The Character Of Saint Paul

I have been reading the Book of Acts; and the main character there is Paul. I have found amazing things about this person's character.

He was always a man of conviction; but he started out acting in very cruel ways. Then Jesus appeared to him, and that changed him. He retained his strength of conviction, his strength and his brilliance. He put these things in service of Jesus Christ. As a result of that he became one of the most important moral teachers of all times.

From Christ he learned love, compassion and temperance. These things moderated his natural tendencies and, more importantly, put them in service of a better purpose. He went through vicious hardship and persecution. Instead of returning the like for like, he met the hatred that he encountered with love and righteousness. He remained as strong and determined as he always had been. He put these things in their rightful place – as agent of enforcement of better values.

His story ended up being a happy one. He triumphed over the persecution and became a beloved figure for many.

Without Christ, he would have continued to be just another fanatical thug. However Christ taught him what he needed to know in order to become a better person. He made no excuses for himself. He said repeatedly that he was a sinner. However he was a sinner who was redeemed by Christ. And he persisted in preaching Christ while facing the worst that the world had to offer.

Now there are many people who dislike Paul, some calling him a misogynist. However while he made statements about women being there to serve men, he also stated that the man should love his wife as his own flesh. I have known a number of priests, and their wives tend to be happy. That is because these priests follow this injunction. And another injunction that they follow is Paul's injunction toward patience and self-control – something that teaches them to avoid such things as domestic violence, that many others who consider themselves Christians fail to do. There are many men who believe that they should be head of the wife, but they fail to love the wife and they fail to control themselves with the wife. This is Phariseeism. The correct response to domestic violence is not that it is misogyny or violence, but that it is a failure of character.

What I find most admirable about Paul, once again, is his willingness to reciprocate hatred with love and righteousness. This is not something that is common to men who start from the place of cruelty, as did he. This is something that Jesus taught him. The result was someone who used his innate skills in service of better purpose. And the result was the most poweful moral teacher of all time.