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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On Paul's World and Time Period
"I Begin Today a New Cycle of Catecheses, Dedicated to the Great
Apostle"
H.H. Benedict XVI
July 2, 2008
www.zenit.org
On the occasion of the Pauline Year, the Holy Father began a new cycle
of catecheses today, dedicated to the figure and thought of St. Paul.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I would like to begin today a new cycle of catecheses, dedicated to the
great Apostle St. Paul. To him, as you know, I have consecrated this
year, which extends from the liturgical feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on
June 29, 2008, to the same feast in 2009.
The Apostle Paul, an exceptional and virtually inimitable yet
stimulating figure, is before us as an example of total dedication to
the Lord and his Church, as well as of great openness to humanity and
its cultures. It is just, therefore, that we reserve a particular place
for him, not only in our veneration, but also in an effort to understand
what he has to say to us, Christians of today, as well.
In this, our first meeting, I would like to pause to consider the
environment in which he lived and worked. Such a topic would seem to
take us far from our time, given that we must insert ourselves in the
world of 2,000 years ago. And yet, this is only apparently and partly
true, because it can be verified that in many ways, the socio-cultural
environment of today is not so different than that of back then.
A primary and fundamental factor to keep in mind is the relationship
between the environment in which Paul was born and developed and the
global context in which he successively inserted himself. He came from a
very precise and specific culture, certainly of the minority, which was
that of the people of Israel and their tradition. In the ancient world
and notably at the heart of the Roman Empire, as scholars of the subject
teach us, the Jews constituted about 10% of the total population. Here
in Rome, their number around the middle of the first century was even
fewer, reaching a maximum of 3% of the inhabitants of the city.
Their beliefs and lifestyle, as happens also today, distinguished them
clearly from the surrounding environment. And this could have two
results: either derision, which might lead to intolerance, or
admiration, which was expressed in different ways, such as the case of
the "God-fearing" or "proselyte," pagans who associated themselves in
the synagogue and shared the faith in the God of Israel.
As concrete examples of this double attitude we can mention, on one
hand, the sharp judgment of an orator such as Cicero, who scorned their
religion and even the city of Jerusalem (cf. Pro Flacco, 66-69), and on
the other, the attitude of Poppea, Nero's wife, who is remembered by
Flavius Josephus as a "sympathizer" of the Jews (cf. Antichita giudaiche
20, 195.252; Vita 16). And we should note Julius Caesar had already
officially recognized particular rights for them, noted by the
already-mentioned Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus (cf. Ibid. 14,
200-216). What is certain is that the number of Jews, as is true today,
was far greater outside the land of Israel, namely, in the Diaspora, and
not in the territory that others called Palestine.
It is no wonder, then, that Paul himself was the object of the double,
contrasting evaluation, of which I have spoken. One thing is certain:
The particularity of the Jewish culture and religion easily found a
place within a reality as all-pervasive as the Roman Empire. More
difficult and trying was the position of the group of those Jews and
Gentiles who adhered in faith to the person of Jesus of Nazareth,
insofar as they were distinguished both from Judaism and the prevailing
paganism.
In any case, two factors favored Paul's commitment. The first was the
Greek, or rather the Hellenistic culture, which after Alexander the
Great became the common patrimony at least of the Eastern Mediterranean
and the Middle East, though integrating within itself many elements of
peoples traditionally regarded as barbarians. A writer of the time
states, in this regard, that Alexander "ordered that all keep the whole
'ecumene' [inhabited earth] as homeland ... and that there be no longer
a distinction between Greek and Barbarian" (Plutarch, De Alexandri Magni
fortuna aut virtute, paragraphs 6.8).
The second factor was the political-administrative structure of the
Roman Empire, which guaranteed peace and stability from Britain to
southern Egypt, unifying a territory of a dimension never before seen.
In this space, one could move with sufficient liberty and security,
enjoying among other things an extraordinary road system, and finding in
every point of arrival, basic cultural characteristics that, without
detriment to local values, represented in any case a common fabric of
unification "super partes," so much so that the Jewish philosopher Philo
of Alexandria, contemporary of Paul himself, praises the emperor
Augustus because he "has brought together in harmony all the savage
peoples ... becoming a guardian of peace" (Legatio ad Caium, paragraphs
146-147).
The universalistic vision typical of St. Paul's personality, at least of
the Christian Paul after the event on the road to Damascus, certainly
owes its basic impetus to faith in Jesus Christ, inasmuch as the figure
of the Risen One goes beyond that of any particularistic restriction. In
fact, for the apostle "there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave
or free man, no longer male or female, but all are only one in Christ
Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Yet, the historical-cultural situation of his
time and environment also influenced his choices and commitment. Paul
has been described as a "man of three cultures," taking into account his
Jewish origin, Greek language, and his prerogative of "civis romanus,"
as attested also by his name of Latin origin.
