We will read and explore together the letters of St Paul and consider his thought, which is profound. We will consider the interaction between this thought and Paul's extraordinary evangelising activity, founding churches throughout the eastern Mediterranean region. We will give some thought to the relation between the letters and Luke's account of Paul's life in "Acts of the Apostles". I will draw some connections between Paul's spiritual thought and that of Plato, five hundred years before (sometimes by way of contrast, as a critique of Paul), for Plato also thought deeply about the divine and man's relation to God. (It is not necessary for you to have read Plato.) I will provide a commentary, using contemporary scholarship as a guide, and facilitate discussion. This course will continue into the next academic year.