Opus 2023-287: Dark Thoughts: Apostle or Author

Maybe we have the calling of the Apostle Paul all wrong.

We think of him as the apostle to the Gentiles.  He did too.  And he was.  The Bible is very clear about that and if I could not read I have a friend who cannot have a conversation without telling me again that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.  Got it.  The reason my friend has trouble with me is that I am enough of a thinker and student of history to know that many of the churches Paul went to had already been established by others.  I also know that with the coming of Mohammad most of the churches that Paul had anything to do with were turned into mosques.

But what if that was just preparation for his true calling:  Author of Theology.

What if his real calling was to write his letters.

It would require on-the-ground knowledge.  It would require real-world responses to real-world situations.  His missionary journeys gave that to him.  Think about why we have the letters of Paul.  They were almost entirely responses to problems in the church.  Some were moral, some theological.  Paul’s background as a Pharisee and the revelations given him by Jesus put him in a place to write and know of what he spoke.

Most of the churches he was involved with were ground up by Islam.  Similar things can be said of the other NT writers.  What they wrote has survived and continues to bear fruit.

We probably have the wrong idea about the contributions we make, what is important, what will last.  We serve in faith, not in sight.  That might discourage you but I think it should make us optimistic.  It is a reminder of Providence.  God is in charge.

homo unius libri