WORLD 25/03/11 Conversion or vocation?

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Paul’s Letters to the Galatians and the Romans

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, a painting by Italian artist Caravaggio (Photo: Wikipedia)

By Giancarlo Pani SJ

Published: March 10, 2025 09:26 AM GMT

Updated: March 10, 2025 09:27 AM GMT

In a previous article we asked whether, for the event that renewed Paul’s life on the road to Damascus, it is more accurate to speak of “conversion” or “vocation.”

The question would seem to be of little importance, and yet two and a half years ago the Secretariat for Ecumenical Activities addressed a petition to the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to change the name of the “Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul” on January 25 to the “Feast of the Vocation of St. Paul.”

Why would it be important to change the name?

An initial answer is provided by the testimony that Paul himself left in his letters, and then by the triple account handed down by the Acts of the Apostles.

The evidence that Paul provides of the Damascus event seems completely unambiguous: when he mentions the encounter with the risen Lord, the apostle uses the language of vocation and revelation, never that of conversion.

It is a first-hand testimony with the merit of not wanting to be any kind of documentary testimony. On this point Paul never deviates from his belief in God’s absolute initiative, an initiative that establishes, promotes and animates human activity. It can be argued that this certainty is the basis for Paul’s affirming in absolute terms the unconditional initiative of God in the history of salvation.

It should be noted immediately that the question of whether Paul’s conversion was a vocation or a conversion is not just a problem of terminology, but concerns a central issue of Pauline theology. Who is the real agent of the Damascus event, Paul or God? Even more radically, to what extent does he decide the course of his own life autonomously, or does he depend – freedom aside – on an initiative of God? The same question applies to all humankind.

With the case of Paul, the initial question returns, but with a completely different focus: is salvation properly a subjective experience of conversion, or the matter of a vocation?

Read the complete article here.

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