First Steps
Acts 9:1-9 September 18, 2016 • Mount Pleasant UMC I grew up with a certain image of the Apostle Paul; it was largely formed by the “picture Bible,” those cartoons that came every week in our Sunday School papers, published by David C. Cook. If you’re my age, you might remember those, how over a period of time they told the Bible story through comics. I collected every single one of them and wish I still had them! What I remember of Paul was that he was usually pictured as balding, somewhat short in stature and always wearing a blue robe. But we have no idea what Paul really looked like. There are a wide variety of images you can find on the internet, various icons and paintings from various points in history. He’s almost always bearded, and usually has some sort of halo effect around his head. Then there’s this statue, which is in Rome, in the courtyard of the church St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, a statue of a fierce-looking Paul holding a sword. It’s not meant to be a ...