Day 43 Entering the Pastoral letters, I feel a shift in tone. These are directed to specific recipients and are encouragement in their faith. Only Philemon is undisputedly written by Paul in this collection. Nonetheless, they are interesting to soak up and wrestle with. Timothy presents troubling verses on women. Do they matter if Paul […]
Day 42 Whole lotta Paul today. To be honest, not all of these were written by Paul but are still attributed to him. The verses people often hate the most from Paul were either inserted at a later date by an unknown author or come from letters where his authorship is doubted. Anyway, I’m breaking […]
Day 41 Nope. Not one Corinthian. Or even two Corinthians. Second and first, thank you very much. I’m referring to former President Trump’s shameful attempt at pandering to evangelical Christians by citing a verse from “Two Corinthians.” They still supported him. Woe to you, Pharisees. Anyway, Paul takes on an interesting role here. While Romans […]
Day 40 Paul is complicated. And this is probably his least controversial letter, though it is the one that requires the most unpacking. His mastery of words, the law, and the emerging theology of Christianity is stunning. It’s no wonder his letters were copied and shared freely amongst the early churches. I’m less interested in […]
Day 39 It’s almost like the Acts of the Apostles is a fifth Gospel. It’s a series of stories about the apostles continuing the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity is born, the Holy Spirit descends, and the church rapidly spreads. It’s a fascinating read. I’ve read this book before and every time, I am […]
Day 38 In the beginning was the Word. I AM. The Father and I are one. The Gospel of John is the one that breaks the mold. There are still parables and miracles, but throughout there is a pervading sense of the mystical. But even beyond that, Jesus embodies a noticeably different…ethos. And pathos. And […]
Day 37 I intended to read John before Luke. I know, going out of order! But Luke is volume one of a two volume work — the second being the Book of Acts. Anyone that went to seminary knows this. If you paid attention in Sunday school, you might know this, too. Every Gospel has […]
Day 36 The oldest and shortest Gospel, Mark is a great read. Gone are lengthy explanations and, instead, there’s a pithy Jesus on a mission. That’s what stands out to me most here. Jesus is very frank, often withdraws, quickly moves on to other locations, and loses his patience. A lot of religious art has […]
Day 35 I love the Gospels. I’ve read them countless times, so, these reflections will be a little different. In undergrad, my focus was in Patristics (early church history) and the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). I had a rather ruthless professor, whom I adored, that threw us into graduate level studies of the Gospels. […]
Day 34 Here ends the Hebrew Scriptures and Apocrypha! Wow! On to the Christian Scriptures. The final four minor prophets offer what I’ve come to expect. Different takes on judgement, always room for redemption in the end, and little unique bits here and there. The tone of each prophet is where we learn more about […]