Of all the writers of the New Testament, St. Paul is the most prolific.  Not only does he receive special attention in the Acts of the Apostles, that account of the early decades of the Church written for Theophilus, but he contributed fourteen pastoral letters(epistles) to the canon:  Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews.

In Acts we are provided with a Pauline historical perspective on the early Church up to and including his time in Rome.  His letters provide a window into life in the early Church communities of the first century A.D. from a Pauline view point.  In his epistles he exhorts, chastises and instructs.  Throughout these documents runs one central underlying theme - the doctrine of justification by faith.

Paul's works are most notable for their poignant, imaginative and colourful use of the Old Testament in teaching the principles of the New.  Three basic paradigms are established as models to illustrate the life of faith:

   (i)  The use of heroes from the Hebrew Scriptures as examples of people of faith.  For example, Abraham is spoken of as "our father in faith "who was not objectively righteous but "counted as righteous".  He was not a Jew -- therefore not accountable to Jewish law -- a model for gentile Christians and patriarch of the Jewish nation.  All these ideas are very important to his understanding of righteousness and justification.

 (ii)  The use of the Temple as a model of Christian purification and reconciliation with God.  Conversion begins with turning away from known sin (the outer temple).  It continues through a process of honest reflection, prayer and sacrifice in the Holy Place -- the seven branched candelabra can be viewed as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (the opposite of the seven deadly sins); the unleavened bread can be viewed as the soul seeking to be free of sin.  It finally enters the Holy of Holies where the Arc of the Covenant was kept, which includes the Ten Commandments (revelation of God), the rod of Aaron the symbol of priesthood) and a portion of manna (the bread that comes down from Heaven).  Above this are the angels and the seat of judgement.  This final  room represents Christian perfection - complete unity with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Through Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, the veil which divided the Holy place from the Holy of Holies was rent in two - a symbol of the Holy of Holies being made accessible to the people of God.  Some of the mystics have seen in this three levels of relationship with God:  slave, friend and Son commensurate with the three phases of entering the temple.

       St. Paul uses a number of secondary metaphors to reinforce this message:  the need to become infants in Christ, drinking in the milk of spiritual honesty before eating more complex foods;  he uses the example of believers seeing God through a veil which limits their ability to perceive him clearly; he  also speaks of the need to be clothed in Christ to be washed free of sin.  These metaphors are all ultimately directed at his teaching that "one must undergo a spiritual revolution" if one is to follow Jesus seriously and "be renewed in the image of the Creator".

 (iii)  The third idea which Paul makes great use of is the Holy Land.  He uses the Exodus as a symbol of purification:  Egypt represents the world and sin; the Wilderness represents the desert and time of testing and purification before entering  the Promised Land.  When the people of God trust in God all goes well;  when they turn from God or don't follow his directions in obedient faith, preferring to follow worldly wisdom, things don't go well.

       St. Paul develops similar arguments by tracing Israel's history, through the eyes of faith, right up till his own time.  Interestingly, the writer of Acts begins with the stoning of St. Stephen, which is used as a pretext to introduce "Saul (Paul) the persecutor of  Christians" as the holder of coats. The scene involves much more than this though.  St. Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin is a historical survey of men of faith from Israel's past and  is a statement of Paul's basic message:   the "obedience of faith".  Paul, as Saul, is seen to reject "the Way" through judicial blindness.  Then through "the free gift of God" he is struck down