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Is being a Catholic, a Christian, or any sort of religious or spiritual person, something radically different to being an Australian, a European, an American, or Chinese? Is it the same as being born into a particular family? Our religion, like our country of origin or family of origin, helps define us but doesn't it involve something more at some point — a conversion? Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today looks at the conversion of one of the most famous "converts", St Paul, and what his "conversion" might mean for us two millennia later.

Paul the convert...

Our reconstruction of the "Historical Paul" begins where Paul himself begins his story, with his "conversion". In his earliest letter, Galatians, Paul tells his audience that they "would have heard of [his] former life in Judaism and of how intensely [he] had persecuted the church of God" (Gal 1:13). Interestingly, Paul does not consider this change of allegiance simply a matter of converting from one faith-practice to another; but, rather, as a call to embark upon a mission (Davies, 1981) –a mission for which he had been "set apart from birth" (Gal 1:15).

We tend to identify conversion with moral change and repentance, which are symbolised by the white garment donned by the newly baptised who have been "washed clean" of their sins. But, moral change is only part of the package. Paul's blurring of the distinction between call and conversion puts us in mind of the Gospel notion of repentance or "metanoia" (cf. Mk 1:15; Lk 3:8; Acts 26:20), which scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, translates as afterthought – in the sense of "rethinking" our life choices (Dunning, 2008).

Like many other young Jews of his generation, Paul rejected the Jesus Movement. And, like his fellow Pharisees, the young Paul was a morally good people. He was diligent in his observance of the Law; indeed, he speaks in Philippians (3:5) of being a "perfectionist" (Murphy-O'Conner, 2004). As a result of his dedication to the Law, Paul refused to "change his mind" about the Jesus People whom he considered to be apostates and blasphemers. He felt that Jesus had nothing to teach him. He had his mind made up, and he proudly boasted of his zealous overachievement vis-à-vis the Law (Gal 1:14). He was what we might call a "self-made" man. Someone once said that "fortunately God cannot be blamed for the antics of the 'self-made'!"

Change of mind…

Like those Pharisees before him who had known Jesus, Paul did not think differently about his faith after he had met the followers of Jesus. The Pharisees missed the essence of Jesus' message, which was not that Law-observance was wrong per se; but that dependence upon a "legalistic" mindset would not make one righteous before God. The attitude of the Pharisees was to "put the cart before the horse". After Paul encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, he changed his mind and rejected his old Pharisaic perfectionism. Paul came to understand that God alone saves; grace saves; and the absolutely free gift of God's love and mercy is what makes morality possible.

There is much concern these days about education, not only with regard to the three R's, but also in Catholic circles with regard to the fourth R, religion. How often do we read comments on Catholic discussion boards bemoaning the state of Catholic education; in particular, focusing on the failure of our schools to "indoctrinate" children with even a basic knowledge of Catholic beliefs? Of course, we do need to learn the basics of religious knowledge; but that does not mean that one of our outcomes should be the ability to recite chapter and verse from all the tomes of Thomas Aquinas. It does not even mean what some have called the hierarchy of doctrine, including such things as the Creed, Ten Commandments and Beatitudes, the Our Father and the sacraments.

We can know those basics and, yet, miss the basis. Theologian Bernard Lonergan says that the basis of conversion is to discover life as wonder, mystery, and the gift of God's love (Dunning, 2008). At the heart of all doctrine is the one message of God's love in Christ Jesus through the Spirit. At the heart of all the great stories of Scripture, including the story of the conversion of Paul, is God's love calling us to radical metanoia.

Does the message of Jesus still move us? Or have we watered the evocative and revolutionary power of the Word down to a mere message about morality and duty?

American Archbishop Rembert Weakland claims that, just like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, some of our religious leaders (lay and cleric, priest and bishop) are also weak in proclaiming the evocative power of the Word (Dunning, 2008). He says, "I am sick and tired of perfectionism"; to which he adds that true witness is full of compassion. "We witness because we want to try to help broken people". This compassionate witness is contradicted by those who would "get rid of the divorced, the gays and everybody else who gives us problems". If we share such self-righteous attitudes, we may need to ask: Has Jesus really changed our minds? As Paul would come to understand, true conversion and genuine metanoia requires, not only a new garment, it requires a new mind as well!

CLICK HERE FOR INDEX TO THIS SERIES ON ST PAUL

Bibliography and Further Reading:
For those who are looking for resources on Paul that are both reliable and readable, I can recommend the following:
W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (London: SPCK, 1981).
J. B. Dunning, "Conversion: Being Born Again and Again and Again" Catholic Update (2008). URL: http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0488.asp
J. Murphy-O'Connor, Paul: His Story (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Photo Credits:
The headline image of St Paul has been sourced from an icon which you will find at: www.airmaria.com.

What are your thoughts on this commentary?
You can contribute your thoughts in our forum.

©2007 Ian Elmer

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