Formy lingwistyczne wyrażające doświadczenie mistyczne św. Pawła pod Damaszkiem

Abstract

Paul uses different metaphors and linguistic expressions to describe his mystical experience of meeting Christ on the Damascus Road. The Risen Christ revealed Himself to Paul as “a light and voice from heaven”. This is repeated in three accounts of the Damascus’s event in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul recognized there “a thorn” (cf. 2 Co 12:7), which had become a constant torment reminding him of his weaknesses. On the road, to Damascus Paul recognized himself as “a child born abnormally” (cf. 1 Co 15:8) reanimated by the encounter with Christ. Paul, “a first among sinners”, experienced God’s mercy. Because of this, his previous religious life in Judaism was found as worthless. The former gain turned out to be a loss. Paul used drastic expressions: he threw away into the garbage what had caused him this loss; he got rid of the dung and the stinky waste (cf. Ph 3:7—9). His former religious life he called as unbelief. His true gain and the only value became, from now on, a life of faith in Christ Jesus. Paul recognized the new way of justification: not by the works of the Mosaic Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. An original metaphor taken from sports served Paul to express the Damascus’s event: “like wrestling, Christ took hold of me”. The hold of Jesus — the winning wrestler — was very beneficial to Paul. God revealed to Paul his Son and because of this the Apostle’s life became a life of faith in Christ. From this event, Christ lived in Paul. Everything Paul does if to be found in Jesus. The variety of linguistic expressions related to the Damascus’s event shows the depth of the mystical experience of Paul. What is impossible to say directly in human language must be communicated by means of original linguistic expressions. This is characteristic of mysticism.