In the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul
The Life of Apostle Paul with Rick Steves Mosaic Television 800-638-3522 ext. 6009 www.elca.org/mosaic
Rick: About two thousand years ago Roman soldiers executed Jesus of Nazareth. The story appeared to be over. But it was just getting started. Within a generation, pockets of Greek, Roman, and Jewish members of a new faith, developed communities throughout the Eastern Mediterranean world. In time, that new faith, Christianity, became the official religion of the Roman Empire. This is the story of early Christianity's greatest missionary and leading theologian — the Jewish Pharisee and tentmaker from Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul. Hi, I'm Rick Steves, and today we're travel partners. The purpose of this trip is to learn about Paul who, more than any other person, helped turn the Jesus movement from a small Jewish sect, into a world wide religion. Paul's writings dominate Christian thought. He wrote of a personal faith that offered people an intimate relationship with God. And through that faith, salvation. An early Christian writing offers this description of Paul. "...a man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, wellbuilt, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace." Paul's parents called him Saul — that was his Jewish name. Later, he became Paul — that's Latin for "small" — but his ministry took him across the Roman world, and his influence was anything but small.
Susan Briehl: He is both a man deeply imbedded in his place and in his time and in the communities to which he was called to preach and teach...And at the same time, he has a vision that is so much bigger than his place and time. And I think that is why he is lasting. Because he calls every Christian after him, into that bigger vision.
Rick: While Jesus' disciples lived and taught Jesus' message, it was Paul who wrote about this new faith in a series of sometimes tender, sometimes fiery, and always intensely personal letters...or epistles. Paul wrote to friends and supporters in communities of believers that he helped start. These communities were located in places we know as modern Italy, Turkey and Greece. The letters form much of what Christians today call the New Testament.
Craig R. Koester: When we think about Paul composing letters, we often imagine him sitting at a table with pen in hand, scratching out some of his thoughts. And some of his letters may have originated that way. But we also know that Paul dictated a good many of his letters. And another scribe would take down what he said.
Rick: Paul's public teachings and writings were revolutionary.
Voice of Paul: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Rick: While Paul probably never met Jesus, he was convinced that Jesus had been raised from the dead. He believed that Jesus was God in human form; and he believed this so strongly, that he was willing to face beatings, ridicule, and even death in order to tell others the story.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: In Paul's mind, he met Jesus. And the language he uses in Greek over and over again is the language of seeing. That he saw him. And that somehow or other the communication came unto him that this was the Lord and that the Lord was calling him. And that the Lord is calling him to be an Apostle to the nations. Now why we must stress this is because it is upon that encounter that Paul bases his right to be called an Apostle.
Rick: When later generations gathered Paul's letters into manuscripts, copied and distributed them, the Christian message — as told by Paul — influenced the course of Western Civilization. Church fathers like Augustine and great reformers like Martin Luther based much of their theology on the writings of Paul. And today, perhaps thanks to Paul more than any other follower of Jesus, more than 2 billion people call themselves Christian.
Susan Briehl: He had a mission because he felt so deeply, he had been called...I think to a particular mission. Which was to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the gentiles. And to bring it to them in such a way that they understood that there was huge freedom open to them in Jesus.
Craig R. Koester: When Paul became a Christian, the law no longer occupied a central place. Christ occupied a central place in his life.
Rick: While St. Christopher is called the patron saint of travelers, that title could also go to Paul. He sailed and walked his way across much of the ancient Roman Empire. Over the course of 35 years Paul took five missionary journeys. He traveled 13,000 miles — that's the equivalent of half way around the world — and that was long before the age of rental cars and train passes. When reading my Bible, I use my own travel memories to remind myself that the places Paul lived and visited were real villages, towns and cities. Paul lived and traveled when the word "Rome" meant not the city but the entire civilized western world. The Roman Empire was vast. Rome controlled the entire coastline of the Mediterranean and called that great sea "Mare Nostrum"...our lake.
