MEDIA/ARTS

Book Review

St. Paul book brings readers closer to the living God

Reviewed by Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
July 3, 2008

The Church knows that important things require time.

We have 40 days of Lenten preparation before Easter, four weeks of Advent before Christmas and then a Christmas season that lasts for several weeks.

The Church recognizes that we need this extra time to contemplate and celebrate the mysteries of the faith contained in these seasons.

So, when Pope Benedict XVI declared the year of St. Paul — which began June 29 — he highlighted the importance and depth of that great Apostle.

That’s only natural, writes Scott Hahn in his introduction to “Sword of the Spirit: A Beginner’s Guide to St. Paul,” by Christopher Cuddy and Mark Hart.

“St. Paul was among the first Christians to set pen to paper to proclaim the Gospel,” Hahn writes. “[He] gave the Church the vocabulary it would, ever after, use to understand the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.”

In other words, Cuddy and Hart write, “St. Paul didn’t focus on what Jesus said and did as much as he focused on what Jesus’ words and actions meant to everyday life.”

This is important, the two authors write, because it claims Christ as a continuing presence among His followers, not as a historical fact Who left earth in His ascension into Heaven.

“If you are living your faith strictly as a ‘memorial’ to a dead person or a God who is no longer active, where is the motivation for a true relationship, one that is going to grow over time?” they ask.

“St. Paul knew and proclaimed that not only is our Lord Jesus alive in Heaven, but that He is alive in His mystical body of believers, the Church, and in His word and sacrament(s),” they write.

The book, then, is really an attempt to grow that relationship with the living God by looking at Him through the lens of St. Paul’s theology — and more specifically through his letter to the Romans.

“The better you understand the man behind the letters, the one whose pen the Holy Spirit took captive, the better you’ll understand not only half the New Testament (which he wrote), but also the Gospels, Mass, and sacraments, and your faith, vocation and role in God’s plan of salvation,” they write.

Cuddy and Hart succeed in presenting St. Paul, his letter to the Romans, and, basically, the Catholic faith — the book is a kind of catechism — in their engaging and clear prose.

They begin with the basics: Who God is; how we know He exists; how He is both good and great; and why He allows evil to exist.

The answers are by no means exhaustive — nor do the authors claim them to be — but Cuddy and Hart manage to mix theology, history and general appeals to common sense in each paragraph.

At the same time, the book is not a dry argument for the existence of God, or a cerebral, academic text. The authors are interested in helping readers grow in their relationship with Christ, and so pepper the text with direct challenges to offer a prayer to God.

They also share a number of stories and anecdotes to make their points. In a chapter describing doubt, one of the authors reflects on a conference he was giving.

After his talk, an older woman approached him and said she was a daily communicant, prayed the rosary and made frequent confessions.

“‘You know the thing about you I covet the most?’ she asked. I shook my head. She leaned in, lowered her voice to a whisper, and said, ‘I wish I had your certainty. I go to Mass and pray all the time, but deep down I still wonder whether all of this religious stuff is really as true and powerful as everyone says it is. I wish I had your faith and certainty.’ And with that, she disappeared into the crowd,” they write.

These little stories go a long way in disarming the reader. They remind him that Christian theology — far more than it is about late-night dorm room arguments over the existence of God — is about the relationship God’s created beings have with Him.

It’s more about the pious old lady who may suffer a spiritual drought, but still attends Mass and prays the rosary, because behind all the theological treatises is a person: Jesus Christ.

Learning about Him and His relationship to the many facets of each man or woman’s life goes a long way to describing the effect St. Paul’s letters can have on a reader.

They can be difficult, challenging and, ultimately, rewarding, but thanks to the work of Cuddy and Hart, they’ve become a little more accessible.

And having a year to ponder and investigate the great Apostle and his writings doesn’t hurt either.

Mark Hart is a parishioner at St. Timothy in Mesa and serves as executive vice president for Life Teen International. He’s known as the Bible Geek for his Scripture podcasts and blog posts at www.lifeteen.com.

Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.