Yes and No

For example, I have been wrong about people. I might have dismissed people instinctively but later came to admire them – or the opposite 😀.

I think of Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament, who was later known as the apostle Paul. He was probably aware of all sorts of silly and sinister “Messiah” movements and perhaps instinctively dismissed the early church as something similar. It wasn’t just dismissing. He was actually the prime persecutor of the church. I just wonder what might have happened if he sat down and spoke with the disciples, who had Jesus bring them through the Old Testament prophecies – and who had witnessed the miracles and resurrection of Jesus. If Paul carefully considered everything thoroughly and rationally, would he have ceased his persecution?

As it happened, on the road to Damascus, he was stopped in his tracks by none other than the risen Jesus:

Acts 9: 1-6
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Then Paul went on to become the most influential of all the early disciples. And he’s had a big influence on history. Think of the following places named after him:

• São Paulo (Brazil)
• St. Paul, Minnesota (USA)
• San Pablo (Philippines)
• St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome (Italy)
• St. Paul’s Church, Diu (Goa and Daman Archdiocese) (India)
• St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province) (China)
• Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (St. Petersburg)
• St. Paul’s Church (Melaka, Malaysia)
• Me (I’m not really a city or a cathedral but my name is Paul 😀) – other famous names include Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Paul Weller, Bono (real name Paul)

You can read all about him in the Book of Acts, and he wrote most of the New Testament epistles. I knew little about Paul as a child. They did read Paul’s epistles in Mass, because I remember the priest saying, “This is the epistle of Saint Paul the apostle” 😀. But I used to daydream throughout the mass. When I started reading the Bible for myself, I got much more acquainted with Paul. Nowadays, if someone asks me where they should start when reading the Bible, I would suggest that they begin with one or two of the gospels – perhaps Matthew and John. Then read the Book of Acts and on through Paul’s epistles. Here’s a list of his epistles:

I don’t know of any hymns about the apostle Paul. Paul, like all the followers of Jesus in the New Testament would encourage us to worship God, not saints. But here are two YouTube videos about Paul:

I’d always encourage people to watch these overview videos too about books of the Bible and some special ones with maps etc. It’s truly wonderful to have so many great resources at our disposal, but I like to use them to supplement my Bible reading rather than to replace my Bible reading.