Paul's View on predestination

Paul has many statements in the New Testament about "the election" or predestined ones. This strikes a huge curiosity of how Paul actually views predestination. Some may write the topic off as "it doesn’t matter." I think it does matter, I believe Paul is right in whatever he says. There is truth in the Word and what better place to look than the Bible. Along with other passages, I think Paul is quiet frank in Romans 9 about his views on God’s sovereign choice. In my paper I hope to explore scripture better to understand why Paul believes this way or if he does at all, and truly in an exegetical way what Romans 9 means.

The Gifts of the Spirit

I would like to write my paper on Paul's statements about the gifts of the spirit, more specifically the role these should play in the church. I believe that the gifts serve a unique purpose in the church and few are examineing what those purposes are. Paul was divinely inspired to give christians today a model for the church. My interest is in how the gifts of the spirit fit into this model. My take on the subject is that the gifts of knowledge, prophecy, and tongues are not valued as much as they should be. At the same time, some churches neglect all other charges to some how be lost in a spiritual expirence. Paul has something to say about this, I intend to objectively evaluate what that is.

The Man of Lawlessness: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

As a course of study, I plan to conduct an exegetical analysis of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. The study will follow the Grammatical Historical method. First, I will carefully examine the passage itself, using several different versions of the scripture and noting key differences in translation. 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians will provide context for interpretation. Thus, I will read both books several times. At first glance, the passage appears to focus on an eschatological theme, addressing the expectation of Christ’s return. I plan to use sources such as the NIV Application Commentary and other critical commentaries in order to understand the nature of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and the issues that Paul addresses within the church at Thessalonica. I will compare modern translations to the original text, utilizing a Greek New Testament, interlinear, analytical key, and concordance. While it may seem tempting to conduct exhaustive word studies and cross references, the study of the text must remain well balanced. After conducting background research and analyzing the text within its context, I will create a rough translation of the passage. The translation and background information will be used to flesh out the text. After I complete the process of fleshing out, I will examine the exegetical analysis found in critical commentaries, in an effort to test the validity of my exegetical conclusions. The last section of my study will examine application of the passage in the modern world. In conclusion, one must examine 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 in the context of first century Christian understanding. Application of the passage must come through first century Christian understanding, rather than a modern perspective.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Without Judaism Christianity couldn’t be complete. Modern Christians tend to view this opposing religion as evil or incomplete, but Christ never proclaimed that. He rather died so that it might be fulfilled. This is the way it should be viewed, as a fulfilled religion leading towards Christianity. Instead of rejecting its deficient laws, Paul emphasized taking up a new set. (Gal. 6:2) Rather than disowning his past as a former Jew, Paul embraced it and used some of Judaism’s guidelines to further Christianity as seen in the letter to the Galatians. He proclaimed that the Torah is obsolete, but the Law of Christ took its place. This new law in Galatians will be the emphasis of my paper.

Angel Worship in Colosse (Colossians 2:18)

The objective of the paper is to try to understand what Paul the Apostle meant by telling the Church in Colosse not to worship angels. The paper will consist of several definitions of angel worship and try to find the one that will make the most sense for the time period. Also, it will mention different groups and beliefs during this time that could have influenced the Colossians to practice angel worship. It will look into such beliefs as the Gnosticism, Greek philosophies, and Jewish mysticism. A person should be able to define angel worship and list the most influential beliefs for the practice of angel worship of the time period by the end of the paper.

Brother in Christ,
Billy Hardesty

Ephesians 4:17-32

I plan on examining about how Paul encouraged the church of Ephesus in light of Ephesians 4:17-32. Paul tells them to no longer act like the others around them, Gentiles, who have hardened their hearts. But instead we should get rid of our old self and put on the new self that is true righteousness and holiness in God. Later on he tells them how to act towards one another and to build each other up. I want to focus on how Paul is telling the church to act towards one another and to be, as the caption on my Bible says "living as children of light".

Perseverance

I plan to examine what Paul means when he says that our suffering produces perseverance. The primary passage I will analyze will be Romans 5: 3-5. He tells us we should be joyful in our suffering because that builds up our character and our character builds hope. In our culture, people do not experience the same suffering for their faith that Paul has in mind. I want to find out what sufferings he and the early church has gone through. I want to learn how perseverance somehow draws believers closer in their faith with Jesus Christ.

Stephen Foust

Paul and the Old Testament as observed in 2 Corinthians

Over and over throghout the Pauline Chorpus there is a constant and wide use of Old Testament refrences. I have always found Paul's use of Old Testament scripture a fascinating and effective tool of his writing, but the more I think about it, there are questions that arise concerning these citations . For instance, Why does Paul quote Old Testament Jewish literature in his letters to primarily gentile believers? Indeed there were God fearers and prostelytes who had frequented the synagogues prior to Christianity, but I tend to think that the majority of Paul's audience would be relatively unfamiliar with the law, poetry, and propets of the Old Testament. Through my paper I hope to search out and examine these questions and others in the book of Second Corinthians. Was it the benifit of his congregations, or Jewish heritage that prompted Paul to draw back so often to the Old Testament?

-Chance (chase)

a devlish man will (or has already) come

The man of lawlessness, who is he? In the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Hawthorne, Martin, and Reid discuss that at different times Christians believed the man of lawlessness to be the Papacy, a Roman Emperor, or all the Roman Emperors. Paul all through out his writings proclaims an eminent eschatological period, and specifically in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul speaks of a devilish entity whom will precede Christ’s parousia. Several things should be researched in depth in order to further discuss the text mentioned above. First, a one must gather a general comprehensive understanding Paul’s eschatology throughout his writings. Next, one would probably need to understand how the apostle thought by delving into Jewish beliefs on end times. Then an exegesis of the text is necessary in order to discuss the passage and in order to understand what is known of that which holds back the man of lawlessness.


kevinc

Baptism for the dead (1 Cor 15:29)

The topic of my research paper is an investigation of the Corinthian practice of baptism for the dead. The principal passage for the paper is 1 Corinthians 15:29. The investigation will explore the sociocultural history of Corinth to discover, if possible, the meaning, purpose, theology, and methodology of the practice. Application of the results of this investigation will then be applied in an exegetical manner to the principal passage, and resulting implications for the text of 1 Corinthians – and the Pauline Corpus, if necessary – will be explicated.

Steve

To the Jew First...

In the book of Romans Paul takes the law of the Old Testament and filters it through Christ as the fulfillment of the law. Man no longer has to keep the Old Testament law as a means of salvation. Utilizing his sublime knowledge of the Torah and the Jewish mindframe, Paul presents the Gospel to the Jews who do not recognize Christ as the fulfillment of the law. Using Paul’s writings in Romans, I intend to demonstrate in my paper how he painstakingly wades through Jewish law and mindframe pertaining to Old Testament scripture, presenting the ancient traditional concepts in light of the message of Jesus Christ.

stage one Paul's View of Grace, not a blue eyed blonde

In this project I intend to provide an exegetical study Paul’s view of how grace effects the ethical standpoint of Christians. In the project I will study how grace affects the Old testament law, I will also center a good deal of my study on how this "grace" effects the way we live in accordance to rules besides the law set for us in scripture and how we relate to the rest of scripture with this view of Grace. I plan on using Ephesians 2 :1- 10 as my main verses of focus.
Peace be with you....Ira R.

Paul's view on the gift of tounges

One of the biggest theologically controversial issues within the modern church is the practice of the gift of tongues. Churches debate as to what the gift of tongues is and whether it was simply a sign on the Day of Pentecost or if it is a gift that is currently found and needed in the church body. With the use of I Corinthians 14:1-28, 39-40 as the main text, I will exegetically examine Paul’s instruction of how to use the gift of tongues, the importance and contribution the gift makes, whether it is to be practiced in the twentieth century church, and establish a definite definition of what the gift of tongues is.

Travis Adams

Paul’s View on Divorce

I chose to write my Pauline exegesis paper over 1 Corinthians 7:10 -16. The passage deals with what the Lord says and what Paul says about divorce and remarriage. I am very interested to see what if anything turns up when I look into the original Greek text. I’m sure that I will find a better understanding of what Paul was trying to say after looking into the Jewish, Roman, and Greek views of divorce and remarriage. Also, I plan to look at how Paul may have been influenced by Jesus’ teachings on this subject. I think that this will be a challenging paper, but I am excited to see how it turns out.

Craig A. Golden

Stage One

Paul’s advice to young ministers (Namely Timothy and Titus)

Paul gives some excellent advice to those in ministry in his letters to Timothy and Titus. I plan to discuss some of Paul’s views on what kind of man a minister should be, and what Paul says a minister should do as one called of God. Besides the qualifications and duties of a minister according to Paul, I also plan to discuss Paul’s warnings to them about false doctrine and teachers, and his emphasis on the importance of sound doctrine. Finally Paul encourages these young ministers to remain faithful to Christ.

In His Service
Craig Powell

Paul and contextualization

Paul, being perhaps the most influential missionary during the first century, was forced to use contextualization very commonly. Paul had a very unique talent of presenting the truths of the Gospel in ways that can be understood by his audience. He often used the culture and influences of the people to relay the message of Christ to them. Paul often put the message of Christ in a way that could be understood by the Pageans or Gentiles that he he was speaking to by using a context that they could understand and relate to. I plan to use 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 which explains Paul’s philosophy of contextualization and his overall application of his ministry as my main Scripture reference.

