To everyone who has ears to hear, let them hear: When read carefully, none of the biblical apocalypses, from Ezekiel through Daniel to Mark 13 and John of Patmos, is about either pie in the sky or the Russians in Mesopotamia.  They are about how the crucified Jesus is a more adequate key to understanding […]

A few days ago, I wrote that Paul speaks of his original visit to Galatia as a public display of Christ’s crucifixion.  This may have been the beginning of Paul’s use of cruciform language to frame his apostolic ministry. He uses similar language for his ministry mode among the Corinthians. And so it was with […]

Provoked by some great class discussions, I’ve been thinking about the relationship between seminary training and practical ministry.  How does a person make the most of her/his seminary training and truly bless the church? A few weeks ago I wrote about the “seminoid” phenomenon.  I stole the term from a former pastor who playfully used […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the danger of presuming the righteousness of one’s cause.  History is filled with instances of nations and political parties claiming God’s endorsement of their side.  We could point to the “Christian” empires on opposite sides in WW I and the rhetoric (and hymnody!) generated by both North and […]

Paul refers to his original gospel preaching to the Galatians with quite striking language.  In fact, he doesn’t refer to his preaching or teaching.  Here’s what he says: You foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publically portrayed being crucified? It’s not that they’ve clearly heard the gospel, or were […]

It appears that in Galatians 2 Paul has some strikingly sarcastic things to say about the apostolic leaders in Jerusalem.  He refers to them four times with variations of the expression “those who seem to be something” in vv. 2-9.  Is Paul picking a fight with Peter, James, and John, pillars of the early church? […]

Paul’s gospel, then, is thoroughly political, but not “political” according to the corrupted status quo of what we call politics in our 21st century American culture.  Paul doesn’t call for the church to try to agitate for power and influence, and certainly wouldn’t tolerate rhetorically denouncing other people or fellow Christians in the name of […]

I’ve claimed thus far that Paul’s gospel is political, and I’ve already given some hints about the basic shape of his outlook.  But what are the more specific political contours of his thought?  Just how does this work out when we turn to the sorts of things he actually wrote to churches? First, as I’ve […]

It would be an outrageous understatement to say that when he saw the exalted Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul’s perspective changed.  Of course, it did.  But we must take some time to unpack just how it changed and what aspects of it were transformed.  First, when Saul saw the resurrected and ascended […]

Saul the Pharisee would have shared the vision of salvation elaborated in the previous post.  The Pharisaic hope was in the God of Israel fulfilling his promises to set Israel free from oppression and to restore the nation to its rightful place as God’s chief agent of salvation and rule over creation.  The God of […]