We must recall in particular the Stoic philosophy, which prevailed in
Paul's time and also influenced, though marginally, Christianity. In
this connection, we cannot but mention the names of Stoic philosophers,
such as the initiators Zeno and Cleanthes, and then those
chronologically closer to Paul, such as Seneca, Musonius and Epictetus.
Found in them are very lofty values of humanity and wisdom, which were
naturally received in Christianity. As a scholar on the subject writes
masterfully, "Stoicism ... proclaimed a new ideal, which imposed on man
duties toward his fellowmen, but at the same time freed him from all
physical and national ties and made him a purely spiritual being" (M.
Pohlenz, La Stoa, I, Florence 2, 1978, pp. 565ff).
It is enough to think, for example, of the doctrine of the universe
understood as one great harmonious body and, consequently, of the
doctrine of the equality of all men without social distinctions, to the
equating at least in principle of man and woman, and then the ideal of
frugality, of the just measure and of self-control to avoid all
excesses. When Paul writes to the Philippians: "Whatever is true,
whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8),
does no more than take up a strictly humanist concept proper to that
philosophical wisdom.
In Paul's time, there was also a crisis of the traditional religion, at
least in its mythological and also civic aspects. After Lucretius,
already a century earlier, had controversially stated that "religion has
led to so many misdeeds" (De rerum natura 1, 101), a philosopher such as
Seneca, going well beyond any external ritualism, taught that "God is
close to you, he is with you, he is within you" (Lettere a Lucilio, 41,
1).
Similarly, when Paul addressed an auditorium of Epicurean philosophers
in the Areopagus in Athens, he says literally that "God does not live in
shrines made by man ... but in him we live and move and have our being"
(Acts 17: 24.28). With this, he certainly echoes the Jewish faith in one
God that cannot be represented in anthropomorphic terms, but he also
follows a religious line with which his listeners were familiar. We must
take into account, moreover, that many educated pagans did not frequent
the official temples of the city, and went to private places that
promoted the initiation of followers.
Not a motive for wonder, therefore, was the fact that Christian meetings
(the "ekklesiai"), as attested to especially in the Pauline Letters,
took place in private homes. At the time, moreover, there was still no
public building. Therefore, the meetings of Christians must have seemed
to their contemporaries as a simple variation of this more intimate
religious practice. Nevertheless, the differences between pagan and
Christian worship are not of slight importance and involved as much the
awareness of the participants' identity as well as the common
participation of men and women, the celebration of the "Lord's Supper"
and the reading of the Scriptures.
In conclusion, from this brief review of the cultural environment of the
first century of the Christian era, it is clear that it is not possible
to understand St. Paul adequately without considering the background,
both Jewish as well as pagan, of his time. Thus his figure acquires a
historical and ideal depth, revealing shared and original elements of
the environment. However, this is also equally true for Christianity in
general, of which the Apostle Paul is a paradigm of the first order,
from whom all of us today have much to learn. This is the objective of
the Pauline Year: to learn the faith from him, to learn from him who
Christ is, to learn, in the end, the path for an upright life.
[Translated by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he
said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last Sunday, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, marked the
beginning of a Year dedicated to the figure and teaching of the Apostle
Paul. Today's Audience begins a new series of catecheses aimed at
understanding more deeply the thought of Saint Paul and its continuing
relevance. Paul, as we know, was a Jew, and consequently a member of a
distinct cultural minority in the Roman Empire. At the same time, he
spoke Greek, the language of the wider Hellenistic culture, and was a
Roman citizen. Paul's proclamation of the Risen Christ, while grounded
in Judaism, was marked by a universalist vision and it was facilitated
by his familiarity with three cultures. He was thus able to draw from
the spiritual richness of contemporary philosophy, and Stoicism in
particular, in his preaching of the Gospel. The crisis of traditional
Greco-Roman religion in Paul's time had also fostered a greater concern
for a personal experience of God. As we see from his sermon before the
Areopagus in Athens (cf. Acts 17:22ff.), Paul was able to appeal to
these currents of thought in his presentation of the Good News. Against
this broad cultural background, Paul developed his teaching, which we
will explore in the catecheses of this Pauline Year.
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors present
today, including the Pallottine Missionary Sisters, the Columban
Missionaries and the Soweto Catholic Church Choir. I also greet the
various groups coming from England, Ireland, Norway, the Bahamas, Canada
and the United States. May your visit to Rome be a time of deep
spiritual renewal. Upon all of you I invoke God's blessings of joy and
peace.
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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