Rick: Paul traveled through Israel and Palestine, Turkey, Greece and finally, across the Adriatic Sea to the empire's capital city...Rome. Paul lived during the height of the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus and Nero both ruled during Paul's lifetime. Paul, was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus, near the Mediterranean coast in southern Turkey. Tarsus was a Roman city and Paul was a Roman citizen. In Paul's day, Tarsus was an important city. The Jews who lived in Tarsus were immersed in Greek culture. While they used Hebrew, the language of their faith, in worship, during their day to day lives they probably spoke Greek.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: Tarsus itself had one of the most outstanding universities of its day. I mean Greek universities. I mean universities for people at large. And it is very likely that Paul, living in that atmosphere, learned to read very early and very well.
Craig R. Koester: The Roman writer Strabo tells us that Tarsus was a place where people would come to learn how to communicate. But Strabo also says that Tarsus was a place that people often didn't say. And that many of the best and the brightest would leave to continue their education elsewhere.
Rick: Today, Tarsus is off the beaten path. There's little here to remind the pilgrim of the city's most famous son. Paul was likely a tent maker by trade. It was a family business. The black goats whose hides were used as a raw material still wander through the Turkish hills. The hides are naturally water proof and cool in summer. Roman legions loved them. So did anyone else who wanted a warm, dry place to spend the night.
Rick: Neither the Bible nor ancient sources tell us when Paul was born, but it was probably during the late rein of Caesar Augustus — around 10 A. D. Most of what we know about Paul is from his letters. Another source is the Book of Acts. Acts is the New Testament's history lesson. Part biography, part adventure story, part history, the Acts of the Apostles is one of the best "reads" in the New Testament.
Rick: While modern scholarship has raised doubts, tradition says that Luke wrote both Acts and the Gospel of Luke. Luke is traditionally believed to have been a physician and one of Paul's traveling buddies. The first part of Acts tells the story of Jesus' disciples immediately after the resurrection. Part two lets the modern reader tag along with Paul and his companions during the formative days of the Christian movement. In this video, we follow the story of Paul's life as described in the book of Acts.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: He was very much a person of his own time. He swam that culture as well as anybody else did. He used Greek as the Greeks used Greek. He was highly educated.
Rick: Wanting their son to get the best Jewish education possible, Paul's family sent the young man off to school in the holy city of Jerusalem. Combining his zealousness for God with a fine education, Paul became a well-trained and compelling writer...which would become evident in his many contributions to the New Testament.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: Acts does talk about the fact that he, Paul, studied under Gama'li-el, a very well known Pharisaic rabbi in those days. A teacher. And that may be possible. And if that is the case, then he studied in Jerusalem.
Rick: Paul may have learned of Jesus of Nazareth and his crucifixion while he studied in Jerusalem. The Jesus movement was spreading. But rather than join it...Paul fought it. He was a foot soldier for the temple authorities working against the early Christians — ravaging their places of worship, entering house after house, dragging the faithful off to prison." Paul was so zealous for the traditions of his people that he stood by and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen –who is considered the first "Christian" martyr. Still, the teachings of Jesus quickly spread to other towns. Paul traveled to Damascus, 200 miles to the north. His goal? Round up followers of Jesus and silence them. As he approached the city, according to the book of Acts, Paul was hit by a blinding light and thrown to the ground.
Voice of Paul: I fell to the ground. And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' Then he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.'
Craig R. Koester: Paul's encounter with the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus is probably the most memorable event of Paul's entire life.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: It is strongly suggested that Paul's encounter with Jesus Christ on the way to Damascus, took place only a year and a half after Christ's resurrection. 18 months. It is a figure that we draw from many early texts where it is implied that Jesus continued to visit and to meet people in resurrection appearances for a year and a half. For 18 months. That is how fast the Jesus message got out and people began to respond to it.
Rick: Still blinded, Paul's friends led him on to Damascus. There a Christian named Ananias restored his sight.
Craig Koester: When we read the story we often remember the part about Christ calling and sending Paul with the gospel across the Greco/Roman world. Sending Paul with the gospel to the ends of the earth. But Christ was also calling Ananias to take the gospel across town to minister to a person whom Ananias considered to be his enemy.
Rick: Suddenly a proponent rather than an enemy of the Christian faith, Paul did a theological 180 and spent the next three years like a prophet of old, telling anyone who would listen, the story of Jesus. Paul's preaching now put him at odds with the temple authorities. Enemies hatched a plot to murder him. Aware of their plans, and knowing the city gates were being watched, Paul's friends engineered a daring escape — lowering him over the city walls in a basket.
