04_Sandnes_550-564_copia_550-564 10/12/15 10:24 Pagina 556 556 KARL OLAV SANDNES 556 life due to Damascus bears some resemblances to their radical turn, which indeed is described as a conversion (4,8-11). Worth noticing is also that Paul was concerned that he might have run and labored in vain (Gal 2,2; 4,11): likewise the Galatians run the same risk ac- cording to 3,4: “Did you experience so much for nothing?” This means that the call experience of Paul, hinted at in Galatians 1, is not an isolated event; it is not merely his embarking on a mission, as Eisenbaum claims (see above). The paradigmatic role of Paul in Galatians militates against Eisenbaum who holds that Paul’s letters are addressed to Gentiles only, and hence of no relevance for con- structing a gospel, valid for Jews and gentiles alike. 3. Like a Conversion? What we have seen so far finds confirmation in the rumor re- ported by Paul in Gal 1,23: “The one who formerly (pote) was per- secuting us is now (nu/n) proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy”. This rumor was shaped according to conventions of con- versions, such as the transition from “before” to “now” 19. Such a transition is involved in 1,13-14 as well. The rumor picks up on Gal 1,13-14 by using the verbs occurring there (evdi,wkon and evpo,rqoun): “In this way he suggests that he was (and still is) trying to establish the same church and gospel, which he persecuted earlier” 20. The shift in Paul’s life is here depicted in a way very different from that of a prophetic call. While that analogy emphasizes embarking on a mission assigned by God, the formulation of the rumor is that of embracing a life that contrasts with one’s former life. Phil 3,5-11, another autobiographical text proceeding from Paul’s Damascus event, does not bring the prophets into view at all. The perspective on this event in that passage is the shift it caused in Paul’s life and attitudes. And this change is not about embarking on a mission, but a cognitively described change from law to Christ. The rumor does not affirm that Paul turned from Judaism to Christianity; neither for historical reasons nor for theological rea- sons is this applicable to Paul and his Damascus event. Kari Kuula 19 This is traditional language of conversion; see A.F. SEGAL, Paul the Convert. The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee (New Haven, CT – London 1990) 117. 20 TOLMIE, Galatians, 68.