The Bible as Literature

Too often, we co-opt the prohibition against judgment in Matthew as a mechanism of our self-imposed fragility. We don’t want to be challenged with our sins, so when confronted, we blather, “who are you to judge?”  Fortunately, Matthew 7 renders this question totally non-functional. “Who am I?” I am exactly what you are and what St. Paul proclaims me to be: nothing, absolutely nothing. It the Lord’...

In the first part of his introduction to the Book of Genesis, Fr. Paul expounds on the language of Scripture. (Episode 46) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When we step back to consider the full scope of any effort, even when the work in front of us pertains to God and not to mammon, it’s easy to become paralyzed by stress and anxiety. In Matthew, Jesus solves this problem by narrowing the scope of our worries yet further: yes, we must limit our concerns to the Master’s instruction for us, but that is not enough. We must also become far more delibera...

Fr. Paul explains 1 Samuel 17:40. (Episode 45) “Breakdown” Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/) (http://incompetech.com/) (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/ ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Everyone loves Matthew's passage about the lilies of the field. We love it because who doesn't want to be consoled and encouraged not to worry about anything? But our enthusiasm is misplaced. We get excited about our freedom from worry in the same way that we misread our liberation from Pharaoh. In the book of Exodus, the Lord's people were not set free from Egypt so that they could be free. As th...

Fr. Paul discusses the use of the Hebrew terms adamah and eretz in Ezekiel. (Episode 44)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

“Those who want to become rich,” St. Paul writes, “fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. “For the love of money,” he continues, “is the root of all evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousne...

Fr. Paul discusses the terms possess and inherit in the language of the Bible. (Episode 43)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When Mr. Miyagi, the eighties era fictional Karate master, set out to teach his disciple, he asked him to paint a fence, wax cars, and sand a huge floor using inefficient, repetitive motions that made the work difficult and tedious. Sick of repetition and exhausted, the disciple rebelled against his master. Mr. Miyagi confronted his student with a new lesson, demonstrating that seemingly pointless...

Fr. Paul discusses hypertextuality and the contributions of Bartosz Adamczewski to the field of Biblical Studies. (Episode 42) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When someone makes a statement that is difficult or unreasonable, human beings rationalize in order to ignore or moderate their words. Maybe the person didn't mean it, or maybe they have some hidden strategy that explains their otherwise irrational position. Unfortunately for deniers, what a person says is what they mean. The duty of science is to be accountable and to hold each other accountable...

Fr. Paul discusses the significance of the Maccabees for the formation of the New Testament. (Episode 41)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The expression “false pretense” is very strange. By definition, a pretense is the act of giving an appeance. In the Bible, anything that presents an apperance is already a lie, the depth and breadth of which is evident without the use of a modifier. In Matthew, the pretense of humility amplifies human arrogance, even as the appearence of charity faciltiates selfishness. Are you humble because you...

Fr. Paul discusses the biblical meaning and function of the Hebrew word Saul. (Episode 40) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The United States is at a crossroads. Regrettably, all of us listened to our parents, teachers and Walt Disney, who conspired to convince us that we should believe in ourselves--and now, everyone believes in themselves. It's a disaster.  We believe in ourselves and thus believe that our ideas, preferences and personal beliefs hold universal authority. When daily life demonstrates that our beliefs...

Fr. Paul discusses the Hebrew terms biqah, shinar, and babel. (Episode 39)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

People love to talk about what they want to do, what they should do or what they believe is right. We love it. We go online to brag about it and to cajole each other. Everyone is a fake preacher. We give lip service to lofty ideals (lying to ourselves and each other) pretending to be people of great deeds, but our words, like our promises, are empty platitudes. No, they are worse than that, becaus...

Fr. Paul explains the significance of the word shem in the biblical tradition. (Episode 38)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

To our peril, we think about love and relationships in terms of how we feel about a person or how that person makes us feel. This attitude is understandable in children, but when adults think this way in marriage, the failure of their household becomes the failure of our neighborhoods, our communities, and, sooner or later, civil society. In the Sermon on the Mount, the love that Jesus preaches ha...

Fr. Paul examines the role of Moses as anti-hero. (Episode 37)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Christians come up with strange explanations as to the relationship between the Law of Moses and Pauline grace. Maybe, they argue, only part of the Law is valid—like the Ten Commandments—but the rest is draconian and Jesus came to rescue us from legalism. Others claim, maybe, because of grace, Jesus is saying that we can do whatever we want and trust that God will make it OK. My favorite explanati...

Fr. Paul explains how the biblical story does not propose a better establishment. (Episode 36) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

“Being instructed out of the Law,” are you “confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, [and] a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth?” (Romans 2:18-21) “Are you confident,” Paul asks in Romans, “Are you sure that you are a light the blind?”  When Jesus says that “you are t...

Fr. Paul explains the purpose of the Greek epics and the way in which the biblical story pushes back. (Episode 35) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

If an author writes the words, “red lead,” is she directing a person named Red to lead a group of people or is she referring to a lead based substance that is colored red, as in, “red lead?” If she is speaking and we cannot see the spelling of her words, is she informing her audience that she read a book about leadership, or was it an essay about lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan's water supply? Y...