Pope Benedict XVI in English - Weekly General Audience
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul, we now consider
the centrality of Jesus Christ in his teaching. Paul preaches Christ as the crucified
and glorified Lord, alive and present within the Church. He proclaims Christ’s incarnation
and exaltation, but also his pre-existence with the Father before all time. His affirmation
of Christ’s pre-existence evokes those Old Testament texts which portray God’s Wisdom
as being with him before creation and coming down to dwell among men (e.g., Pr 8:22-23).
Paul thus presents Christ as “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), the centre and fulfilment
of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation. The hymn found in his Letter to the Philippians
(Phil 2:6-11) contrasts Christ’s pre-existence “in the form of God” and his subsequent
“kenosis” or self-emptying, “even to death, death on a Cross”. Paul also appeals
to Christ’s pre-existence and incarnation in proclaiming Jesus as “the one mediator
between God and man” (1 Tim 3:16), the firstborn of all creation and the head of the
Church (cf. Col 1:15-20). Paul’s “sapiential” christology invites us to welcome the
salvation offered by the crucified and risen Lord, the Eternal Son, who is the very
wisdom and power of God.