Susan Briehl: Though it is very dramatic, the falling off the horse and the being blind and waiting all of those days for Ananias to come and lay hands on him...at one level it is not any more dramatic than when any one of us has an encounter and we realize that the way we had been living, the road we had been walking was not leading us to life.
Rick: From Damascus, Paul headed back to Jerusalem where he met Peter, James and other leaders of the Christian movement. The embattled followers of Jesus suspected that Paul's conversion was a trick, designed to lure them into a trap. But he quickly won their confidence and was welcomed as a full partner in their mission. Paul's public witness to Jesus angered the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews like himself) in Jerusalem. Fearing for his life, Paul's friends sent him home to Tarsus. While Paul was on hiatus, the early Christian movement continued to grow — especially in the large, Roman city of Antioch. Just north of Jerusalem, it was no surprise that Antioch had a large Jewish community. When word of Antioch's growing Christian community reached Jerusalem, the disciples sent Barnabas to check it out. On his way, he stopped off in Tarsus to pick up his old friend, Paul. Together, they headed for Antioch.
Craig Koester: Barnabas was one of the most powerful members of the congregation in Jerusalem. Originally much more powerful than Paul was.
Rick: The book of Acts says that Antioch (called Antakya today) is the place where followers of Jesus were first called "Christians." High on a ridge overlooking the city, lies a network of tunnels and caves known as "The Cave Church of St. Peter." Local legends speak of early Christians who used these caves as a meeting place. Back in Jerusalem things were going from bad to worse. Roman soldiers controlled the holy city. Herod had one of the Apostles, James, executed. Even Peter was arrested and thrown into prison. Then, on top of everything else, a famine hit the city. To help their fellow Christians, 6 believers in Antioch took up a collection. Paul and Barnabas personally delivered the money to the hungry Christian community in Jerusalem. Returning to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas brought with them, Barnabas' nephew, Mark. In spite of the many challenges, the new movement grew and spread its wings. The book of Acts tells us that the Christians in Antioch fasted, prayed and laid hands on the three companions, then sent them out into the Roman world.
Craig Koester: I don't think that the congregation at Antioch had any idea of the magnitude of what they had started. But by sending Paul and Barnabas off with the Gospel to form communities of faith comprised of Jew and gentile, the were really changing the course of Christian history.
Susan Briehl: So I imagine he went off very excited not knowing what was going to happen, where he was going to go. He could never have imagined the trials and tribulations that he would face. But I think he also had a kind of fearlessness. Because he believed time was short.
Rick: The first so-called missionary journey took Barnabas, Paul and Mark on a 2,000 mile odyssey through leading cities of the Eastern Mediterranean world. Today, many travelers take trips following "Paul's footsteps." One of Paul's first stops was in Perge. With a 15,000 seat theater, a stadium and Roman baths, Perge bustled in the first century. Imagine Paul, Barnabas and Mark, walking through the city's triumphal gate and down the colonnaded streets filled with Roman soldiers, Greek merchants, and rambunctious children. While the travelers received a warm reception, apparently the thrills were too much for young Mark, who caught the next boat back to Jerusalem. Early church tradition tells us that this Mark, Paul's young traveling companion in the book of Acts, may have gone on to write the earliest surviving account of the life of Jesus. Today we know this as the Gospel of Mark. It wasn't long before the warm receptions were replaced by hot tempers. Paul and Barnabas left Perge and marched north over the mountains into the interior of central Turkey and the Roman province of Galatia. Paul's first stop in southern Galatia was Antioch, a Roman city with a small Jewish minority. Since they were Jewish themselves, Paul and Barnabas preached in the Synagogue.
Craig Koester: The synagogue, was the place where you would pray and you would hear the scriptures read. That was the place that really provided the bond and gave you the source of identity in the sea of Greek and Latin culture.
Rick: This ruined basilica was built on top of that synagogue. Christian pilgrims still come here to pay their respects to Paul and Barnabas. Paul preached to two different audiences in the synagogue, Hellenistic Jews and God fearing Greeks.
Craig Koester: Many of these God fearing Greeks were intrigued with the idea that there was only one God, rather than the many gods and goddesses of Greek and Latin mythology. They liked many of the commandments that you would find in the Jewish scriptures. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. Very direct, clear statements about what it meant to live a Godly life.
Rick: Paul and Barnabas spread the news about Jesus. Some listened and even believed. Others became jealous and defensive. Their preaching likely led to a beating and exile from the city. The book of Acts says that Paul and Barnabas, "...shook the dust off their feet..." as they left town. In other words, they took their lumps, but kept on going. Next, they headed down the road for Iconium. Today, that's the city of Konya. Konya is a large city with more than half a million people. Islam is the dominant faith, and few traces of Paul and the early Christians remain. While here, Paul and Barnabas again preached in the synagogue. Paul and Barnabas spent a long time in Iconium, converting both Jews and Gentiles. Others rejected their ideas and stirred up trouble with the town's folk. The bible says "...the Lord blessed their ministry with many signs and miracles..." Despite the success, the city was divided. Some sided with Paul and Barnabas, others opposed them. Finally, learning of a plot to stone them, Paul and Barnabas fled the city. Some time after his visit to Iconium, Paul wrote a letter to the churches in Galatia. Paul loved his sisters and brothers in Galatia, and his epistle to the Galatians reflects just that.
Voice of Paul: ...though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me, but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. Had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.
Rick: From the big city, Paul and Barnabas headed into the hills. Lystra (it is called Gokyurt today) is a rural village that's changed little in 2000 years. Shepherds and their wary dogs tend flocks of sheep and goats as they did in Paul's day. Aware of Lystra's place in the Bible, Medieval Christians carved this church out of the rock cliffs surrounding the town. In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas went from being Gods to being run out of town. First, Paul met and healed a man who had been unable to walk since birth. People were so impressed they cried out, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" Paul and Barnabas denounced the hero worship. Just then, a posse from Antioch and Iconium showed up and blew the whistle. No longer seen as gods, the mood turned ugly. The missionaries were dragged from the city and stoned nearly to death. Despite the bumps and bruises, Paul and Barnabas's whirlwind tour was a fantastic success. New Christian communities — made of both Jews and gentiles — were established in every town they visited. Paul and Barnabas sailed back to their base camp in Antioch, reporting on all that had happened. Then, an argument broke out. A delegation of Jewish Christians from Jerusalem announced that all new non-Jewish or gentile Christians needed to be circumcised. Paul, determined to make the good news of Jesus Christ accessible to everyone, not just Jews, was adamant – you don't need to be circumcised.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: The early Christian Church was not free of conflict. No matter what we think Acts says about everyone being happy with everyone else. There were profound tensions about how they were going to interpret this messiah Jesus. There were people who said, "You must be a Jew first for the messiah to be your blessing." And, "Come in," they said to the gentiles. "You all come on in, but be Jews first. You have to be circumcised. Follow the laws of Moses." Paul, on the other side...he lived in that conflict. He would foment that conflict. He would say, "Absolutely not." He said, that if Christ is the Christ for the nations, then he supersedes the laws that require people to become Jews.
Rick: Eventually, the two sides worked out a compromise in Jerusalem. Gentile converts didn't have to undergo circumcision. But they did have to adhere to dietary restrictions and the moral codes relating to sexuality. The disagreement over circumcision apparently spread beyond Antioch and into the infant Galatian churches.
Craig Koester: The debate about circumcision was really a debate about what would be fundamental for Christian identity.
Rick: Paul was furious. Someone was teaching the Galatians a new gospel of obligation. In response, Paul fired off a heated, challenging letter to the churches there.
Voice of Paul: "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified. I wish those who unsettled you would castrate themselves!"
Rick: Itching to get back on the road, Paul set out on a second missionary journey. The book of Acts says that Barnabas and Paul had a sharp disagreement over Mark's participation.
Craig Koester: Barnabas and Paul worked together quite closely and quite well for a period of time. But as is often the case when you have two very powerful personalities, the cooperation broke down.
Rick: In the end Barnabas teamed up with Mark. They went their own way while Paul set out with a new traveling companion, Silas. Paul and Silas returned to many of the cities Paul and Barnabas had visited on the first great missionary trip. Along the way a young convert who would become quite dear to Paul joined them: his name was Timothy.
