In the New Testament, the term “bishop” or its Greek equivalent ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos), meaning “overseer,” appears in several passages.

The English word “bishop” derives from the Greek word “episcopos”:

Episcopos > Episcop > Piscop > Biscop > Bishop

The post Bishops in the New Testament – Study on Episcopos appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

Hebrews 8:13: “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.”

“Finally, He says to them: ‘Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.’ You see what He means: it is not the present Sabbaths that are acceptable to Me, but the one which I have made, when, giving rest to all things, I shall make the beginning of an eighth day, that is, the beginning of another world.

Wherefore also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, and after He had appeared, ascended into the heavens.”

Epistle of Barnabas 15:8–9 (Ante-Nicene Fathers [ANF], Vol. 1, p. 147).

Why Christians Worship on Sunday Instead of Saturday

From a Christian viewpoint, the shift from worshiping on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath) to Sunday (Christian Lord’s Day) is a profound theological and historical development rooted in the New Testament, early Church tradition, and the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in Christ.

Today, I’ll explore why Christians do not communal worship on Saturday but instead on Sunday, drawing on Sacred Scripture—particularly the New Testament—and the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch and the author of the Epistle of Barnabas. We now belong to the New Testament and the New Creation in the New Adam, who is Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Resurrection and the Lord’s Day

The New Testament provides the foundational basis for Sunday worship, emphasizing Christ’s resurrection as the defining event that transforms the rhythm of Christian life. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus rises on “the first day of the week” (Matthew 28:1), which corresponds to Sunday in the Jewish reckoning of days beginning at sundown. Similarly, Mark 16:2 states, “And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb,” and Luke 24:1 echoes, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb.” John 20:1 reinforces this: “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early.” This consistent testimony across the Gospels identifies Sunday as the day of Christ’s triumph over death, a pivotal moment that Catholics see as inaugurating a new creation.

New Testament Witness

This resurrection significance extends to early Christian practice. Acts 20:7 records, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them.” The phrase “break bread” is widely understood in Catholic tradition as a reference to the Eucharist, the central act of worship. This gathering on Sunday reveals a shift from the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) to a new day of Eucharistic worship tied to Christ’s rising. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 16:2 advises, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up,” indicating a regular Sunday collection during worship, further evidencing its liturgical prominence.

Revelation 1:10 adds a theological layer: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Though not explicitly cited as “Sunday,” early Christians interpreted “the Lord’s Day” (kyriakē hēmera) as the first day of the week, commemorating Christ’s resurrection. The Didache (c. AD 70–120) and later Fathers confirm this usage. Thus, the New Testament establishes Sunday as the day when Christians gathered to celebrate the Eucharist and honor Christ’s victory, distinguishing it from the Jewish Sabbath.

Fulfillment of the Sabbath in Christ

The New Testament views the Sabbath—a commandment to rest on the seventh day (Exodus 20:8–11)—as part of the old creation and old covenant, fulfilled and transformed by Christ in the New Covenant.

Colossians 2:16–17 states, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Paul here identifies the Sabbath as a “shadow,” a prefigurement of the spiritual rest found in Christ, not a perpetual obligation for Christians.

Hebrews 4:9–10 deepens this: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” This “Sabbath rest” is eschatological, realized in Christ’s redemptive work, not tied to a specific day.

The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) further supports this shift. When debating whether Gentile converts must follow Mosaic Law, the apostles, led by Peter, ruled that only minimal requirements (e.g., abstaining from idolatry and immorality) were necessary, omitting Sabbath observance (Acts 15:28–29). This decision, authoritative for Christians, signals that the ceremonial laws, including the Saturday Sabbath, do not bind Christians.

Early Church Fathers: Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. AD 108), a disciple of the Apostle John, provides early testimony to the abandonment of Saturday worship in favor of Sunday. In his Epistle to the Magnesians 9:1, he writes,

“If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death—whom some deny… how shall we be able to live apart from Him?” (ANF, Vol. 1, p. 62).

