The Bible as Literature

Fr. Paul reviews interconnected terminology, geographic references, and narrative themes in the Bible that point to Scripture as a totality. (Episode 34) This week's episode falls on the occasion of Fr. Paul's 75th birthday. Happy Birthday, Abouna!  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The suffering of others should make us feel ashamed. When we see a neighbor in need, in poor health, overcome by calamity or besieged by violence, their burden is both a call to action and a check on our ego. Honestly, what right have we to complain about anything in the face of our neighbor's misfortune? Regrettably, we routinely appropriate such shame as a means of influence. Politicians spin su...

Fr. Paul provides an overview of the term shamar in the book Genesis. (Episode 33) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Hunger and thirst are clarifying. When you are desperate for a drink of water, or you have not eaten in days, your biological needs control your actions. In turn, your actions reorder your thoughts, and you acquire clarity of vision—you know what you want, you know it when you see it, you know what you need to do, and you see the world around you in these terms. Now imagine that your biological ne...

Fr. Paul explains the terms flock and sheep and the problem individualism poses for our hearing of Scripture. (Episode 32) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When we hear the Beatitudes for the first time, it's tempting to philosophize—about poverty, humility, sadness, etc.—as though the Beatitudes themselves are a bunch of Greek platitudes. But if you've been with our podcast from the early days, you know a couple of things: 1) that Scripture refers to itself, interprets itself, and does not look outside of itself for meaning, and 2) that Scripture is...

Fr. Paul explains the meaning of the name Job. (Episode 31) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When we talk about behavior, we imagine that a degree of separation exists between our thoughts and our actions—as the saying goes, between mind and body—but this is incorrect. Just as a muscle integrates with fat and bone, our thoughts (themselves biological) fully integrate with our behaviors. In the Bible, there is no distinction between mind and body; both are flesh. As such, Biblical healing...

Fr. Paul explains the meaning of the term maskilim in the Bible. (Episode 30) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Man toils in his service, acts on his behalf, and slaves for personal gain. Even when he strives to gather food for his family, the human being does so selfishly—for his family—a community readily exploited to fulfill his personal needs. The act of gathering food, which should be a gesture of unselfish love toward those in need, is reduced to a selfish act ensnaring man in the net of his own makin...

Fr. Paul explains the function of chosenness in the Bible. (Episode 29) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The first three chapters of Matthew portray a confrontation between the God of Abraham and the many false gods and kings that rule the earth. Even as these kings—represented here by Herod—struggle to cling to power at the visible center, the Lord moves the center of power to the invisible margin. This move deludes the powerful, allowing them a false sense of comfort, since, in their minds, out of...

Fr. Paul discusses the biblical term exist and the problem of its conflation with the verb ”to be.” (Episode 28) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When a child reads a letter of St. Paul aloud in church, it does not matter if the child himself understands the reading, it only matters that he pronounce the text correctly. When the words of the letter are pronounced correctly, it is as though Paul himself is speaking to the church. It does not matter that it happens to be a child. The words of Scripture speak for themselves.  That is exactly h...

Fr. Paul discusses the meaning and development of King David’s character in the storyline of the Bible. (Episode 27) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

To the extent that Christians believe in the power of their actions and the value of their ethics, it’s understandable why they would interpret the Bible as a set of moral guidelines, or the life of Jesus as a moral example. But this is nonsense. The Bible does not present a philosophy of life, a set of ethics, or a set of moral guidelines. Jesus is not a role model and the question “what would Je...

Fr. Paul discusses the four rivers that flow out of biblical Eden. (Episode 26)  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

It’s difficult for us to wrap our minds around, but the fact is, God does not need us. He does not need our abilities, our sentiments, our help, our efforts, our offerings, our deeds, our families, or our communities. God needs nothing from us yet provides everything for us. In Scripture, he freely offers Scripture to every generation. In Matthew, if we do not submit to this gift, itself presented...

Fr. Paul explores the versatility of the term Eden and the loss of its literary interconnection in translation. (Episode 24) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

People assert and impose an identity from their king, their nation, their city, their tribe, and their family—all of which are dismantled and repurposed in Matthew’s genealogy. Now, in chapter 3, on the lips of John the Baptist, we come face to face with this new purpose: the adoption of all nations as brothers and sisters under the headship of Abraham. Indeed, the first two chapters of Matthew ar...

Fr. Paul talks about shepherdism in Greater Syria and it's significance for the Bible. (Episode 24) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When a person's behavior improves, we naturally speak of how they have grown or changed, when, what has changed is not the person, but the instruction that controls their actions. Scripture bypasses human psychology to focus strictly on commandment and behavior. The Bible relieves the burden of sin by substituting one master for another. That's it. We don't change. We don't improve. We simply reme...

Fr. Paul discusses Judges 2:10-23. (Episode 23) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Modern students of Scripture dumb down the power of the New Testament by dealing with the Old Testament as a kind of antiquated fortune cookie. They see a connection between Matthew and Jeremiah, and exclaim, "You see! Jeremiah predicts Matthew!" Even if we suspend reality for a moment (and ignore the fact that Matthew had access to Jeremiah before he wrote his book) fortune cookie theology does s...

Fr. Paul discusses the term palásh as it relates to the word Philistine. (Episode 22) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★