PAULINE EPISTLESSTRUCK TO THE GROUND

OPENING PRAYER

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it

does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know

partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

ST. PAUL

Not just the stories of Jesus but the theology of Jesus.

Paul concentrates on the next phase of the Church, predating the Gospels.

Paul provides foundational material for the Catholic Church; earliest written record of the early Church

WHO WAS PAUL

Saul: Roman Official, Jew, Persecutor of Christians

Well respected in the Jerusalem temple until his conversion

Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus (Acts Chapter 9)

CONVERSION

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

– Acts 9:3-9

PAUL’S IMPORTANCE

Due to St. Paul being a Roman Citizen, he had access and safe passage and could be heard in Roman court

The Jews that were persecuting Christians could not punish or hinder him

Citizenship allowed for un-fettered access to all of the early Catholic Churches from Jerusalem to Rome

GEOGRAPHY

PAULINE EPISTLES

Romans

1st Corinthians

2nd Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1st Thessalonians

2nd Thessalonians

First Timothy

Second Timothy

Titus

Philemon

• Like Prophets: in order of size not time or importance!

• Some to communities, some to individuals.

THEMES OF THE EPISTLE

Themes throughout: Salvation

Hope

Church (ecclesiology)

Christian lifestyle

Christology

They give us great insights into the early communities and an understanding of how the Early Church understood the message that had been imparted to them

PAULINE EPISTLES

Start of the historical record of the Catholic Church (earlier than Acts) Standardization of doctrine/behavior/theology

Inter-Church Communication

Describes how operationally the Church works

For the sake of overview; focus on 4 books: Romans

1st Corinthians

2nd Corinthians

Ephesians

WHY WRITE IT DOWN?

Visits by Paul to the remote churches were few and far between

The original founders of the Church were dying, being killed off

The written word versus oral history Can’t be distorted

Can’t be forgotten

ROMANS

Humanity Lost without the Gospel (Romans 1:16-3:20)

Justification through Faith in Christ (Romans 3:21-5:21)

Justification and the Christian Life (Romans 6:1-8:39)

Jews and Gentiles in God's Plan (Romans 9:1-11:36)

The Duties of Christians (Romans 12:1-15:13)

1ST CORINTHIANS

Disorders in the Corinthian Community (1 Cor 1:10-6:20)

Answers to the Corinthians' Questions (1 Cor 7:1-11: 1)

Problems in Liturgical Assemblies (1 Cor 11:2-14:40)

The Resurrection (1 Cor 15:1-58)

2ND CORINTHIANS

The Crisis between Paul and the Corinthians (2 Cor 1:12-7:16)

The Collection for Jerusalem (2 Cor 8:1-9:15)

Paul's Defense of His Ministry (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)

EPHESIANS

Unity of the Church in Christ (Eph 1:15-2:22)

World Mission of the Church (Eph 3:1-4:24)

Daily Conduct, an Expression of Unity (Eph 4:25-6:20)

CLOSING

Our Father

Backup

Why we have them? Importance? Timing before gospels.

Focus on Corinthians, Romans, and Ephesians. Why we have them? Importance? Timing before gospels.

 

Paul as a framer of the church. Jesus leaves Peter and Paul to continue shaping the church.

 

--- description what is the point of the book

Sayings to groups gone astray

Start of inner group communication

Early councils; operationally how church works.

Beginning of traditions

 

 

On my own for activities

Writing epistles explaining believes based on each book

SAUL

Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul, was “of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.” (Phil 3:5) Acts identifies Paul as from the Mediterranean city of Tarsus (in present-day south-central Turkey), well-known for its intellectual environment. Acts also quotes Paul as saying he was “a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.” (Acts 23:6)

Paul confesses to having “violently persecuted” the “church of God” prior to his conversion. He was well respected by everyone and advancing in stature within Judaism's Jerusalem Temple leadership before he came to the realization that Jesus, by his resurrection from the dead, was actually The Lord and The Messiah.