Ignatius contrasts the Jewish Sabbath with the Lord’s Day (Sunday), linking the latter to Christ’s resurrection as the source of new life. His phrase “no longer observing the Sabbath” explicitly rejects Saturday worship for Christians, emphasizing a theological shift rooted in Easter.
Ignatius’ context is anti-Judaizing: he warns against Christians reverting to Jewish practices, which he sees as denying Christ’s grace (Magnesians 8:1: “If we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace”). For Christians, Ignatius’ witness, as an Apostolic Father, carries weight, reflecting apostolic tradition that Sunday supplants Saturday as the day of worship.

Early Church Fathers: Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Barnabas (c. AD 70–132), though not canonical, offers a sharp critique of literal Sabbath-keeping, reinforcing the Catholic view. In Barnabas 15:8–9, the author declares,

“Finally, He says to them: ‘Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.’ You see what He means: it is not the present Sabbaths that are acceptable to Me, but the one which I have made, when, giving rest to all things, I shall make the beginning of an eighth day, that is, the beginning of another world. Wherefore also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead” (ANF, Vol. 1, p. 147).

Citing Isaiah 1:13, the author argues that God rejects the Jewish Sabbath, reinterpreting it as an eschatological rest fulfilled in Christ. The “eighth day” (Sunday, following the seventh-day Sabbath) symbolizes this new era, aligning with resurrection theology.

Christians observe this as evidence of an early Christian consensus that Saturday worship is obsolete, replaced by Sunday’s celebration of the “new world” begun in Christ. While Barnabas is polemical and not magisterial, its influence on early theology underscores the shift away from Judaizing practices.

Theological Rationale: Sunday as the Day of the New Creation

Christian doctrine ties Sunday worship to the concept of a “new creation.” Just as God rested on the seventh day after creating the world (Genesis 2:2–3), Christ’s resurrection on the first day marks the renewal of a new creation. Christ fulfills the Sabbath’s purpose—rest and communion with God—in a new context, as Christ’s victory over sin and death (Romans 6:4) surpasses the old order.

The Church Fathers amplify this. Ignatius’ “life has sprung up again” (Magnesians 9) and Barnabas’ “beginning of another world” (15:8) echo 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Sunday thus becomes the day when Catholics celebrate this renewal through the Mass, which re-presents Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.

Traditional Witness and Authority

Historically, Christian Sunday communal worship emerged early, as seen in Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2, and was codified by Church authority. The Council of Laodicea (c. AD 363–364), Canon 29, later declared, “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day… preferring in honor the Lord’s Day” (NPNF, Series 2, Vol. 14, p. 148). This reflects a Catholic reliance on apostolic tradition and the Magisterium to interpret Scripture, per 2 Thessalonians 2:15: “Stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us.”

Conclusion for Christians

Christians worship on Sunday, not Saturday, because the New Testament establishes it as the day of Christ’s resurrection (Matthew 28:1, Acts 20:7), fulfilling the Sabbath’s shadow (Colossians 2:16–17) in a New Covenant of grace (Acts 15). Fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch confirm this shift, rejecting Sabbath observance for the Lord’s Day (Magnesians 9:1), while Barnabas redefines rest as an eschatological reality celebrated on the “eighth day” (15:8–9). Theologically, Sunday honors the new creation in Christ, a truth the Catholic Church, guided by apostolic authority, has upheld since the resurrection of Christ. For Christians, this is not a rejection of the Sabbath’s sanctity but its transformation into a higher celebration of redemption, lived out each Sunday in the Eucharist.

Are you interested in going deeper? Please sign up for my online Theology course at: nsti.com.