Steven Price

Stage One, Topic: Paul's View of Resurrection

In my paper for the requirements of this course, I would like to examine Paul’s understanding and teaching of resurrection. Examining backgrounds such as Paul’s being a Pharisee and the Greco-Roman world’s understanding of the body and soul, the paper will demonstrate how these backgrounds might have influenced Paul’s understanding of resurrection.. The base text of Scripture I intend to exegete is 1 Corinthians 15. While examining Paul’s view of resurrection, one main purpose of study will be coming to a better understanding of what nature of resurrection the apostle taught: a physical/spiritual or simply a spiritual. I believe my paper will demonstrate that Paul linked the resurrection of Christ to the future resurrection of believers and that he taught the future resurrection will thus be of the same nature.

Stage 1

Paul, being the missionary to the gentile, faced opposition regarding how gentiles become Christians. The Judaizers Paul faced insisted that they must obey the stipulations of the law, especially circumcision, before they could be in Christ. This is a very big and important issue Paul encountered so I plan to write about Paul’s argument using Abraham as an example to discuss the contrast of faith versus works. Paul uses Abraham as an example more than once. I will probably focus on his argument in Galatians chapter 3.

The Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 (Stage 1)

I am going to exegetically illustrate that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. I will also show that the resurrection of Jesus reconciled fallen man to God by demonstrating Yahweh’s power over death, His sovereignty, and His age-old salvific operation.


Passage: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your string?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15: 55-56)


I will utilize Paul’s analogy of the two Adams and associate Old Testament Scripture to reveal God’s power over death from the time of God’s creation. Among the Scriptures I will use are Genesis: 1-3; 2nd Sam. 2:6; 1 Kings 17: 17-24; 2nd Kings 4:31-37; 2nd Kings 13:20-21; 2nd Sam. 2:6; Hos. 6: 1-3; Ezek. 37:1-14; and Isa. 53: 10-12.

Vicky

Stage 1

I want to research slavery in Paul's time, primarily focusing on the book of Philemon, verses 8- 21. I plan to study the social and cultural ideas of slavery in the first century. I also want to study Paul's view of grace and forgiveness between people, namely Philemon and Onesimus. Lastly, I want to research some of the other writings of Paul that deal with his analogy of slavery as far as sin goes (like Romans 6:6) and attempt to understand what that must have meant to the Romans.
Jennifer

Paul, the Sports Fan (stage 1)

After looking at a few different topics, I have decided that I will be writing my paper for Pauline Epistles on Paul’s interest in the Isthmian Games which he reflects on in

1 Corinthians 9:24-27. I think it is fascinating how Paul uses these games to make a point about the Christian life when he writes to the Corinthian Church. I will be also exploring the importance of these games in context to the time period in which this specific letter was written by Paul to the Corinthian Church.

Abbi

Adoption (stage 1)

Having been adopted myself and being in the process of obtaining my adoption records Romans 8:14-15 seemed like the natural choice for this research paper.

“Adoption >(huiothesia), N. [5]adoption as sons, sonship; in NT culture a son received
greater inheritance and honor, but in Christ men and women inherit equally:- adoption as sons
(2), adopted as sons (1) full rights of sons (1), sonship (1)” (The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance).

A theological exegesis of Romans 8:14-15 which states, “All those led by God’s Spirit
are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” (HCSB). The research will include a sociological and historical inspection of first century practice of adoption in Greco-Roman and Jewish cultures considering legal, personal and practical aspects of adoption in the first centuryand modern western culture, relating how believers can make pragmatic application of our adoption by God into the family of Christ.

Michael Carpenter

Importance of Discipleship

Throughout Paul’s missionary journey, we see a pattern in the acceptance of the gospel. First the gospel is presented in the synagogues and has good acceptance. But the gospel causes the people to have to make a decision to accept or deny Christ. This causes division. This division ultimately causes rejection and violent persecution, Paul barely escaping death by stoning in more than one occasion. Despite the hostility of the towns toward him, rather than going home the easy way, discipleship was so important to Paul that he risked going back into the cities he was so violently persecuted in in-order to check-up on the new Christians. This shows that our commission is more than to go get people saved, but to make disciples, teaching them how to be Christians.

Turning a blind eye

So many times we think that *spiritism*does not exist and we have a tendacy to turn a blind eye to this stuff..We see in the scripture that this does take place. Paul clearly turned this around and made it honor God and help people see the realness of Christ through this.. I think we should aknowledge that its bad and not a good thing for sure, but this pretending that it isnt real is crazy. Often times we forget to take the gospel to certain aspects and choose to ignore things because we are selective with what the scriptures say about it.

No other gods before me.

During Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary trip, they were considered Zeus and Hermes. The people of Lystra believed that Paul was Hermes (the messenger god) and Barnabas was Zeus (the chief of the gods) because Paul healed a lame man. The people of Lystra were prepared to make sacrifices and worship Paul and Barnabas. Once the missionary duo discovered what the Lystrans were preparing do to, they made it clear that it was Jesus that had healed the lame man, not Paul. One can see Paul and Barnabas’ faith. They could have easily said that they were the gods and been raised up among the people. Instead, they said that it was Jesus. Paul was later stoned and left for dead because of his belief in Christ. Paul put aside his love of self in order to glorify God in all his works. When God said no other gods before me, Paul knew God meant what he said.

Brother in Christ,
Billy Hardesty

This ain't no card trick y'all

Reading about the sorcerer in Acts 13 brought to mind the story I read in the news about the Kenyan lady who placed a tribal curse on God and was found dead the next morning. The sorcerer in Acts was blinded as a result of the judgement of God. God's power was made as evident in the Kenyan woman's case this past week as it was thousands of years ago. The proconsul with Paul had his beliefs reinforced by God's awesome display rather than being talked out of them by the sorcerer. Ephesians 6:12 gives us clear guidelines in battling the powers of darkness, and Paul was definately game for combating the supernatural opposition of Christ.

Purpose Driven Paul

There are two things about the apostle Paul's first missionary journey that I think are very interesting and are mentioned by Polhill. The first topic mentioned by Polhill is the pattern of how Paul would go to a new area and first go to the synagogues be rejected and then take the gospel to the Gentiles. The fact that the bible mentions this as well suggests that Paul did not have much impact with his own people. This makes perfect sense why Paul would later make the claim that he has been sent to spread the gospel amongst the Gentiles. The irony of the whole situation is that Paul was sent by the Jewish Christians on his journey and they wanted the Gospel to go out to the Jews who rejected the message. The weird thing is that Paul continued to go to the synagogues even though he was consistantly rejected. Paul was obviously very persistent.

If you read Polhill's comment about Paul going to the Gentiles after being rejected by the Jews in the synagogues, you might assume that Paul was having success with the Gentiles. The reality is that Paul wasn't having very good luck with the Gentiles either. Paul did not have the success that the Billy Graham Crusades have had. Thousands did not flock forward and the message was almost completely new to the Gentiles. Rejection from his own people and from those whom he felt called to proclaim the gospel must have been very frustrating. As frustrating as it may have been the thing that I think makes Paul stand out the most is he never seem to complain or quit trying. I don't Paul's eventual success came from the large number of conversions but what he did with those whom he converted as demonstrated in his letters in majority of the New Testament.

Jeff Childers

Tag Team Apostles

Paul and Barnabas, were a tag team in the world of lost sinners. they were united with the brotherhood of believers that at that point didn't include much more then the disciples and the Jews. Which is why Paul and Barnabas made in a goal to reach the world of the Gentiles and further God's kingdom on earth. They are commisioned by the church of Antioch, which will be the main support of their ministry, so they are the sponsorship of the tag team. I think that it is ironic that just like any other team of any kind that each individual gets his time to shine. Barnabas was the leader and the one in charge, but that soon turns around when Paul meets Sergius Paulus and Elymas, when Paul confronts the evil sorcerer, Elymas and Paul points out six things that are wrong with him. it is at this point that Paul becomes the leader. He stepped up in the spotlight when he had to and the rest is history. This is the beginning of Paul being the outspoken speak his mind type of guy we know him to be. bro in Christ James(j_BOD) Boddie

Intent of the law and gift of Grace

It has always struck a wonder in my mind how grace worked in the OT. It is so selfish to me to think that there is no grace in the OT just because Jews had a custom or law to abid by. The law set Jews apart from the rest of the world or religions. So what sets me apart from other worldly views some even claiming Christ. Galatians 2 helps out, and helps me understand the NT connotation of Grace. Paul gives a good explaination of Grace, I think. The law in OT set Jews apart but today we are all one in Christ. Baptism is a key part of the division but it clearly says in verse 29, if you belong to Christ then you are of Abrahams desendents and part of a promise to Abraham. Quiet a humbling thought to know how big our God is.

Defined Sin

I’ve always viewed Judaism, as mentioned in class, a salvation by works. It always appeared to me as an evil religion of those who, directly, murdered Christ. Through the class discussion though, I now carry a very different view. In all honesty I don’t know where I would be with out Judaism. This religion that I have despised for so long is actually the beginning of my faith. With out the clear declaration of sin brought fourth by the law I would never know I lived in sin. This is the knowledge that brings us to salvation; this is why Christ died. Christ death would be meaningless to me without Judaism. Although I believe that this form of religion is outdated, the realization of sin that it shows isn’t.

Antioch

I can't imagine the significance that Antioch of Syria had on the Christian faith. If the city were not a culturally diverse city, then the Gospel may not have been presented to some other nations and people groups. The church was very diverse and extremely Spirit led. They comissioned people and sent them out into the mission field. Antioch was an important church for the mission of the Christian faith.In teh best respect it is the Cornerstone for the faith.

