion

After completing his studies with Gamaliel, his revered teacher, Paul returned to Tarsus to return to Jerusalem a few years later. (Acts 7, 58)

If we accept the year 30 as the year of the death of Jesus, and if we leave some time in between to allow the young Christian Church to develop and organize itself, then we can fix on the year 33 Paul's return to Jerusalem.

In the small community of Christ's disciples, Stephen had been chosen to be one of seven deacons responsible for helping those in need. Accused of having uttered "blasphemous words against Moses and against God", he was brought before the Sanhedrin.

It was Stephen who first recognized the universal significance of the Church and proclaimed it loud and clear. According to him, the Law and the Temple were necessary but temporary stages in the order of salvation.

The Law of Moses, as interpreted in Jesus' time, suffocated life, when originally it was offered as a gift, as a gift to "serve life" (Romans 7:12). She had become a straitjacket. At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter will say in his speech to the participants: "Why do you want to provoke God by imposing on the non-Jewish disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor ourselves could bear?" (Acts 15, 10)

Saul witnesses the stoning of Stephen
Stephen's independence did not take long to worry the hierarchy of the Temple. Christians who claimed the Galilean carpenter had so far caused little stir. It had sufficed to give two of the agitators a few whippings and nothing more was heard of them. But this Etienne was a real provocateur! He sowed discredit on the interpretation of the Law! He was quickly sentenced to be stoned.
Death by stoning, resulting from a legal and religious prescription, requires no appointed executioner, only ordinary men who allow their hatred to reach its climax until the unleashing of their wildest instincts. Everyone arms themselves with stones to throw them at full force at the living target.

It is a killing that comes with a game of skill. This kind of execution still exists today. Not long ago, the Taliban stoned to death a man and a woman accused of adultery. In Iran, a woman is sentenced to whipping and stoning for political and religious reasons. We massacre in the name of religion! We remember the lynching of blacks in the United States. Members of the Ku-Klux-Klan, refounded in 1915 by a Methodist pastor, made these murders a matter of religious loyalty!

The murderers are ordinary people, like you and me, good people filled with piety, who murder one of their own because he dares to deviate from established dogmas. Stephen interprets Scripture in an unorthodox way and bears witness to Jesus Christ. They put him to death for that reason alone. Those responsible for the stoning had laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul of Tarsus. And Luke adds that “Saul was among those who approved of this murder”. (Acts 7, 58 - 8,1)

Paul's story therefore begins with a complicity with Stephen's murderers.

A regular persecution followed this killing: "In that day a violent persecution was unleashed against the Church of Jerusalem". (Acts 8, 1) The persecution was directed especially against the Christians of the Diaspora.

Shortly after Stephen's death, Paul will declare war on the sect of the Nazarenes. He himself describes his radical position when he affirms before the tribune of the Roman cohort, on the steps of the Antonia fortress: "I have persecuted this Way to death" (Acts 22, 4).

In Acts 26, 1, he will say: "Going through all the synagogues I wanted, by my cruelties, to force them to blaspheme and, in the excess of my fury against them, I pursued them even in foreign cities."

“As for Saul, Saint Luke tells us, he ravaged the Church; going from house to house, he snatched men and women and threw them into prison”. (Acts 8:3). “Saul always breathed nothing but threats and carnage towards the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9, 1).

Between the martyr's prayer

and the vocation of the apostle,

the link is clear

During this period, Paul considers himself so much fairer and better than others who are different from him. He wants to destroy the sect of the Nazarenes in order to protect the religion of his ancestors.

Paul did not know at that time that he would soon be called by Christ to continue the work of Stephen. Later, he too will affirm that the Law and the Temple are only passing stages leading to universal salvation.

The violent death of Stephen was the price to pay so that the early Church could free itself from the Jewish and national framework and be able to move towards a universalism that would make it a Church open to all. Saint Augustine will say of this death sentence: “Without Stephen's prayer, the Church would not have had a Paul. (Sermon 382). Stephen occupies only two small chapters in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul fills thirteen. If it is difficult to put them in parallel, it is impossible to separate them. Between the prayer of the martyr and the vocation of the apostle, the link is clear.