The post Should Christians Keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

1. Didache
2. Epistle of Clement of Rome
3. Epistle of Barnabas

Brief history of the Epistle of Barnabas:

1. The Epistle of Barnabas dates between AD 70 and AD 135 with an attribution to the Apostle Barnabas, the co-missionary with the Apostle Paul. “When the apostles Barnabas and Paul had heard, rending their clothes, they leaped out among the people, crying.” (Acts 14:13) Barnabas speaks of the Jerusalem temple being destroyed, an event that happened in AD 70.
2. Barnabas is quite familiar with New Testament literature and he refers to or cites Matthew, John, Romans, 1 Corinthains, Hebrews, and 1 Peter.
3. The complete text of Barnabas is preserved in the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus. It appears at the end of the New Testament, following the Book of Revelation and before the Shepherd of Hermas.
4. Some early Fathers of the Church ascribed it to the Barnabas mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Early Egyptian Christians, namely Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Didymus the Blind quoted from Barnabas. May scholars today attribute it to an otherwise unknown early Christian teacher. I personally believe it was written by Saint Barnabas, who appears in Acts. The theological argument corresponds closely to the theology of Paul’s Galatians and Hebrews (yes, I also believe Paul is the author of Hebrews with Luke as a writer).

Who is the Evil Angel?

Barnabas on the Deception of Food Laws

1. Swine: Forgetfulness of God and ingratitude
2. Eagle, Hawk, Kite, Crow: Stealing dead meat as injustice, oppression, and greed
3. Fish Without Scales: Instability and wickedness living at the bottom in darkness
4. Rabbit: Sexual immorality, pederasty and promiscuity
5. Hyena: Sexual perversion and transgenderism
6. Weasel: Sins of the mouth, such as slander and oral sodomy

Is the Evil Angel the Demiurge or Satan?

Satan as Evil Angel

The post Who is the Evil Angel in the Epistle of Barnabas? Are the Rabbis Satanic? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Saint Paul recites what seems to be a formula or creedal statement about the resurrection of Christ. I’ll bullet point it to make it clear:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:

• that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
• that he was buried,
• that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
• and that he appeared to Cephas,
• then to the Twelve.
• Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
• Then he appeared to James,
• then to all the Apostles.
• Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor 15:3-8)

Here we have the kernel of the Apostles Creed (died, buried, rose on third day) but appended to it six resurrection appearances. Five apparitions and then finally one apparition to Saint Paul himself.

Paul speaks of the resurrected Christ appearing to “more than five hundred” and this event is recorded nowhere in the four Gospels or within St Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. So what is Saint Paul describing?

Christ Appearing to Over 500?

There are 4 opinions on this “500 witnesses event”:

1. Never Happened: Liberal scholars say that Saint Paul made this up to make it sound like there were plenty of witnesses to the resurrection. It never happened. It’s a lie. The Catholic Christian cannot allow that the Apostle Paul would bear false witness within Divine Scripture.
2. Galilee Event: Saint Paul refers to the Galilee appearance of the resurrected Jesus Christ as described by Saint Mark: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There you shall see him, as he told you” (Mark 16:7). The 11 Apostles would have then gathered over 500 believers to join them in Galilee where Jesus appeared to them in His resurrected body.
3. After the Ascension: Saint John Chrysostom speculates that this event happened after Ascension because the Greek “more than (ἐπάνω) five hundred” could accurately be translated “above five hundred,” as in “above in the sky.”
4. Pentecost in Jerusalem: Saint Paul is referring to Pentecost. Saint Luke says that 120 Christians (Mary, Apostles, the Seventy, the women, the brethren of Jesus) were gathered for miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Jerusalem. These 120 and the first several converts somehow witnessed an apparition of the resurrected Christ on this day, as well. Or perhaps the manifestation of the “Spirit of Christ” is counted as an apparition of Christ by Paul.

