In his earlier writings, St. Paul occasionally states that his oratory is not persuasive on its own. In the three pastoral letters - 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus - Paul is probably at his least convincing.

St. Paul's two letters to the Church at Thessalonika are most often looked to in order to find the apostle's teaching on Christ's Second Coming.

It can be tempting to read Paul's letters as historical documents, as letters written in a time long ago, which may or may not be relevant to our lives today. In fact, if you want to thoroughly understand Paul's writings, it is helpful to understand the people to whom he was writing.

Those Corinthians were a vain lot. No prouder than us perhaps, but proud nevertheless. They were so vain that St. Paul had to write two long letters to help them overcome their pride and find the core of the Gospel.

There is a narrow interpretation of that big word "justification." The narrow interpretation is that when we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, we are freed from our sins.