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Posted on July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Was St. Paul a Poor Preacher? For many years, the image I had of St. Paul was that of a bold evangelist who went from town to town teaching and preaching powerfully about Christ. I envisioned his audience mesmerized as he preached and took on his opponents.I ultimately altered my view a bit based on scriptural descriptions, some of which we are currently reading in the Office of Readings. I have no doubt that he was a brilliant theologian. Paul was reputed to have been one of the...

Getting the Spiritual Gifts Back By Philip Cottraux Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against which there is no law. Every Christian should produce these nine spiritual fruits in their lives, making us the most effective witnesses we can be. But there’s a distinct difference between these and the spiritual gifts, which not everyone will have, as they are divided up among the body of Christ. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (1 Corinthians 12:11). During...

An internal Church of England report has revealed that 500 of its churches are operating a male-only policy for priests, five years after it had agreed to the ordination of female bishops. Individual churches are permitted to request male incumbents on theological grounds under a 2014 agreement, the Five Guiding Principles, that was intended to avert a breakaway by conservative evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics. […] This weekend there are signs that the compromise is fraying in Wales as well as in England. On Thursday the Church in Wales will consider whether to stop ordaining those who refuse to accept female priests....

The Persecution Letters By Philip Cottraux When we think of Christianity in ancient Rome, one of the first images that comes to mind is Christians being fed to lions in the Coliseum. But this wasn’t the norm throughout most of Roman history. Persecutions came in phases and were often short-lived, according to which emperor ordered it. The Romans didn’t always force their subjects to bow to their gods. Judaism was legal and since Christianity was considered a branch of Judaism, it too enjoyed certain rights and protections. At first. But as it grew, some started to view them with distrust....

During interviews about my most recent book, "Jesus Is Risen: Paul and the Early Church," many hosts have asked me why the greatest persecutor of Christians, Saul of Tarsus (later known as Paul), became Christianity's foremost evangelist. This is a fascinating question because Paul, by all appearances, was the least likely person to pioneer early Christianity's missionary efforts. He was born a Jew in Tarsus but raised and educated in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, a highly respected rabbi and Jewish scholar who mentored him on the "strict manner of the law of our fathers" (Acts 22:3). Paul touted his own Jewish...

It's Wednesday Bible Study, everyone! This is continuing our weekly video series on why the books of the New Testament were written - this week (part 8) we're taking a look at Philippians.Video: Why Paul Wrote PhilippiansFor those of you who've complained that I can be a tad long-winded, this is the shortest video I've made so far...clocks in at 6:36.

The Word of God grew and multiplied under much persecution. Many of the disciples were driven from Jerusalem and the city of Antioch in Syria was gaining importance in the early church. When this was reported at Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent to Antioch for a special mission. He sought Saul (later called Paul) in the city of Tarsus and Saul returned with Barnabas to Antioch. Many great things were happening at Antioch and in this city the disciples of Jesus were first called "Christians". Around 48 AD, in the springtime, Paul and his companions Barnabas and Mark were called on...

Hollywood actor Jim Caviezel is gearing up for the release of his new film, "Paul, Apostle of Christ," and says he feels called to make Christian films and share the love of Jesus Christ throughout his industry. "Paul, Apostle of Christ," hits theaters March 23rd and will bring to life the story of Saul of Tarsus, who was known for persecuting and murdering Christians but went on to become one of the most powerful and important figures of the Church after he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Caviezel said he wanted to do this film because it's the...

With remarkable insouciance, NYT writers Jeremy W. Peters and Lizette Alvarez blithely make reference to “a Bible verse from Romans that calls for the execution of gays,” meaning Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans 1:18-32.As anyone who has ever read the New Testament knows, Saint Paul never permits that Christians should commit any violence whatsoever against homosexuals, but the Times editors apparently thought that fact-checking with the original text was superfluous or that readers were too ignorant to check for themselves.The Times report, titled “After Orlando, a Political Divide on Gay Rights Still Stands,” follows on the fatal shooting of...