Antioch

What would the church of Antioch look like in the twenty first century? As we discussed in class and Polhill mentions, the church evangelized much of Syria, began a work, Cyprus, and chapter thirteen is led by the Spirit to go further. People of all ethnicities, races, and cultures probably composed the church. I personally do not know of any churches like Antioch. I know of churches made up of Black people. I know of Hispanic churches. I know of mission churches to different cultures in larger cities, but not one the biblical text tells us about. Would the praise service contain songs of all different languages or did some people sing in Greek, a language they may not have preferred? We think we are revolutionaries for having bilingual services. If they did a small group structure might people have this kind of diversity in a single home? No wonder they had a heart to reach other peoples, because they were composed of all kinds of people.

kevinc

EUTHUS

Angry Antioch

The Jews at Pisidian Antioch had enjoyed Paul’s teaching. They invited he and Barnabas back to speak the next week, but when they came back the Jews among them were Pisidian angry. Luke says that they were jealous. They were jealous of the crowds of Gentiles that had gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Were they jealous of the numbers of Gentiles that the message had attracted? Polhill suggests that this may have attributed to it, but he says perhaps they had taken the week to realize the implications of the message they had heard. He suggests that they realized that Paul was teaching the importance of grace over the importance of the Mosaic Law. Personally, I think that they heard the message and understood it, but when they saw the number of Gentiles there they realized that the message allowed the Gentiles to bypass the law in some way. This, in my opinion, is what made them jealous. Thanks be to Polhill!

Mr. Bill Faber…or Bill Lee to the older generation

Perseverance In Commission: Pass It On

I am struck by the routine and persistence of Paul. Polhill discusses the fact that Paul always starts out in the synagogue of a town. When Jews reject his message, he moves on to the Gentiles. Despite continual rejection by the Jews, Paul maintains this pattern. The Gospel always had an effect on some in the crowds. Nevertheless, at least once in his ministry, Paul must have felt discouraged about the Judaic rejection of Christ. I think that his first moment of discouragement might have come during his stoning at Lystra. The fact that Paul survived is a miracle in itself, and the continuation of his ministry after the fact shows a great amount of faith. After the long journey, it would be easy to give up, pack up, and go home. Instead, Paul and Barnabas returned to the newly established churches. While I doubt that Paul desired to be stoned a second time, I believe that the persecutions throughout his journeys made him a bolder witness. He endured shipwrecks, beatings, and whippings. Despite these things, he pressed on. Perseverance was key to spreading the Gospel. Paul puts to shame all garden variety weenie Christians who claim to have faced persecution because someone said something bad about them. In the ministry of Paul, the words of opposition were nothing to blink about. Paul possessed the perseverance to complete the race, and persecution merely fueled his resolve.

In Christ,
the other Paul

A view of Paul

I found it quite amaxing that there is actually a substantial amount of biographical info about the life of Paul. At first glance of his texts, one merely see's an author or a great man of God, but through Vermes, Sanders, and Pohill, Stendal, and as well as Dr. Foster, I have a greater understanding of how God used all parts of Paul's life to shape Paul for God's use. This really encourages me because I know that God is doing the same in my life and in the lives of other christians.

In my still limited view of Paul's life I am challenged to do my best, be salt and light to people, and not to conform to the paterns of the world but be transformed by the continued renewing of my mind.

Christian, The Christian

Paul the Mystic?

My title is a question intentionally. I am wanting lots of response to the question that I am about to pose. Is Paul a mystic? In our study of Paul, we have come across at least two different passages that suggest Paul may have had some mystical leanings. Paul’s mystical leaning are first seen in 2 Cor. 12:2,Paul speaks of a vision where he was caught up to the heavens (Pohill spoke of this idea) and then in Act 13 when Paul curses Elymas.

There may be more passages that would show Paul’s leanings on mysticism, but as of yet I have not found any (I cannot say I have had an overly abounded amount of time to look). Of course if Paul is a mystic, then he might be tied to the Essenes, who seem ( in my opinion) to be more mystical. Therefor if Paul is a Mystic, he may then be an Essene as well.

May God's blessing be upon you
And may peace favor you.

Danny the Red

Circumcision or no circumcision?

In Acts 15 a question that seems very important is raised in that after being "saved" must we follow the law to be saved? Or is saved by grace the standard. I think that the council at Jerusalem did well in this decision in that they gave rules to help in the area of sanctification but realised that the law could not save. The law is still important because it shows us how to imitate the character of God and what God's standard is as well as points out our sin so that we understand our need for salvation through Jesus.
Peace.....Ira R.

Antioch’s High Tolerance for Religions

The fact that the first church was established in an area of high religious tolerance is interesting to me. For this reason, the flourishing of the early church was made possible. It may have been the “perfect base of operations for the spread of Christianity,” at that time. The area of Antioch was a safe haven to which many of the persecuted church poured into so they could escape their oppressors, but what made the area perfect for the establishment of the first church? The answer to this may be within the Greek lifestyle, and the location of the city. The Greeks ravenous quest for more and new knowledge pulled them to Hellenistic Jews with a great success rate. Also, the location of the city probably played an important role in the survival of the church. Antioch was one of very few areas with an accessible, natural port, and heavily populated, but well developed city limits.

The situation of religious tolerance does, however, seem to cause problems with church growth today. Forgive me if this statement seems to be an overgeneralization, but today, churches within the areas of persecution seem to flourish; while churches within areas of high religious tolerance seem to be at a stand still. There may be some exceptions to this statement. Is the main difference a paradigm shift from the knowledge- hungry Greeks, in their quest for truth, to the Postmodern way of thinking, where truth may be more relative?


Craig A. Golden

The Law and Grace

What is God's punishment for sin? Death. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). [see also Gen. 2:15-17]. The Law, given by God, is full of His grace and mercy. The list of crimes (sins) in the law that deserve death are a mark of God's grace. All sin is deserving of death, it is though the patient grace of God that we all have not been wiped out. We sometimes talk of grace as if it is something that we deserve. This is a contridiction in itself. Grace by definition is undeserved. We ought to be careful in asking for what we think we deserve because what we deserve is death. The very fact that any of us are able to draw a single breath is an act of divine mercy. The insight given into the Jewish view of the grace and the keeping of the law to maintain the covenant with God sheds a whole new light onto first century Judiaism. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). The whole law can be summed up for us in the Great Commandments and our obedience to The Great Commission. We are now justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Does this make the law bad or evil? No. We would have not come to know what sin was without the law [see Paul's argument on this point in Romans 7]. Paul, being a first century Jew viewed the law as the grace of God and realized how much more has God's grace been shed on all those who believe.

Michael Carpenter

Great Place to Start

Paul’s base of operations for his missionary journeys was Antioch. Through reading Antioch of Orontes, in Dictionary of Paul, I see how God set it up and that it was a great place to start from. One because of the great number of Christians in the town. Who where there because of the persecution in Jerusalem. Also that there were several Greek who came to be with them because of the monotheism. It was a port city and the third largest city in the Roman Empire. The church in Antioch was very missionary minded and helped Paul as he left for his journeys. I know that most of this was covered in class but I just find it amazing the way God just lines everything up. God Bless
Matt Justice

A return to the Jewishness of it all

Reading in the DPL on Barnabas I found it informative to look at the relationship between Paul, Barnabas, and the church. Knowing that Barnabas was a Levi changed a good deal of my view of both him and the church at Antioch. It is interesting to see how the early church was so influenced by Judaism. Today we often take Judaism and throw it out the window, seeing it as having no merit, but it was such an important and integral part of the church in the past. Much like we discussed in class about needing to get back to the Jewishness of Paul and Jesus, I feel that maybe we should rekindle the Jewishness of Christianity. I am not proposing that we start throwing away every piece of clothing that mildews or no longer wearing clothing of two different weaves, but it is important that we look more at the OT. It will help bring us to a better understanding of much of what we “hold so dear.”

Paul's name last

I thought it was very interesting that Paul’s name shows up last in the list of leaders shown in Acts. The first possible reason for this that comes to my mind is that there could still be tension between Paul and some of the leaders in regard to his past. Perhaps he still needed to earn his proper place in the pecking order. If this is the case then it is surprising that he had trouble accepting Mark back into the missionary group after previously abandoning them. We are not certain what Mark’s motive for leaving were. I’m under the impression that the task was over baring and he returned out of discouragement. Whatever the case is Paul understands what grace is and he knew what it was like to ask forgiveness and be accepted into the group. He should have had no problem taking Mark back as a partner. Partnership in the Lord’s work is very necessary. Maybe God used this experience to teach Paul this valuable lesson.

Stephen Foust

mission tactics

In the DPL, the mission section is pretty informative about how Paul would start churches. Paul considered himself a church planter. He was called to live a life of traveling constantly and encountering groups that might not always welcome him. He did not focus on individuals. (I do not mean to say that Paul never ministered to an individual at all.) Paul's focus was on building up a body of believers in a certain area. When that church was founded and started "good," he considered himself done in that area.
This is important to us because we can see that God has called people to specific things. One may be called to preach, but hopefully that man will not ignore opportunities to share the gospel when the opportunity arises on a day other than Sunday. We should learn to appreciate that a call to be an evangelist is no more important than a call to be a doctor. We all have important calls; we're all made to do specific things. Of course, this does not mean it's okay to ignore ministry outside of that specific call.

The Ups & Downs of The First Mission

I just want to start off by saying, that it is always awesome to me how God uses homework to comfort and speak to my heart...weird...I know, but in doing the reading for this week, the account of the first mission brought so much encouragement. I am afraid I may go a little devotional, so bear with me...

