Interesting speculation on St. Paul and the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Ora_et_Labora_1]

I was listening to some recordings of Fr. James Hudgins on St. Paul, and he put forth an interesting idea (which I believe are his own). He said that it was quite possible that St.Paul had actually met the Virgin Mary. He said that os the 4 Gospels, the one with most references to Mary is St. Luke’s. Given that Luke was one of Paul’s companions, it could be understood that Luke’s Gospel is also Paul’s Gospel (seeing as how Acts picks up right after the Gospel ends and it mostly details Paul’s trips). Another thing to add into consideration is the fact the Mary was said to have spent some time in Ephesus with John, and given that Paul also passed through Ephesus, it would not be all that strange that they had met.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had ever heard of such a “theory”? It kind of shines another light on Paul, at least for me, even if if is just speculation.

 

[Crumpy]

What you’ve said makes sense. In the New Jerome Biblical Commentary, there’s a couple articles on St. Paul. One tidbit is that his name was Saul and Paul. Saul was the name that his Jewish friends would have used, Paul the name that the Greeks and Romans would be familiar with. That would contrast with the idea that his name was changed. I’m not that familiar with the NT to prove that or disprove that.

This Commentary pieces Paul’s life together and organizes Paul’s ideas (which they say at the outset are not systematically presented in the Bible). He learned about Christianity from an existing Christian group – which is why his writings are absent those details about Jesus. This commentary article also dates Paul’s writings earlier than the gospels, in general, so Paul could not have learned those things, let’s say, just by reading or hearing them read. They came later.

(My problem is, there’s so much commentary to read, and I don’t remember everything that I’ve read. There’s a lot I don’t like about that commentary, but the couple articles on Paul that I’ve referred to are very interesting. I’d recommend you try to borrow a copy of the commentary from your parish or one nearby, or from your Diocese, if possible. )