home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
/
edu
/
paul21.zip
/
02.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-11-27
|
23KB
|
383 lines
CHAPTER 2
THE CONVERSION OF SAUL
Please refer to the harmony of Paul's conversion. Using
this harmony as a basis, an attempt will be made to re-create
Saul's conversion experience. We will begin with Saul's
journey to Damascus. Damascus was located about two hundred
miles from Jerusalem--at least a full six day's journey.
Ralph Earle states that he and his fellow travelers were
probably walking:
Paul is sometimes pictured riding on a Roman
charger on the road to Damascus. But LED BY THE
HAND would suggest that he was walking. If he did
ride, it was probably on a donkey, since the
Pharisees avoided horses as a symbol of Roman
power. [Charles W. Carter, gen. ed., THE
EVANGELICAL COMMENTARY (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1959), THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES,
by Ralph Earle, p. 127].
Having a lot of time to think, he was probably remembering
bits and pieces about Jesus of Nazareth, including the
stoning of Stephen. Dying men do not have to prove anything
and Stephen's gracious, forgiving words must have made a deep
and lasting impression on Saul of Tarsus.
We do not know if Paul ever met Jesus personally, but
there are scriptures that indicate that he may have:
I saw none of the other apostles--only
James, the Lord's brother. (Galatians
1:19, NIV).
So from now on we regard no one from a
worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no
longer. (2 Corinthians 5:16, NIV).
Paul also knew the Old Testament prophecies of the
Messiah. The scriptures were the bedrock of his beliefs. His
observation of Christians and Jesus fitting the profile of
the Messiah were feeding a fledgling Christian complex
developing in his unconscious.
There is substantial evidence that Paul had repressed
all this information about Jesus. The fact that Jesus was
the Son of God would have been too great a threat for Paul's
ego. First, he would be fighting God, the very opposite of
what he consciously thought that he was doing. Secondly, his
very physical life would be threatened. Had he not voted to
put to death some Christians himself? Thirdly, there would
be loss of prestige. Fourthly, all his plans would be
changed. Jung, Thouless and Underwood all agree that Paul
was unconscious of strong Christian influences. [Robert H.
Thouless, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION
(Cambridge: University Press, 1924), pp. 188 ff.]. (Thouless
also quotes Jung). [Alfred Clair Underwood, CONVERSION:
CHRISTIAN AND NON-CHRISTIAN (London: George Allen and Unwin,
Ltd., 1925), pp. 178-179].
Then, as Saul and his group were nearing Damascus, an
extremely bright light "flashed around" them. The scriptures
indicate that there was a physical light present, similar to
lightning. [Charles W. Carter, gen. ed., THE EVANGELICAL
COMMENTARY (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959),
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, by Ralph Earle, p. 126].
The whole party fell to the ground immediately after the
flashing lights. It is implied that only Saul saw Jesus.
Saul was blinded, but at least some in the party were not,
because they led him into Damascus.
Jesus then spoke to Saul in Hebrew or Aramaic. Others
in the party only heard a sound. It was probably here on the
road to Damascus that Saul was converted. His nature was
changed and also his name. He was called Paul after his
conversion.
After arriving in Damascus, Paul fasted and prayed for
three days. The Lord sent Ananias to Paul. After Ananias
prayed for Paul, his eyes were healed and he could see.
Unconscious Factors
Jung interprets Paul's conversion:
Although the moment of conversion seems some-
times quite sudden and unexpected, yet we know from
repeated experience that such a fundamental
occurrence always has a long period of unconscious
incubation. It is only when the preparation is
complete, that is to say, when the individual is
ready to be converted, that the new view breaks
forth with great emotion. St. Paul had already
been a Christian for a long time, but
unconsciously; hence his fanatical resistance to
the Christians, because fanaticism exists chiefly
in individuals who are compensating for secret
doubts. The incident of his hearing the voice of
Christ on his way to Damascus marks the moment when
the unconscious complex of Christianity became
conscious. That the auditory phenomenon should
represent Christ is explained by the already
existing unconscious Christian complex. The
complex, being unconscious, was projected by St.
Paul on to the external world as if it did not
belong to him. Unable to conceive of himself a
Christian, and on account of his resistance to
Christ, he became blind, and could only regain his
sight through submission to a Christian, that is to
say through his complete submission to
Christianity. Psychogenic blindness is, according
to my experience, always due to an unwillingness to
see, i.e., to understand and to accept, what is
incompatible with the conscious attitude. This was
obviously the case with St. Paul. His
unwillingness to see corresponds with his fanatical
resistance to Christianity. This resistance was
never wholly extinguished, a fact of which we have
proof of in the epistles. It broke forth at times
in the fits he suffered from. It is certainly a
great mistake to call his fits epileptic. There is
no trace of epilepsy in them, on the contrary, St.
