prophets. By definition, they do not represent the system, but draw their
authority directly from the Source in order to critique the system. (Though true
prophets are somewhat rare, and Paul never applies that word to himself.)
But let’s note Paul’s primary criterion for authentic faith, which is quite
extraordinary: “Examine yourselves to make sure you are in the faith. Test
yourselves. Do you acknowledge that Jesus Christ is really in you? If not, you
have failed the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5–6). So simple it’s scary! Paul’s radical
incarnationalism sets a standard for all later Christian saints, mystics, and
prophets. He knew that the Christ must first of all be acknowledged within
before he can be recognized without as Lord and Master. (Forgive the male
signifiers, but the sentence was too important to be complicated by
qualifications!) God must reveal himself in you before God can fully reveal
himself to you. Morphic resonance again.
It’s important to remember that Paul, like us, never knew Jesus in the flesh.
Like him, we only know the Christ through observing and honoring the depth
of our own human experience. When you can honor and receive your own
moment of sadness or fullness as a gracious participation in the eternal sadness
or fullness of God, you are beginning to recognize yourself as a participating
member of this one universal Body. You are moving from I to We.
Thus Paul shows the rest of us that we too can know Christ’s infinitely
available presence through our own inner mental dialogue, or the natural law,
which is “engraved on our hearts.” Quite daringly, he declares that even so-
called pagans, “who do not possess the law...can be said to be the law” (see
Romans 2:14–15). This is surely why he spoke to the well-educated Athenians
of “The Unknown God...whom you already worship without knowing it” (Acts
17:23). Paul likely inherited this idea from the prophet Jeremiah, who dared to
offer a “new covenant” (31:31) to God’s people. But this idea remained largely
undeveloped until a natural law was sought out by the moral theologians of the
last century—and now in Pope Francis’s strong understanding of individual
conscience. It is still a shock to many.
But Paul merely took incarnationalism to its universal and logical
conclusions. We see that in his bold exclamation “There is only Christ. He is
everything and he is in everything” (Colossians 3:11). If I were to write that
today, people would call me a pantheist (the universe is God), whereas I am
really a panentheist (God lies within all things, but also transcends them),
exactly like both Jesus and Paul.