Walking with St. Paul Roman Citizen in a Greek-influenced Culture

Oct 13, 2008

Over the last few weeks we have been exploring the trinity of personality that is the remarkable figure of St. Paul. Last time we looked at the first of the three: Paul as a Pharisee of Pharisees. We explored how being a Pharisee was not something radically opposed to the Gospel, but rather most Pharisees shared many ideas and principles in common with the followers of the Way, and St. Paul continued to call himself a Pharisee decades after becoming a follower of Christ. Pharisees were not a monolythic group in the New Testament - some were terrible hypocrites, while others recognized and followed Jesus (like Nicodemus).

I would like to make one final point about that part of St. Paul’s identity. St. Paul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin. His namesake, King Saul, was also a Benjamite and the most infamous member of that tribe. Long before King Saul, the patriarch Jacob (Israel) spoke a word of prophesy over his son Benjamin. The words spoken over each of his twelve sons are often realized within the later narratives of Israel’s history. To Benjamin he said, "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, and at even dividing the spoil" (Gen. 49:27). These words would be fulfilled in the life of King Saul who kept the spoils of war when he was commanded by the Lord to destroy it all. When he realized he had lost his kingdom as a result of his disobedience, he became a ravenous wolf with a single purpose - to kill King David.

Over 1,000 years later, another Benjamite named Saul also became a ravenous wolf seeking out the followers of Jesus to destroy them (Acts 8:3; 9:1). In a blinding moment, on the Road to Damascus he learned that to persecute the Church was persecuting Christ Himself (Acts 9:4). Like his ancient namesake, he was determined to destroy the Davidic King and his Kingdom. But everything changed in that moment. I love how St. Augustine describes Saul’s conversion, "The Lamb that was slain by wolves turns a wolf into a lamb."
Now on to the second facet of St. Paul’s personality - he was a Roman citizen in a Greek-influenced culture.

During St. Paul’s lifetime, the Roman Empire was experiencing the Pax Romana, peace from warfare. Trade exploded and 50,000 miles of Roman roads criss-crossed the empire, making travel much safer. This web, connecting every corner of the empire, was indispensable to the communication and spread of the Gospel. Although nearly all Jews lived and worked within the empire, few had full Roman citizenship. St. Jerome tells us that Paul’s parents were given their citizenship by their employer, a right passed on to Paul which he would use to further the Gospel. When arrested in Jerusalem and following several trials, he claimed his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to Caesar himself. It was an difficult journey that included a violent shipwreck, but St. Paul saw it as an opportunity to bring true Pax to the heart of the Roman Empire and he even made converts from the household of Caesar.

Though Rome was the world power, the lands it occupied were still deeply influenced by the spread of Greek culture under Alexander the Great and his successors who "hellenized" the world. Hellen is an ancient Greek term for Greece, and Hellenized Jews were those who were influenced, to one degree or another, by Greek culture. For example, koine (common) Greek was the main language that spanned the empire. It is worth considering the significance of this fact. A single language was spoken in what is now Scotland, Iraq, Germany, Africa, Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, to name a few. Like the roman roads, it is hard for me not to see the hand of the Lord again. This common language helped carry the Gospel uninterrupted among both Jews and Gentiles in dozens of diverse cultures. Paul spoke and wrote in Greek, and was not unfamiliar with other facets of Greek culture. He knew their philosophers and poets (Acts 18:19-32), and his letters follow classical Greek style and etiquette. Part of this is due to his place of origin - Tarsus. Of it, Paul reminds us it was "no mean city" (Acts 21:39), in other words, it was not some backwater village. One ancient writer called Tarsus a "little Athens" of learning. St. Paul wisely took what was good and valuable in that culture, incorporated it into his Jewish faith, and used it as a springboard to discuss the Resurrection in the heart of Athens. Likewise, there are values we have as Americans that, at points, complement our Catholic faith, while at other times are starkly at odds with faith and a civilization of life.

Next week, we will explore the final facet of St. Paul’s personality - one that assumed everything good in the first two - Paul as a follower of Jesus.

Following this reflection on the personality of St. Paul, we will begin a thorough study of one of St. Paul’s letters - his correspondence to the Church in Galatia.