Paul of Tarsus

"I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20)." St. Paul of Tarsus penned these lines to the Christian community at Galatia soon after the resurrected Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus, an event he wrote about as the moment when "Christ Jesus...made me his own (Phil 3:12)." After his conversion Paul committed himself to preaching the Gospel to Jews and gentiles in Europe and the Mediterranean, leaving detailed written accounts of his travels which the Church later included in the New Testament canon. In his letters and preaching Paul returned again and again to Jesus's death on a cross: "We preach Christ crucified (1 Cor 1:23)." Paul focused on the crucifixion because as a pious Jew he knew that if Jesus was the messiah, then Jesus had not been bound to accept death as all other humans must do. Jesus had chosen to die, making his death the key to his life and the new life of all baptized Christians.

Sources: Jerome Murphy-O'Connor. Paul: His Story. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pp 36-37.