section_path: Influence
section_name: Influence
paragraph_text: Influence
  
  Paul's influence on Christian thinking arguably has been more significant than any other New Testament author. Paul declared that " Christ is the end of the law ", exalted the Christian church as the body of Christ, and depicted the world outside the Church as under judgment. Paul's writings include the earliest reference to the "Lord's Supper", a rite traditionally identified as the Christian communion or Eucharist. In the East, church fathers attributed the element of election in Romans 9 to divine foreknowledge. The themes of predestination found in Western Christianity do not appear in Eastern theology.