Wednesday Bible Study: Vegetarians are wimps

I regret that I haven't been blogging regularly lately, except for keeping up with the Bible reading, because but I'll get back to it. Frankly, I've been so gobsmacked by the insanity of the present moment that I haven't felt as though I had anything worthwhile to say that wasn't obvious. But maybe I'm getting past that.

 

Now, an important point about all these epistles. No manuscripts exist that can reasonably be dated before about the year 200. The best evidence is that no text of the New Testament was written before 100, and what we have today as Paul's epistles were not written until somewhere around the middle of the second century. Now, that doesn't mean they couldn't have been based in part on oral tradition, but it does mean  I've probably been giving too much credit to the historicity of what we've been reading, in both Acts and Romans. 

 

Chapter 14 is, frankly, bizarre. Paul starts off by equating vegetarianism with weak face. True believers, it seem, eat meat. But that's okay with God. Paul doesn't want us to judge people even if the do things he thinks are foolish or wrong. Or something.

 

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”^[b]

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. ¹⁴ I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸ because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. ²¹ It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

²² So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[c]

Footnotes

1. Romans 14:10 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verses 13, 15 and 21.
2. Romans 14:11 Isaiah 45:23
3. Romans 14:23 Some manuscripts place 16:25-27 here; others after 15:33.

 

Sunday Sermonette: The Divine right of kings

Yep, that's what Chapter 13 is all about. Paul claims that all rulers are placed on their thrones by God, so you must obey them. This is what the Chinese called the mandate of heaven, and Europeans called the divine right of kings. Some people thought that Jesus intended to incite a revolt against Roman rule, but Paul says that would be a grave sin. I'll just note that many contemporary Christians do not believe this at all. They want to replace existing regimes with a Christian nationalist dictatorship, which, oddly, God has not done so far. Paul is saying, however, that kings rule by divine right regardless of their own religious beliefs. Yeah, it's weird as hell, but basically, Paul doesn't want to be prosecuted again.

 

And oh yeah, the judgement day is coming very soon, so get ready. We're still waiting. 

 

13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Love Fulfills the Law

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Day Is Near

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.^[c]

Footnotes

1. Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21
2. Romans 13:9 Lev. 19:18
3. Romans 13:14 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

 

Wednesday Bible Study: The Banalities

Chapter 11, starting with verse 9, is a weak echo of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, although as I say it's not clear that Paul ever read Matthew. If he did, all he did was cheapen it. This is the kind of banal dreck that any two-bit preacher might spout. Be good, don't be bad, basically. I don't have much to say about it, except that it's largely unexceptionable.  

 

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your^[a] faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,^[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love in Action

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”^[e]

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes

1. Romans 12:6 Or the
2. Romans 12:8 Or to provide for others
3. Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
4. Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
5. Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22

 

The president is insane.

That is a news story, but the corporate media, for reasons that are not entirely clear, cannot treat it as such. The New York Times can publish what it labels a "guest essay" which exhaustively and irrefutably makes that case, but they can't state what is obviously true in a news story for which they take editorial responsibility. Some guest talking heads on MSNOW can say it, but even their anchors cannot. If a guest talking head on CNN is willing to say it, they have to put them up against someone who will deny it.

 

Given the immense dangers facing humanity right now, which the insane president has largely caused and is only compounding, one might think that the risks to the business environment would trouble the plutocratic owners of the media.  Certainly they have nothing to gain, as far as I can tell, by ignoring what is by far the most important news story of the day. Yes, they would anger some viewers if they said it, by they are angering far more of their viewers by not saying it. By the way, I no longer watch CBS news, nor any other of the nightly network news programs, nor do I watch the news on their local affiliate which I used to do every day. So if it's ratings they're worried about, they aren't very smart.

 

Thomas Edsall, in the essay linked above, provides a link to a PDF of a statement placed in the Congressional Record by Rhode Island's senators, from 36 highly regarded psychologists and psychiatrists putting forth absolute proof that Donald J. Trump is dangerously insane. I have seen no coverage in any news column or on any web page of the major media outlets of this event. Maybe Punch Sulzberger should read it.