Paul himself in his epistles gives hints enough as
to the real nature of the illness. They are
clearly psychogenic fits, which really mean a
return to the old Saul-complex, repressed through
conversion, in the same way as there had
previously been a repression of the complex of
Christianity. [C. G. Jung, "The Psychological
Foundation of Belief in Spirits," as quoted by
Thouless, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
RELIGION, pp. 189-190].
Thouless agrees basically with Jung, but adds,
Acceptance of this as a sufficient account of the
psychological mechanism of his conversion does not,
of course, prevent us from holding, if we have
reason to do so, that there was an objective
ground of St. Paul's visions. Psychologically, it
would not be a necessary postulate, but is arguable
that it might be necessary on other grounds.
(Thouless, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
RELIGION, pp. 190-191).
Underwood presents a more distinct complex theory:
In brief, what took place was a sudden irruption
into consciousness of a complex which had a been
thrust into the unconscious by repression. Before
he became acquainted with the Christian faith, the
dominating complex in the mind of Paul was what we
may call a Pharisee-complex. His Pharisaic zeal is
evidence of this. From the first day that he heard
of the Christian faith what we may call a
Christian-complex began to develop. All that he
subsequently heard of the Christian faith only
served to further its growth and to make it more
closely knit. Since this Christian-complex was in
antagonism to his cherished beliefs, a painful
conflict was set up, during which the offending
Christian-complex was repressed--that is,
unwittingly separated from the rest of the mind and
driven into the unconscious. Repression, so far
from destroying the complex, enhanced its potential
energy by cutting it off from the rest of the
mind. This energy manifested itself in further
feverish persecution of the Christians. In a state
of tension, the apostle journeyed to Damascus, and
on the way thither the power of the Pharisee-
complex to resist the Christian-complex reached its
limits. An explosive charge took place on which
the Christian-complex rose from its burial in the
unconscious and became the dominant factor in the
conscious life of Paul. The new orientation was
bound to take place if the mind was to preserve its
equilibrium; for no intensely painful complex, that
is strongly repressed, can be kept permanently
quiet in the unconscious. Sooner or later the
imprisoned psychic energy breaks out and results
either in some pathological state or in a complete
rearrangement of complexes, which restores unity
and equilibrium to the mind. (Underwood,
CONVERSION: CHRISTIAN AND NON-CHRISTIAN, pp.
190-191).
Thouless and Underwood seem to have good case, but in
the opinion of the writer, their presentations do not take
into account certain other facts in Paul's case. They also
omit certain pertinent functions of the mind.
Andrews presents additional factors:
1. His growing disillusionment respecting [one's
ability to keep] the [Mosaic] Law. Paul had an
exceeding sensitive approach to the Law, which he
observed meticulously (Phil. iii, 6). It is
doubtful that Pharisaism took the view that only
complete fulfillment of the Law could save a man
from being accursed, yet Paul believed this (Gal.
iii, 10). .... External observance and inward
fulfillment were to be one and issue in victory and
emancipation of the soul, but this was not the
case. ....
2. The impact made by early Christians and
particularly by the work and martyrdom of Stephen.
...................................................
3. The probable influence of the person of Jesus.
.... He refers to having known Christ "after the
flesh" ("from a human point of view"; II Cor. v,
16), by some interpreted to mean "the Jesus of
History".... (ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA,1969, s.v.
"Paul, Saint," by Elias Andrews).
Basically, Andrews contributes the fact that Saul's
disillusionment with his religion tended to weaken the
dominant Pharisaic complex. Paul saw the sect of the
Nazarene as a threat to Judaism, and especially to the
conservative branch--the Pharisees. What Saul was doing
externally was a reflection of the inner unconscious "censor"
fighting back the Jesus complex into the unconscious.
However, Jesus was winning in both the objective world and in
Saul's subjective representation of that world.
Another way of understanding the unconscious function of
Saul's mind could be presented in the framework of the
Hegelian dialectic. The thesis would be the dominant
Pharisaic complex. Developing in the unconscious would be
the antithesis, the Jesus complex. The Jesus complex was
developing from three sources: (1) the internal Pharisaic
complex; (2) the external stimuli of Christians and (3) most
important, the stimulus and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
William James states the possibility of the transcenden-
tal working through the unconscious. [James, as quoted by A.
Rudolph Uren, RECENT RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1928), p. 71].
Dewar gives an intensive treatment of the relationship
of the Holy Spirit's work in the unconscious. [Lindsay Dewar,
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MODERN THOUGHT (New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1950]. [James and Dewar's ideas taken from John
Drakeford, PSYCHOLOGY IN SEARCH OF A SOUL (Nashville: Broad-
man Press, 1964), pp. 101-102].
As a Pharisee, Paul would know Jewish scriptures pre-
dicting the coming of the Messiah. As he began to see from
those prophecies that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the
Messiah, Saul had to accept the fact or fabricate a lie. He
chose to believe the truth. Thus, the thesis (Pharisaic/Saul
complex) developed an antithesis (Jesus complex), which
reacted with the thesis to form a synthesis, which became the
new thesis (Jesus/Paul complex). Notice in the harmony, that
immediately after his conversion, Paul began to preach that
Jesus is the Messiah.
