RBWords

     If one had to pick just a few significant events in the history of Christianity to tell the story of the spread of the faith, the conversion of St. Paul would have to make the list!  Some historians refer to him as the "second founder" of our faith!  It is more than his conversion itself that is included in this.  It is his interpretation of the death and resurrection of Jesus that has had lasting significance!  He was not the only Christian missionary of his time, as we know from his letters.  Nor was he the only one writing letters to the various "churches" in the Mediterranean world.  Yet, it is HIS letters (along with the gospels/Acts, the three letters of John, the Letter to the Hebrews [once attributed to St. Paul], the two letters of James and Jude, and the Book of Revelation) that have survived to be considered part of the New Testament "canon of scripture!" 

 

     Why is this?  Certainly he was a strong personality, and history demonstrates that a strong personality can dominate a period, like Napoleon in France or Luther in the reformation era.  But there had to be more than personality involved.  Clearly the Christian community found that his interpretation of Jesus "resonated" with the Holy Spirit's action in the spread of the faith.  Paul's letters survived the long and complicated process of deciding what would or would not be part of the spirit-inspired Word of God!  Otherwise, why would these letters have been copied and read again and again in the Christian assembly over hundreds and now thousands of years?  These letters are more than letters!  They are part of our faith!  Yes, there are culturally-determined elements in the letters that pertain only to his time and place and which have little or no impact on our belief.  But his interpretation of Jesus' mission and the meaning of his death and resurrection are part of Christian dogma.  An understanding of Christian faith is incomplete without his interpretation.

 

     There is no zeal like that of a convert to a cause.  The Holy Spirit made an incredible choice in Paul, and we celebrate that choice today!  AMEN