Dr Paul Allen

I am convinced that when many of us think about the Apostle Paul, we think of someone who was so bold and courageous that the Lord could not help but accomplish great things in and through him. We see Paul through our rose-coloured glasses; we are convinced that, while we struggle with boldness in speaking about Christ or in taking a stand for Him, Paul did not.  After all, the Bible portrays Paul as one who regularly preached in the face of great opposition (Acts 13:44–46; 14:1–3; 17:22–32), who boldly confronted his adversaries (13:8–11), and who made a practice of telling his listeners exactly what they needed to hear rather than what they wanted to hear (20:20, 27). But there are passages in the New Testament that suggest that Paul may not, in fact, have been a naturally bold person in and of himself. In 1 Corinthians 2:3, for instance, Paul admits that when he was with the church in Corinth, he was with them in “weakness and in fear and much trembling.”  And in 2 Corinth...

We get the term “thorn in the flesh” from the apostle Paul : To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ( 2 Corinthians 12:7 ) Paul’s thorn is among the most famous afflictions in history, and we don’t even know what it was. There’s been a lot of speculation over the years. Paul’s thorn could have been a physical affliction. This is plausible given all the physical violence and deprivation he endured ( 2 Corinthians 11:23–27 ), and some think he may have suffered from an eye disease ( Galatians 4:15 ). “The most redemptive gift of pain in history was given to us through the most evil means.” Or since he referred to his thorn as a harassing “messenger of Satan,” he could have been vulnerable to significant spiritual-psychological struggles. This is plausible given the cumulative trauma of violently persecuting Christians , then...

English: Their are thousands of artworks created in the art world depicting St Paul. This painting was created by the famous artist called Rembrandt. It hangs on the walls of the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” ( 2 Corinthians 12:10 ) Here is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life . How could the apostle Paul actually find pleasure in being persecuted or reproached, in being placed in distressing situations, and having to endure bodily pain or weakness? There could be no pleasure at all in such things were it not “for Christ’s sake.” Paul was a great man of faith and prayer, and he prayed earnestly that God would remove what he called a “ thorn in the flesh ” (v. 7), evidently some painful infirmity that he felt was hindering his ministry. God answered his prayer, however,...