Conscious Factors
Up to this point, we have attempted a psychological
examination of the unconscious factors in the conversion of
Saul. Now, let us turn to the conscious factors influencing
Saul's conversion. Throughout his writings in the New
Testament, Paul includes the conscience. What part did
Paul's conscience play in his conversion experience?
Conscience is defined by Koehler as
a faculty..., a function of the soul that operates
on the basis of such knowledge and conviction as we
have and that would bring our lives into conformity
with the same. [E. W. A. Koehler, CONSCIENCE (St.
Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1942), pp. 6-7].
Saul was aware of his not keeping the Mosaic Law. His
conscience would, on a conscious level, give him psychic pain
for having failed morally, as indicated by Paul later:
For I do not understand my own actions--I
am baffled, bewildered. I do not
practice or accomplish what I wish, but I
do the very thing that I loathe [which my
moral instinct condemns]. (Romans 7:15,
The Amplified Bible).
Also implied throughout Romans 15 is a lack of ego strength
in Saul to overcome ID urges. Guilt, then, was an important
stimulus. It tended to cause Saul to lose confidence in
Pharisaism, which further caused a weakening of the Pharisaic
complex which governed Saul's life. It is interesting to
note that after his conversion, Paul received forgiveness,
ego strength to overcome temptation, and God's love. God's
love replaced the driving guilt and psychic pain as the new
motivating force in his life. Paul later says,
For Christ's love compels us, because we
are convinced that one died for all, and
therefore all died. (2 Corinthians 5:14,
NIV).
However, we must understand that conscience-inflicted
pain did not come from persecuting the Church at first. Paul
later wrote,
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who
has given me strength, that he considered
me faithful, appointing me to his
service. Even though I was once a
blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent
man, I was shown mercy because I acted in
ignorance and unbelief. (1 Timothy 1:13,
NIV).
In the beginning, his conscience acted on his conviction that
the Pharisees were right and the Jesus Way was wrong. Guilt
"feelings" came from behavior contrary to the Mosaic ideal,
which Saul believed in strongly. (Psychiatrist Rodriguez, at
Osawatomie State Hospital in Kansas, stated that psychic pain
from guilt is the worst human pain).
Guilt, then, was an important stimulus. It was no doubt
a tool that the Holy Spirit used. However, the work of the
Holy Spirit cannot be limited to the human conscience, the
unconscious, or any other facet of the human psyche. The
Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of the need of a right standing
with God, and of the need to trust Christ as Lord and Savior.
The Holy Spirit also performs the new birth:
Jesus answered, "I tell you the
truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and the
[Holy] Spirit. Flesh gives birth to
flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit. You should not be surprised at
my saying, `You must be born again.' The
wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear
its sound, but you cannot tell where it
comes from or where it is going. So it
is with everyone born of the Spirit."
John 3:5-8, NIV).
Please notice that Jesus states that the Holy Spirit gives
believers a rebirth of the human SPIRIT. Conversion takes
place in the human psyche, the SOUL. Conversion especially
involves the unconscious, the deepest level of the soul, but
it is still in the soul. This is how Christian conversion
differs from other types of conversions--the Holy Spirit
takes the change to the center of the human being--to his
heart or spirit. Other conversions are superficial in that
they are merely in the soul. A human being is a spirit, who
has a soul and lives in a body.
In Paul's conversion, there was a "complex-swapping"
where the Jesus complex took the "driver's seat" and the
Pharisaic complex was repressed. There was a wonderful change
for the better in Saul.
The change is indicated by Saul's name being changed to
Paul. Saul or Shaul (Hebrew) means "longed-for; asked [of
God]." Paul or Paulus (Latin, Roman, Gentile) means
"little." Paul said concerning himself, after his conversion
in about AD 38,
Although I am less than the least of all
God's people, this grace was given me:
to preach to the Gentiles the unsearch-
able riches of Christ, (Ephesians 3:8,
NIV).
Paul was a humble man.
Jung seems to believe that the old repressed Pharisaic
complex gave Paul "fits." I find no place in the
scriptures where Paul had seizures. Jung may be trying to
define Paul's "thorn in the flesh."
Paul did have a "thorn in the flesh." Some believe
that this was his diseased eyes. He did have a large hand-
writing and he said once that some would have plucked out
their eyes for him (Galatians 4:15). But, didn't the Lord
heal his eyes through the ministry of Ananias?
Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was "a messenger [Greek,
ANGELOS] of Satan" (2 Corinthians 12:7). An angel of Satan
is a demon. Apparently demons stirred up people against Paul
--this is indicated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10. The
term, "thorn in the flesh" was probably borrowed by Paul from
the Old Testament where Israel's enemies were called "thorns
in their flesh."
END
