The writing process

Ok, I am writing a biographical essay for Philosophy. It has to be on a philosopher from around 500BCE to 1500CE(BCE? CE? oh, come on! it's BC! whatever you call it, it's referencing the birth of Christ!) I was thinking of Aristotle, and then I was looking at John Locke, but those two fall outside of those date ranges. Mom said why not write it on Jesus? I thought that wouldn't go over well in a college philosophy class, but it occurred to me that Paul would be a great person to write about! He wrote 14 books in the bible, his words have been translated into thousands of languages, and he is possibly the most widely read philosopher in the world.

"Paul is..."

No, I need an intro. Something that will grab my readers attention. *pokes around on google for some input* What am i thinking! I didn't take four years of studying Great Books for nothing! Reminds me of something Mr C. talked about...

"There’s a funny thing about humans. They only read what interests them.
People wouldn’t keep reading books over and over through the years if
they were bored to tears by them."

Yes, that's good. Now, to move from that to the subject matter; I'd better tie it to philosophy before I proceed.

"The reason we still read about ever-questioning Socrates in the works
of Plato is that it is interesting, and it still has something relevant
to say to us 2300 years later."

Ok, now for a general statement upon which to build a thesis.

"That being said, the greatness of books and their writers is determined
by their influence over time and across the world."

Now to provide a backdrop for Paul's writings.

"The most widely distributed and read book in the world is the Bible.
It is truly a great piece of literature. I’s 66 books are split into two
“halves”, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. Of the 27 books in the
new testament, Paul of Tarsus wrote 13, possibly 14 of them. "

A brief history of Paul then launches us into looking at his work.

"Paul was born in Tarsus, as Saul, and became one of the Jewish
Pharisee sect, and would have studied the Old Testament extensively.
Paul was also a roman citizen, and his knowledge of philosophy shows
itself all throughout his writing."

It helps in philosophy to throw in the words, "knowledge," or "wisdom" every once in a while, and when the author you're writing about says them himself, it's even better!

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this
age? (1Corinthians 1:20)

His structure and logic is brilliant. Most every paragraph stars with
“but, now, so,” or “therefore,” so characteristic of philosophic language."

Thinking of some cool things in Paul's writings that stand out, I thought of the armor of the spirit at the end of Ephesians. It's so brilliant, I couldn't leave it out!

"His epistolary style is rich with imagery, and he employs visuals as mnemonic systems to aid in memory. In his letter to the Ephesians, after making six main points, he provides the image of the armor of a soldier.
Therefore put on the full armor of God… Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6, 13-17)."

I need to tie what Paul did to someone famous...

“Memory,” says Cicero, “is the firm perception in the soul of things and words” (De invention, I, vii, 9) and Paul does that expertly."

Not complete yet, more to be edited in soon!