So, they start out and this sorcerer, who Paul calls "child of the devil" is made blind because he was trying to sway the faith of the Sergius Paulus...and by Paul acting out, filled with the holy spirit, this Sergius guy makes his statement of belief...now if you are a believer, anyone who gives thier statement of faith...this is an exciting time! This is like a WOOOO! JESUS!
So then, they go on and Paul preaches, and he really preaches at P. Antioch, he preaches so well, that the next Sabbath almost the WHOLE CITY came to hear of Jesus! Jews and Gentiles alike heard of the awesome salvation that Jesus offered when he died on the cross...Now if I were Paul and Barnabas, I would be PUMPED UP, like seriously, there is so much movement, and God is blessing, and things are going good, and WOOOO! And then, here come some guys, who just hate...hate...Paul...they hate what he's saying, they hate what he is all about...and the beat and stone him...and leave him for DEAD. I stand amazed at how Paul reacts to this. How weak I am compared to this...
It says starting in vs. 19 "Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. (20) But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back to the city."

It says after this that they went to Derbe and they preached, and won a large number of diciples. He returned to the churches and preached hardships for the kingdom of God.

This all amazes me, because God had done so many GREAT & AWESOME things that they didn't let the persecution and the pain bog them down, or stop them from serving and preaching. Reading stuff like this makes me so mad at myself for caring so much about the pain of persecution and hatred shown towards me by others...PAUL GOT UP...HE GOT UP...AND WENT BACK TO THE CITY...THE SAME CROWD, THE SAME PEOPLE WHO STONED HIM...HE WENT BACK.

Okay, I am challenged to grow some thicker skin and move on and continue on this road with my awesome Lord Jesus, and forget about what others are doing to me, but focus more on what God is doing through me.

Abbi

The Importance of the Chronology

As I was reading the material in Polhill this week I couldn’t help but ask so what? I thought it was quite a bit of work to but a chronology together and started asking how important and influence this study has on Bible scholarship. I quickly realized that it is a vital tool for confirming our faith. The chronology of Paul helps us to confirm the fact that Paul and his missionary journeys actually occurred. It has parallels with other historical documents and findings, which helps us put it all in context. Knowing what Paul has done or experience prior to or during the writing of his letters helps us understand what all is going through Paul’s head and the circumstances that he is in while writing the letters. That by itself is a huge advantage to Pauline studies. In the end, however, I doubt we have concrete evidence of the exact chronology of Paul, but that is ok. Having some knowledge is definitely better than living in complete ignorance. I have to keep in mind during my education that there is a reason for the madness. It may not seem apparent at first, but in the long run it helps us develop and grow in our faith. Our professors make us do this work for a reason. They know what they are doing. I must keep this in mind, or else I may go insane with all the reading I have to do.
Travis Adams

God's Message of Salvation in Jesus

I enjoyed reading "The First Mission" chapter in Polhill the fact that during Stephen's speech, (Acts 7), Stephen emphasized Israel's history starting with Abraham. The link showed God's past deliverance of Israel to His present salvation in Jesus. The next fact, stated that John the Baptist was forerunner of the Messiah. Paul utilizes this concept to connect John with the Gospel tradition and Peter's speech to Cornelius. He does this to reveal to the people God's message of salvation in Jesus.

Paul states O.T. Scripture, an everlasting throne (2nd Sam. 7:4-17); Messiah Son of God (Psalm 2); eternal blessing promised to David (Isa. 55:3); and the promise of an eternal kingship not realized in David because of the fact David died (Psalm 16:10) to point to Jesus as Messiah based on God's Promises. The eternal Kinsship is in Jesus.

In the (DPL), Stendahl states how that Paul was called and his call could be interpreted within God's age-old salvific operation and that Paul's thought was Gentile inclusion.

Paul and the 7 Middot of Hillel

After discussing many of the forms of Hebrew argumentation in class on Friday I found it interesting to look back over much of Paul’s writings and it was very interesting to see the different forms of Paul’s argumentation and how it was influenced by his Hebrew teachers. I have discovered, after discussing his different backgrounds in class and in the reading, that Paul was much more of a human than previously explored. I think all to often we look at the Pauline Epistles as nothing more than a God inspired set of books. Understanding this background helps us to understand what exactly Paul is saying.


Kenneth

The Cost of Assumption

Is it profitable to assume that Paul wrote the whole of the Pauline Corpus? Although this is commonly asserted in the broad dialogue between conservative and liberal branches of Christianity, this assumption does not come without cost. Those that do believe that Paul authored all of the books that bear his name often speak - and rightly so - of the cost of assuming otherwise (namely, "a chink in the armor" of Scriptural inerrancy); but the assertion of Pauline authorship for the whole of the Pauline Corpus comes with its own price - the plague of contradiction. Contradiction, even in the body of work of a single individual, is neither unusual or inexplicable; people change as they age, and this is true of their beliefs and opinions as well. But for those claiming divine influence over the text of Scripture to the uttermost extremity of Scriptural inerrancy, contradictions come at a heavy price; can God contradict himself?

The orthodox answer to this nagging question is "No," and genuine contradictions are often chalked up to "the mystery of the Word" as those that hold to orthodox beliefs scramble for philosophical cover. But our responsibility as students of Scripture is to thoroughly investigate the Word, not to make safe presuppositions that cannot be explicated or defended. It is therefore, I believe, our responsibility to assume nothing with regard to the question of Pauline authorship; we must let the evidence speak for itself.

I'm sure most of you vehemently disagree, and that's fine; but I believe that God is more interested in the individual's search for truth than he is in blind adherence.

Steve (the heretic)

Does it matter if he was called or converted?

Ok the argument of if Paul was Called or Converted in my opinion is a pointless argument. I think that Ira put it very well in class by saying that Paul had a conversion of purpose. I believe that it is very minuet and some what insignificant. The terminology does not really matter, what really matters is that there was a change that took place. Paul had a drastic change from being a Christian killing Pharisee and then Christ stopped him and he changed and became a believer of Christ instead of a persecutor. He became a believer and lived out the rest of his life preaching the Gospel of Christ and the salvation that comes by grace through only Christ Jesus. Perhaps I am being too simplistic or something but I think that arguing over a word is pointless, a waste of time, and an endless argument.
Matt Justice

Give me the weak award

Is it just me or does the subsection on Paul having a wife seem odd? As long as I have known of the character Paul, I thought him as single. I have had enough trouble dealing with Paul’s writings on celibacy being better than marriage. I also thought it odd that a midst Polhill’s vast explanations for Paul’s thorn, he jokes of Paul having a wife. Even though Polhill used the issue of Paul’s thorn to mention discussion on his wife, the mentioning of the possibility of Paul being married made apparent to me Molehill’s earnest desire to thoroughly examine the missionary’s life. Polhill seeks to look deep into the man Paul, looking at every perspective of Paul in order that he (Polhill) might lay a foundation for our understanding of the apostle before we attempt to learn from his letters.

kevinc

Prepared For Ministry Prior to Conversion

The discussions that surround the call or conversion of Paul are important in Pauline studies, but I think that it is important to not get caught up in the semantics of the study. We recognize that Paul's experience contains many of the elements of Old Testament callings of prophets, but does that mean that all similar experiences must be considered prophetic callings. Paul had a life that was deeply rooted in Pharasaic Judaism. Polhill notes that the views of Pharisees spilled over into common Christian belief. Both contained many of the same elements, but they looked at the entire scheme of religion in an entirely different way. So when Paul experienced Christ on the road to Damascus, as Polhill says, Paul reached an epiphany. His epiphany did not completely devalue his entire previous life. Instead, God utilized Paul's education for the edification of believers rather than for self-righteous living. Thus, Paul's new life in Christ changed his perception on living out his faith and gave him a direct call from God. I believe that we can make vague connections between the conversion of Paul and the conversion of other believers. When one comes to Christ, one experiences a radical change in perception, but life continues to move on. New Christians return to their old jobs and homes, but they look at things in a new way. It is difficult to differentiate between Paul's calling and conversion because his life was already deeply engrained with knowledge of religion and the law. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, already knowing much about the faith. Paul's understanding of Judaism made his transition from new believer to missionary much easier, because the knowledge was already in place. Paul simply needed the epiphany to set off the chain of reactions that led to his understanding of Christ's sacrifice and subsequent ministry.

In Christ,
The other Paul.

Conflict Settled

While speaking to others about Christ, I have had some people argue with me about the bible contradicting itself. The one thing that almost all these people have pointed to me was the "conflict" between the people around Saul in the book of Acts seeing the light and not hearing a sound and later in Acts, were they could hear, but not see. I have had a hard time trying to explain how the two descriptions do not contradict their selves. Polhill gave a great description on why the two do not contradict on page 48 of his book. He concluded that the people around Saul saw a light and heard a voice, but did not see or hear what was said to Saul. I can not believe that I did not see that before, but looking at it in Polhill’s perspective makes a lot of since.

Hebrew of Hebrews:Sinner of Sinners

Paul wrote that he was the “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). In that same passage he also wrote that he was a Pharisee with regard to keeping the law: flawless in his keeping of the Jewish laws. He truly had no need for salvation if keeping the law was the issue. In 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul also says that he was the worst sinner. (In light of these two passages Paul was quite an extremist.) Paul also says in Romans (chapters 5-6) that sin was brought into the world based on the issuing of the Law; but the law was not bad, but it was enlightening. Then Paul asks in this same passage, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” (Rom. 6:1-2a). Paul realizes that he went from the most holy Pharisee to the most vile, wretched sinner. Paul received salvation because of Christ’s grace and not because of what he had done. Paul had “fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith,” but these things did not save Paul; it was the grace of Christ through faith that made Paul the great Christian, evangelist, and missionary.

