‘You are not your own’: Paul and the Universal Destination of Goods

Abstract

This essay argues that the Apostle Paul offers rich, underutilized theological resources for the Church’s teaching on the universal destination of goods. Close exegetical reading of the Corinthian correspondence shows how Paul frames generosity not only as ethical obligation but as liturgical action and theological witness. Paul’s theology challenges modern notions of ownership and selfhood, insisting instead that all possessions, including the self, ultimately belong to God. Integrating Paul’s theology of the collection for the poor, and his provocative claim that believers are ‘bought with a price’, reveals that Catholic Social Teaching (CST) can gain depth and vitality by embracing the Pauline links between economic life, worship, and the universal destination of goods.