Monday 25 January 2010

Background

Today is the day when the Church remembers the conversion ofSaint Paul. Paul is the author of several of the books in the NewTestament, which are in the form of letters to new Christiancommunities (this one is to the Christians in Galatia, which was inmodern-day western Turkey). He was an indefatigable communityorganiser and travelled extensively around the Mediterranean. Paulwas very significant in the development of Christianity as he seemsto have spearheaded the move to encourage Gentiles (non-Jews) tojoin the new movement, without being required to adopt Judaismfirst. Previously, followers of Jesus had been one group among manywithin Judaism.

Paul was a devout Jew - a Pharisee - and initially was activelyopposed to the followers of Jesus. This is his own account of howGod changed his heart, and made him as zealous in promoting the newmovement as he had previously been in trying to stamp it out. Luketells us the story (Acts 9) of Paul's 'Damascus moment' in dramaticterms and it has been much depicted in Christian art, and used as aclassic model of how people come to faith.

However, it is interesting that Paul himself does not tell hisstory in particularly graphic terms or even put himself at thecentre of the narrative - he wants to stress that it is the actionand grace of God which turned around his own ambition and personalstriving for perfection, and revealed another way. Paul presentshimself as the kind of pious believer who, with the best will inthe world, and in the interests of preserving a tradition that wasprecious to him, was capable of getting it badly wrong and actuallyobstructing God's will. He had to 'unlearn' what he thought he knewin order to become one of Christianity's earliest and most originaltheologians.

To Ponder

Not everyone experiences a dramatic 'conversion'when they come to faith, but all of us find that we have to'unlearn' important things we thought we knew as we develop in ourfaith journey. What have you had to 'unlearn' and what insight hascome from this?