Life to the full

Christian Century, May 20, 2008

LIFE TO THE FULL: James Carroll says that growing up he was afraid of God. The first wallet he received as a child included a card saying, "I am a Catholic. In case of an accident, please call a priest." His greatest fear was of dying without having his sins forgiven. Later, when he was training for the priesthood, Carroll read Krister Stendahl's groundbreaking essay "The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West," and he came to realize that Paul's understanding of the gospel did not grow out of a preoccupation with sin and guilt.

Rather, "God's constant love, not God's threat, was Paul's driving force." That theoretical move from a judging to a loving God became more personal for Carroll when he became a friend of Stendahl and his wife, Brita. Stendahl, who recently died (see p. 18), was fond of the Hebrew expression L'chaim!--"To life!" (Boston Globe, April 21).