Chapters 1-2 - November 8, 2010

In these chapters, Borg and Crossan help us to discover the story behind Paul’s epistles.  Keri Wehlander has leads us in a prayer about being faithful witnesses and storytellers (Joy is our banquet, UCPH, 1996)

Take a moment to focus on her words of prayer:

O God,

We are witnesses and storytellers; we are part of the unfolding tale of faith.  Precious words and sacred memories are carried by every one of us.  If we go and tell what we have seen and heard, each one becomes like a chapter, a verse, a paragraph.  When we risk spinning these yarn, when we listen and speak, when we carefully gather the fragments us… We discover there is good news all over again!

Reviewing Chapter 1

Why is Paul important to us?

-          Earliest written Christian scripture preserved in “original” form

Paul wrote between 45-60 AD, the earliest gospel, Mark, took shape a decade later, though it was drawn from oral tradition and earlier accounts.

-          Paul brought the good news to non-Jews, who became the next generation of those who followed Jesus.  Paul did not understand this mission to be outside the Jewish teachings, or that he was beginning a new religion.

-          Paul is responsible for the formation of some of our fundamental Christian beliefs, such as justification by faith, and the power of the resurrection.

-          Paul became the vision-keeper, around whom a dispersed community could gather, who drew the line between true and false teachings.

-          Paul was the inspiration of both Augustine, one of the foremost fathers of the Roman tradition & Martin Luther, of the Protestant Reformation.

Borg and Crossan share their perceptions of Paul in their Protestant and Catholic education.  It is clear that Paul’s writings were more central in Borg’s Lutheran background, and it was Paul as a martyr of the church alongside Peter which had the greatest impact in Crossan’s memory.

Crossan and Borg’s 3 foundational statements:

1.       There is more than one Paul;

2.      Paul was shaped by his historical context;

3.      Paul was a “Jewish Christ mystic.”

1.“Taming of Paul” – in order to survive as a faith community, watering down the radical message of the gospel to make it palatable within the Roman Empire. Even the book of Acts teaches us more about the spread of the gospel than the person and theology of Paul, more radical than the early church wanted to be perceived.

2.Paul’s historical context, as found in the epistles, are presented as four concentric circles.  At their core, Paul was writing to a specific community in a specific situation.  More generally, he was writing to them as followers of Jesus.  That movement was contained within the realities of 1^st century Judaism, and those realities were shaped by the social and political context of the Roman Empire.

3.Paul was a Jewish Christ mystic – impressions of the word “mystic”may lead us to think of those who separate themselves from society, but Paul was very much involved in the world around him.  He was deeply moved and changed by a vision of the risen Christ, which led to action, and to life-transforming choices.

READ 1 Corinthians 15:3-11

Reviewing Chapter 2

Letters and epistles are significant to us if we can figure out the story behind the letter, which broke into the isolation of these small communities – it was generally support (or challenge!) from beyond.

On Slavery:

First Paul is indirect but challenging in Philemon – not commanding but appealing to Philemon that Christian love must be “in the flesh and in the Lord.” 

Onesimus should be “slave no longer”.

Second Paul is more direct:  READ Col 3:22-4:1 or Ephesians 6:5-9, defining a “Christian” relationship between slave and master.

Third Paul, in Titus 2:9-10, is commanding, doesn’t even address the slaves, but speaks of them in the third person, it also neglects a Christian master’s responsibility to slaves.

Question for Reflection:

Borg and Crossan suggest that it was, in part, Paul’s identity as a “Jewish Christ mystic” which gave him the courage and vision to challenge the hierarchy of his time (later it was watered down in other letters attributed to him.)  What kind of spiritual support or practice do you need to challenge the dominant culture around you?

Our Closing Prayer is also taken from Keri Wehlander’s resource:

O God, keeper of stories and weaver of dreams, set our voices free.  Grant us the courage we need to be tellers of truth and speakers of the sacred.  Unstop our ears, that we might recognize the wisdom of the witnesses in our midst.  Empower us with your love, that we might spin new yarns with confidence and grace, Amen.