Susan Briehl: When he writes to Timothy, young Timothy, and urges Timothy not to be timid, but to be full of courage. "Stir up the faith that is in you," he says. "To the laying on of my hands." That is a pastor talking to a young Christian. Almost like a father to a son.
Rick: Paul's vision of Christianity was a big one. His next step: to take the story of Jesus into the heart of the Roman Empire. After visiting the infant churches in Galatia, Paul, Silas and Timothy traveled through ancient Troy and on to Macedonia ...specifically the city of Philippi. Paul was now on foreign soil. Jews in ancient Greece were few and far between. This was the land of many gods: Zeus, Aphrodite, Mars, Athena, and company. But few had even heard of Jesus. Not long after arriving in Philippi, Paul's message hit home with a wealthy business woman named Lydia.
Susan Briehl: Well, Lydia is quite a woman, isn't she? She and Paul are co-workers for gathering people into Christ Jesus. But there is a woman of power and some stature who almost betrays this image we have of all women in New Testament times being owned by their husbands or being without power, without voice. This is a very strong, capable woman.
Craig Koester: When you look closely at the women who are actually a part of Paul's story, you find that they had an important place in his life and his work. And judging from what we find in scripture, I don't think that most of them stayed silent.
Rick: Using Lydia's house as a base, Paul and his friends preached the gospel. When Paul cast a demon out of a slave girl with fortune telling abilities, her owners — no longer able to profit from her — were furious. They had the evangelists were flogged, and thrown into prison.
Susan Briehl: The healing of this girl completely turns upside down an entire economic system. Paul ruins the livelihood of these two men. And maybe that is where the gospel gets pointed for us. Is, that to follow this way means turning completely around. Sometimes, upsetting economic systems.
Craig Koester: In the first century a prison was essentially a holding tank. It was four stone walls. Very little light. When you went in there it was dank. It was dark. Almost a suffocating kind of enclosure.
Rick: Imagine Paul and Silas, in heavy chains — singing hymns of praise to God. Just then, an earthquake shook the prison, knocking down the walls and setting them free. When the jailer woke and found that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, figuring that the prisoners had escaped while on his watch. But Paul cried, "Wait! Don't harm yourself, we're all here. It's ok." The guard, trembling with fear rushed in and fell down before Paul and Silas. He asked "What must I do to be saved." They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Years after his visit with the Philippians, Paul again found himself in jail. Rather than focus on his own problems, he recalled the love of his dear friends in Philippi and wrote his letter to the Philippians.
Voice of Paul: I thank my God every time I remember you. Constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you. Because of your sharing of the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this; that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
Rick: From Philippi, Paul and his friends headed for Thessalonica in northern Greece. As usual, Paul headed for the synagogue to teach. An argument started, a crowd gathered, and the city ended up in an uproar. One local complained that Paul and his followers "turned the world upside down." Paul's visit to Thessalonica was a success. According to the Book of Acts, many Greeks including some influential women welcomed Paul's teaching. When Paul wrote back to the Thessalonians years later, he congratulated them for turning away from idol worship and embracing a faith in Jesus Christ. He also reminded the Thessalonians that Jesus was sure to return to Earth some time in the future.
Voice of Paul: For the Lord himself with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.
Rick: Encouraged by their success in Thessalonica, Paul and his travel partners headed for the intellectual center of the Roman world...Athens. By the time Paul arrived, Athens was no longer a major political power. It remained however, the philosophical and cultural capital of the Roman Empire. It must have been impressive then. It still is today. Never one to be intimidated, Paul went right to work, taking on the leading philosophers of the day at their own game...debate. It was here; on Mars Hill, beneath the Acropolis that Paul made his famous speech connecting Jesus with the Greek's constant search for truth.
Voice of Paul: Athenians, the God who made the world and everything in it, He who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands.
Rick: Despite his best efforts, (he even quoted favorite local poets), the Athenians were not impressed. They even made fun of him because of his appearance and his style of speaking. Paul left Athens and headed for Corinth, a major city on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Corinth was a major port with lavish temples dedicated to the pagan Gods Apollo and Aphrodite. Aphrodite was the goddess of love. Corinth was famous for its hedonism. In fact the word "Corinth" was slang for sexual promiscuity. The place was one big red light district...ripe for Paul's message. Paul stayed in Corinth for over a year — preaching to anything but the choir. While here, he was busy evangelizing while working part time as a tent maker. As usual, he started in the Synagogue, and then took his message out to the Greeks. He probably set his tent making shop up on a street much like this, and preached to his customers. Paul's preaching apparently reached a broad audience including poor, down and out Corinthians.