I also agree that it does not matter whether Paul was converted or called: Paul served Christ whole-heartedly, and that is all that matters.

Zach Pyron

realizations from Acts

While reading through the three different accounts of Paul's conversion and call in class today, Dr. Foster asked us what was different about the third one. The most obvious thing was the extra line about goads, but then I noticed that verse 14 (chapter 26) said that they all fell to the ground. I was wondering to myself why I was the only one who noticed this... Yeah, I went back and looked at the first two. Sure enough, they both say that also. I guess I said all that to say this: I have read these passages before, and I read them again today. I think too often I don't really read and notice things like that. I look over sometimes to get to something else. I think the fact that they fell down before Paul asked, "Who are you, Lord?" is a great sign of submission...or maybe just fear of the bright light. I also really noticed today for the first time that Paul's call was a specific call - to the Gentiles. Of course this does not mean he should only witness to them, but it does mean that God wants to use Paul for this specific purpose. Lastly, I noticed that in chapter 26, it sounded more like something Paul would say. In reading just verse 18, the word-choice and lengthy sentence just really resembled what I know Paul might have really said. The other two accounts are really different from this one.

clever title

I guess I will hop right on the bandwagon and adress by view of Paul's conversion...call...thing. I do believe that Paul was converted. After Christ's death, Paul was still living by the law which has hince been set aside and "made obsolete" (Heb 8:13). As Paul persecuted the church he obviously rejected to notion of Jesus as the Messiah, but on the road to Damascus he obviously comes to the understanding that Jesus was the Messiah. Some will argue that there is no change in Paul because he simply, like all the rest, accepted the next step of faith in Judaism. This is true. Still, there is a choice that must be made as to the authenticity of this Christ figure. Clearly, Paul's transformation from ignorance to revelation is conversion. He was called by God, and did respond immediately to that call, and was therein converted. Either way or both, he was used by God that we might be converted...or called?

Chase

EUTHUS

EUTHUS
Is conversion possible?
C. S. Lewis talks in The Great Divorce about how our lives are merely the beginning of our time in eternity. Lewis implies that there are not two separate times – life and death, but there is one whole. Equally our time here on Earth is not divided in pre-Christ and Christianity. Our lives are one-whole. The only change is, when we succumb to God’s grace. We are marked in Christ’s image and we continue our lives fulfilling God’s plan. God knew we are his, if we are? Therefor all who accept Christ surrender to his love, not turning from another god, for there are no others, but coming unto the One True God.
Danny the Red

Conversion... Connection

Paul's conversion is most definately noteworthy... I like the comparison that Polhill brings out in each of the accounts. He does an excellent job with detail. One thing that really stood out to me was the idea that Paul simply asked who the Lord was. He was not making a proffession of faith. We sometimes take the ask and answer thing for granted. And, that is exactly what Christ did. When the question was posed Jesus answered imediately. It should be a great testimony for several reasons and was for sure food for thought for me. How often with our experience in building a relationship are we reluctant to recognize what He wants us to do, or who He is even.

"Dr. Foster's a playa"

But seriously we were "had", or at least i was set up to think. A good comparison was made between paul and the prophets, and logically led me to think, "a prophet is a man called by God, so Paul was called." of course this is not the traditonal/what we've been taught way of precieving the change in paul's life. Yet time and agin i find that many of my preconfcieved notions about biblical history are traditional thoughts and actually need to be criticized. It was healthy to discuss this use of words, because it challenges us to actually think about truths that we believe, weather biblically speaking or using words to speak truth about Christ. Maybe one word makes a differance, like with Athanasuis and the truth of the Diety of Christ, or maybe it doesn't make as much differance like with conversion and called. As i look at those two words i see that we as Christians have been converted-caused to change in form, CHARACTER, or function. And called to be obedient to Christ.
Christian...

Conversion of Saul

It’s interesting to read that some people think that there was something that prepared Saul for his conversion experience. I don’t believe there was any process to what happened out side of what is clear in the biblical text. Saul was on a mission to tear apart the forming Christian church because he truly believed that was what God wanted him to do. He persecuted sincerely for the glory of God. Declaring that his heart was prepared by a guilty conscience lightens the dramatic conversion we see in Act chapter 9.
I also wonder why the Lord doesn’t reveal himself as dramatically to people today as he did Paul. When I pray that God will convict people into realizing that they are lost, I pray that He will really trouble them until they give in to the Holy Spirit’s calling. If Jesus would physically appear and call them by name I’m sure believing would not be a problem. Then we might say that this would involve less faith but this is how He appears to Paul.

Stephen Foust

Paul and Jesus

How influential was Jesus and His teachings to Paul and his writings? Obviously the divinity of Jesus as the Messiah had great impact on Paul. This is evident due to his (Paul's) actions after his conversion/call on the road to Damascus. The influence of Jesus' teachings on Paul's writings may be another matter however. While Jesus was preaching and teaching, Paul was a Pharissee, so he may have not been keeping up with Jesus thoughts. Before Paul's experience on the road to Damascus, his only knowledge of Jesus' teachings may have been the fact that Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Son of God and to be the Messiah that the Jewish people were waiting for. Paul probably distanced himself from Jesus and His disciples prior to his conversion/call experience except to persecute them. So, after Paul's experience with Christ, his knowledge of Jesus' teachings may have been very limited due largely to the fact that he wasn't constantly around Jesus as the disciples were. After Paul spent time with the other apostles, no doubt learning from them, he begins to reference Jesus' teachings. This may be the reason that Paul uses examples from the Law and the Old Testament more in his writings than he does the teachings of Jesus.

Steven Price

Ektroma

One thing that stood out to me in the reading for this week is the statement "abnormally born" and Polhill's analysis of it. Some have reportedly taken this to mean "late birth." I might assert as much had I not been told otherwise. I love that it means "monstrosity." It is a beautiful disclaimer that the Truth did not come to him because of his own merit. It is also uncomfortable for the word ektroma at other times to mean "abortion." That is such a dirty word in the Christian culture and I think it is with a purpose that Paul chose it. So many times we are born with a purpose that we let die. Polhill points out that the abortion of Paul's ministry was no abortion at all; It was redeemable, simply unrealized. I also learned in class today that if you oppose a concept in class, just wait your point will eventually be proven.

Paul....convert or called?....yes

The "conversion of Paul" on the damascus road in the majority doesn’t seem like a conversion in the first place, but a call. This is what I seemed to get from both the reading and the class lecture today and I think it is definitely a call but I think it can also be said that it was a conversion experience as well. Paul did basically just follow God’s call in the fulfillment of Judaism, but he experienced a change of heart as well in that where he was persecuting the Way, now he is a follower of what he persecuted and I believe that change entails a conversion in a sense, as well as a plain change of purpose. Like Dr foster stated the answer is yes.
Peace be with you......Ira R.

Paul's Predisposition

Was Paul prepared for his conversion/calling? In the line with those who say that Paul had a "Radical conversion experience" I agree with the idea that he was totally unprepared. On the other hand I think that his mission prior to his calling had afforded him a fair amount of knowledge into the beliefs and practices of the early church. I'm sure that as a persecutor of the church he knew the ideals and principles of his enemy. At his conversion I think that his hard-hearted knowledge was converted to an open-hearted understanding.

Paul’s Conversion

After the discussion in class I thought about what actually happened with Paul. Was he converted or was he simply answering a call? To answer this question, I decided to get several pertinent definitions of conversion.

1. It is an event that results in a transformation. This definitely seems to be true, seeing that Paul went from persecuting the Way to defending it.
2. It is a spiritual enlightenment that causes a person to lead a new life. Paul was definitely enlightened by Christ and certainly lived differently than before.
3. It can be a change of religion. Based on the third definition, a problem arises. Did Paul change religions? I believe that Paul did not change religions, but he did change his view of Christ in relation to Judaism. He realized, as he saw the Lord, that Jesus was no blasphemer, but in truth was God’s son, the fulfillment of Judaism.
4. It can be the act of changing from one use or function or purpose to another.
Whatever his use was before, Paul gained a different function or purpose that day.

Based on these definitions, I have concluded that Paul did not change religions, but he did experience a drastic conversion.

Craig A. Golden

In Unity with Christ

In Paul's vision of Jesus, Jesus asks Paul "why do you persecute me?" The power of this question goes further than Paul's veiw of Christianity. I took this from a view point of the love and unity of Jesus Christ. Paul didn't phyisically put Jesus on the cross. Jesus see's all of His people as one in love. Polhill quotes "When Christians are persecuted, their Lord is persecuted." Through all of the Christians that were persecuted Jesus see's as Himself being persecuted, a very comforting thought to know that our Lord has our back in our sufferings. We obviously don't have to suffer alone, and God is there.

Jacob Moseley

Linking the Call/Conversion to the Gentile Mission

Polhill stricks up the question on page 56 of the mission of Paul to the Gentiles before his actual calling. The main theme deals with Pauls preparation to minister to the Gentiles. He encountered many Diaspora Jews in the syangouges where he practiced. One quote Polhill mentions in the Second parapgraph on page 56 is, "Paul's eschatology was certainly a factor in his call to the Gentiles. A major part of the Jewish expectaiton for the end time was that the Gentiles would turn to Israel's God." This raises the question of whether Paul was already planning Gentile before pre-Christian? Either way, Paul view of the coming Messiah drastically changed on the road to Damascus from expectation to existance. In a way, I feel that this may have strengthend the affirmation of Paul's calling to the Gentile nation.

Literary Criticism at its Greatest!

