In the Footsteps of St. Paul

by Richard Rohr

In retracing the second and third missionary trips of St. Paul, Father Richard Rohr breaks open the life of this saint, recasting him as a mystic and as the first Christian theologian. Rohr presents Paul’s revolutionary and all-embracing vision and invites us to enter into the mystery of Christ and be transformed. Rohr breaks new ground by applying up-to-date theories of our universe, integrating them with Paul’s revolutionary thinking about sin, saints and spirituality. As he and other pilgrims travel in October 2014 from Athens and Corinth to Berea, Thessalonika, Philippi, and Patmos in Greece to Ephesus, Istanbul, Miletus, and Pergamum in Turkey, Richard Rohr presents Paul’s revolutionary and all-embracing vision and invites us to enter into the mystery of Christ and be transformed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity

Audio CD

First published March 27, 2015

About the author

Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.

Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).

Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.

Reviews

[Alyssa Zimmerman]

This is a series of talks more than it is a book, which is an important distinction. It's good, and touches briefly on many of Rohr's well known themes. He is convincing and easy to listen to. What this lacked more than a standard book, and why I only gave it three stars, is the detailed wordsmithing that really breaks down an idea in concise and reflective ways...something Rohr is ordinarily great at. Don't get me wrong, it's still good, it just lacks some of the specific depth we're used to from Rohr. Or, it might just be that I prefer standard book format, which is actually most likely.

[Dale]

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2015 by Franciscan Media.
Read by the author, Richard Rohr.
Duration: 7 hours, 34 minutes.
Unabridged.

Richard Rohr is a Franciscan Friar from Kansas who comes at Christianity with a little bit of a different take than most. He would argue that it is a truly Franciscan take, and it might very well be. I would not know because I am not a Catholic - but I did find this work to be very intriguing. He does not approach the text from a purely Catholic point of view - he praises and criticizes typical interpretations from Catholic, Protestan and Orthodox perspectives.

This audiobook is actually a series of lectures given by Rohr as part of a tourist cruise of Greece. In reality, it should have been called "In the Footsteps of St. Paul and St. John" since they do make a stop at Patmos and see where St. John purportedly spent many years in exile. Nevertheless, Paul's writings and Rohr's take on them dominate the lectures.

One of the more interesting observations was his take on...

Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019...

[James Scott]

A great overview of the Pauline letters with an eye to the missional journeys. Also a helpful starting point for some of the other writings of Father Rohr, since it gives him an opportunity to give glancing summaries of a number of related topics. However, many of these thoughts aren't always completely developed or answered, so you won't necessarily find this book a satisfying read in and of itself, so much as a starting point to seek out more complete explanations of those concepts elsewhere

[Craig Bergland]

I really enjoyed this book. Richard Rohr does a lot to set St. Paul in context, and to address many of the "problematic" statements attributed to St. Paul, most of which were in truth written by someone else after Paul's death. The only thing that would have made the book better would been if I had been able to go on the trip!

[Kalimorgan]

This is a series of lectures Richard Rohr gave on a trip around the Mediterranean. It is much more about contemplative spirituality than about Paul. Four stars because Richard Rohr is so wise but he can bit a bit hard to follow.

[John Martindale]

I like this guy, several friends kept mentioning him and this collection of lectures gave me a little introduction to his thinking. I definitely want check out some of his main writings

[Valerie]

As we're not traveling right now, it was lovely to hear the sermons/stories presented during a recent trip to the Holy Land and how those stories were spiritually perfectly timed for me today.

[Kevin Orth]

All good. Father Richard always has something worth reading and hearing. His thoroughness and inclusivity are legendary. Truly a gift to the world!

[Harisa- EsquiredToRead]

Strong, and one of my favorite books that covers Paul! He is definitely put in a box and I loved this perspective.

[Paula Schumm]

I listened to this series of lectures in preparation for a trip to Greece. Very insightful. Recommended.

[AnneMarie]

Loved this book! Richard Rohr is amazing!! And so is St. Paul!