The majority position is (2) that this happened in Galilee when the Apostles went back to Jerusalem to witness Christ there. Here’s why this is the best answer:

1. The Ten Apostles (without Thomas) saw the resurrected Christ on the evening of the Resurrection Sunday when Christ appeared to them within locked doors and breathed on them.
2. The Eleven Apostles (now with Thomas) saw the resurrected Christ one Sunday later and allowed Thomas to place his fingers within His wounds.
3. If the Apostles saw Christ at least twice in Jerusalem, why then would Christ instruct them to go to Galilee to be witnesses there? Presumably so that all of Christ’s followers in Galilee could see Him resurrected there. This would make sense and this is why “more than five hundred” would see Christ resurrected. This “more than 500” would be the nucleus of the 5000 that were fed and of those who had seen His miracles.
4. When Saint Paul writes: “then to all the Apostles,” at the end of his list, he is likely referring to the Ascension of Christ. So the appearance to 500 likely happened before the Ascension. That rules out (3) Christ appearing after Ascension as suggested by Saint John Chrysostom. Sorry Chrysostom.
5. It also rules out (4) Christ appearing at Pentecost, because Christ appearing to disciples at Pentecost would have been recorded by Paul’s friend Saint Luke. After all, Saint Luke mentions Christ appearing to Saint Stephen – so why would he omit an apparition of Jesus on Pentecost? So then, it seems safe to say that Christ did not appear on Pentecost.

It could also be that Saint Matthew records the “500 Event” as having occurred in Galilee without mentioning “500”:

“The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted” (Mt 28:16-17).

Matthew speaks only of the 11 living Apostles but says “some doubted.” Surely the 11 didn’t doubt at this time since it follows the “doubting Thomas” event that happened 13 days after the Resurrection in Jerusalem. So it could be that “some doubted” refers to “some of the 500 doubted.”

Christ is risen!
Dr Taylor Marshall

[reminder]I’d love to hear others weigh in on this topic. Who were the five hundred and when did it happen? I think it was the Galilee Event but I’m open to other ideas.[/reminder]

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The post The Resurrected Christ appeared to 500: When and Where did this Happen? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

Many of us begin with an incorrect (even heretical) understanding of the Ascension of Christ. I’ve heard it said that Christ eventually “gave up” the use His body, as if he parked it in a garage with the idea of perhaps using His body again at the end of time to judge the living and dead.

Today we will discover the importance in Catholic orthodoxy of the presence of “the cloud” at the Ascension of Christ:

The ascension of Christ is described in Luke’s Gospel and referred to frequently in John. Christ gathers the 11 Apostles at the Mount of Olives where He commands them to remain in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit:

And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

We receive more details in Luke’s Acts 1:8-11:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Perhaps the most important detail here is the description of a “cloud” taking Him out of sight.

Christ did not float up into the sky like a balloon let loose by a child until it disappeared as a dot in the sky too far way to see. Rather, the Body of Christ was taken by a cloud.

Saint Peter perceives the Davidic importance of this event in Acts 2:32-36 when he cites the royal Davidic “Lord said to my Lord” Psalm 110:

The Lord says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
till I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your foes!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day you lead your host
upon the holy mountains.
From the womb of the morning
like dew your youth will come to you.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.

This is a Psalm declaring that David will “ascend” to his God-appointed throne at God’s right hand and begin to rule. We find that the Davidic king is at least quasi-divine. He is:

• “my Lord”
• “priest”
• “for ever”
• “will scatter kings…corpses…over the wide earth”

This is a cosmic king. A divine Messiah. Something David could never be and this is why Christ asks how David could ever say: “The Lord says to my Lord.”

This is Trinitarian theology. We find one Divine Person (Lord) speaking to another Divine Person (Lord). For an interesting study of two distinct “Lords” in Hebrew Scripture, I highly recommend The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God by Margaret Barker.

We see the conversation between the “two Lords” in Daniel 7 with the “Ancient of Days” (first Lord) interacting with the Son of Man (second Lord). In Daniel 7:13, the Son of Man comes up to the Father. I’m not making this up or grasping at straws. Christ Himself quotes these passages as references to Himself in the future at Matthew 24:30; 26:64 and Mark 13:26; 14:62 and Luke 21:27:

13 I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a Son of Man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

It’s obvious how this passage in Daniel 7 echoes Psalm 110 with a divine-like King gaining universal dominion over all kings and kingdoms. But notice the “clouds.”

