Session 8: The Epistles - Reading Paul

Understanding Paul's Writings

• When reading Paul's epistles, it's essential to start with the easier ones like Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, or 1 Thessalonians, rather than Romans, which is considered more complex.
• Romans is like a Master's level epistle, and it's not recommended to start with it, as it has big theology and complex ideas that can be hard to engage with.

Paul's Conversion on the Damascus Road

• Paul's conversion on the Damascus Road was a dramatic event that changed his life and understanding of God.
• On his way to Damascus, Paul was doing what he thought God wanted him to do, maintaining the purity of the Jewish faith.
• A bright light flashed, and a voice from heaven spoke to Paul, saying "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
• Paul's response, "Who are you, Lord?", showed his confusion, as he thought he was defending God, not persecuting Him.
• The word "Lord" has different resonances, including the Hebrew resonance, which is significant in this context.

The Significance of Christ

• Paul's encounter on the Damascus Road made him understand that he needed to defend Christ, not persecute Christians.
• This realization changed his life, gave him a new vocation, and a new sense of self-definition.
• Christ is at the center of Paul's theology, and this understanding has a knock-on effect on everything else he says.

The End Times and the New Creation

• Paul believes that the end times have broken into the present moment with Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
• Jesus' resurrection is a marker that the resurrection has already happened, and the future is now happening in people's lives.
• The old creation and the new creation overlap, and Christians live in a world informed by both.
• This theme is important in 2 Corinthians, particularly in 2 Corinthians 5, where it says "if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation."

Balancing the Old and New Creations

• Christians live in a world where the old and new creations exist simultaneously.
• They have to balance the recognition of the now (the new creation) with the not yet (the old creation).
• This balancing act is part of the Christian existence, where they experience glimmers of the world as it might be, alongside the reality of how the world is now.

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