Born abnormal?

[spencer2]

What did saint Paul mean when said that he was born abnormally? The passage is in Corinthians when he was telling them about Jesus appearing to his diciples after his resurrection.

 

[Nita]

1 Cor 15:7-9 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

I found the commentary in the Jerome Biblical Commentary interesting. Quote:
“one untimely born”: Lit., "an aborted fetus:; when applied to an adult, the Gk “ektroma”, like the Fr “avorton”, has a secondary meaning, “an object of horror and disgust.” It is somewhat similar to our Eng. expression, “monster.” This probably is the sense in which Paul, recalling his persecution of the Church, uses the term, “the monster of the apostolic family” …

 

[Nita]

Too late to tack this on to my previous post.

As I’ve been thinking of this verse, I thought that it could also be taken in the sense of
“untimely born”.
All of the other appearances Paul refers to in this section of 1 Corinthians (Cephas, James, the 500) refer to those who came to believe in Jesus (“born anew/again”) BEFORE He ascended into heaven. Jesus appeared to them while He was still here on earth in His risen body.
Yet Jesus came and appeared to Paul even though he had not converted until AFTER Jesus’ ascension. Paul may be considering that an “untimely birth” in regards to qualifying him to see our risen Lord.

 

[RSD]

What did saint Paul mean when said that he was born abnormally? The passage is in Corinthians when he was telling them about Jesus appearing to his diciples after his resurrection.

To be perfectly clear, Paul is referring not to his physical birth, but to his spiritual birth, as an Apostle of Christ.

 

[Barbkw]

P.S. After Jesus’ Ascension, Stephen was martyred by stoning for his evangelization to the Jews.

Saul / Paul was a Jewish Pharasee and he stood and watched the stoning and took care of the robes that the Jewish men had removed.

And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself stood by giving my approval and keeping guard over the cloaks of his murderers.’ usccb.org/nab/bible/acts/acts22.htm

Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus and his Baptism (Acts22:14)was “untimely” or “abnormal” in relationship to the other Apostles.

 

[valentino]

P.S. After Jesus’ Ascension, Stephen was martyred by stoning for his evangelization to the Jews.

Saul / Paul was a Jewish Pharasee and he stood and watched the stoning and took care of the robes that the Jewish men had removed.

Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus and his Baptism was “untimely” or “abnormal” in relationship to the other Apostles.

Thanks.That’s sound info.

 

[Ignatius]

What did saint Paul mean when said that he was born abnormally? The passage is in Corinthians when he was telling them about Jesus appearing to his diciples after his resurrection.

He doesn’t say he was born abnormal, he says he was born untimely.