 

[JLG]

- According to Paul of Tarsus, the new sect of Christians threatened the faith of Israel. By hunting down these dangerous renegades, he wanted to protect his compatriots. It seemed clear to him that the crucifixion of Jesus proved that the Nazarene was a false messiah and that the brotherhood between the Jews and members of other races, as preached by Stephen, would do away with the "single election" of the people of Israel. We need to remember these considerations in order to appreciate the true value of the irruption of Christ into the life of Saint Paul.
- It is therefore above all the event of the road to Damascus which illuminates the life of St. Paul with an intensity that will never weaken. His great knowledge of the Scriptures will then provide him with the necessary lights to find meaning in this momentous encounter. The Scriptures will enable him to understand and harmonize the revelation of Jesus, Son of God, with the suffering Messiah of the prophets.
- “The gospel of Paul” therefore did not fall to him from heaven perfectly finished. It will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer and constant Bible study. His letters reflect this triple character.
- It is important to emphasize that Paul's conversion did not end on the road to Damascus. This is where it begins. It will take him a lifetime, until his death sentence in the capital of the Empire, to complete this conversion.
- The life of a Christian is a path that he must follow and lead to the end!
- There is no question of taking breaks or being a Christian when it suits us!
- One must be a Christian at every moment of his life!

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10- On the road to Damascus

The risen Christ appears to Paul

Paul is deeply gripped, in his heart and in his intelligence, by this Jesus who came to reveal God's infinite love for us.
He is overthrown by the merciful and free love of God, at a time when nothing prepared him for this revelation.
According to Paul of Tarsus, the new sect of Christians threatened the faith of Israel. By hunting down these dangerous renegades, he wanted to protect his compatriots. It seemed clear to him that the crucifixion of Jesus proved that the Nazarene was a false messiah and that the brotherhood between the Jews and members of other races, as preached by Stephen, would do away with the "single election" of the people of Israel. We need to remember these considerations in order to appreciate the true value of the irruption of Christ into the life of Saint Paul.
In Christian iconography, particularly in the Middle Ages, we see Paul who, on the road to Damascus, falls from his horse. In the first century, horses were rare and they were used mainly by the military and by high Roman officials. Paul was probably traveling on foot, in the middle of a "caravan". Suddenly, this convinced Pharisee finds himself face to face with the one he wants to eliminate. Twice he hears his name pronounced: “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” Christ identifies himself with the Christians of his Church. Paul becomes blind and it will be one of the disciples of the Lord, Ananias, who will restore his sight. (Acts 9, 10-19)

Theatrical scene of the conversion of Saul (often repeated in Christian iconography)... which falsely suggests that Paul faces an all-powerful, authoritarian and wrathful God, who stops him in the middle of a ride

The Apostle will never have the slightest doubt about what he experienced during those few moments on the road to Damascus. His conviction will remain unshakable: he really met Jesus, the Risen One, who challenged him and turned his life upside down. When he comes to, like a real man of action, he asks: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" (Acts 22, 10)

Without this appearance of the risen Christ, Paul would never have been able to overcome the “scandal of the cross”. Only the resurrection could remove this obstacle, as it did for the other apostles.

Throughout his life, Paul will remember this meeting. The Lord appeared to him, not in the guise of one who chastises and avenges, but with a countenance full of mercy and kindness:

"The day when the goodness of God our Savior appeared and his love for men, he did not concern himself with the works that we had been able to accomplish, but, moved by his mercy alone, he saved us by bathing in the regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3, 4-5)

The wrath of God against men had been transformed into love full of tenderness. The epistles of Paul, unique documents in world literature, will proclaim this fundamental truth:

"But mercy has been shown to me!" (1 Timothy 1, 13)

Paul is deeply gripped, in his heart and in his intelligence, by this Jesus who came to reveal God's infinite love for us. He then discovers the mystery of the God-incarnate, who places himself on the side of the weak, who identifies himself with each of them: “I am the one you are persecuting”. He is overthrown by the merciful and free love of God, at a time when nothing prepared him for this revelation. It is to the sudden nature of this encounter that the strange words allude: “After all the disciples, he appeared to me too, as to an abortion. (1 Corinthians 15:8).

At the beginning of the 5th century, Saint Augustine, who will also live a great experience of conversion, will say, speaking of the fight for grace in Saint Paul: “She threw him to the ground to raise him immediately” (Sermon 14).

"Paul's Gospel" will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer

and constant Bible study.

