Message from Jesus, in The Gospel of God’s Love, page 192.
“I was with you tonight and heard the speaker’s discourse on the ‘Drama of Saint Paul’. Many things the speaker said were true, but some were not. The discourse was taken from the Bible and many things written in that book are not true. In Paul’s experience, on the way to Damascus, he fell to the ground due to the brightness that shone about him. Paul had heard what I said and answered me, then went into the town. Paul was not blind and the Prophet, Ananias, did not cure him of any physical blindness, he only helped open the spiritual blindness of Paul and show him the way to the Father’s Kingdom of Love.
“Paul was a very learned man among the Jews and a strict believer in the Pharisees’ doctrines, but he had never experienced, or heard anything about, the higher Love. It is not something a person can intellectually understand. My summons to him was not only for the purpose of stopping the persecution of my followers, but for enlisting him in my cause. Not many of my followers were educated men and I realized my teachings must be preached among the learned Jews and among the gentile phiposophers as well. I realized I needed to have a disciple who had the mental qualifications to present my truths to learned men and be able to withstand the logic and reasoning of these philosophers.
“Paul eventually acquired this Love to a large degree, but not sufficiently, in the early times of his ministry, to prevent him from doubting my calling him to do this work. As he has told you, this was his ‘besetting sin’, or ‘thorn in the flesh’ from which he suffered. Nevertheless, he became a wonderful power in speaking my truths, and in helping people learn that the Love of the Father was the one great possession to obtain in causing them to believe I was his son and messenger to declare to the world the plan of humankind’s salvation.
“Paul was not primarily the disciple of love, but rather of the intellectual parts of my truths, and his teachings were intended to appeal more to the mental perceptions of his listeners, rather than to their soul perceptions. We are still working to show the Way to God’s Kingdom of Love and eternal life.” Amen
For more, see The Gospel of God’s Love.