Paul’s teaching on the role of wives and slaves in the Christian household are among the most (tragically!) misinterpreted passages in scripture. In this episode we examine the tension between ideals and reality, between what is ultimately true and how close (or not) we can approximate it at any particular moment in time. As...
Category: Understanding the Bible
Understanding the Bible 42: So…Sin Boldly? Paul and Christian Ethics
If, as Paul argues, salvation is by grace alone (a gift of God and not achieved by any act on our part), what does that imply for Christian ethics? Can we therefore “sin boldly” — indulge our impulses and enjoy the party…? I mean, if all is forgiven in the end, why not make good...
Understanding the Bible 41: What Must I Do to Be Saved? Or Why We Are All Semi-Pelagianists at Heart
Every philosophical and religious tradition has a view on the requirements of membership – what it takes to belong to the community of “salvation.” In early Judaism, for example, membership within “true Israel” belonged to those who were at least: descended from Abraham, circumcised (men), obedient to the food laws and observant of the Sabbath. For...