It is therefore above all the event of the road to Damascus which illuminates the life of St. Paul with an intensity that will never weaken. His great knowledge of the Scriptures will then provide him with the necessary lights to find meaning in this momentous encounter. The Scriptures will enable him to understand and harmonize the revelation of Jesus, Son of God, with the suffering Messiah of the prophets.

“The gospel of Paul” therefore did not fall from heaven to him perfectly finished. It will be the fruit of divine illumination, followed by meditative prayer and constant Bible study. His letters reflect this triple character. If we read them in the chronological sequence of their writing, it is possible to recognize quite clearly the development of the thought of the apostle of the nations.

For Paul, this encounter with Christ can be summed up in one word: gratuitousness! This is the key to reading his experience on the road to Damascus. This gratuitousness renewed her relationship with God from within. From now on, it will guide his whole life and support him in the crises that will come. It is the new source of spirituality which makes a "powerful energy" (Colossians 1:29) spring up in him, much more demanding than his will to practice the Law and to acquire his own justification.

Free from God!

This is the key to reading his experience on the road to Damascus.

Joy and thanksgiving will be the characteristics of his spirituality.

It is important to point out that Paul's conversion did not end on the road to Damascus. This is where it begins. It will take him a lifetime, until his death sentence in the capital of the Empire, to complete this conversion.

When Paul takes a look at his life, he sees it divided into two parts, “life without Christ” and “life in Christ”. What happened on the road to Damascus is the great event that separates them. After this meeting, the tumultuous life of Paul experiences a turnaround that invites him not to destroy those who are different from him but to preach to them hope, reconciliation and freedom in God-Savior.

Paul is like the merchant of whom Matthew speaks in chapter 13 of his Gospel: having found a precious pearl, he realizes that all the rest is worthless. He is like the man who discovers a treasure hidden in a field and gives up everything to acquire it.

“Because of him, I accepted to lose everything, I consider everything as waste, in order to win Christ.” (Philippians 3, 7-8).

The encounter on the road to Damascus will produce a true transfiguration in Paul, and will bring him great inner joy:

“I am filled with consolation; I overflow with joy in the midst of all our trials” (2 Colossians 7, 4).

It will invite him to recognition. (cf. Colossians 1:12). Joy and thanksgiving will be the characteristics of his spirituality. And the experience of Damascus will invite him to praise his Lord:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who from heaven has showered us with all spiritual blessings in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). (See 2 Colossians 1, 3-4).

Meeting Christ on the road to Damascus is the most precious moment in Paul's life. Three times, Luke tells us about it (Acts 9, 1-19; 22, 4-16; 26, 9-18), because this event is an example and a model of all true encounters with Christ.

 

[JLG]

- At the time of his encounter with Christ, Paul is not an unbeliever who discovers God, nor a sinner who wants to free himself from his faults, his negligence or his indifference. Before this incident, he had an exemplary conduct. He does not hesitate to say himself that he was "blameless with regard to the justice of the law" (Philippians 3, 5). Paul's conversion and calling did not bring about a dramatic change in his Jewish religion. Paul was born and lived his whole life as a "son of Israel", but with the encounter with Christ he discovered in Jesus the awaited Messiah. What is called his conversion was not the change from one religion to another, but a new understanding of the Scriptures, thanks to the revelation of Damascus.

- For Paul, it is a rupture in his life and he assumes all the consequences. He accepts to pass for a madman in the eyes of Greek culture and to be a scandal for the Jewish religion, the religion of his fathers! "While the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, we proclaim a crucified Christ, scandal to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1, 22-23)

- Breaking with the world he knows, Paul undertakes to rebuild it on new bases where the relations of domination based on race, religion, social class or sex will be overcome. The community of faith must be the seed of this new society. In it is born the "new Adam" and the "new Eve", the new man and the new woman: "What matters is the new creation." (Galatians 6, 15). "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17).

- Paul found here the meaning of his life and, according to him, nothing can separate him from this infinite love: “Tribulation, anguish, persecution, hunger, nudity, perils, the sword?.. .death, life, angels, principalities, present, future, powers, height or depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord »

- He will learn to lose his smugness as an irreproachable Pharisee and to expect everything from Christ: "The Lord has judged me trustworthy by taking me into his service, I who had previously been a blasphemer, persecutor and violent." (1 Timothy, 12-13)

- Paul is an example for us!