 

 

Sunday Sermonette: Jews for Jesus

Remember that the epistle to the Romans was actually intended for the Jewish community in Rome, which Paul expected to be visiting soon. They in fact did not receive the letter before he arrived, although presumably he handed them a copy once he got there. Anyway, chapter 11 continues the argument for salvation by belief, and in turn that belief is bestowed by election. 

 

There's no way to know if Paul ever read the Gospel of Matthew.  Presumably he had read the Gospel of Luke, as Luke was his chronicler and likely his scribe, and one would think that his Gospel had been completed before he finished Acts in Rome. But in Matthew 25, Jesus propounds an entirely different path to salvation. 

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 Unfortunately, as I say, the Christian religion was not founded by Jesus, but by Paul. So we get this instead. 

11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”^[a]? ⁴ And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”^{[b] 5} So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. ⁶ And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

⁷ What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, ⁸ as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that could not see
    and ears that could not hear,
to this very day.”^[c]

⁹ And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
¹⁰ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.”^[d]

Ingrafted Branches

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. ¹² But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

¹³ I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷ If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, ¹⁸ do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

²² Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. ²³ And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

All Israel Will Be Saved

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, ²⁶ and in this way^[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;
    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
²⁷ And this is^[f] my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”^[g]

²⁸ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, ²⁹ for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. ³⁰ Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now^[h] receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. ³² For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Doxology

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and^[i] knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
³⁴ “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”^[j]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”^[k]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Footnotes

1. Romans 11:3 1 Kings 19:10,14
2. Romans 11:4 1 Kings 19:18
3. Romans 11:8 Deut. 29:4; Isaiah 29:10
4. Romans 11:10 Psalm 69:22,23
5. Romans 11:26 Or and so
6. Romans 11:27 Or will be
7. Romans 11:27 Isaiah 59:20,21; 27:9 (see Septuagint); Jer. 31:33,34
8. Romans 11:31 Some manuscripts do not have now.
9. Romans 11:33 Or riches and the wisdom and the
10. Romans 11:34 Isaiah 40:13
11. Romans 11:35 Job 41:11

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Geography lesson

In chapter 10, Paul is mostly trying to convert the Jews. But in verses 16 through 18 he claims (quoting a psalm) that everyone on earth has had the chance to hear the Gospel news. "¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. ¹⁸ But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Oops! As I said last time, God in fact did not bring the news to the vast majority of the earth's people, of whose existence Paul of course was entirely unaware. Augustine concluded from this verse that the southern hemisphere must be uninhabited. Really! 

 

As I say, this is a major problem for the whole story. 

 

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”^{[a] 6} But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”^[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”^[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^{[e] 12} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[f]

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[g]

¹⁶ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”^{[h] 17} Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. ¹⁸ But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”^[i]

¹⁹ Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”^[j]

²⁰ And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”^[k]

²¹ But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”^[l]

Footnotes

1. Romans 10:5 Lev. 18:5
2. Romans 10:6 Deut. 30:12
3. Romans 10:7 Deut. 30:13
4. Romans 10:8 Deut. 30:14
5. Romans 10:11 Isaiah 28:16 (see Septuagint)
6. Romans 10:13 Joel 2:32
7. Romans 10:15 Isaiah 52:7
8. Romans 10:16 Isaiah 53:1
9. Romans 10:18 Psalm 19:4
10. Romans 10:19 Deut. 32:21
11. Romans 10:20 Isaiah 65:1
12. Romans 10:21 Isaiah 65:2

 

This is really how stupid . . .

 the White House resident is. Let me translate the sludge flowing through his deteriorating brain into household level terms. This is literally, in fact, really truly what he thinks.

 

You go to the supermarket once or twice a week. Depending on how big your family is, you might spend $150 or more. You give all that money to the supermarket but they have never given you one penny! You're being ripped off!

