The Authority of Sight

Let me tell you, brothers, about the gospel I preached to you, that it is not from man, nor indeed did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11–12

Last of all, I too saw Him.
I Corinthians 15:8

The context of Paul’s assertion of his undoubted authority was a situation in which the Galatian Church had received visitors who challenged the belief, taught them by Paul, that everyman is brought to Christ not by observance of the law but by the call of grace. Although Paul would turn to the Gentiles, the Church was born in the synagogue. Its literature was the Hebrew Scriptures and its Messiah was, by His own mouth, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah (Luke 4:17). It was Paul the Pharisee, student of Gamaliel, learned in the law, enforcer of Pharisaic orthodoxy, who after his conversion knew most certainly that the fulfillment of God’s promise belonged to the heart, not to the observance of the Law. Continue reading “Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time”