- It's up to us to follow his path!

- And not to stop on the way or stay on the side of the road!

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11- Break in the life of Paul

Paul is very secretive about what happened on the road to Damascus and gives little information about his encounter with Christ. However, he asserts that God revealed his Son to him, and that is what is important to him. He speaks of this event in terms of "revelation" (Galatians 2, 2) or "appearance of the risen Lord" (1 Corinthians 9, 1; 15, 8). It thus indicates the whole interior aspect of this contact with God.

The book of Acts of the Apostles gives us much more detail on the subject. Chapter 9, 1-19 relates the conversion of Paul and the same story comes back to chapter 22, 6-16 and chapter 26, 12-18. In each of these texts, the details are slightly different, but the essential plot of the story remains the same.

At the time of his encounter with Christ, Paul is not an unbeliever who discovers God, nor a sinner who wants to free himself from his faults, his negligence or his indifference. Before this incident, he had an exemplary conduct. He does not hesitate to say himself that he was "blameless with regard to the justice of the law" (Philippians 3, 5). Paul's conversion and calling did not bring about a dramatic change in his Jewish religion. Paul was born and lived his whole life as a "son of Israel", but with the encounter with Christ he discovered in Jesus the awaited Messiah. What is called his conversion was not the change from one religion to another, but a new understanding of the Scriptures, thanks to the revelation of Damascus.

Paul's conversion has its source in the discovery of the gratuitous love that God has for him.

For Paul, it is a rupture in his life and he assumes all the consequences. He accepts to pass for a madman in the eyes of Greek culture and to be a scandal for the Jewish religion, the religion of his fathers! “While the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, we proclaim a crucified Christ, a scandal for the Jews and folly for the Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1, 22-23),

Breaking with the world he knows, Paul undertakes to rebuild it on new bases where the relations of domination based on race, religion, social class or sex will be overcome. The community of faith must be the seed of this new society. In her is born the "new Adam" and the "new Eve", the new man and the new woman: "What matters is the new creation." (Galatians 6, 15). "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Before this meeting in Damascus, Paul considered himself master of his life. Now someone else is directing it and calling it into action. The Roman citizen, the free man, the convinced Pharisee makes himself "the slave of Christ" (Romans 1, 1; Galatians 1, 10). Paul no longer belongs to himself. "In life and in death, we belong to the Lord." (Romans 14.8). However, this change of orientation does not take away his freedom. On the contrary! “It is so that we remain free, he says, that Christ has freed us!” (Galatians 5, 1; 2, 4). Incredible paradox!

Paul found here the meaning of his life and, according to him, nothing can separate him from this infinite love: “Tribulation, anguish, persecution, hunger, nudity, perils, the sword?... death, life, angels, principalities, present, future, powers, height or depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul's conversion has its source in the discovery of the gratuitous love that God has for him. The merciful face of Jesus eclipses the image he had made of a demanding God to whom we owe obedience and submission above all.

From that day on, Paul will no longer rely on his own strength, nor on his “good works”.

He will learn to lose his smugness as an irreproachable Pharisee and to everything

expect from Christ.

After this revelation on the road to Damascus, reading the texts of Isaiah and other texts of the Old Testament, Paul discovers the true nature of God. This God loves us to the point of offering his life for us. The cross which was the object of scandal becomes the proof of his great love. God did not choose the cross, it was the wickedness of men who condemned him to this atrocious death, but he accepted this infamous torture out of love for us. He died because of human injustice and, like millions of others, He went to the end of our humanity.

From that day on, Paul will no longer rely on his own strength, nor on his “good works”. His assurance and his confidence, he will henceforth put them in God, and in God alone. He will understand that salvation is not the result of his efforts, but that it is freely offered to him in Jesus Christ: "For my present life... I live it in faith in the Son of God who gave me loved and gave himself up for me.” (Galatians 2, 20).