 

So you impose a tariff.  You'll pay a 50% tax on everything you buy from them. That'll show 'em! Now you won't buy nearly as much stuff from them. And it means now you'll have an incentive to grow your own food, and you'll really be better off. Of course, that will be hard to do if you don't already have forty acres and a mule, so you might have to invest some money to buy a farm. Then you'll need farm equipment, you'll have to learn how to farm, you'll need to buy fertilizer and seed. And it will be at least a year or two before you actually harvest anything. In the meantime, you'll still have to keep buying groceries and paying the tax. You're also going to need to figure out how to make soap, toilet paper, and of course your farm will need to grow produce, grain, animal feed . . . . You need to figure out how to make cheese, butter, vegetable oil, thresh and mill your grain.

 

Actually, come to think of it, this probably won't work. And where did you get the money to buy groceries in the first place? From your employer, who gives you money every two weeks even though you've never given him one penny! You're ripping him off! If he were smart, he'd pay a tax of 50% on your salary and then he'd figure out how to get your work done without you. . . .

 

That's literally how stupid he is.  

Sunday Sermonette: Quadruple think

The first part of Chapter 9 is, as far as I can tell, complete gibberish. But then Paul gets going on the predestination beat.

 

So let's get something clear. Christian theology is actually Paulist theology. Jesus in the Gospels never talked about any of the issues Paul is spewing about here. But let me lay it out for you.

 

All humans were cursed because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. All of them inherited the consequences of that sin, which meant they had to live hard lives and then die. God didn't do anything about it for maybe 6,000 or 10,000 years, depending on who did the calculations, then he decided the time had some to sorta kinda fix the problem. Although God is omnipotent, he couldn't just wave his hand and lift the curse. He had to send his son, who was also himself, to be incarnated as human, and then tortured to death, and then resurrected, in order to accomplish it. But it only works for people who believe this story. 

 

All these things are simultaneously true. 

 

1) If you believe the story, i.e. that Jesus is the son of God, and actually at the same time God himself, that he was tortured to death and resurrected, and that if you believe this you will be saved, you will be saved, even though you are still a sinner. 

2) If you commit so-called deadly sins, you will not be saved.

3) Because God is omniscient and omnipotent, he knew at the beginning of time who would be saved and who would not be, and there is nothing you can do about it, but . . . 

 4) You should believe and not sin because that's the way to prove that you are saved.

Of course, in reality, Homo sapiens existed for something like 250,000 to 300,000 years before all this happened, so there was never any garden and never any forbidden fruit. And when it did happen, there were millions of people in places Jesus and Paul had never heard of, including all of the Americas, Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands, Northern Europe beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire, Australia, most of Africa south of the Sahara, and most of Asia east of Mesopotamia. God didn't bother to give them even a chance to hear about Jesus and the above points for the next few hundred or 1,500 years. That doesn't seem very sporting of him, now does it? Anyway, here's your next chapter.

 

9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!^[a] Amen.

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[b] 8} In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. ⁹ For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”^[c]

¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. ¹¹ Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: ¹² not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”^{[d] 13} Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”^[e]

¹⁴ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”^[f]

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ¹⁷ For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”^{[g] 18} Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

¹⁹ One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”^{[h] 21} Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”^[i]

²⁶ and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”^[j]

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
    only the remnant will be saved.
²⁸ For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”^[k]

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”^[l]

Israel’s Unbelief

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^[m]

Footnotes

1. Romans 9:5 Or Messiah, who is over all. God be forever praised! Or Messiah. God who is over all be forever praised!
2. Romans 9:7 Gen. 21:12
3. Romans 9:9 Gen. 18:10,14
4. Romans 9:12 Gen. 25:23
5. Romans 9:13 Mal. 1:2,3
6. Romans 9:15 Exodus 33:19
7. Romans 9:17 Exodus 9:16
8. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
9. Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
10. Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
11. Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
12. Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9
13. Romans 9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Deepities

"Deepity" is a term made famous by the late philosopher Daniel Dennett for a statement that appears to be profound but is actually trivial on one level and meaningless or ludicrous on another. Dennett particularly applied it to the charlatan Deepak Chopra, but Chopra had an excellent role model in Paul. Romans 8 is essentially a torrent of deepities. 