In the third chapter of Paul and His Epistles, Pohill provides great literary ways of understanding the similarities and differences between the three somewhat differing accounts of Paul's conversion experience within the book of Acts. His teaching is a great rebuttal against such persons like Rudolf Bultmann, who argued that because the three stories are different they must be from different sources and may not be reliable. It seems more likely, as Pohill points out, that Luke might have left out some elements in some of the accounts in order to escape redundancy, or Paul might have told his conversion experience differently as the context might have made it more suitable to share certain aspects of his conversion. Literary criticism can sure help in understanding what might sometimes appear problematic.

Intellegent Design

Was Paul who he was due to the culture and opportunities that surrounded him, or were the opportunities and culture that surrounded him simply God’s preparation tools? In other words, did God design Paul in order to use him for his ministry, or was Paul used for God’s ministry because of his design? Not believing in predestination, this is a difficult question for me. The answer I believe is YES. Paul was a product of society, but the society in which he lived must have been a product of God, to an extent. God didn’t necessarily predestine Paul, but set the stage so that if Paul chose to serve him, he would be one influential person. This is a lot like our salvation, in that Christ died for our sins, but we must choose him in order that our sins be forgiven.

In response to Micheal Carpenter’s post, I thought he had a good point, but I’ve always looked at the situation oppositely. Paul had every opportunity to be arrogant, but he also had every opportunity to be humble. Paul was a Christian slaughterer. Having a past with such reproach, many would have felt unworthy and unmotivated to proclaim the message of the Lord. Although he could have seen himself as superior, I believe it would have been much more realistic for him to see himself as undeserving of such a call.

What if?

In reading the account of Paul's conversion, I cannot help but ask what if? This may be a silly notion, however, I find it awesome that God had people placed in certain locations at certain times in order to make the whole conversion happen. First, Saul...walking along about to go kill some more Christians...and BAM! Jesus appears and puts the guy in his place...All the while, Ananias is asked to take a murderer in, asked to risk his life. Ananias questioned, however he obeyed! What if he hadn't? What if Ananias had been too afraid to take this murderer into his home, and freed Saul from his blindness? Moving on, we see the disciples' hesitancy towards Paul, however, God used Barnabas to be and intercessor between Saul and the Disciples. Because the disciples trusted Barnabas, they accepted Saul. Can you imagine if Barnabas had not been there to bridge that gap? It amazes me how God uses so many different people in such insignicantly great ways to further the glory of His kingdom!

Abbi Sawyer

Paul's Conversion

In Polhill's book he explained how Paul emphasized that his transformation was not of his own doing but it was due to God's grace. Paul said tht his role as persecutor and blasphemer was done in unbelief and ignorance. Polhill stated that it must have "cut Paul to the quick" when he realized that he had persecuted Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah.

Paul was not proud of his actions in the past; yet, his past actions were his testimony. Just as Christians, we are not proud of our actions in the past before Jesus transformed us; yet, our past actions are our testimonies. In addition, our testimonies are examples of God's grace.

Vicky

Was Paul called or converted?

I found it interesting that scholars debate on whether Paul was converted or called. Krister Stendahal is one that argues that Paul was not converted from one religions group to another but stayed a faithful Jew when he encountered Christ. Stendahal argues that his experience reflects the calls of the OT prophets, yet we don’t say that they were converted. Something that would support Stendahal’s view would be that Paul also describes his call as much like the prophets. I have to argue that it would be improper to compare Paul’s experience with that of the prophets for the main reason that the prophets didn’t have an encounter with Christ. The prophets were called to address issues that retained to their culture which was still under the Old Covenant. The prophets weren’t trying to kill the disciples of the Messiah, they were just hanging around being good Jews. I have to agree with Polhill that it was definitely a conversion of the mind. Paul went from a self-centered Jew to a Christ-centered Jew. He may have stayed a Jew, but he had a totally different understanding of the Messiah which is the center point of Christianity. The question I have to pose is, “Wasn’t Paul both converted AND called?” I believe that anyone who accepts Christ is converted in mindset and also in spirit. That person also is called, however, to go and share the Gospel are they not? To go and make disciples is not really a calling for the select few of the Christian faith. It is for all. I understand that some are called for full time church ministry and some are called to missions, but all are called to be part of the church body and attribute to the making of disciples. Paul’s call to minister to the Gentiles was definitely unique and meant for him, but for anyone to have an encounter with the Jesus Christ must also be involved in evangelism.

Travis Adams

All Things to All People

In 1 Cor. 9:19-22 Paul speaks of his ability to become all things to all people. Yes, Paul a 'Hebrew of Hebrews', a Pharisee with a zeal for the Law that few could match. According to Polhill, many of Paul's writings reflected his Pharisaic Torah training and sometimes he used Midrashic methods of intrepretion (31). Paul also reflected the teachings of the Jewish traditions of his time (32). He received a commission to persecute the early Christians for his zeal and became able to "breath out threats against the Lord's disciples" (see Acts 9:1). Where Paul grew up in Tarus, his education in Jerusalem and his Roman citizenship all lent to the widespread persecution he carried out. This also led to his ability to become all things to all people. After his conversion I believe it would of been easy for Paul to maintain this kind of self righteous attitude. To somehow see himself as better than the next because of who he is and the intellgence that he posessed. To top all of this off the Messiah appeared to him personally. Paul's attitude could of been completly different and instead of seeing himself as all things to all people he could of seen them as beneath him. Yet Paul did see himself as all things to all people. To the Jew he became a Jew, to the Greek a Greek, to the weak, weak. Paul was all these things yet did not hold any as better than the other. So I have to ask the question of myself. Have I so quickly forgotten the mercy and grace that God has shown me and become 'better than'? It is easy for us to become consumed in our own little WBC world that we forget to "...become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor. 9:22). By all means necessary. So that all may know Him.

Michael Carpenter

Jews in the Buff?

Wow! Let me express first of all that I am utterly amazed at the athletic practices of the Greeks. The historical records that testify that in this ancient world we are studying actually existed places where men would compete in the buff bewilders me. I know one of our beatitudes tells us to be graceful when traveling through this foreign land, but I have a hard time doing this when reading about these ancient gymnasiums. Of course, while traveling through, I find myself not being the only one resisting accepting these athletic practices. As stated in our reading many devote Jews had major problems with these places because they found nakedness to be shameful; however, as our reading also stated, many Jews accepted and even participated in some of the games. In regards to all of this, the major question I have would be addressed to Paul, who, let us be reminded, had a very Jewish background. Would the gymnasium be a place where Christians should go or even take part. Should nakedness be shamefull for Christians? My natural, and I think biblical, response to these questions would be no, but since Pual uses many games practiced during this day as examples in conveying the Christian messege, I question my response. I know that Pual does not necessarily endorse the Greek practice of athletics, but did he have a problem with it?

If necessary, use words

Reading 2 Timothy 2:14-19, Paul places strong emphasis on the use of words and the effect they have within the church and on the faith of new believers. Empty words that reflect the ways of the world rather than edifying the faith of believers, Paul says, will lead to even more ungodliness. What is worse, pious talk that perverts the truth and decimates the faith of believers is like gangrene that will decay the church from the inside out. Such admonitions are as relevant today as they were in the early church. Verse 15 challenges believers to watch their mouths around other believers as well as out in the world. If one claims to be a follower of Christ, yet has the mouth of a sailor, then that person has just shot down their own claim and witness by behaving in an opposite way. No one’s faith is built up, nor is anyone motivated to root out ungodliness in his/her own life. Handling Scripture in a responsible manner is emphasized to the max. Paul makes examples of the distorted teachings of a couple of men in the church. It is irresponsibility with their words that is causing other believers to confuse other believers and lead them astray. There are churches today that mislead others with inaccurate interpretation of the biblical text, which can lead a person off target and cause a domino effect of other believers’ faith to go off track. As far as words go, St. Francis of Assisi may have put it best: “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

A Roman, Jew, or Both

Over the years in Sunday School or listening to sermons about the apostle Paul I have developed an idea of who Paul was. I have always considered Paul to be a teacher of the law and considered him to be Jewish in every aspect culturally. Therefore I have linked him to the Jews who lived in Palestine instead of the Hellenistic culture he actually grew up in. I knew Paul was a Roman citizen and he was from Tarsus but never fully understood the cultural differences between Israel and Tarsus. I never fully realized that Paul is a totally diffent kind of person culturally than the twelve disciples. The fact that someone could be a Jewish Roman citizenship and be well versed in Hellenistic culture never occured to me before and therefore I limited Paul's abilities and have misunderstood Paul as being arrogant at times rather than intelligent. Paul's possible Greek education, cultural exposure, and Roman citizenship has glimmered a whole new light upon Paul and his being chosen to the task God chose him to do. Once again even a small amount of historal culture knowledge has influenced my understanding.

