{"id":2902,"date":"2015-01-16T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2902"},"modified":"2021-11-26T15:22:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T07:22:40","slug":"120-an-impossible%e2%80%9d-conversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=2902","title":{"rendered":"120. An “Impossible\u201d Conversion"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 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<\/span><\/strong>. [Galatians 1:14-15<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

[L] Conversion of St Paul [detail] by Michelangelo. [M]\u00a0Conversion of St Paul by Carravagio.. [R]\u00a0Ananias Restoring the Sight of St. Paul<\/em> (c.1631) by\u00a0Pietro da Cortona<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conversion of St Paul was as strange a story as you can possibly find anywhere. Today, when someone has a dramatic conversion it is often described as a \u2018Damascus Road\u2019 experience. It is a reference to an event testified in Scriptures.<\/span><\/p>\n

As chapter 9 of the Acts of the Apostles tells it, a man named Saul, who was a strict Pharisee and an arch-persecutor of Christians, was on his way to Damascus when he was suddenly struck blind. He heard a voice calling: \u201cSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?\u201d It turned out to be the voice of Christ, and thus the most dramatic conversion in Christian history came to be recorded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scriptures say it was a flash of light from heaven that caused him to fall to the ground. The single source of light magnifies the drama of the moment of Saul embracing the True Light of Christ, piercing through the darkness of his ill-conceived conviction. However, as the story unfolds, though Paul is physically blinded, he finally has interior light. The question is, what do you do once you have received the light and can \u201csee\u201d? Thich Nhat Hanh\u2019s insight regarding sight offers us an incisive answer: \u201cOnce there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So Saul became a follower of Christ, changed his name to Paul, and went on to become a great apostle and teacher. Without his many extant letters, the New Testament would really be quite different. An arch-persecutor has turned \u201ctraitor\u201d to his own faith and become a believer in Christ. It was all but an impossible conversion.<\/span><\/p>\n

From that conversion experience, Paul\u2019s direction in life took a complete reversal. Previously, persecuting Christians, Paul was doing what he wanted to do. Now, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul turned to doing what God wanted him to do. Paul went on to become the foremost missionary, evangelizer and preacher in Christian history, earning him the title Apostle to the Gentles.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the root of Paul\u2019s teaching is real metanoia, a<\/em> new mode of existence<\/em>, and a<\/em> new identity<\/em>. Paul offers a spectacular example of someone who encountered Jesus and allowed that experience to radically transform his life. Once he was convinced of Christ\u2019s message, Paul was willing to give everything<\/em> he had.<\/span><\/p>\n