See this post for more: The Davidic Identity of Daniel

Christ purposefully includes “the clouds” in His own citation of this passage during His trial. Ultimately, it’s Christ’s quotation of this passage and “the clouds” that offends the High Priest leads Him to be “convicted” and crucified.

The cloud theme continues in Revelation as I detail in this free Catholic podcast on the Book of Revelation Chapter 14. Jesus Christ rides in “on a cloud” holding a sickle and ready to slay his enemies as described in Ps 110 and Dan 7.

Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

The Ascension of Christ with the cloud is important and it shows that He is still operating through His assumed human nature. This is good news for Catholics. If Christ has “parked His body” as if to be finished with it, then we would not have the perennial presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in our churches.

Happy Ascension,
Dr. Taylor Marshall

[reminder]

PS: King David was Eucharistic. 2 Sam 6:17-19 records that when King David ascended as king in Jerusalem, he gave every Israelite a wheat cake, wine, and a cake of grapes. A type of the wheat and grapes of the Eucharist of the Davidic Messiah.

PPS: Here’s a line by line Catholic commentary on the Book of Revelation.

If you’d like to study with me orthodox Christology (study of Christ) and Mariology (study of Mary) study of Mary, please join the New Saint Thomas Institute.

The post Ascension of Christ as Davidic Cloud Monarch appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

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[If you don’t see the video in your browser or email, click here to begin watching.]

This is lesson 7 of Church History: Module 2 – Redemptive History: Christ of the Covenants. To sign up and watch the rest of the lessons and modules in this Catholic Church History Course (and earn a Certificate), please visit: New Saint Thomas Institute’s Certificate in Catholic History:

[reminder]Do you agree that dating the Dormition/Assumption to AD 63 makes the most sense?[/reminder]

And here are some interesting resources for you as we celebrate Our Lady’s Dormition and Assumption:

1. Did the Virgin Mary Die? The Answer May Surprise You (The majority tradition in Catholic history is that Our Lady did experience the separation of body and soul.)
2. Audio: Mary as Assumed in Revelation 12 Podcast: Our Lady of the Apocalypse
3. Did Christ receive an assumption or ascension or both?
4. The year of the assumption according to Maria Agreda
5. The Assumption of Saint Joseph – A forgotten tradition
6. If you deny the Assumption – You have fallen away!
7. Saint Gregory of Tours on the Assumption
8. The Assumption of Mary in the Book of Psalms
9. Does the Rosary Pre-Date Dominic?
10. Mary’s Special Role over Purgatory
11. Mary’s Empty Tomb Information
12. Did Pope Pius XII Teach that Mary died? Yes he did

Enjoy!

to Jesus through Mary,
Taylor Marshall

The post Catholic Video: What is the Historical Date of Mary’s Assumption? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

Fire transfers heat. Within the soul of Christ on the cross, He was full of fire. Fire of love. That divine fire burned in Him a million times hotter than a furnace or forest fire. Like the burning bush, He burned but never burned up for us, and He wanted to ignite that fire in our souls.

The fire was already burning furiously in the soul of Mary as she stood beneath the cross. Sparks and flickering flames were already in the souls of Saint John and the women with Mary.

That fire is personal. The fire is a Divine Person. The Holy Spirit.

Look into your chest and see if this Fire is burning with in you. Burning up sin and making your soul glow with warmth. Daily prayer is the oxygen that your soul needs. Stoke the fire with Scripture. Pour gasoline on it with the habitual grace of the sacraments.

This week, prayer every morning. Read Scripture every morning. Try to attend a daily Mass at least once.

Come Holy Spirit and kindle in us the Fire of Your Love.

A Blessed Pentecost to you and yours this coming Sunday,

Taylor Marshall

The post Do you have fire in your soul? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

The claim is that it was Saul/Paul, not Christ, who founded the religion of Christianity and that the historical Christ was universalized and divinized into a cosmic Christ.

The argument goes that Saul had some kind of conversion from radical Pharisaic Judaism to belief in Christ, but that Saul/Paul had zero interaction with the dead Rabbi Jesus.

