Saint Paul's Mystical Experience of Light
The Road to Damascus: "Conversion."
" For I want to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
But when God who had set me apart before I was born and called me through grace, was please to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus."
Galatians 1: 11-17.
In retrospect, Saint Paul may have viewed his Damascus experience as a confirmation of his leadership within the Communities of Jesus followers. Being born into both Jewish and Hellenistic cultures only seem to strengthen his notion that his conversion was a calling to become an Apostle and found the Gentile Communities. To the non-Jew, Paul spoke with authority. A Jewish zealot turn Christian would, no doubt, mesmerize his listeners.
In first Corinthians 15:9 and Galatians 1: 13-14, he clearly tells his audience that he was involved in the persecution of Christians and may have been part of a rival Hellenistic Jewish Missionary Movement. He might have continued this life, but for the mystical experience of light that occurred on the road to Damascus.
Saint Paul did not know Jesus personally, and thus viewed his experience as his Apostolic Ordination. He tells the Galatians that this was bestowed upon him by God through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. His conversion is complete when he realizes that he is called to proclaim the Revelations, that he has received, to the Gentiles.
To emphasize the significance of his Divine Revelation, Paul felt no need to go back to Jerusalem to confer with the Apostles, but continued on his way to Nabatea and latter Damascus. This is both a watershed and a demarcation point for the Church. Through the Conversion of Saint Paul, and because of his dual background, Christianity moves both out of Palestine and the Jewish communities.
It is true that Saint Paul is a proud Jew, however his outlook has changed with his calling to the Gentiles. Latter he will make bold stands in favour of Gentile Christians. For example, his position on circumcision in Romans 7. With the Gentiles Conversion, they had become God's people and the symbolic act of circumcision was not necessary. Saint Paul's Conversion was also a demarcation point between the Jewish communities with Jewish roots in Jerusalem and the churches that adapted their Greco-Roman culture to the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostle Paul.
The polarities begin with the Damascus experience. Christian identity changed in the sense that it's power base and influence was for the next nineteen years, centered in Europe and not in the middle-east. Saint Paul most likley would argue that this was God's will and that his conversion experience is an example of all conversion experiences. One who commits the most hyenas acts (Paul's persecution of Christians) can be saved (Conversion) and set on the right path (called). It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ that is paramount in Conversion because it is through Him that we are Saved. Conversion, the mystical experience of light, is open, not just to Jews, but to everyone. This is the genius of Saint Paul.
End.
Part of the originally entitled: Journal Three - Pauline Christianity submitted to the Rev. Dr. William Cantelon as a Master of Theological Studies course requirement for 505E - Introduction to Christian Scriptures St. Stephen's Theological College University of Alberta Published on February 24th, 1999 {Revised August 14th, 2024}
© Dr. Charles Warner 2024
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