To mark the Jubilee of Mercy, some significant but little known monuments are opening up all over Rome. One of those sites is the cemetery where Saint Paul was buried after his martyrdom, about four miles from the Vatican. The necropolis was discovered through excavations between 1917 and 1918. It's one of the greatest records of Roman life in the first few centuries after Jesus Christ. CRISTINA CARTA Archaeologist "The type of tombs show us that they belonged to people from the middle and lower class. Every niche had a cost. To overlook the street was most expensive because of...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Christianity Today: In response to Paul D. Apostle’s article about the Galatian church in your January issue, I have to say how appalled I am by the unchristian tone of this hit piece. Why the negativity? Has he been to the Galatian church recently? I happen to know some of the people at that church, and they are the most loving, caring people I’ve ever met. Phyllis Snodgrass; Ann Arbor, MI ———————————————————————— Dear Editor: How arrogant of Mr. Apostle to think he has the right to judge these people and label them accursed. Isn’t that...

Galatians 3:19The word circumcision (or its derivative) is used 54 times in the entire New Testament. Sixteen occurrences of this word, about 30 percent, are found in one single book-the book of Galatians. The only New Testament book that uses this word more is the book of Romans, where it is used 26 times (48 percent). Interestingly, these are two of the most misinterpreted books in traditional Christianity. And Galatians 3:19 is often a major part of this misunderstanding. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the...

Confronting Legalism or Exclusivism? Reconsidering Key Pauline Passages by Mark M. Mattison Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version. According to the new perspective on Paul, the early Judaizing controversy which framed Paul's arguments regarding justification was not a controversy about whether individuals are capable of "earning" salvation before a righteous God. Rather, it was a controversy about whether Gentiles should be accepted into the new covenant people of God as Gentiles. The controversy involved practices like table-fellowship rather than moralism. Paul's opponents were not legalists striving to merit the favor of God but...

Laity and clergy should reject, respectfully, the liberalism of Pope Francis. In St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he wrote that he rebuked the first pope, St. Peter, “to his face because he clearly was wrong.” The issue was St. Peter’s capitulation to Jewish culture in his approach to the Gentiles. St. Paul moved swiftly to correct him for the sake of the early Church’s unity and doctrinal fidelity to Jesus Christ.

When Paul wrote, “To the Jews I became as a Jew … to those who are under the Law, as under the Law” (1 Corinthians 9:20), he was not talking about accommodating the message. He was simply saying he would not jeopardize his ability to preach the message by unnecessarily offending people. Several illustrations of that principle appear in the New Testament. In our last post, we looked at the example of the Jerusalem Council. Out of love and concern for Jewish unbelievers, the council asked new Gentile converts to abstain from engaging in cultural practices that the Jews found...

If you have experienced tremendous adversity within this past year, how would you react at the thought of Giving Thanks? While many people would try to focus on what happened to them, and why, how would you cope with adverse circumstances, and hardships? In this special Thanksgiving edition of Making Sense with Rob Case, we look at the life of the Apostle Paul, who had experienced so many difficulties, adverse circumstances, and hardships that would, upon a close, contemplative look, make ours pale by comparison. And amidst everything Paul went through, he was able to tell the people of Thessalonica,...

Most non-Christians are confounded when they see vehicles on the road with an NOTW sticker affixed to the window or bumper. They either don’t know what the letters stand for or – if someone clues them in – they don’t know what exactly the phrase means. Not of This World. Two polls provide some insight. One, from the Public Religion Research Institute, was released a few weeks ago. The other, from Baylor University, was released last year. In the PRRI survey, 81 percent of the 2,500 sampled said that religion played an important role in their lives. And most of...

Bible proof in Acts 26, 22, Romans 2, and Ephesians 3, that God and Christ made HIS choice for Paul to be HIS Apostle to the Gentiles Ephesians 3:7: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Remember, these are God's WORDs, not men's words. Take heed.

To be Prosphora Romans 15:15-16, Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister [λειτουργόv] of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering [ἱερουργounta] the gospel of God, that the offering [προσφορά] of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. From Strong's Dictionary and Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon: λειτουργός - a public minister, a servant of the state a minister, servant - so of military labourers - of the temple + of one busied with holy things +...

Apostle Paul ministry to the un-circumcision (Gentiles)