WHO IS SAINT PAUL?

A Jewish Pharisee who believed in the strict

observance of God’s Law both for himself and for all
believing Jews. Paul was a Greek-speaking Jew from
Asia Minor. His birthplace, Tarsus, was a major city in
eastern Cilicia, a region that had been made part of the
Roman province of Syria by the time of Paul’s adulthood.
Two of the main cities of Syria, Damascus and Antioch,
played a prominent part in his life and letters. Although
the exact date of his birth is unknown, he was active as a
missionary in the 40s and 50s of the 1st century CE. From
this it may be inferred that he was born about the same
time as Jesus.

WHY HE BECAME A CHRISTIAN?

Journeying to Damascus Paul had an encounter
with the risen Christ. He became convinced that
fellowship with the risen Jesus, not the observance of the
Law, was the necessary and sufficient condition for receiving and participating in God’s promise
for salvation.

ST. PAUL’S ESSENTIAL MESSAGE

In Jesus Christ God had acted to provide
salvation for all who believe. This salvation,
whose complete realization lay in the future, has
its beginnings in the present. People can
experience this salvation in their own lives.

ST. PAUL’S CHRISTIAN BOND WITH

CHRIST
Through faith and baptism the Christian
assumes a new identity in Christ. On the social
level, the Christian joins the community of the
church, which proclaims the Gospel and lives in
union with Christ’s Spirit. On the personal level,
Christians recognize that, united with the Lord and
justified by Christ, they are given the help needed to
overcome any tendency for immoral living.

ST. PAUL’S JUSTIFICATION

In Paul’s thought the justice of God was
salvific justice at its best. God is faithful, fulfilling
the promises made in the covenant. God justifies,
which means that it is God alone who reconciles
humankind through Christ. People cannot justify
themselves, but can only be justified by being united
in faith with Jesus Christ and by accepting the grace
won by Christ. Justification is not something that
can be won by following the Law, but people can
only be made right with God and set free from a life
of immorality by accepting God’s reconciling grace
as a free gift.

THE WISDOM OF GOD

The notion that God’s saving work is
accomplished in the crucified Jesus is a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. The
idea that a condemned person could be a vehicle of salvation went against basic tenets of the
Jewish faith. They could not believe that a crucified man could be a sign from God. It is
foolishness to the Greeks because the idea that the transcendent God would be involved in
human affairs was ludicrous, especially in the form of a crucified criminal.
 SAINT PAUL’S

LIFE

JAMES CABILE

12 - PIETY