GetWisdom PaperturnSampler FINAL SinglePages - Flipbook - Page 83
LIVING IN AUTHENTICITY
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PHILIPPIANS
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6. If Paul was made completely new the moment he chose to follow Jesus, why do you think Jesus blinded Paul? Just share your
best guess.
Paul’s blindness could only be explained as an encounter with Jesus
Christ Himself. And being blind allowed Paul to live undistracted
for several days. He likely played and replayed the experience in his
head and reflected on all his years of misunderstanding what it meant
to truly love and follow God. But I don’t think that’s all. I wonder if
Jesus was using literal blindness to show Paul that he had been living
a life of spiritual blindness. As Paul’s sight was restored, so was his
relationship with Jesus and his understanding of his new life with the
Creator of the universe.
History Lesson
The New Testament is comprised of twenty-seven books, thirteen of which are attributed to Paul. Additionally, about half
of the book of Acts (written by Luke) is filled with stories of
Paul’s life and works. Scholars debate whether Paul also wrote
Hebrews. If he did, he would have contributed fourteen books
(or 51.85 percent of the entire New Testament!). Of these
epistles, only seven are accepted as “being entirely authentic
and dictated by St. Paul himself.” The others are thought to
have been written by others on behalf of this dynamic apostle.4
Paul was obviously influential in spreading the gospel in the
days of the early church.
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