Paul Quoted Pagan Poets????????????????

Paul quoted pagan poets???????????????? Yes. He quoted the poets Menander (1 Corinthians 15:33), Aratus of Cilicia (Acts 17:28), and Epimenides of Knossos (Titus 1:12). He did this because he was intimately familiar with the intellectual debates of his day and was capable of using non-Christian sources to make his points. His use of the sources was not intended as an endorsement of everything else their authors said and wrote.

Modern Christians make a mistake if they "ghettoize" themselves, reading only Christian sources, hearing only Christian voices, insulating themselves from the rest of the world. We can''t go (Matthew 28:19) into the world, evangelizing the world, if we cocoon ourselves away from the world. We are to be "in the world but not of the world." (John 17:14-15; Romans 12:1-2)

     Pope Benedict has announced that bone fragments found in a white marble sarcophagus under the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls (Rome) have been dated to the late First Century or early Second Century.  The burial box contained bones, incense, blue cloth, and purple linen.  The site is the traditional burial place of the Apostle Paul and a cracked marble slab found there says in Latin, "Paul apostle martyr."  

      Church tradition says that Paul was beheaded in Rome.  It is claimed that bone fragments from his head are enshrined in Rome at St. John Lateran Basilica.  It would be very interesting to see if DNA analysis indicated that the bones from the two sites came from the same person.  It would be a strong indication that the bones might actually be from Paul.  It would not be proof.