Editing Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (section)

== Friday, Nov 8: Saint Paul, the perfect choice for Christ ==
We skipped last week for All Saints Day.  The following day was All Souls Day. I love the juxtaposition of the two feasts: those who made it and those who could use a little push!

As I stood in line for Confession, I read from Acts. I got to Chapter 25, in which Paul is still in Caesarea, after the unsuccessful extortion attempt by the Roman governor Felix, who held him for two years hoping for a bribe ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/24?27 Acts 24:27]). Felix hands him over to his successor, Porcius Festus, who tries to hand Paul back over to the Jews, but is thwarted by Paul's appeal, as a Roman citizen to Caesar. 

The baffled Festus turns Paul over to the local King, Agrippa and his wife, Bernice. Agrippa is curious, and Festus explains the problem,<blockquote>Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive.<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/25?19 Acts  25:19]</ref></blockquote>I find this a remarkable passage that we might normally walk past: Paul testified to the resurrected Christ. 

So much to discuss in Paul, and so many directions and diversions.   

Instead, let's focus on "why Paul?"  

In [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/1?12 1Tim 1:12-16], Paul himself tells us why he was chosen by the Lord:<blockquote>

I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.    

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.    

Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.     

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.    </blockquote>So he's an example of God's mercy, with the qualification being that he was the "foremost" sinner.  But he does not tell us about his other qualifications for the job.

Using the notion of "contingency," which means in this sense "alternatives" or "options", we can see how Paul is the perfect Apostle for the mission Christ embarks him upon, to spread the Good News to the Gentiles: 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Paul, the Perfect Choice
!Quality
!Necessary Contingency: 
!Purpose
|-
|Pharisee, learned under Gamaliel
|... to be thoroughly knowledgeable of the OT and Mosaic Law
|
* to demonstrate Christ as fulfillment of the prophets (see [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/10?4 Rom 10:4])
* authenticity in challenging the "Judaizers" (Council of Jerusalem, [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/15?1 Acts 15:1])
* authenticity in converting the Gentiles
|-
|Persecuted Christians
|... to have experienced a complete and literal conversion (''metanoia,'' Greek for "changing one's mind"'')''
|
* to demonstrate the authenticity of his faith and mission
* to better convert others
|-
|Born outside of Israel
|... familiar with the Greek and Roman world outside of Israel
|
* to be sent to Damascus by the Pharisees
* to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles
|-
|Speak Greek and Hebrew (and/or Aramaic)
|... speak these languages natively
|
* for authenticity in Jerusalem (see his speech to the people in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/21?37 Acts 21:40])
* for protection by the Romans ("Do you speak Greek?"[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/21:37 "Acts 21:37])
* shift preaching from the Jews to the Gentiles ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/13:46 Acts 13:46])
* the Holy Spirit gave Paul the ability to "speak in tongues"
|-
|Roman citizen
|... have legal rights of a Roman citizen
|
* to be protected by the Romans in Jerusalem ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/21?37 Acts 21:39]) 
* to be sent to Rome ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/25:8 Acts 25:8])
|}
Thus, Paul was the perfect vehicle for Christ -- all those characteristics of Paul were essential to the mission, it's authenticity, and its timing.

But he needed a few more qualifications, things about his character:

*First of all, he was very, very smart. 
**see [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2peter/3?15 2 Pt 3:15-16] on how Paul is "hard to understand"
**quick thinker:
***[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/23:25 Acts 23:5] (after being smacked in the mouth at the High Priest's command)
***[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/23:6 Acts 23:6]: splitting the Sanhedrin
* He was enormously patient: 
** [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/3:12 Col 3:12] he calls for "patience" from believers
** his letters are full of admonitions, but with patience and encouragement, such as from [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/2:4 2 Cor 2:4]:

<blockquote>"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you."</blockquote>

* Had a great memory:
** quoting Isaiah ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/28?25 Acts 28:4], etc.)

* in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/10 Romans Ch. 10] he uses extensive OT quotes in order to demonstrate Christ as fulfillment of the prophets:
<blockquote>For Christ is the end of the law for the justification of everyone who has faith. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/10?4 Rom 10:4])</blockquote>

* from [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/13?47 Acts 13:47], quoting [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/49?6 Is 49:6] 

<blockquote>Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.’”</blockquote>
* '''Some other necessary qualities of Paul'''
** Keen political sense
*** splitting the Sanhedrin over resurrection of the dead ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/23:6 Acts 23:6])
** Very high pain tolerance: 
*** see [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/11:30 2 Cor 11:30-33] for Paul's "boasts" and "labors" (listed [[Saint Paul#2 Cor 11: Paul’s Boast: His Labors|here in our page on Saint Paul]])
** Unafraid of heights 
*** lowered in the basket in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/11?33 2 Cor 11:33]
** Ability to swim (see [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2corinthians/11:25 Acts 12:32], [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/27?43 Acts 27:43])
** Unafraid of snakes ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/28?3 Acts 28:3])
** Talk all night & still have the energy to revive a boy from the dead ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/20:9 Acts 20:9])
*** (although he could be a little boring...) 
----I have an additional question, though: did Paul see or even meet Jesus before the Crucifixion? We know he knew about him, as the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus tell the stranger they meet,<blockquote>“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?18 Lk 24:18])   </blockquote>This site says he did:  I like to think that Paul not only saw Jesus, but was one of the "scribes and Pharisees" who brought the adulteress to Jesus for stoning ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/8?1 Jn 8:1]) -- of course there's no evidence for it, but it'd be consistent with Paul's attitude. Imagine were he the last of the group to walk away!" If so, it might also give us a clue as to what Jesus wrote on the ground ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/8?8 Jn 8:8])  I always thought he was playing tic-tac-toe, with the final "scratch" as they walked away in shame, but maybe it was a note to Paul, "''See you on the road to Damascus!''"  :) 

Paul was there, and he tells us so. He tells King Agrippa ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/26?4 Acts 26;4-5]), <blockquote>My manner of living from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my people and in Jerusalem, all [the] Jews know. They have known about me from the start, if they are willing to testify, that I have lived, my life as a Pharisee, the strictest party of our religion. </blockquote>We can conjecture that he was there for the challenges to Jesus, and the scalding, perfect replies received from him (Mt Ch 23, Mk Ch 12), but from what he told King Agrippa, he was there and he knew of these things. Did he participate? He was smart enough to have come up with the logical tricks they tired upon Jesus, and angry enough, indeed, were he there himself as Jesus threw "woes" and "hypocrites" at them (Mt. 23:13-29) to be "so enraged against them" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/26?11 Acts 24:11]) to persecute, imprison, vote to put them to death.  And if so, we can see the depths of his metanoia on the way to Damascus and considering all these things for three years in the desert.  

Here for websites on this question: 

* [https://theopolisinstitute.com/before-his-conversion-paul-knew-jesus/ Before His Conversion, Paul Knew Jesus - Theopolis Institute]
* [https://www.carm.org/questions/did-paul-actually-see-jesus/ Did Paul actually see Jesus? | carm.org] 

----Here for a page on this site [[Saint Paul]]

Dali sends this site: https://www.theologyfortherestofus.com/pauls-four-missionary-journeys-the-complete-guide/

Here for another good timeline: [https://whosefaithfollow.org/Pauline%20Timeline.html Chronological Table of the Apostle Paul's Life]  (note that there is much uncertainty about the dates)