Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
The Difference Between Paul And Herod: Zeal Vs Ambition

The Difference Between Paul And Herod: Zeal Vs Ambition

Last updated on: December 29, 2024 at 3:29 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

The Difference Between Paul And Herod: Zeal Vs Ambition 2024-12-29T03:29:45-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sano di Pietro: Herod Ordering The Massacre Of The Innocents / Wikimedia Commons

Christianity has always had people who wanted to stamp it out. Some, like St. Paul, thinking Christianity was an abomination for teaching blasphemy, had good intentions behind their attacks against the Christian faith. Those intentions can be the source of transformation, as they were for Paul, because the reason why he attacked the Christian faith (and Christ), was due to a misunderstanding, not only of what the new Christian community was teaching, but also of what God wanted for humanity. After his conversion, after his own experience with the resurrected Christ, Paul never forgot what he had done before. “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Gal. 1:13 RSV). It is because Paul’s intentions were good, God was able to use that good and guide Paul away from the evil he was doing. His hate was not of God, and when he realized this, when he realized better the nature of God, when he understood God was love, he was able to appreciate how this was revealed in Christ. Paul was able to repent and become a better man, taking the best of his instincts and having them improved, while still having to fight against his worst instincts throughout his life. While, it is true, Paul was able to be converted because of the good which existed in him and his intentions, Paul realized it would not have been enough, he needed Christ to reveal to him what he was lacking: “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal 1:11-12 RSV). Scripture gives us a few hints of the kind of encounter Paul had with Christ, but much of it remains mysterious and up to debate. The experience transcended what Paul was able to say about it. For our purpose here, it is not important for us to explain that revelation, and all that was involved with it; rather, what is significant is that he had it, and through it, Paul received the grace he need to become a new man, one which took and used the good he already had in him. Paul’s purpose, even in his attacks on Christians, was to glorify God; his zeal got the best of him, as it often gets the best of many people of religious faith, which is why, sadly, we find too many Christians, embracing a similar zeal, undermine Christ’s revelation of love as they attack those they deem to be blasphemous.

Many others who attacked Christianity were not of such good intentions. They were afraid of Christ and what he represented, because they viewed Christ, and his followers, as threats. This was often the case with people in positions of power and authority. Christianity relativized that power, telling Christians to obey their conscience, and fight against those in positions of authority if they made immoral demands. Scripture suggests this was happening ever since Christ was born, that is, Herod saw him as a threat because the Magi who came to him said they were looking for the new-born king. Upon hearing this, Herod believed a rival to his power was born, and so, he decided he would do what he could to snuff it out. But, of course, try as he might, Herod was not successful. Joseph, upon learning of the threat, took his family to Egypt:

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” (Matt. 2:13-15 RSV).

Egypt did not entirely welcome the Holy Family. While some Egyptians welcomed them and helped them as much as they could, Egyptian authorities considered them to be troublemakers. Tradition says that while they were in Egypt, the Holy Family was living their life on the run, never staying too long at any one place so they could stay ahead of the authorities who were pursuing them.[1] It must have been quite a challenge to live in a land not their own, to be afraid to go back to their homeland knowing they would be killed if they were found and returned, and yet to be in a land which did not entirely welcome them either. The plight of the Holy Family is the plight of every refugee, never knowing if they will be helped or hindered by those they meet. Nonetheless, Jesus was not meant to stay in Egypt; he was always meant to return to Israel. His time in Egypt was limited to the time when Herod was still alive. When Herod died, the Holy Family was able to return back to Israel, albeit still having to be careful, making sure they did not draw too much attention to themselves:

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matt. 2:19- 23 RSV).

The difference between Paul and Herod is important. Paul was a zealot, a true believer, someone who had a lot of good in him, but that good was tainted by his zeal and his misunderstanding of God and God’s ways. When Paul realized his error, when he understood even more the greatness of God, and God’s love, he was able to become a messenger of that love, showing the way such love can and will transform people. It made him especially understand the value of mercy, and the need for Christians to be merciful. Herod, on the other hand, cared for his personal power and authority, and his actions were for the sake of maintaining it. Paul would learn to die to the self, Herod, at least during his life, would not. Herod thought he could thwart God’s will be taking out the baby he feared God wanted to use to replace him, but in the end, Herod unwittingly served God’s will so that Jesus could fulfill more of the messianic prophecies, making Herod an instrument in creating the conditions for the messiah to arise..

[1] Tradition says that when they entered into Egypt, various statues of the gods started to collapse, and it was this which first drew the attention, and hate, of Egyptian authorities.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Previous Post

December 26, 2024

Embracing Evolution: A Catholic Perspective On Creation

Next Post

December 31, 2024 Government Is Not A Business

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Given the amount of lethal malevolence that has prevailed in human history for the past ..."

alwayspuzzled

We Must Value Our Health

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz