Introducing St. Paul
Paul as Prophet
Friday, April 3, 2015
Paul of Tarsus is able to critique his own Judaism while still remaining loyal to it because he loves it and because he is not an either/or, dualistic thinker; he is a both/and, non-dual thinker. You’ve got to critique your own religion to love it honestly. This is why I critique Catholicism and Christianity as a whole: I was encouraged by both Jesus and Paul. The more I understand the teaching of Jesus, the more I’m convinced that he gave Paul and us the necessary wisdom for the reform of all religions: non-dual consciousness, powerlessness, nonviolence, and compassionate action—which is the prophetic calling.
Paul also radically critiques the so-called new religion that is eventually called Christianity. He criticizes the Galatians for acquiescing to the teaching of the Judaizers who believe the Gentiles needed to be circumcised to join this new “sect” of Judaism. Paul reminds them, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). From his experience on the Damascus Road, Paul learned that religion was not to be used for social control and persecution; rather, Christ is about organically connecting us in love.
Paul even tells Peter off to his face, because Peter resisted eating with the Gentiles after the conservatives came from Jerusalem and tried to re-impose purity codes (Galatians 2:11-12). Peter backs down and agrees that Paul should lead the way in reaching out to the non-Jews. So Paul calls himself the “Apostle to the Pagans” (Romans 11:13).
After being largely rejected by the Jews for many years, Paul decides that this message is bigger than Judaism. I think it’s truthful to say that Christianity became a universal religion and not just a reform of Judaism largely due to the influence of this one single person. But have no doubt about it: Paul thinks he is bringing the Gentiles into Judaism and making Judaism a universal religion instead of a tribal or ethnic religion. But then, despite Paul, we repeated the same mistake and made Christianity into another tribal religion. God is so patient.
Gateway to Silence:
“I live no longer, not I; but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
References:
Adapted from In the Footsteps of St. Paul (published by Franciscan Media, 2015) (CD);
Jesus as Liberator/Paul as Liberator (MP3 download);
Great Themes of Paul: Life as Participation, disc 1 (CD)