He will learn to lose his smugness as an irreproachable Pharisee and to expect everything from Christ: "The Lord has judged me trustworthy by taking me into his service, I who had previously been a blasphemer, persecutor and violent person." (1 Timothy, 12-13)

Paul discovers himself a sinner, but Jesus does not stop at his past. He looks to the future and thinks only of what it can become. He declares to Ananias all the confidence he places in this persecuting Pharisee: “This man is for me an instrument of choice to carry my name before the pagan nations, the kings and the Israelites”. (Acts 9, 15)

Paul will devote his whole life to responding in an extraordinary way to this invitation of Christ. Driven by the unconditional love of God, he will go to the end of the world and to the end of life. Christ had said "It is a fire that I have come to bring to earth". Paul now shares this same desire and he will now be able to say: "...and how I wish it were already lit" (Luke 12, 49)

 

[JLG]

• We have little information about the three years Paul spent in Arabia after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Fortunately, he was forced later, because of the attacks of his adversaries, to lift the veil a little on this period of his life.
• For three years, Paul deepened the new orientation of his life.
• “In Arabia,” did he go down to Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans, or did he head for Palmira? One can only speculate on Paul's movements during these three years of reflection. The term "Arabia" then applied to the entire Arabian Peninsula, but its core was the kingdom of the Nabatheans, with its capital Petra, a real eagle's nest in the desert, which controlled the caravan route. The Greco-Roman ruins of this capital-fortress are impressive. Arabia also included Basra, Homs (Emesa), Amman, and a very large territory extending to the rivers of Mesopotamia, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The sheik of the Nabataeans, Aretas, king of Damascus and a large part of the territory of Arabia, was at war with king Herod Antipas, because the latter had divorced his daughter to marry Herodias, the wife of his brother, the one who asked for the head of John the Baptist. In Arabia, Paul felt protected against Jewish emissaries, and this may be the reason why he traveled to this desert region.
• During this period, a spiritual and intellectual transformation continued in him, which revealed Pauline theology more and more. Paul will then speak of “his gospel”: “The gospel that I announced is not on a human scale: neither did I receive it or learn it from a man, but by a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1, 11-12).
• During his stay in Arabia, from the Scriptures he knows by heart, Paul develops a new conception of Christ and faith. He then understands that the universal plan of God is addressed not only to the Jews but to all nations. He also discovers the mystery of God's infinite love for us through the rejection of his people and the scandal of the cross.
• His gospel is the same as that of the other apostles, but Paul will know how to make it accessible not only to the Jews of the Diaspora but to the Greco-Roman world.
• Paul thus became aware of Christ's will to remove the barrier and the wall that separated Judaism from other nations.
• For Paul, to be a Christian is to be conquered by Christ and to be released from the narrow framework of a single culture, a single religion, a single nation. Christ is the New Adam, the new prototype of humanity. Paul's conception of Christ is not the product of religious speculation, but of revelation by the Spirit. In Arabia, his new theology found its bases.
• After three years, Paul returned to Damascus and appeared in the synagogue. To the great astonishment of the Jews, he asked to speak to demonstrate, based on the texts of the Prophets, that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah and that he was alive. Among the Orthodox Jews, anger began to growl and Paul was threatened with death.
• Is it possible to add something?

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[JLG]

12- The Arabian Desert and the Flight from Damascus​

Arabian Desert - Wadi Rum. In the southeast of Jordan, near Petra.
We have little information about the three years Paul spent in Arabia after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. Fortunately, he was forced later, because of the attacks of his adversaries, to lift the veil a little on this period of his life.
He tells us that after this meeting he did not consult his family or the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem: “At once I consulted neither flesh nor blood. Neither did I go up to Jerusalem” (Galatians 1:16-17).
For now, this momentous event is enough for him. Moreover, if he had gone to Jerusalem, his situation vis-à-vis the Christians would have been very delicate, because of his numerous attacks against the disciples of Christ. Then he would have put his life in danger with the Sanhedrin for joining the disciples of Christ.
For three years, Paul deepened the new orientation of his life.
Paul simply said, “I went to Arabia. The Orthodox theologian Nicolas Koulomzine considers “this retreat very significant: Paul follows the royal path of all mystics, he retires to the desert in order to isolate himself, to find himself for a time, alone with God. Thanks to this time of reflection, he will feel the influence on him of the Spirit of the Lord.”

Located in the desert of present-day Jordan, Petra was an extraordinary city, especially because of its many magnificent monuments carved into the very rock.

