Wow, this question seems a bit deeper than a lot of the questions I see on here. I think I am not a very good judge of character. On my own. But with God in my life, I let Him be the judge. So, I do alright. I try to obey what I find in the Bible, and what I have heard in Church. Then, His judgement, and not mine, comes into play. Am I perfect in applying His judgement? No. I find myself sometimes wondering whether we truly understand all the scriptures. I read somewhere that there are over 40,000 different translations of scripture. So, its possible to be missing something. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you cannot go wrong.
When I speak about the Holy Ghost, I am not speaking about Him in a Pentacostal understanding. I mean, that when we accept Jesus into our life, the Holy Ghost will guide us, and take over. Tastes will change, the way you live will change, the way you see the world will change too. This happened to me. When I was in the NAVY, even though I was a Christian, I would go party. I would listen to all sorts of music. Now, I don’t party, and I don’t listen to much non-Christian music.
So, when you have the wisdom of the Holy Ghost leading you, you will make different decisions. I don’t often speak about this- because I don’t want to be boastful. Were it just up to me, I would still be partying and listening to every kind of music. But something took over. It wasn’t like a change in taste, because I tried going out still, and listening to non-Christian music- and I found myself not enjoying it.
I do not believe everyone grows the same. You know, you might be a Christian and still be partying, and listening to non-Christian music. Those are really just examples of things that still changed in my life. Somethings have not changed- for example, I still smoke. I do not view smoking as a sin, but I do think it is a nasty habit. Nevertheless, I continue to smoke. But I don’t usually have much alcohol. I do not think its just my restraint, but it is the Holy Ghost that causes this, somehow. I could fill a book, and never really be able to explain it to you. Do you understand what I mean?
My Reading
Here is the book I have been reading. I have been reading it the last few weeks. I just finished reading, and was inspired by the subject material to do a little bit of writing myself. Paul: A Biography, turned out to be really good.
One thing I really liked about this book, is it was a biography on Paul. I have always wanted to read a book about Paul, to see what someone else has to say about him. Because of his relationship with Jesus, I believe, he ended up having an enormous impact on the world. But it wasn’t for his own purpose, it was for the sake of Christ. Paul is the man, who God chose to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Currently, the Gentiles rule the world. Imagine that.
Another thing I really liked about this book, were the maps that detailed Paul’s journeys. He went on no less than three missionary journeys to spread the gospel. Paul went back to Corinth about three times. One time, the Corinthians rejected him. Hence, his many visits. But at the end, they decided to contribute funds to support the church in Jerusalem.
The last chapter I was puzzled by somethings, however. For example, the author relays a story from 2 Kings. Where some angels confounded the troops of Assyria. Well, the author through another source, attributes this miraculous event, to mice gnawing at the draw strings, of the bows that the Assyrians were going to use.
Another thing that the author does, which I am not to sure about. He ties in Paul’s Jewish background, as being the source which Paul used to spread the gospel, including the recital of the Shema. I think when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, however, Paul put those things away. There is a verse where Paul says, “When I was a child, I did childish things, but when I became a man I put those things away”. So, I am not sure where this verse comes from, but it is very telling. Because the man who was on the road to Damascus was a completely different man from the man on the road to Athens.
See how we have a contrast here. Saul of Tarsus was going to Damascus to destroy the church. Because of his Jewish zeal, we are told. Yet, at the same time, we are told, in the book, that Paul was on the road to Athens to spread the Good News, ALSO because of his Jewish zeal. But after his conversion, on the road to Damascus, you see, Paul put those things away. We see this over, and over, when Paul confronts the Jewish believers in Jerusalem about the Gentile believers, beginning to fill the church. Paul did not require them to be circumcised. Titus, was uncircumcised. However, the author notes later, that Paul circumcised Timothy.
So, we have a case where Paul does one sacrament of the Jewish faith, and the author is claiming that Paul fell back on his Jewish roots. But when you pay attention, to what Paul says, I believe, it is clear he really did not do that. Paul was dependent on Jesus to fulfill his duties, before God. That is why Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you”. Paul didn’t need those things, because he had Jesus. Which really made him who he was. Without Jesus, there would be no Paul. I am not saying that he didn’t use the knowledge he had, however. He certainly did, and he had a lot of knowledge.
Here is where it gets tricky. I believe God, through the events of History, and through the birth of Jesus, prepared the world to actually be able to receive the Good News. Rome, and before that, Alexander the Great, and even the Persians, and Babylonians had been used by God to position Israel where she was in those days, as Judea. Then, Jesus appears to Saul, who became Paul, and from that God directed things in Paul’s life that led him to have an impact.
Peter was also an Apostle of Jesus. Initially, the Angel told Peter to go to the household of Cornelius, a Gentile, and to preach about Him. But even though Peter did this, we see things later, that make it clear to us, Peter was not equipped with the same understanding and heart as Paul had. Because Paul has to confront Peter about the way he handled himself in front of the non-Jewish believers. I don’t think it was just based on Jewish-teachings that gave Paul the insight to be able to reach the gentiles, it was actually a combination of His new heart from Jesus, and the Holy Spirit guiding him. The reason I say this is because of another scripture. I just thought of it, and now I forgot it.
The author does point out however, that Paul did have love. For the Philippians, for the Thessalonians, and for the Corinthians. That is why he suffered so much. Five times he was whipped, he was stoned, and he was imprisoned. All so that he could bring the Good News of Jesus to the Gentiles.
The author was not sure where Paul went after his two years in Rome. The author supposed, it was possible he had made it as far as Britain. He referenced a hymn or a song to support the claim. But he also claimed it was possible, that Paul either went to Spain, or back to Jerusalem and to visit the churches once more. Or, perhaps, after his two years of house a rest, his appeal reached Caeser and Paul may have been beheaded there- or years later. So, it is not clear when Paul died. But the author supposed, that when he died that Paul had on his lips the version of the Shema he had made, that he opens his letters with.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short review of Paul: A Biography. Most of the references for this book, are contained within the text. However, I would recommend keeping a Bible handy, because the author jumps around a lot from one letter to the next. To keep from getting confused, you can look up each book, and he gives some passages that when I read them, really gave clarity to what the author, and Paul were saying. Enjoy! Merry Christmas!!!
The Courier 