You can see for yourself that this is mostly gibberish but I'll just make a couple of points. The passage beginning with verse 28 introduces the doctrine of predestination, which I believe I have already mentioned is embraced by Calvinism. There's a logical problem with the concept of God. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, than he has known since the beginning of time who will be saved and he in fact decided who they would be. So there is actually nothing we can do to be saved, whether you go for the faith or the works side of the contradiction Paul has already struggled with. 

 

The passage beginning with verse 31 -- "³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?^" is obviously false. No matter how faithful or sinless we are, God does not graciously give us all things. 

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[j]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Footnotes

1. Romans 8:2 The Greek is singular; some manuscripts me
2. Romans 8:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 4-13.
3. Romans 8:3 Or flesh, for sin
4. Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
5. Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through
6. Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
7. Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father
8. Romans 8:21 Or subjected it in hope. ²¹ For
9. Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who
10. Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
11. Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers

 

Death, doubt and doom loom . . .

Bazfazz. That's a quote from Pogo, I don't know exactly what bazfazz means but presumably it's an expression of dismay. I don't know if you've noticed -- I pay too much attention -- but the zeitgeist lately is full of hand wringing about appalling scenarios. I mentioned a few days ago that a fairly small group of highly organized and moderately skilled people could cause a nationwide electricity blackout by destroying a couple of dozen transformer substations. That sounds bad. 

 

It turns out that it is already possible to send out spoofed signals from the Global Positioning System and direct ships and airplanes off course. The GPS is also the source of precise time signals that are essential to many processes. In fact, GPS spoofing is already being used as part of the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, so the only real question is why it isn't being used more widely. 

 

Then we have the clanging alarms about so-called artificial intelligence running amok, terrorist drone attacks, and the climate catastrophes that are already obviously happening. The fact is that human technological capabilities have far outrun our wisdom, and the intricate interdependencies of the global economy mean that pulling a single thread could unravel it, wholly unpredictably. That the U.S. is currently run by a demented, corrupt psychopath does not provide much comfort. 

 

I actually think that humans are more resourceful and resilient than we necessarily give ourselves credit for, and that civilization is pretty robust. While we can't just accept the human cost of any catastrophe, what may emerge on the other side wouldn't necessarily be worse than the situation we're in now. But yes, now is a time to feel a sense of urgency. 

Sunday Sermonette: Yet more self-contradictory gibberish

As we've seen, Paul repeatedly contradicts himself on the question of whether salvation is by faith alone, or by deeds. He also repeatedly contradicts himself on the question of whether Christians are obliged to follow the Torah laws. This constant self-contradiction often yields total gibberish. 

In chapter 2 he wrote "The doers of the law shall be justified." In Chapter 3, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Here, he makes an elaborate argument by analogy that the law no longer applies to Christians. 

 

Note that Jesus also contradicted himself on this point numerous times, according to the Gospels. E.g., in Matthew 5 he says "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." In Luke 16, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail," and in Luke 19, "One came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him ... if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."  Yet in Luke 16 he also says "The law and the prophets were until John [the Baptist]: since that time the kingdom of heaven is preached."

Remember that this letter was addressed to the Jewish community in Rome. At the time it was written, there was no Christian community. Paul sent it ahead of his visit, but according to Acts, they never received it. Of course he presumably shared it when he arrived in person, but the point is this is addressed to Jews. He may have been ambivalent on this point because he was chickening out. Who can say? He also spends a lot of time in this chapter beating himself up for being a sinner, and goes back to the salvation by faith alone position. Whatev.

 

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. ³ So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh,^[a] the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law and Sin

⁷ What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^{[b] 8} But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. ⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.

Footnotes

1. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
2. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
3. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
4. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh