St.
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles
The
celebration of his memory in the life of the Church: October 29th
and June 29th.
St.
Paul’s significance in the history of Christianity can hardly be
underestimated: an indefatigable missionary, the first interpreter of
the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world, he is also the
author of more New Testament books than any other writer.
BACKGROUND
When
we first meet him in the Book of Acts (7:58-8:1) it is as Saul; and
later, Acts 13:9 describes him as “Saul, who is also called Paul.”
As a Jew he bore the name of Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 9:2, 17);
but as a free citizen of the Empire, he also bore a Roman name. Many
Jews of this period in history had two names, one Semitic and the other
Greek or Roman. A child of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1;
Philippians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 11:22), Paul proudly identified himself
as an “Israelite” and a “Hebrew born of Hebrews, as to the law a
Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5) “extremely zealous for the traditions of
my fathers” who excelled his peers “in Judaism” (Galatians 1:14).
But he was also proud to be “a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen
of no mean city” (Acts 21:39). Tarsus was a Hellenized city, famous
for its university, gymnasium, theatre, art school and gymnasium. It
became the capital of the province of Cilicia during Pompey’s
reorganization of Roman Asia Minor in 66 BC. Later on, Mark Antony –
famous as Cleopatra’s lover – granted freedom and Roman citizenship
to the people of Tarsus. In an age when most of the people living within
the boundaries of the Pax Romana were slaves, Paul was born a
free citizen of the Empire.
St.
Paul was “educated strictly according to the law of our fathers” at
the rabbinical school conducted in Jerusalem by the great rabbi Gamaliel
(Acts 22:3). Gamaliel was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, “a
teacher of the law respected by all the people” (Acts 5:34). Although
Gamaliel is depicted in the New Testament as lenient towards Christians
(Acts 5:33-39), his disciple Saul was active in the earliest
persecutions of Christianity and attended the stoning of St. Stephen the
deacon and first Christian martyr (Acts 7:58). Paul “persecuted this
Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women”
(Acts 22:4).
CONVERSION
Intent
on exterminating the new faith, Paul sought to travel to Damascus to
undertake the persecution of Christians there. It was during his trip
from Jerusalem to Damascus in Syria that his life would take a crucial
turn when he encountered the risen Jesus in a searing vision of light
that left him temporarily blind. This experience was revolutionary,
engendering a complete transformation and redirection of his life. As a
result of this “revelation” (Galatians 1:12), Saul, the bloodthirsty
persecutor of Christianity converted to the faith he once hated, was
baptized by Ananias and received into the Church of Damascus, the very
community he had set out to suppress (Acts 9:10-31). From this moment
on, he became a “slave of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:1) and in that
slavery discovered “the glorious freedom of the children of God”
(Romans 8:21).
Luke
recounts this Damascus experience three times in the Book of Acts: once
in the narrative, Acts 9:3-19; and twice, in speeches, before a crowd in
Jerusalem (22:6-16) and before Festus and King Agrippa (26:12-18).
“Saul,
still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,
went
to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of
Damascus,
so that if he found any that belonged to the Way,
men
or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
“While
I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon, I saw
a
great light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that suddenly shone
around
me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground,
I
heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,
‘Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?’
I
answered, asking, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
The
Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
But
get up and stand on your feet!
I
have appeared to you for this purpose:
to
appoint you to serve and testify to the things you have seen.
I
will rescue you from your people and the Gentiles – to whom I am
sending you,
to
open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light
and
from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of
their sins
and
a place among those who are being made holy by faith in Me.”
This
vision of the glory of God - what later theologians and saints will call
the uncreated light - is the call by which Paul becomes the Apostle to
the Gentiles, the greatest missionary in the history of Christianity. It
is through his missionary efforts that Christianity, originally a sect
of Judaism, becomes a world religion.
PREACHING,
MISSIONARY JOURNEYS AND THE
APOSTOLIC COUNCIL IN JERUSALEM
After
his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus and baptism at
the hands of Ananias, Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that
he “went away at once into Arabia,” spending time in the desert
wastes before returning to Damascus, where he remained for three years
(1:17-18). By the time of his return to Damascus, the essentials of his
teaching were crystal clear: God’s promise to Abraham has been
fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus. The risen Jesus is the climax of
history for He is both the Messiah, the Christ, and “the power and
wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Teaching in the synagogues in
Damascus that Jesus “is the Son of God,” his preaching proved so
controversial that there were plots to kill him. He escaped Damascus by
being lowered over the city walls in a basket at night (Acts 9:19-25).
Three
years after his conversion, Paul journeyed to Jerusalem to meet with
Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. “But I did not see any
other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:18-19).
In Acts 9:26-30 Luke describes the suspicion with which the leaders of
the Church in Jerusalem greeted Paul and that it was Barnabas who
secured Paul’s acceptance. From Jerusalem, Paul returned to Syria and
ultimately went to its capital, Antioch, the third city in the empire
after Rome itself and Alexandria in Egypt.
It
had been in Antioch of Syria that followers of the Way had first been
called Christians (Acts 11:26) and it was this community that would
commission Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:1-3).
 Luke
organizes Paul’s missionary activity into three segments or journeys.
Paul’s missionary journeys cover roughly 46-58AD, the most active
years of his life, as he evangelized Greece and Asia Minor. Paul’s
first missionary journey is recounted by Luke in Acts 13:3-14:28 and
lasted for three years, probably from 46 to 49AD.
However,
Paul’s message created controversy wherever he went. Initially
preaching and teaching in the synagogues of the various cities they
visited, it was in Antioch of Pisidia that the conflict led Paul and
Barnabas to declare that they were now “turning to the Gentiles”
(Acts 13:46). This decision, to preach not only to the Jews but to all
peoples, marks a decisive turning point in the history of Christianity.
From that moment on the message of Jesus, the crucified yet risen
Messiah, was clearly open to everyone and this was understood by Paul
and Barnabas to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures (Acts
13:47-48). God had “opened the door of faith for the Gentiles” (Acts
14:27).
But
it was in Antioch of Pisidia that Paul and Barnabas soon found
themselves in conflict with other teachers in the Church, “believers
who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees” (Acts 15:5), men “from
Judea” who were teaching that “unless you are circumcised according
to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). When this
leads to “no small dissension and debate, Paul, Barnabas and some of
the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem” to consult “the
apostles and presbyters” about the status of Gentile converts and
whether or not it was necessary for them to conform to the Mosaic
covenant (Acts 15:1-5). This visit leads to the council of Jerusalem
(circa 49-50AD). This council was to be a paradigmatic event in the life
of the Church, the pattern for ecumenical councils yet to be called in
the centuries to come. At this council there was “much debate” as
Paul and Barnabas presented their Gospel before the assembled community,
which included “James, Peter and John” who were “acknowledged”
as “leaders” and “pillars” of the Church (Galatians 2:1-10).
According to Acts 15:6-21, it was Peter’s voice that carried the day
in favor of Paul and Barnabas. But it was James, speaking on behalf of
all, who announced the decision of the council: circumcision is not
obligatory for salvation.
After
the council of Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas go their separate ways:
Barnabas taking John Mark and sailing to Cyprus, Paul choosing Silas and
traveling throughout Syria and Cilicia “strengthening the churches”
(Acts 15:36-41).
In
the decade to come, Paul was to embark on two more missionary journeys,
the second one from 50 to 53AD and the third and final missionary
journey lasting six years, from 53 to 59 AD. During these journeys Paul
would travel throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, preaching and
teaching, establishing new churches everywhere he went. His Letters
leave a trail of churches founded and/or nurtured by him: Ephesus,
Corinth, Thessaloniki, Philippi. He preached in Athens and was to die in
Rome, the intellectual and political centers of the Empire.
To view
maps of St. Paul’s missionary journeys throughout the ancient
Mediterranean world, click below:
 St.
Paul's First Missionary Journey
 St.
Paul's Second Missionary Journey
 St.
Paul's Third Missionary Journey
Paul’s
letters are the oldest Christian documents that we have. Most modern
scholars believe that Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the
first book of the New Testament to be written, sometime in 52AD. His
letters are also the largest collection of writings by any one person in
the New Testament. In modern Bibles, they are placed in order of their
length, with the longest letter, that to the Romans, being first and
then followed by letters to individuals (Timothy, Titus and Philemon)
last. Paul’s letters are exactly that: letters, occasional writings
meant to deal with specific issues in the churches to which he addressed
them. They are not systematic theological treatises in the modern sense.
And yet, they have provided rich and deep theological insights that have
never been surpassed in the Church’s history.
Image of copy of St. Paul's letter to the Romans c. AD 180-200
Greek text on papyrus Click to
see larger image
To
read more about each of the letters of St. Paul click here.
To
read excerpts from St. Paul’s letters about living the Christian life,
click here.
IMPRISONMENT
AND FINAL YEARS
It
is during his last visit to Jerusalem “to visit James” (Acts 21:18)
that Paul is arrested near the Temple after a small riot and taken by a
Roman tribune before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. Paul defends
himself before the Sanhedrin by playing on the dissension between the
Pharisees and Sadducees and their conflict over the resurrection. After
a plot to assassinate Paul is discovered, Paul’s case is transferred
to Antonius Felix, the procurator of Judea, who keeps him in prison for
two years, expecting a bribe. When Felix’s successor, Festus, arrives
on the scene, Paul appeals his case to Caesar, requesting a trial in
Rome by virtue of his Roman citizenship. “You have appealed to the
emperor; to the emperor you will go,” Festus replied (Acts 25:12).
Paul’s journey to Rome was to be an eventful one that included
shipwreck. The Book of Acts closes with Paul under house arrest in Rome
still carrying out his ministry of teaching and preaching – faithful
to his Master to the end.
During
his thirty-year ministry as an apostle what had Paul suffered for the
sake of the Gospel? Already in 2 Corinthians, Paul describes some of
what he endured to preach the Good News of Jesus risen from the dead:
“Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three
times I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day I was adrift at sea. On
frequent journeys, I was in danger from rivers, from bandits, from my
own people, from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the
wilderness, in danger at sea, in danger from false brethren; in toil and
hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often
without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under
daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches” (11:24-29).
Eusebius,
the 4th century bishop of Caesarea who is often called the
first Church historian, records that the apostle Paul was executed in
Rome during the persecution of the emperor and madman, Nero. Nero’s
persecution of Christians lasted for four years, from 64 to 68AD. It was
also during this persecution that the apostle Peter was executed. As a
Roman citizen entitled to a quick death, Paul was beheaded. St. Gregory
the Great, the 6th century pope, wrote that Paul’s
execution took place on the left bank of the Tiber River on the Via
Ostiensis, the road to the port of Ostia, and is buried under the main
altar of
the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
The
Hymn of St. Paul
listen to it
Facing
danger at sea and fearful persecution,
you
became a chosen vessel of the Savior.
By
your sermons you enlightened the nations
and
to the Athenians you revealed the unknown God.
Teacher
of the nations, St. Paul the Apostle, protector of us all,
keep
us who honor you safe from every trial and danger.
Click
here to view the text of:
"St. Paul
the Apostle to the Gentiles: Who are Today's Gentiles?" by Valerie Karras
Great
Vespers for the Feast of St. Paul' the Apostle
|
St.
Paul's First Missionary Journey
St.
Paul's Second Missionary Journey
St.
Paul's Third Missionary Journey