Voice of Paul: Consider your own call brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise...
Rick: By the time Paul left Corinth, he had established a major beachhead from where Christianity would eventually spread throughout Greece, and eventually throughout Europe. From Corinth, Paul and his partners sailed for Ephesus, on the western coast of Modern Turkey. Ephesus was an important Greek and Roman city in the first century and it's a major tourist destination today. The ruins feature a gymnasium, stadium, baths and theaters. Paul lived in Ephesus for several years. He preached, taught, encouraged and nurtured the local Christians. During Paul's time, Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in the Roman Empire. 250,000 people lived here! They even had hot and cold running water. Once a thriving sea port, Ephesus was sacked by the Goths in the third century A.D. It was finally abandoned when the harbor silted up. It now lies five miles inland from the Aegean coast. It was in this theater that Paul planed to give his talk, instructing the Ephesians to stop worshiping man made gods. In the case of Ephesus, that was the God Artemis. The local crafts people produced these little statues of Artemis. When they realized Paul's message would ruin their businesses, they started a riot. Can you imagine, this theater filled with 25,000 people shouting in one angry voice for two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
Rick: Sea travel was dangerous back in the first century. Paul himself told of being shipwrecked three times. On Paul's third big trip he traveled not as a missionary introducing the story of Jesus, but as a pastor encouraging, cajoling, and teaching the already faithful. Paul kept on traveling, working all over the eastern Mediterranean. It was during these later missionary journeys that Paul began writing letters to the new Christian communities budding up across the ancient world. Paul's letters were like crisis management to troubled churches. He was putting out theological and ethical fires right and left. To the Thessalonians he wrote about the certainty of the second coming of Jesus. To the Galatians railed against false teaching. To the Corinthians, he encouraged believers to be morally faithful and to love and value one another. And it was to those hedonistic Corinthians — people who walked these streets — that Paul wrote one of the most beautiful passages ever written: his essay on love.
Rick: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends...
Rick: The Bible tells little of the last years of Paul's life. We do know he returned to Jerusalem and was arrested. Exercising his rights as a Roman citizen, he appealed his case to Cesar and sailed to Rome. Some scholars say he stayed in Rome. Others believe he preached and evangelized in Spain, before revisiting churches in Greece and Asia.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: Tradition indicates that he was killed by the sword. It is very, very ancient tradition. By the sword, as apposed to Peter who was killed by crucifixion. But, very often we say that, and tradition is supported because the Romans would kill their own citizens most often by the sword. By beheading, rather than by crucifixion.
Susan Briehl: "Do you not know that all of you who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" We say that at the end of life over those whom we are burying. Surrounding them with prayers and faith. Those are the words of St. Paul. "Neither life nor death, nor princepalities nor powers, nor anything in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." Those words are with us forever.
Craig Koester: In one of his last letters, his letter to Rome, Paul said that we don't live to ourselves, we don't die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. So that whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. And I think that would probably be Paul's parting comment.
Walt Wangerin Jr.: I think that Paul among us yet today is primarily a voice. He could spit out sentences in the Greek that would become paragraphs and chapters. And never hit a period. I can see and I can hear that emotional and that insistent voice, so crowded with ideas that it can't even break into parts. That voice of powerful faith. In the face of all things, faith. That crying, shouting, weeping, beloved, sweet, mellifluous, cantankerous, rotten, magnificent voice.
Susan Briehl: There are ways in which Paul continues to speak the gospel in our communities of worship. Through us. And it is those words that are the cream, that have risen to the top and have become part of our corporate life of worship and faith. For those words, I give thanks for Paul.
Rick: We may not know how Paul died, but we do know what he accomplished. He helped establish a distinct difference between Judaism and Christianity. He wrote much of the New Testament, fleshing out a Christian theology that became accessible and appealing to the masses. And Paul explained that in Jesus, God came to earth as a human being, lived, died and was resurrected. Why? So we could be saved. Thanks for watching. I'm Rick Steves. Happy travels and God bless.