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St. Paul

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › St. Mary and the Saints › St. Paul

The question

I think that St. Paul used scare tactics to convert the Gentiles, threatening them that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming very soon and probably within their lifetime. Do you have any comment about this?

The answer

I would like to comment on your statement that St. Paul used a scare tactics to convert the Gentiles. In this same Holy First Letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul says "But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us" (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8). These words do not imply at all that at some point he had threatened them.

The sermon he gave to the Jews in Antioch and which was heard and welcomed by the Gentiles was a message of mercy, glad tidings, forgiveness of sins and justification (Acts 13:16-42). In Ephesus, St. Paul spent two years teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus "the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 19:10).

Also his Holy Second Letter to Thessalonians especially chapter 2 states very clearly that the Lord's second coming will not be in his lifetime, please read this letter carefully.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

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Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 618 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.