First Letter of Paul to Timothy is, as it suggests, a letter from Paul to his favorite associate. He's asking Timothy to remain in Ephesus. He also warns about dissenting ministries, explains his past. Paul also outlines a number of guidelines for the emerging Church, including rules for the selection of bishops of deacons. It's more or less a set of instructions to keep on keeping on.
Second Letter of Paul to Timothy finds Paul missing Timothy. He's hit a rough patch. The ministries in Asia have been less than accommodating. He tells Timothy not to be ashamed of testifying and to accept suffering, which might just as well be Paul telling these things to himself, which in effect makes this perhaps the most personal of all the letters. Titus, Luke, and Mark are all referenced.
Letter of Paul to Titus, meanwhile, is obviously another personal address to a notable colleague. He's explaining why Titus was left in Crete, and how best to deal with the Cretans, which probably explains why we have that term today. Which means in honor of this letter, if you hadn't been using it before, you should now (but in a loving way).
Letter of Paul to Philemon is the last one directly ascribed to Paul in the New Testament. He's once again a prisoner as he's composing it. Timothy is referenced. He's basically directing matters from prison. Mark and Luke are also referenced.
Showing posts with label Titus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Titus. Show all posts
Monday, February 10, 2014
Galatians 1-6, Ephesians 1-6, Philippians 1-4
The fourth letter from Paul, to the Galatians, opens with an allusion to his unofficial apostolic status, which by now is clearly something that preoccupies him.
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel - not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."
That's this letter in a nutshell, Paul again worrying about competing Christian ministries.
He references his past again.
He says three years passed before he went to Jerusalem and met with Peter and the other apostles, including "James the Lord's brother." Take that for what you will, but it's among the reasons some people (certainly not mainstream Christians) argue that Jesus had siblings, and why Reza Aslan argues in Zealot that the James who is prominent in Acts, and probably the one who gives Paul all the problems he references in his letters, is in fact Jesus' brother (keeping in mind that this James is probably also not the other James among the twelve apostles).
After an additional fourteen years he returns to Jerusalem with Barnabas. Titus is with them. John has traveled with them as well.
As featured in Acts, the matter of Jewish law and how applicable it is to Gentile converts to Christianity is the main sticking point Paul discusses. He outright says that the old ways are no longer relevant.
In Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, Paul is imprisoned as he composes it. It's a letter to Gentiles explaining their inheritance of the faith. It contains general instructions on how to be good Christians.
Letter of Paul to the Philippians begins with Timothy referenced. Paul is actually quite pleased with the Philippians (good to see him in a good mood for a change!), which is no surprise given how this ministry is described in Acts.
He still touches on the matter of theological dissension, but not nearly in the heavy tones he previously used. He hopes to send Timothy to the Philippians soon. He touches on his origins. Paul is also pleased that the Philippians were concerned about him!
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel - not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."
That's this letter in a nutshell, Paul again worrying about competing Christian ministries.
He references his past again.
He says three years passed before he went to Jerusalem and met with Peter and the other apostles, including "James the Lord's brother." Take that for what you will, but it's among the reasons some people (certainly not mainstream Christians) argue that Jesus had siblings, and why Reza Aslan argues in Zealot that the James who is prominent in Acts, and probably the one who gives Paul all the problems he references in his letters, is in fact Jesus' brother (keeping in mind that this James is probably also not the other James among the twelve apostles).
After an additional fourteen years he returns to Jerusalem with Barnabas. Titus is with them. John has traveled with them as well.
As featured in Acts, the matter of Jewish law and how applicable it is to Gentile converts to Christianity is the main sticking point Paul discusses. He outright says that the old ways are no longer relevant.
In Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, Paul is imprisoned as he composes it. It's a letter to Gentiles explaining their inheritance of the faith. It contains general instructions on how to be good Christians.
Letter of Paul to the Philippians begins with Timothy referenced. Paul is actually quite pleased with the Philippians (good to see him in a good mood for a change!), which is no surprise given how this ministry is described in Acts.
He still touches on the matter of theological dissension, but not nearly in the heavy tones he previously used. He hopes to send Timothy to the Philippians soon. He touches on his origins. Paul is also pleased that the Philippians were concerned about him!
Romans 1-16, First Corinthians 1-16, Second Corinthians 1-13
The letters begin with the longest and perhaps best of them, Letter of Paul to the Romans. It's one he wrote before actually going to Rome, whereas most of the others address a community he's already visited. The term "barbarian" is referenced. Fun fact! "Barbarian" is a term the Romans came up with to describe peoples whose languages they considered unintelligible, so that they sounded like they were talking nonsense (in other words, "bar bar bar bar," or what we today would interpret perhaps as "blah blah blah blah," which means that if we have coined the term, it would be "blahblahian" or perhaps "blahblahing" like Viking).
Among Paul's goals for Christianity he sees as giving honor and thanks to God. He says, "God has no partiality," which is quite a development for a former Jew. Paul explains Jesus basically as the reverse Adam. Perhaps earlier when I was discussing how Adam is seen that way it was indeed an argument that traces all the way back to Letter to the Romans. He also tends to explain faith, in this letters, in philosophical terms, an intellectual argument that happens to include a concept of a divine being. It's a giant leap forward from the dogma constantly featured in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. His talk of living by the spirit rather than the flesh is basically an argument to rise above petty, harmful impulses. It's no different from, say, Buddhist ideals (before you consider that a sacrilege, keep in mind that although Buddhism came from Hinduism, it is a philosophy rather than religion). If you want to talk religion based from the Bible to a skeptic, perhaps Romans would be a good place to start.
Paul also affirms Jesus's "love thy neighbor" commandment, the famous Golden Rule, which is a running theme throughout the letters, emphasizing how it truly has become the most important of them all. One of his dominant themes is the purity of faith, which is something that can sometimes be lost in discussions on religion. If you think about it, faith is something a sports fan has when they support their favorite team even if they're dreadful.
Romans was written before Paul traveled to Jerusalem as outlined in Acts of the Apostles. He states that he hopes to stop by on his way to Spain. A ton of names are referenced throughout the letters, representing a lot of lost early notable Christians, although among them is the famous Timothy. There's a Lucius who could be Luke, although that name specifically begins to appear in other letters.
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians begins with the line, "Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus." A lot of material in these letters finds him in a defensive mode, which is probably weird for modern Christians to consider, given how prominent Paul is in Christian history, arguably the second most important figure of the New Testament after Jesus. In his own time, Paul was actually a lot like the rejected prophets of the Old Testament, and even Jesus. I guess it only figures.
The letter is an appeal against dissension, another common theme that was also referenced in Romans. Although, of course, in the gospels Jesus himself says it's perfectly fine that people aren't completely uniform in how they represent him. People being people, the first Christians immediately disagree with that stance. (Although the Jesus argument might have been snuck in by someone to present that very argument.)
Peter, referenced here and in several other mentions initially as Cephas, becomes the first prominent apostle of the gospels and Acts to appear in Paul's letters.
Paul tends to be modest in this letter. He makes a point of the message itself being wise rather than specifically how it's delivered. This perspective might also exist because Paul is frustrated with himself.
Continuing with the argument that Paul is surprisingly philosophical, he says understanding thrives best in the spiritual individual, presumably because they're given to reflection rather than gut instinct.
"We have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things." Good line.
Paul has sent Timothy ahead of him to try and correct a few matters.
"Shun immorality." Notice, "shun" rather than condemn it. Although even that is another point that opposes Jesus's teachings in the gospels, where he openly associates with sinners.
"We know...'there is no God but one'" sounds like a template to the later central pillar of Islam.
"If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you." This is an example of what he was thinking in the opening line. The apostles as outlined in Acts were those who witnessed the resurrected Jesus and had followed him his whole ministry. Paul clearly doesn't fit the latter objective, but it's incredibly hard to argue that he didn't become one of the leading witnesses.
Barnabas is referenced. Surprisingly, he doesn't turn up too often, despite his prominence in relation to Paul in Acts.
Paul expounds on the idea that a perfect Christian lives in imitation of Christ. The later Thomas a Kempis writes a famous Christian work based on this concept.
One of the famous lines from Paul's letters: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man I gave up childish ways."
Paul discusses how Jesus died and came back, and how Peter experienced this, and then James experienced it (unclear as to which one, but probably the ambiguous one from Acts), and then Paul himself. He circles back to the Adam argument.
Ephesus and Galatia are referenced.
The letter is also an admonishment to bad behavior among the Corinthians.
Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians references Timothy right from the start. It discusses recent troubles Paul has experienced. He feels bad about his last visit. In fact, this whole letter is also a way of him apologizing for the tone of the last letter.
He speaks of Moses and the Old Testament as a veil that Jesus lifted, another clever argument on his part. He calls Jesus an act of reconciliation (which ties back in with Adam).