It is true that Saul/Paul did not claim to have known or seen Jesus of Nazareth prior to His crucifixion. Instead, Saul/Paul claims to have met and known Jesus of Nazareth through mystical experiences.

[callout]To read of Paul’s three encounters with Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles, click here.[/callout]

Paul’s first encounter with Jesus is his conversion on the Road to Damascus. Luke retells the conversion of Acts and the narrative compares Jesus to an Old Testament theophany of Yahweh.

In Acts 9:7, Luke writes:

And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no one.”

Here Luke is making the connection with God’s theophany in Deuteronomy with Christ’s theophany to Paul:

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.” (Deut 4:12)

Notice that in both cases there is no visual form, but only the voice.

The Alleged Controversy of the Paul’s Damascus Accounts

The “heard voice, saw nothing” account in Acts 9 makes for a great parallel with Deuteronomy but it opens up a problem.

There is a alleged contradictory account of between Luke’s narrative account of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 and the second version retold by Paul himself in Acts 22:6-9:

6 “As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

Some claim that this contradicts the account in Acts 9 because:

• Acts 9: men with Saul hear a voice, but see no one.
• Acts 22:6-9: men with Saul saw the light but did not hear the voice.

The contradiction is dispensed with easily in this way:

• Acts 9 reports that the men saw no one and Acts 22 says they saw a light. This is not a contradiction. These men saw a light but saw no form or person in it.
• Acts 9 reports that the men heard a generic voice, but Acts 22 says they “did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.” In Acts 22, the stress is on “the voice of the one speaking to Saul.” This means that the men heard a sound (Acts 9), but that it was not intelligible to them (Acts 22).

Here we can see that Saul’s encounter with Christ is not fictionalized. The fact that it is recounted three times in Acts is remarkable. It is the anchor of Paul’s claim to apostleship. Without it, Paul is merely an enthusiast. Luke’s Acts demonstrates that Paul’s apostleship is accompanied by miracles and this fact reveals Paul as a true and valid prophet for the New Covenant [Catholic] Church.

[reminder]

The post Paul’s Damascus Conversion: Does Acts 9 Contradict Acts 22? appeared first on Taylor Marshall.

1) Paul’s Vision on the Road to Damascus (described in Acts 9, 22, and 26). Paul is walking on the road to Damascus in order to arrest Christians in Damascus.

[callout]To read my theory that Saul/Paul had Herodian connections to accomplish this political task, click here.[/callout]

A bright light surrounds Saul and he hears a voice claiming: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Saul loses his sight but gains it again through the laying on of hands by Ananias who then baptizes Saul/Paul.

2) Paul’s Trance in the Temple (Acts 22:17-21). After his conversion, Paul returns to Jerusalem and while he is praying in the Temple, he enters into a trance. In Greek, the word for trance is ἐκστάσει {ecstasei} or “ecstasy.”

17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance {ἐκστάσει} 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in thee. 20 And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I also was standing by and approving, and keeping the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Depart; for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

We learn something more about Saul here. Although he did not capture Christians in Damascus, he did previously and personally “imprison and and beat” Christians in Jerusalem – “in every synagogue.” Saul was the chief of Anti-Christian police in Jerusalem. Saul would have had to have authority from the High Priest and Herod Antipas to accomplish this.

3) Paul’s Vision in Prison (Acts 23:11). This is the big “Roman Catholic” passage that I stress in my book on Saint Paul as Roman and in my book on Rome as the Capital of Christianity. Here Jesus Christ connects the Apostolic ministry from Jerusalem…to Rome. Romanism is a mandate delivered to Paul from the resurrected mouth of Jesus Christ:

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

Christ connects the Great Commission as a line drawn from Jerusalem to Rome. We see this in the thematic structure of the four Gospels (the Jerusalem/Pilate struggle) and also in the narrative structure of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts starts in Jerusalem and ends in Rome). The Book of Revelation, rightly interpreted is a vision about the unholy adultery between Whore of Babylon (Jerusalem) and the Beast (Rome).

[reminder]

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