Important Bground

I really liked the reading in Polhill and the class lecture on Paul’s philosophical connection. It made me think of all that I can miss when I read scripture. Learning about Stoic and Cynic philosophy in Paul’s writings reminded me of how important it is to be steeped in historical and cultural background information in order to exegete a biblical passage. The apostle’s use of a contemporary way of learning and area of public interest is a great parallel to our own ministries. We, as Christians, can learn from his example of using our modern day cultural interests, such as media, music, and our fascination with news in order to present truth’s of the gospel.

kevinc

Greek literature

When reading the Bible, I am often closed-minded. I forget that the Bible isn’t so much handed word-for-word from God's mouth to the writers of the canon, but that each writer was a real person and had experiences and a real personality. The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters offers some information on the spread of the Greek culture to the people of surrounding areas. In observing all the techniques Paul used while writing, it is clear to see that he knew how to appeal to the recipient. He quoted literature and plays with which his readers would be familiar so that they could further understand his letters (Acts 17:28, 1 Cor. 15:33, Titus 1:12). I guess this is a rather small observation, but I never really thought that any Scripture would be from something like a play that just happened to be popular around Paul’s time. I like that he used what the people knew then to more effectively communicate to the churches.

jennifer y

Oh, I wish I would have paid attention in Intro to Philosophy

Philosophy. Out of all the words mentioned, I beleive this one scares me the most. Naturally due since it is a love of wisdom, and it is BIG and Greek based. All this aside, I feel that I have taken for granted my education at WBC since there is an obviuos connection between Paul and Philosophy. Stoicism and Cynacism are words that I learned in Intro. to Philosophy back years ago, however, I never really recounted them in life until now. Paul's writing is unique because he uses many of these phiolosophical styles in writing. Polhill and Dr. Foster mentioned instances where Paul presents a rhetorical argument. As mentioned in lectures I feel that this is an important piece of knowledge in understanding not only Paul's background but also his writing style. It presents tremendous insight on his knowledge and his love for understanding. Even then though, I admire the writing simply for Paul's ability to understand this philosophy and apply it to Christian teaching. He undertands a form of secular wisdom and protrays it in such a light as to make sin become known in your own life.

A Better Understanding of Paul

I see Paul in a different light since reading a chapter from Polhill and six pages of the Dictionary of Paul. I believe that a person can better understand what Paul is talking about if they have a better understanding of Paul himself. I know a little bit about Paul, but I do not know much of anything about Tarsus and were he grew up. I never thought about Paul being around naked wrestling Greeks, if his family had money, or why he had a passion for the Gentiles. Polhill talks about God-fearers and the influence they could of had on Paul witnessing to the Gentiles. Honestly, I figured God just laid the burden on his heart (which he could have), but Paul seeing the God-fearers in the synagogue as a younger person could of had an impact on his life as well. Also, it is interesting to see some passage of scriptures that Paul used in his writings that was originally in some Greek literature. The question I ask myself is how much of his writings was influenced by the his Greek culture? Did God really think that wrestling was the best example for the passage were Paul used it or was this only used because of Paul’s background? (I’m sure this question will probably lead to a lot of feed back.) I know I can't answer my questions, but it makes me think about them.

First Facts Learned

I was not sure what I had gotten myself into when I started this class but now I am very excited. So many times I see the ministry of a man and not the man. As I read some of the history of Paul some things just made better sense. For example, I did not know how he could have been so anti-Christ only later to be such an advocate. Now that I know about the intensive training he went through in Jewish studies, I can see that his mind would not wrap around this "Jesus as the Messiah" bit because it contradicted everything he had known to be true. I notice a bit of me in that. If some other religion were presented to me, I would be staunch against it unless that God audible spoke to me, took my sight, and changed my name.
I look forward to further examining Paul, but I am also excited to get so much outside information. I really had no idea that Roman Citizenship carried so much weight. I knew that Paul was one but what advantages that gave him, I had no clue. The more background I can get about the bible times and surrounings of the authors the better. However, I am not to keen on breaking down the writting style. I guess it is because I just want to read Paul's writtings without trying to remember the difference between Lasterkatolog and Peristasenkatolog and what verse each is and more importantly will it be on the test. Such is the nature of education though, so bring it on. Those are my thoughts about the first two days of class; I am sure the tune will change with time and understanding.

Paul, The Capable Example

In 2 Timothy Paul tells Timothy to give the followers a challenge, Timothy is to remind them how to be an approved capable worker for God. Paul states that the approved worker will flee from youthful passions in v.22, and tells them to only speak words of truth, to not argue and boast and that every one of them do have a role in working for Christ whether great of small. These workers need to keep a sound mind and use gentleness in their instruction to the lost.
Paul's life is lived as a prime example of this, he used gentleness even in his anger at times in his ministry and he always tried to keep away from things that were tempting and would draw him away from the path of faithfulness to God the Father. I find it ironic that Paul was humble most of the time during his ministry, and never used his superiority unless he had to. Through reading this week's readings I found that Paul was very equipped for the mission ahead, and that every aspect of his life played a role in his minisrty from his education to his Jewish, Greek and Roman background. It just goes on to show that once again if we are willingly to follow God, HE will equip us with the right tools that we need to get the job done.
Yall's Bro in Christ , James B

Profound cultural influence

As an American Christian, I tend to view faith in Western terms, interpreting faith in my own cultural context. Culture is not always a bad thing, but it can skew the way that I view the Biblical text, even from the outset of a study. The article on Hellenism in The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters gave excellent insight into Paul's world and the Greek culture that permeated the Roman empire. While the study of Paul's education with Gamaliel receives a moderate amount of attention, I believe that some Biblical scholars fail to recognize the significance of Greek culture in relation to Paul's letters. Ignorance of Paul's Tarsian citizenship equates to ignorance of a portion of Paul's influence and worldview. Additionally, prior to Paul's conversion, Greek language and Hellenistic culture impacted the church. The impact becomes most evident in Acts 6. Grecian Jews clashed with Hebraic Jews over the distribution of food to widows. The introduction of Hellenism into Palestine resulted in the religious and cultural clashes that Paul faced throughout his ministry.

In Biblical studies, one may claim to have a firm grasp of the text, while lacking a firm grasp of what the text meant at the time of composition. If I fail to put the writings of Paul into proper geographical, historical, and cultural perspectives, I may misinterpret Paul's admonitions, missing the point of the text. As a believer, I believe that the worst that I could do with the text (besides ignoring it entirely) would be to interpret it with a sense of arrogance, looking at the passage through my own eyes. One must learn to see through the eyes of both Hebraic and Hellenistic Jews, examining faith in a context that extends beyond modern Western Christianity. When one learns to value the significance of history and culture, interpretation of scripture becomes clearer and modern application becomes easier.

In Christ,
Paul Brown

To the Jew first then to the Gentile

In reading Polhill the effectivness of Paul in his missionary journeys started to become clearer. I could not help to keep in the back of my mind the missionary stragety of Anitoch of Syria, "To the Jew first, then to the Gentile." Paul, from the reading in Polhill, had become divinely suited for this task from the Hellenistic culture he grew up in. Paul, a Jew first, educated in the finest of Hebrew schools in Jerusalem. It was to his Jewish heritage that Paul owed his faith. Paul forever remained a faithful Jew. In Tarsus where he grew up Paul owed his knowledge of the Greek language and philosophy. And to his Roman citizenship Paul owed the protection and the ability to travel freely throughout the Roman empire. What a great opportunity that has been provided by God to us so that we all may become more effective for the Kingdom of God. None of us may never be anything close to a Paul, however, the greatest opportunities often disquise themselves in the smallest tasks. God has uniquly formed and shaped each and every one of us for a significant role in the fulfillment of His plan. It is up to us to get on board.

Michael Carpenter

be approved

2 Tim. 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

I want to put my focus on verse 15 because really stood out to me. As Christians we are God’s workmanship and we are to seek his approval. Some times we forget who we are working for. We lose focus and start seeking the approval of the people we are teaching. It is necessary to remember that we are seeking God’s approval in order to correctly handle the Scripture. I recently experienced as Christian youth speaker who spoke for about an hour and did not even bring a Bible to the stage. He wanted the approval of the students and not God. This is a tragedy and as teachers we should guard ourselves against this. We can only handle the truth correctly when we look for the meaning of the scripture and use it in the context that it is meant to be used in. As a youth minister, I can personally say that this is a difficult task. I’m excited that this verse tells me to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.” I will never reach the standard that I am striving for as a workman because that is Christ but I can do my best.

Stephen Foust

Paul, A Roman Citizen

Having grown up constantly surrounded by the Pauline Epistles and the stories of his exploits in Acts I knew full well that he was a Roman citizen. However as I discovered as I read through Polhill just how influential that this would have been on his life as a missionary. Much like a modern missionary who must first learn another trade in order to infiltrate a closed country I see Paul in a new light. I guess growing up I always just thought that anyone who lived during this time would have had the rights and opportunities that he was afforded. His life and training not only as a tentmaker but also as a man of his world challenge me to take a look at how we do ministry. Should we be more self sufficient as ministers? This is an issue that haunts me. It appears that where he was able, Paul accepted the hospitality of the churches that he ministered to. He was also a man of his country and was obviously well versed in culture as well as a trade. Perhaps if more ministers were active not only in thier churches but also in the surrounding community we would see a more effective ministry.

Looking At Paul In a NEW Way

I suppose in reading Paul's letters in church and in my own personal quiet times, I overlooked Paul in the sense of scholarly work. Of course, in reading his letters I am aware that the man was educated and very well put together in what he said. However, when I think about Paul, or when his name is mentioned I automatically think "awesome missionary," "dedicated," and "passionate." After reading Polhill and the level of learning that Paul may have been surrounded by in his youth, I realize that Paul was more than the words above but he was a man who knew his stuff. Not only did he know his stuff, but he used it to his advantage to futher the kingdom of God. After reading, I went to look back at some passages in the Bible, and I looked at them in more of a "scholarly" fashion than before, and his sentence structure is crazy! Paul found a way to put a whole bunch of words together, and somehow make a point without coming across as too wordy.

In response to 2 Timothy 2:14-26, vs. 24 stood out to me. " And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and not resentful." What a challenge.