Titus is referenced for the first time.
Paul admits that Corinth has been an excellent example for the cause. He talks his own biographical material (not for the last time).
Among Paul's goals for Christianity he sees as giving honor and thanks to God. He says, "God has no partiality," which is quite a development for a former Jew. Paul explains Jesus basically as the reverse Adam. Perhaps earlier when I was discussing how Adam is seen that way it was indeed an argument that traces all the way back to Letter to the Romans. He also tends to explain faith, in this letters, in philosophical terms, an intellectual argument that happens to include a concept of a divine being. It's a giant leap forward from the dogma constantly featured in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. His talk of living by the spirit rather than the flesh is basically an argument to rise above petty, harmful impulses. It's no different from, say, Buddhist ideals (before you consider that a sacrilege, keep in mind that although Buddhism came from Hinduism, it is a philosophy rather than religion). If you want to talk religion based from the Bible to a skeptic, perhaps Romans would be a good place to start.
Paul also affirms Jesus's "love thy neighbor" commandment, the famous Golden Rule, which is a running theme throughout the letters, emphasizing how it truly has become the most important of them all. One of his dominant themes is the purity of faith, which is something that can sometimes be lost in discussions on religion. If you think about it, faith is something a sports fan has when they support their favorite team even if they're dreadful.
Romans was written before Paul traveled to Jerusalem as outlined in Acts of the Apostles. He states that he hopes to stop by on his way to Spain. A ton of names are referenced throughout the letters, representing a lot of lost early notable Christians, although among them is the famous Timothy. There's a Lucius who could be Luke, although that name specifically begins to appear in other letters.
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians begins with the line, "Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus." A lot of material in these letters finds him in a defensive mode, which is probably weird for modern Christians to consider, given how prominent Paul is in Christian history, arguably the second most important figure of the New Testament after Jesus. In his own time, Paul was actually a lot like the rejected prophets of the Old Testament, and even Jesus. I guess it only figures.
The letter is an appeal against dissension, another common theme that was also referenced in Romans. Although, of course, in the gospels Jesus himself says it's perfectly fine that people aren't completely uniform in how they represent him. People being people, the first Christians immediately disagree with that stance. (Although the Jesus argument might have been snuck in by someone to present that very argument.)
Peter, referenced here and in several other mentions initially as Cephas, becomes the first prominent apostle of the gospels and Acts to appear in Paul's letters.
Paul tends to be modest in this letter. He makes a point of the message itself being wise rather than specifically how it's delivered. This perspective might also exist because Paul is frustrated with himself.
Continuing with the argument that Paul is surprisingly philosophical, he says understanding thrives best in the spiritual individual, presumably because they're given to reflection rather than gut instinct.
"We have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things." Good line.
Paul has sent Timothy ahead of him to try and correct a few matters.
"Shun immorality." Notice, "shun" rather than condemn it. Although even that is another point that opposes Jesus's teachings in the gospels, where he openly associates with sinners.
"We know...'there is no God but one'" sounds like a template to the later central pillar of Islam.
"If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you." This is an example of what he was thinking in the opening line. The apostles as outlined in Acts were those who witnessed the resurrected Jesus and had followed him his whole ministry. Paul clearly doesn't fit the latter objective, but it's incredibly hard to argue that he didn't become one of the leading witnesses.
Barnabas is referenced. Surprisingly, he doesn't turn up too often, despite his prominence in relation to Paul in Acts.
Paul expounds on the idea that a perfect Christian lives in imitation of Christ. The later Thomas a Kempis writes a famous Christian work based on this concept.
One of the famous lines from Paul's letters: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man I gave up childish ways."
Paul discusses how Jesus died and came back, and how Peter experienced this, and then James experienced it (unclear as to which one, but probably the ambiguous one from Acts), and then Paul himself. He circles back to the Adam argument.
Ephesus and Galatia are referenced.
The letter is also an admonishment to bad behavior among the Corinthians.
Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians references Timothy right from the start. It discusses recent troubles Paul has experienced. He feels bad about his last visit. In fact, this whole letter is also a way of him apologizing for the tone of the last letter.
He speaks of Moses and the Old Testament as a veil that Jesus lifted, another clever argument on his part. He calls Jesus an act of reconciliation (which ties back in with Adam).
Titus is referenced for the first time.
Paul admits that Corinth has been an excellent example for the cause. He talks his own biographical material (not for the last time).
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