The Bible as Literature

We human beings love having an excuse; or having the opportunity to blame someone else for our problems; or having the freedom to blame our failures on unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately for us, according to St. Paul, no matter who you are, no matter what you do in life, no matter where you come from, no matter what is happening to you, no matter what others do to you, no matter what you thin...

In one of his most popular works, C.S. Lewis talks about the inevitable divorce between good and evil: a comforting philosophical notion that allows adherents to be right or to be able to choose the winning side--as the sons of men often and arrogantly boast--"to be on the right side of history." But what if there are no winning sides? What if, as Jesus said, "no one is good?" In 2 Corinthians, St...

When Paul talks about being "absent from the body," our Hellenized ears want to believe that he is talking about a dualism with some version of a Platonic soul inhabiting (or exiting) our "earthen vessel." As appealing as this may be to some, it has nothing to do with St. Paul's letter. Paul is not talking about your soul leaving your body. On the contrary, he is admonishing you to embrace discomf...

When someone sets out to do something difficult, they console themselves that their sacrifice is worth the effort because of what they will have achieved or attained. The problem, of course, is that we humans are as much aware of our own futility as we are comforted by delusions of permanence. In other words, no matter how much we lie to ourselves about life, sooner or later, everyone asks, “what’...

When St. Paul contrasts tablets of stone with the human heart, or the letter inscribed in stone with the Spirit, or the Old Covenant with the New, Christians are quick to assume that the Old is incomplete without the New, or, worse, that the human heart is preferable to following the letter of the law. Strange, how people convince themselves that God would inscribe a teaching and then say, "oops,"...

It is common for students to judge their teachers. Worse, students today are encouraged to do so, being routinely asked to fill out teacher evaluation forms. Some have even created websites to aggregate student gossip about their teachers. In a culture that lauds greed and shames mothers, it seems that everyone has an opinion about the one who stands before them bearing gifts. Not so and not on Pa...

According to human standards of leadership, when Paul changes course midstream, it appears to his disciples that he is vascillating between "yes" and "no," like a man who can't keep his promises. In reality, it is the church that is wavering because Paul's disciples are unwilling to place all their trust in the instruction that controls their teacher's actions. Richard and Fr. Marc discussion 2 Co...

When Paul talks about comfort in 2 Corinthians, it is easy to receive his words as much needed nurturing, as though we have suffered unjustly and are in need of God's intervention. But what if God has already intervened? What if the difficulties in our life are not unjust? What if the suffering of which we complain is not evil? What if the blessings and the curses in our life come from the same so...

Without realizing it, when people hear the word “church,” they usually imagine a meta institution with clear organizational or ideological boundaries, akin to a government or global corporation. Worse, in our various expressions of Christianity, one way or another, we tend to operate as such. Whether attempting to control the world through ideology, or to market ourselves for institutional gain, o...

Isaiah 22:12 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. 13 Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die. 14 But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiv...

Psalm 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify t...

When reading an ancient text in translation—especially one laden with nuance—there is a high risk of misunderstanding. On the one hand, there are expressions, cultural and historical references, and terminology that are not immediately accessible to modern readers. At the same time, a statement’s meaning often seems obvious, when, in fact, the translation is misleading or the reader has assumed a...

Better to “speak five words” that give instruction, Paul explains, “than ten thousand words” that mean something to you but are useless for everyone else. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss 1 Corinthians 14:1-19. Prompted by listener feedback, this week’s episode begins with a review of the function of sin in the Torah and its implications for Paul’s gospel. (Episode 117; 1 Corinthians 14:1-19); Subscri...

After spending the better part of 12 chapters putting the church’s household in order, in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians, St. Paul crowns the power structure he established with something more excellent and of greater importance than any household station or duty: the act of love. For Scripture, how we treat others is not just a litmus test--it is the only test--of our knowledge of the commandments o...

The key to understanding any idea, statement or position is to examine its premise. What underlying assumptions must be made for an idea to make sense? What motivations drive these assumptions? Once you are able to examine an argument in this way, even the most clever intellectuals are quickly put to shame. No matter how sophisticated the theology of the elite in Roman Corinth, because their assum...

According to our friend Google, a contradiction is, “a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.” According to St. Paul, this combination is a mechanism of wisdom, as in, “I will undermine power by exercising power,” or “I will create heterarchy by imposing hierarchy.” Welcome to 1 Corinthians 11. (Episode 114; 1 Corinthians 11); Subscribe: http:...

What if you know something is OK, but someone else does not? What if you know something is not OK, but others think it is fine? What if someone offers you something that is OK, and they think it is OK, but someone else is confused and thinks that it is not OK? Can something be both OK and not OK at the same time? What do you do then? Most people are fine when the gospel says, “do not judge,” but w...

What does it mean to be chosen in the Bible? What is the purpose of having a chosen people? How does God honor his chosen? What is expected of those who hope to join the ranks of the chosen? How long is a chosen person’s tenure? Doesn’t the whole idea of being chosen go against human fellowship? When it comes to the Bible, one man’s curse is another man’s blessing, and vice versa, ad eternum. Rich...

Can you make yourself the least of all by insisting on your title and station? Can you sacrifice everything for the sake of others without them liking it? Are you able to repeatedly flip an argument on its head until no one is able to stake out a position? Can you use a metaphor over and over again to illustrate how you should be treated but then turn on your own use of the metaphor because, not o...

According to Wikipedia, “Illusory superiority is a cognitive bias whereby individuals overestimate their own qualities and abilities relative to others. This is evident in a variety of areas including intelligence, performance on tasks or tests, and the possession of desirable characteristics or personality traits.” This may explain why so many students believe they have something to offer their p...

For as long as religion has been around, people have come forward with a single, destructive question: "O religious leader, what does our religion say," or, "What does our religious leader say about X?" One way or another, people eventually find someone who can provide clarity on issue X. Then everybody gives a big sigh of relief until someone comes along with a different opinion about said issue,...

When couples want marriage or divorce, they think "fairness." When people are dissatisfied with their place in life, they think "change." When people look at their own status, they think, "better" or "worse." If all this makes sense to you, then, according to 1 Corinthians, your priorities are all wrong. Instead of caring about the gospel, you are thinking about you. That may please your life coac...

People love to defend themselves. They defend their choices. They defend their group. They defend their rights; their property; their beliefs. Oh, yes, and people love to be right. They love it. It's like a drug. They love it so much that when something goes unavoidably wrong, they devise clever ways to blame other people. Human beings are so committed to defending themselves that in the US alone,...

At first glance, St. Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 5, that the faithful are not to associate with immoral people, seems to imply that the church should safeguard its purity by avoiding association people outside the community. No interpretation of 1 Corinthians could be further from the truth. On the contrary, when Paul speaks of immoral people in chapter 5, he is referring to people within t...

When reading 1 Corinthians, it is easy to mistake Paul's discussion of weakness and strength as a universal condemnation of power. On the contrary, Paul presents the teaching of the cross as a way of replacing one kind of power with another. You might be tempted to let yourself off the hook by claiming that he is replacing man's power with God's power. Well, OK, but you are avoiding the tougher qu...