Abbi Sawyer

PARADOX of living life on the narrow path

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 2 Tim 2:14 The quarreling about words is where the danger lies for me in this verse in that I tend to like to argue even about words that have no consequence and this diverts my attention from where it should be pointed as Paul points out in the next verses. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 2 Tim 2:15-16 This seems like an incredible challenge in saying that we should do our best to present ourselves to God as one who is approved, when I read that I think about all the times I have failed and probably shamed God with my actions, so many times not even trying to present myself as one approved and what a responsibility it is to truly be one approved who is not ashamed. Then comes the part where I know I have screwed up and realize the amount of care that I need to take in handling God’s word, when Paul puts the word correctly in the verse it makes this verse increasingly challenging in that I know I have handled God’s word in both a incorrect manner such as using it to justify sin allowing me to choose my own path; and sometimes in a correct manner in teaching it when I truly studied and tried to understand the implications of His word. Then in the next verse it states that we should avoid godless chatter because those who indulge in godless chatter will just become more and more ungodly. In my life I have proven this verse too many times and that is something I am striving to change, I have talked to Matt on several occasions about Ephesians 4:29 where Paul says that we should not allow any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but we should build each other up with our words, this verse along with verse 16 of the above chapter really haunts me with conviction a lot of the time. I think that these verses culminate in verse 22 as he says to "flee from the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart." As I have grown older I realize that those desires don’t just depart with time and where I should be is often not where I am and as I desire to call on the Lord with a pure heart I can identify more and more with Paul in that the good I want to do I don’t do, but I do the bad instead. This is the paradox of a life spent trying to stay on a narrow path, pushing for the actions that are in the should category when my sin nature continues to try to inhibit this way of life.
Ira Rountree

Valid confession

"Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." (2 Timothy 2:19 NIV) This scripture really put things in perspective for me. It also challenged me. If we confess to be Christians shouldn't our actions compliment our confession? Many times we as Christians like to only give God the parts our lives that we are comfortable sacrificing. We often hold onto a certain sin that we are not ready or willing to part with. The name of Christ is too valuable for our sins to deface. Calling oursleves a Christian-that is a follower of Christ- demands that we have a new life; and that we not that we turn back to our old life when it is convenient. I think that we (myself included) take Grace for granted, and do not realize the gravity of our sins nor the price for which they were payed. I have read this scripture many times before, and it is actually even underlined in my Bible, but I guess I never really took time to think about its great truth.

Steven Price

Watch your words

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly." (2 Timothy 15-16) This passage really spoke to me as I read it this past week. One thing that I have struggled with and still struggle with is my tongue and keeping it under control (James 3). My main problem is encouragement though, because as I sit around with what I would call my good group of Christian friends most of the things that we say are words that put down each other and for more than the last year here at Williams I have struggled with Ephesians 4:29. That is not something to just pass over, Paul kind of meant it when he wrote it. We all were told when we were kids that if we did not have anything nice to say then to not say anything at all. I think this is kind of the same principle of this verse. (Ephesians 4:29) This makes perfect sense but yet we still do not do it. Why is it that even with my friends I do not uplift them and I know that what people hear me say must contradict what I stand for at times. Not only that but I do not go out and witness or even whenever the situation arises I have been insensitive to the Spirit and have just past up the opportunity to share the Gospel and then I will turn around and put down one of my friends. This is not right and is something I am trying to change and I ask that you please pray for me about this. Now I am just preaching at myself, which I do often, but this is just something that I struggle with and I am just sharing my heart. Good Day and God Bless
Matt Justice

The Hand of God and the Birth of Paul

After reading Polhill's chapter on Paul's citizenship I could not help but be amazed by the sovereignty of God. I knew that Paul was well educated under Gamaliel and that he was a Roman citizen, but I had no idea of how much he was influenced by other philosophers and Hellenization. To be raised in those circumstances and to be so well rounded and educated not only in Jewish Law and tradition but also in secular studies made Paul the ideal minister for the first century church. Who else could have been better equipped? God’s hand in the raising of Paul just screams out how awesome He is!! Without Paul’s background we would never of had the brilliant illustrations or the amazing scholarly arguments that we find in the epistles. I can’t help but get chill bumps when I think that the Sovereign God who placed Paul in Tarsus is the same God that is working in me. I doubt that I become as great as Paul, but it does give me assurance that God is bigger than I can imagine and I rejoice knowing He is in control!

Travis Adams

Saul or Paul

The fact that the name "Saul" is found only in Acts and not in Paul's espistles stood out to me. Polhill observed that Paul never called himself by his Jewish name, Saul, but used his Roman name, Paul, in his letters. Luke is said to have written Acts and called him Saul; Paul wrote his espistles and refers to himself as Paul. Looking from Paul's perspective, I would not want to be known by who I was; but by who I am. For example, I was a Jehovah's Witness; now I am Baptist. I do not want to be know as a Jehovah's Witness; but a Baptist. Paul did not want to be known as a Christian killer but as a servant of the Lord Jesus.

Since Paul wrote the epistles, I can understand his use of the name "Paul". Paul's theology and practices were influenced by the cults of his day. Polhill states that Paul's teachings were derived from the contemporary mystery religions which where known as cults.

Vicky

The Meme of Faith

Although this was written as a response to Danny's post below, the subject matter variance between the two posts merits this format.

I'd like to respond to two quotes from Danny's post:

1) "I feel there is a need to be well versed in these subjects, so that – if needed – I might be able to defend my beliefs and doctrines."

I have genuine difficulty accepting this line of thought in any broad sense. Perhaps when you're debating things with other Christians, this is an accurate portrayal of the nature of the debate; but when you move beyond the scope of the Church you can no longer characterize the dialogue as a "defense" of the debated belief or practice. All debate between a theist and an atheist must irrevocably end (from a logical standpoint) at the impasse of differing presuppositions, and there is no difference between victor and vanquished when discussing presuppositions.

2) "I feel we have at the very least a moral prerequisite to defend our beliefs. We as Christians are dedicated to the Truth. Any time that we let a chance for professing the Truth pass by unanswered, we have failed. Our obligations to teach and make disciples cannot be fulfilled if we hold unto silence."

My objection here is related to #1. Although the sentiment above is common among intellectuals of the Christian faith, it nevertheless contradicts the basic nature of all faith. In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins summarizes the evangelistic activity of religion with the following quote:

"Another member of the religious meme complex is called faith. It means blind trust, in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of evidence... Nothing is more lethal for certain kinds of meme than a tendency to look for evidence... The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." (emphasis added)

I agree with Dawkins' assessment of the transaction of conversion; and therefore I disagree with your implication that rationality is key in "defend[ing] our beliefs." Professing the message of Christianity - like professing the message of any religion - is little more than an exercise in manipulation. Religion exists to soothe. For the intellectual, this is a highly cerebral comfort; for the person not concerned with the subtle nuances of esoteric debate, the comfort of religion is disproportionately emotional.

My second objection, therefore, might be stated like this: Given both that conversion by blind faith is the meme of religion, and that psychological comfort is the aim of religion, then a universal imperative toward apologetics - such as you have proffered in this post - is unjustified. Intellectual defense of one's faith is a tool of the replication process, nothing more; to build a broad imperative toward this activity is to ignore both the purpose of the religion and the natural differences among adherents of the religion that are necessitated by statistical reality.

Steve (the Christianized atheist)

Wrangling Words

In the reading for our first day, we are told "not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers (2 Tim 2:14 NASB)" and to "avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness (2 Tim 2:16 NASB)," yet we are in a Christian school – taking a Biblical Studies class. How do we not wrangle about with words? I have been in at least five or six theological discussions in the past week. I will admit that these two verses are troubling for me, because I talk all the time and theology, modern Western Christian philosophy, and modern Biblical Interpretation are my favorite subjects. I feel there is a need to be well versed in these subjects, so that – if needed – I might be able to defend my beliefs and doctrines.

I would take the idea of championing one’s beliefs a step further. I feel we have at the very least a moral prerequisite to defend our beliefs. We as Christians are dedicated to the Truth. Any time that we let a chance for professing the Truth pass by unanswered, we have failed. Our obligations to teach and make disciples cannot be fulfilled if we hold unto silence.

If we do speak are beliefs then we run the chance of offending the listener, even if that listener claims to be of the Way. Paul says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled (2 Tim 4:3a NASB)." The discussion of doctrine will be what lead Christianity into a new age, because only out of discussion can new doctrines be formed and older doctrines sharpened.

May Peace Favor You,

Danny

Welcome to Pauline Epistles!

Greetings Class,

I am really looking forward to some excellent discussion on EUTHUS this Spring. The Apostle Paul and his writings are a significant part of our heritage as Christians.

Be patience with the blog, you will figure it out! Please remember that you need to post one paragraph a week. The paragraph should be a response to an item or issue discussed in class or in one of the reading assignments. In addition to this paragraph, you should also respond (a paragraph in length) to another students post. Please make these paragraphs substantive and not just a catalogue of likes and/or dislikes. AND please avoid "cheerleader" paragraphs! Try to critically react with the material to the best of your ability.

Please sign each post with your name, especially if your userid is odd. Remember that your paragraphs and responses are due each Monday by 3:00PM. Please remember the note bene in the syllabus (page 2). Finally, please remember to be analytical of your classmates and to respect them as well.

One more piece of advice from past experience with Blogger. It might not be a bad idea to type your paragraphs/responses in a word processor and then cut and paste them into the blogger gui. Some students in the past have had an occassional problem of loosing material that was not adequately backup. At the very least, you might use the "Save as Draft" feature that Blogger offers (you will see this feature below the window into which you type your material in Blogger).

And, finally (for real this time), remember that everyone in the class can see your paragraphs and responses, typos and awall!

peace,
RFoster