In this exciting course, students will encounter St. Paul himself live via Zoom every week! - or at least St. Paul as portrayed by Kevin O’Brien, professional actor, author of the play The Journey of St. Paul and host of EWTN’S The Theater of the Word TV show. Sign up and join us in this encounter with an Apostle that you won’t want to miss!
Special Notes: We love learning as a family -- For students who have high school siblings, see Mrs. Vaughan’s live high school course “To Humanity, Love Paul”.
Total classes: 6
Duration: 45 minutes per class
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 6th to 8th grade
Suggested credit: 1/2 semester credit Literature or Theology.
Instructor: Kevin O’Brien
Instructor Email: kevin@classeswithkevin.
Course description: Meet the most dramatic of the apostles, Paul, as portrayed by Kevin O’Brien live each week in class! Paul will tell of his background, of his persecution of the Church, of his encounter with Christ Himself on the Road to Damascus. He will talk about his shipwrecks, his stonings, his imprisonment. And he will reveal the passionate love for God that he poured into his epistles.
The most important of the Apostles once hated Christ, persecuted Christians and tried to destroy the Church. But after he met the Risen Lord on the Road to Damascus, everything changed - and Paul became the most zealous of the early Christians, giving himself entirely to Christ - even to the point of martyrdom.
Course outline:
-
Paul speaks of his early life and his conversion (from material found in the Book of Acts).
-
Paul speaks of his missionary journeys, the miracles God performed through him, his shipwrecks, stonings and imprisonment (from material found in the Book of Acts).
-
Paul speaks of those who were closest to him and how much he loved them (from material found in Paul’s epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon).
-
Paul speaks of the Church in Corinth and what his two epistles to them mean (from material found in First and Second Corinthians).
-
Paul speaks of his epistle to the Hebrews and what it tells us about the role Jesus plays in our lives (from material found in Hebrews).
-
Paul speaks of the Church of Rome, of his epistle to the Romans and of his desire to go to Rome, even though he will end his life their, dying a martyr to Christ (from material found in Romans and elsewhere).
Course materials: The Holy Bible, any translation.
Homework: Weekly quizzes or occasional reflection papers. Plan on about an hour of homework each week.
- Teacher: Kevin OBrien