St. Paul already had some faith though, being a faithful Jew, and he learned this from books and preachers through the habit of faith instilled at Circumcision. God gave Him the revelation of Jesus as the Christ on the road to Damascus.
"Faith comes by hearing." The ordinary channel of salvation is from preaching and the sacraments, which are human actions. So God does need us in the ordinary economy of things. But God is not bound by the ordinary economy of salvation.
You are missing the point. God does not need us but has decided he wants us and wants us to participate. We all know what the normal channels of grace are and that they involve the participation of human beings. I agree with you on that. I was only bringing the God-alone mentality to its ridiculous extreme. The question is where do we draw the line between what God does and what man should do. Fr. Maximilian drew it based on biblical evidence. Where is your evidence? Remember from way back in the beginnig of the thread Comment 4 posted by eastsider Paul said "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." Col 1:24 (NIV) We do participate in the Redemption. And if you disagree with this then please be spcific. We need to go beyond vague assertions that it makes Mary God to be a participator in redemption. This part we should all agree with. Now where do we draw tht line?
Ave Maria!