Sebastian Carnazzo, Ph.D., a professor of theology at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, explained that it was essential to read the Acts of the Apostles in order to understand the epistles of St. Paul.

“Acts tells you the story behind the Pauline epistles,” he said. “If you want to understand the epistle to the Romans, you have to understand the history of the Church in Rome. You have to understand that he is writing from Corinth. You have to understand what happened to him on that journey.”

Rev. Sebastian Carnazzo is a priest in the Melkite Catholic Church of America and pastor of the St. Elias Melkite Parish in San Jose.  He received his B.S. from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in Animal Science with a concentration in veterinary medicine.  He then went on to receive his M.A. in Theology with a concentration in Sacred Scripture from the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.  His dissertation was published under the title Seeing Blood and Water: A Narrative-Critical of John 19:34 (2012).  He joined the faculty of St. Patrick’s Seminary in the Fall of 2015 as a full-time lecturer in Sacred Scripture and Biblical Languages.  Among other teaching engagements and volunteer activities, he is also an adjunct lecturer in Sacred Scripture for the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and the academic director for the deacon program in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, OK.