In me

In Galatians 1, Paul twice says things happen “in him.” God reveals His Son “in me” (1:16). The phrase could mean “through me,” suggesting that Paul is an instrument of God’s unveiling of the Son. It’s just as possible, though, that Paul is himself the locus of that revelation; he is one of the places where God shows Himself.

At the end of the chapter, Paul says that everyone was glorifying God “in me” because he had turned from persecutor to preacher (v. 24). This could mean simply that everyone was glorifying God “on account of my conversion.” But the phrasing is more striking: Paul is the locus of praise – not the object of praise, but the “place” or the “instrument” through which praise is offered to God.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Church in the Age of Therapy

Matthew Loftus

In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…

Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot

Anna Farrow

On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…

The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen

Mike Aquilina

Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…