[konfused]

I know who Paul was. I mean, specifically, why do people think that Paul's insights into Jesus and God are more relevent than anyone elses. He admitted that he never even met Jesus in the flesh. I don't understand the doctrine of "justificatin by faith". Accordingly, good works won't get you into heaven but a belief that Jesus arose from the dead will. Personally, I don't subscribe to the Bible as the Word, and I do believe that good works will help a person to reach a state of "salvation" here on Earth.

I sometimes think that the "Justification by faith" doctrine was a by-product of Calvinism. I'm just curious to hear some believers' insights into why Paul's thoughts about Jesus are more relevant than their own. I agree with Emerson who said that the original version of the Bible was written in everyone's heart.

[quankanne]

Paul prolly could be considered the poster child for conversion by faith. Mind you, I've not *read* the Bible as closely as some, but I do know from catechism and the "Lives of the Saints for Children" book that my mom would read to me that he was zealous in running down Christians because he was so rabid in his Jewish faith. He didn't know Jesus, he didn't like the upheaval that so-called rabbi had created among the faithful with his new ideas about faith and love of God. Saul (as he was called before conversion) pretty much wanted to unearth them hated Christian believers and persecute them ...

one day, on his way to Damascus to arrest yet another group of Christians, he was knocked off his horse and blinded by a heavenly light. God spoke to him, telling him that in persecuting Christians, Saul was persecuting Christ. http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintp12.htm

did that ever make an impression on him! So much so that he converted to Christianity, was baptized, changed his name to Paul and spent the rest of his days evangelizing for Christ.

I think he's held up as a role model for justification by faith in that even though he'd never met Christ on the physical plane, spiritually he did, and that faith was so strong that it converted him from a man who hated and persecuted others who proclaimed Christ into someone who proclaimed Him himself.

Paul amazes me in that he still sounds so fresh after all these centuries; his words feel so alive and strike me in a way that no other Bible author has. As a journalist, this moves me, because I understand how important – and how hard – it is to make the words you craft become real and credible and fresh. It's as if he right here, right now, speaking to *me* about a Jesus he's never met, but loves dearly.

Accordingly, good works won't get you into heaven but a belief that Jesus arose from the dead will. Personally, I don't subscribe to the Bible as the Word, and I do believe that good works will help a person to reach a state of "salvation" here on Earth.

in Scripture, Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to Father but by me" (John 14:1) … he's fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, but also has simplified how people are to come to God. He's thrown away all the clutter by saying "you find him through me." Just a simple belief in him, no buying your way into God's good graces, just a one-to-one thing.

good works don't "save" you, but merely help you express your love for God in a very real way, IMHO. Sort of like that love for him spills over into a love for fellow man, which is all God asks of us, to love one another as we love him. Salvation comes through God; good works are just the gravy on the biscuit.

[slubberdegullion]

Originally Posted by quankanne

one day, on his way to Damascus to arrest yet another group of Christians, he was knocked off his horse and blinded by a heavenly light.

Sounds a lot like an epileptic seizure to me.

[quankanne]

Sounds a lot like an epileptic seizure to me.

possibly … but that's not the important part. The important part of the story is that this Christian-hating man was transformed by a man he'd never met. If I recall correctly, Saul was a muckety-muck among Jewish believers, very strong in his Jewish faith. To have been so moved by the very Christ he persecuted is nothing short of miraculous ...

[converse02]

To Konfused
Paul (Saul) had a vision of Jesus and converted. He understood the gentile world well and knew what it took to get the gentiles to convert. Since Paul was able to communicate to the gentiles and spread the religion, it is said that "Paul's insights into Jesus and God are more relevent than anyone elses," including the original 12 apostles who faded from view. Whether Paul's message is right or wrong is a moot point, as his message is the one that got spread and converted the Roman Empire.

Paul's message reached to Rome, the center of western world. It soon had an emperor who converted. The religion of the emperor was everyone's religion. The idea of one God in heaven and one emperor of Earth strengthen him politically. The rest is history.