St. Paul Aint what?

St. Paul (Clio20)

Ever since it was revealed that the St. Paul Saints will become the Mr. Paul Aints for “A Night of Unbelievable Fun” in August 2012, the Internet’s been buzzing with commentary.

Although not everyone’s enamored with the idea, Saints general manager Derek Sharrer defended it.  He told Tyler Mason of FOX Sports North:  When we were approached by the Minnesota Atheists, we felt like it was within our nature to be inclusive and certainly work with them to provide them the opportunity to provide their message in the same way that we have worked with hundreds and hundreds of faith-based groups over our 20 years here in St. Paul.

Sharrer further explained that “the team name itself is just that – it’s a team name.”  He emphasized:  We didn’t name the team the Saints to make any sort of

religious statement.

Nevertheless, the term “saint” has been fraught with religious meaning since at least the time of the Saint Paul.  Paul (aka “Apostle Paul” and “Saul of Tarsus”) is believed by many to be the foremost author of the New Testament (a collection of 27 books, thirteen of which are traditionally attributed to Paul).  Angelfire.com reports that the Greek word hagios, which means

“the set apart one” and is usually translated in English as “saint,” appears 233 times in the New Testament.  In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul seems to couple the term hagios with “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  By this definition, Paul would be considered a “saint,” as would many others within such a “priesthood of all believers.”

But not everyone wants to be marching in with the Saints.  The Minnesota Atheists reports that many of its own number will be instead be “rooting on the Mr. Paul Aints” at Midway Stadium on August 10^th, as well as “cheering for American Atheists President Dave Silverman as he delivers the first ceremonial pitch of the game.”

Resources

http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/07/12/12/Minor-league-Saints-hosting-night-for-at/msn_landing.html?blockID=759992&feedID=5930&ocid=ansfox11

http://www.angelfire.com/mt/tabor/bibledoctrine.8.html

http://mnatheists.org/news-and-media/news/8-local-news/761-play-ball-and-enjoy-harmonious-hits-with-atheists

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament

Copyright July 16, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved