Taylor Marshall - Catholic Perspective on Paul

The Catholic Perspective on Paul

Paul and the Origins of Catholic Christianity

Taylor R. Marshall

Origins of Catholic Christianity Trilogy

Volume Two

Saint JohnPress

MMX

Copyright 2010 Taylor Reed Marshall

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the permission in writing from the publisher or author.

Sacred Scripture citations generally from the 1899 edition of the Douay-Rheims (Challoner) Bible, or based upon it.

Marshall, Taylor

The Catholic Perspective on Paul:
Paul and Origins of Catholic Christianity / Taylor Marshall

st ed.

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN: 978-0-578-05016-4

1. Paul 2. New Testament. 3. Theology. I. Title.

Published by

Saint John Press

PO Box 568011

Dallas, Texas 75365

Kindle Version

Covert Art: Steven M. Nelson {smnelsondesign.com}

Please visit The Catholic Perspective on Paul on the web at:

www.PaulisCatholic.com

Dedicated to my lovely wife Joy with whom I share a great sacrament (Eph 5:32 Douay-Rheims).

After these events, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome (Acts 19:21).

The following night the Lord stood by Paul and said, Take courage, for just as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome (Acts 23:11).

I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christs afflictions for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church (Col 1:24).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

How I Discovered the Catholic Paul

Introduction

Rabbi Saul and the Apostle Paul

2. Paul on the Catholic Church

3. Paul on Justification, Faith & Works

4. Paul on Baptism & Regeneration

5. Paul on Falling from Grace & Reconciliation

6. Paul on Purgatory & Prayer for the Dead

7. Paul on the Eucharistic Sacrifice

8. Paul on the Priesthood

9. Paul on Holy Matrimony as Sacrament

10. Paul on Human Sexuality

11. Paul on the Communion of the Saints

12. The Martyrdom & Death of Paul

Epilogue: The Catholic Paul within a Trilogy

Appendix 1: 10 Catholic Questions for N.T. Wright

Appendix 2: Timeline of the Life of Saint Paul

Appendix 3: Concordance of Saint Pauls Doctrine

Bibliography

As a seminarian and then an Episcopal priest, I was heavily influenced by scholars connected to the so-called New Perspective on Paul. This New Perspective on Paul led me to discover that the Lutheran and Calvinist accounts of justification did not do justice to the biblical dataespecially Saint Pauls doctrine of salvation. Accordingly, I am grateful to N.T. Wright , E.P. Sanders , and James D.G. Dunn for dismantling the Protestant consensus regarding Saint Paul. I would also like to thank Steve Taylor and Richard Gaffin for encouraging me to study the importance of Pauls constant theological theme of the believers status as in Christ.I would also like to thank Peter Enns , James B. Jordan , Joel Garver , and Peter Leithart for their influence in this regard.

In 2006, shortly after I became Catholic, I was sitting at a Metro Station in Washington, D.C. discussing a book idea with David Stotts : How does Paul fit within the five hundred year old debate between Catholics and Protestants? What we wanted was a book on the Catholic perspective on Paul. Conversations with David Stotts , as well as with Sean Dollahon and Robert Barham , led to the initial drafts of this book.

Special thanks are due to Shelly Hobbs who carefully edited the final manuscript. Her comments and corrections were invaluable. My dear friend Charlton Wimberly also combed over the manuscript, found errors, and offered countless suggestions and clarifications. He gave the manuscript one final polishing. I cannot thank Steven M. Nelson enough for his artistic cover art and advice.

I am especially grateful to Scott Hahn my Ab-Nabya in the Lord. I also thank my Catholic friends Jim Anderson, Mike Aquilina, Dave Armstrong, Mary Moorman Armstrong, Francis Beckwith, Mark Drogin, Robert Dunikoski, Lawrence Feingold, Tim Gray, Marcus Grodi, Thomas Howard, Matthew Levering, Christopher Malloy, Bruce Marshall, David Moss, Dave Palmer , Doug Pearson, Brant Pitre, Klemens Raab, Lance Simmons, Edward Sri, Jared Staudt, Bill Soltesz, and Matthew Walz. I thank Tim Lambert for having helped me think through the Pauline phrase works of the law.

My gratitude is also directed to my brethren at Called to Communion for our common desire to reconcile Reformed Protestants to the Catholic Church: Neal Judisch, Bryan Cross, Tim Troutman, Sean Dollahon, Tom Brown, Matt Yonke, David Pell, David Anders, Stephen Wilkins, Barrett Turner, Tom Riello, Andrew Presler, Jonathon Deane , and John Kincaid . For more details please visit:

{calledtocommunion.com}

For their prayers and spiritual direction, I thank Bishop Kevin Vann, Bishop James Conley, Father James Lehrberger, O.Cist., Father Pio Maria Hoffman, C.F.R., Father Solanus Benfatti, C.F.R., Father Philip Wolfe, F.S.S.P., Monsignor William Stetson, Father Gary Selin, Father Joseph Mary McShane, F.I., and William Cardinal Baum.

My gratitude is due to my loving and supportive parents William and Jennifer . I also thank all the readers of Canterbury Tales and The Crucified Rabbi .

I offer my sincere love and gratitude to my wife Joy with whom I am united in a profound mystery (Eph 5:32). Joy, please forgive me for all the times that I have not represented Christ as your husband.

It may seem odd to Protestant readers, but I must personally thank Saint Paul himself to whom I have prayed for guidancethough not nearly enough. I hope that I have been a worthy client of his patronage.

As a schoolchild who seeks to honor his mother with a drawing, I place this book into the loving and fragrant hands of my Blessed Mother Mary . May she in turn, present it to our Lord Jesus Christ to the greater glory of God the Father. If any word of this book is false, prideful, pompous, incorrect, or contrary to the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church, may it be rejected and attributed to my ignorance. If there be anything of worth and goodness, may it be attributed to the Divine Mercy of God.

O altitudo divitiarum sapienti, et scienti Dei: quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles vi ejus! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? aut quis prior dedit illi, et retribuetur ei? Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia: ipsi gloria in scula. Amen.

My first prayer came as a response to reading the words of Saint Paul. I did not grow up in a Christian home; however, when I was about nine years old, my father presented me with the autograph of the catcher for the Texas Rangers, Darrel Porter, who had written under his signature Rom 10:9. Thinking it to be a secret code, I quickly cracked it after discovering it to be the abbreviation of a Bible verse. When I looked up the verse, I read these inspired words from the pen of Saint Paul: