Ch. 26 - Paul, An Apostle

Understanding the Scriptures

In this lesson, Carson looks at the person, history, and theology of one of the greatest saints in the 2,000 year history of the Catholic Church: St. Paul the Apostle. In this episode, we read from the writing of a presbyter, a Catholic priest, who wrote around 160 A.D. In it, we discover a description of what St. Paul looked like. We read from Eusebius of Caesarea's "Church History," wherein he describes the means by which St. Paul was martyred under the persecution of the Roman emperor Nero. Before his monumental conversion to Christianity, Paul was a zealous persecutor of the Catholic Church. Why? What did he care if other Jews embraced the Christian Faith.. of what concern was that to him? Only by looking at the nature of first century Judaism and the sect of Judaism that Paul embraced - Pharisaism - we can understand why Paul was concerned about whether or not and how other Jews kept the Mosaic Law. On his way to persecute the Church in Damascus, Paul met the risen Jesus face to face, and that experience changed his life forever. Paul came to discover that his view of the Mosaic Law, his interpretation, was askew. This supernatural event turned one of the most formidable foes of the early Christians into their most powerful advocate. Finally, in this episode, we look closely at St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans and discover a look at a new way of reading this famous text. This advance in Biblical studies is known in scholarly circles as The New Perspective. Join us as we take upon ourselves the mind of first century Judaism and read Paul's words afresh.