“In Arabia,” did he go down to Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans, or did he head for Palmira? One can only speculate on Paul's movements during these three years of reflection. The term "Arabia" then applied to the entire Arabian Peninsula, but its core was the kingdom of the Nabatheans, with its capital Petra, a real eagle's nest in the desert, which controlled the caravan route. The Greco-Roman ruins of this capital-fortress are impressive. Arabia also included Basra, Homs (Emesa), Amman, and a very large territory extending to the rivers of Mesopotamia, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The sheik of the Nabataeans, Aretas, king of Damascus and a large part of the territory of Arabia, was at war with king Herod Antipas, because the latter had divorced his daughter to marry Herodias, the wife of his brother, the one who asked for the head of John the Baptist. In Arabia, Paul felt protected against Jewish emissaries, and this may be the reason why he traveled to this desert region.

For three years, Paul deepened the new orientation of his life. To clarify the change in him, he uses expressions such as “putting on Christ Jesus” or “appropriating the feelings of Christ Jesus” (Philemon 2:5).

He discovers the mystery of God's infinite love for us through the rejection of his people

and the scandal of the cross.

During this period, a spiritual and intellectual transformation continued in him, which revealed Pauline theology more and more. Paul will then speak of “his gospel”: “The gospel that I announced is not on a human scale: neither did I receive it or learn it from a man, but by a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1, 11-12).

During his stay in Arabia, from the Scriptures he knows by heart, Paul develops a new conception of Christ and faith. He then understands that the universal plan of God is addressed not only to the Jews but to all nations. He also discovers the mystery of God's infinite love for us through the rejection of his people and the scandal of the cross.

His gospel is the same as that of the other apostles, but Paul will know how to make it accessible not only to the Jews of the Diaspora but to the Greco-Roman world.

The fundamental idea revealed to him in Damascus is that of a powerful intervention of God in history, in the person of Jesus who came to save men and not to condemn them. Jesus is the messenger of the Father, the messenger of the good news, the Messiah-Savior. The love that the Lord has for Paul, the persecutor, is offered to all. Christ intervened with mercy in his life and made effective the salvation offered to all humanity.

Paul thus became aware of Christ's will to remove the barrier and the wall that separated Judaism from other nations.

What touches Paul in the depths of his being, during this period of reflection, is

the Cross of Jesus.

What touches Paul in the depths of his being, during this period of reflection, is the Cross of Jesus, “this masterpiece of the love of God”. He will depict it to the Galatians, he will preach it to the Corinthians: “For I wanted to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2).

Paul is also deeply touched by the stripping of Christ, and the way in which he fulfills his mission: “He, of divine condition, did not jealously retain the rank which made him equal to God. But he annihilates himself, taking on the condition of a slave, and becoming like men. Having behaved like a man, he humbled himself again, obedient unto death, and death on the cross.” (Philippians. 2, 6-10).

For Paul, to be a Christian is to be conquered by Christ and to be released from the narrow framework of a single culture, a single religion, a single nation. Christ is the New Adam, the new prototype of humanity. Paul's conception of Christ is not the product of religious speculation, but of revelation by the Spirit. In Arabia, his new theology found its bases.

After three years, Paul returned to Damascus and appeared in the synagogue. To the great astonishment of the Jews, he asked to speak to demonstrate, based on the texts of the Prophets, that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah and that he was alive. Among the Orthodox Jews, anger began to growl and Paul was threatened with death.

There were conspirators who promised to kill the "apostate" as soon as he walked through the maze of city streets. It was easy to buy off the rulers of Damascus. Guards were posted at all the gates to seize Paul if he tried to flee: “After a while the Jews came together to put him to death. But Saul got wind of their plot. They even guarded the gates of the city day and night, in order to put him to death. Then the disciples took him by night and lowered him in a basket along the wall” (Acts 9, 23-24).
This is the version of Luke who accuses the Jews of the conspiracy. Paul, for his part, believes that it is the civil authorities who want his life: "In Damascus, the ethnarch of King Aretas was guarding the city to arrest me and it is through a window, in a basket, let me slide along the wall, and so I escaped from his hands.” (2 Corinthians 11:32)
This conspiracy against Paul is probably orchestrated by both groups, that is, by the Jews with the support of the city authorities.
From a house that belonged to a Christian, Paul huddled in a large basket and was let down along the wall by strong ropes. At the bottom, it emerges and, after crossing gardens, irrigation canals and farmyards, it reaches the road that leads south, towards the "via maris", the road to the sea. will then go to Jerusalem.
For Paul, it was the first in a series of many escapades that will force him to flee from town to town to save his life.