God, I am the worst person. I was so determined to wake up early and study for finals, so of course I've spent all day eating peanut butter out of the jar. I also have this really weird but good unpasteurized honey. What does it mean for something to be unpasteurized? I hope that doesn't mean I'm going to get Mad Cow Disease or something.
Doesn't it seem like this sort of thing happens A LOT?
I tell myself that reading the bible counts as being productive but it totally doesn't. Ugh.
ANYWAY, we left off in the middle of Hebrews, so let's wrap that up. The author keeps going on about the whole "Jesus as high priest" idea, explaining in chapter 9 that -- contrary to my earlier beliefs -- Zombie Jesus will not be relegated to the temple, destined to spend his days sacrificing goats and rams. Rather, he sacrificed himself, which I guess nullifies the animal sacrifices that all those wacky Jews were still making all the time. "For if the blood of goats and bulls," the author writes, "sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:13-14).
On a semi-related note, I've been listening to Harry Potter on my ipod and I'm almost done... Voldemort just killed him in the Forbidden Forest, which got me thinking, it's the same freakin' story! Whenever these apostles talk about Jesus's sacrifice I envision a noseless Pontius Pilate grabbing Jesus's face and going, "Ah... The Boy Who Lived... come to die..."
Do you do this too? Well you should!!
Anyway, the author of Hebrews also talks a bit about the role of faith in Christian theology. In chapter 11, he (OR SHE!!! OR "ZIE" IN CASE THIS BIBLICAL AUTHOR HAPPENS TO HAVE BEEN TRANSGENDERED!! I AM VERY POLITICALLY CORRECT!!) cites countless instances from the Old Testament where the characters acted out of faith, arguing that this was the most important virtue in the stories.
Next up we have the letter OF James (not to James), traditionally ascribed to none other than Jesus's little brother! If it is actually written by him, we can presume it was penned circa 60 CE, although if not, it's a bit harder to date. Some scholars believe that this was originally a Jewish text that was Christianized later on. In his letter, James concerns himself with errant sinners, urging them to BEHAVE THEMSELVES.
James's four central concerns are partiality, the need for works along with faith, the danger of loose talk, and the sins of the rich. If I didn't know better, I might say that James was a dirty, stinkin' red! In chapter 2 he urges his readers to "show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (James 2:1), explaining that if they encounter a rich man and a poor man, they should not treat the rich man preferably. But, damnit James, I hate poor people! They stink, they're lazy, and they just want to sit on their asses and exploit us hard-working rich folk. Am I right? Of course I'm right.
James would disagree with my mom-and-apple-pie-bleedin'-red-white-and-blue attitude, however, saying, "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you... You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person" (James 5:1-6).
That's capitalism, baby! Get with the program! AMERICA!!! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!
James gives assorted other warnings, such as not to be arrogant and -- perhaps most interestingly -- not to proclaim faith if you're not willing to do good deeds to back it up: "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?" (James 3:15-16).
If this kind of thing interests you, make sure you read it all now, because we're about to blacklist this guy and have him deported.
To wrap things up, James also explains that PRAYER is the answer to all problems! And if it doesn't work, it just means that YOU'RE NOT PRAYING HARD ENOUGH!
Good to know!
Last but not least is the first epistle of Peter, purportedly written by ol' Rock-head himself. If this is the case, it was probably penned circa 64 CE, and reflects the religious climate under Emperor Nero's reign, when he persecuted Christians. It might have also been written by an anonymous Christian author during the reign of Domitian (81-96 CE) or Trajan (98-117 CE). It bids that good Christians remain obedient, steadfast in their faith, and submit to suffering, because it's all going to be AWESOME later on! Don't you worry your pretty little head.
Okay. That's enough for today. I'm going to ACTUALLY STUDY NOW, and by actually study I mean bake zucchini bread.
Showing posts with label Hebrews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrews. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Day 87, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews 1-8
We've got FIVE BOOKS to discuss today. FIVE of 'em! Gee whiz. Let's get crackin'.
The epistles to Timothy and Titus are grouped together as the "Pastoral Epistles" because they address "pastoral oversight" of the church. There is also some controversy as to whether or not Paul really wrote them, since they differ stylistically from his other, authenticated letters, and the timeline he provides does not correspond with the one in Acts. Because of this, they are a little hard to date, but scholars generally agree that if he did write them, it was probably towards the end of his ministry (circa 62-67 CE) and if he didn't, they were written at some point between the late 1st century and the early 2nd century. Sounds good to me!
Timothy, as you may remember from Acts, is one of Paul's close pals, and the content of this letter mostly centers around how the church should be run. This, of course, suggests that Timothy has some sort of formal institution up and running. Good for him!
Paul explains how a person might become a "bishop" or deacon in the church, and provides advice on how different groups of people should behave: young men, old men, children, young women, and widows. For the most part, he preaches the standard virtues of self-control, temperance, and charity, although I was amused by his discussion of widows. "No widow," he writes, "may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds" (1 Timothy 5:9). There's a list?! What is this, a club? Paul goes onto explain that young widows cannot be added to the list because within time "their sensual desires [will] overcome their dedication to Christ [and] they [will] want to marry" (1 Timothy 5:9).
SLUTS!
We also get some nice lines about how slaves should be obedient to their masters -- sorry, Uncle Tom -- and that's that!
The second epistle to Timothy is all about being a good little Christian soldier, espousing virtues of timidity, obedience, and willingness to suffer. Paul seems to know that he will eventually be executed for his shenanigans and bids that his friend "join with [him] in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer" (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Aaaw. How SWEET.
The last of the Pastoral Epistles is addressed to Titus, another one of Paul's friends who lived on the island of Crete; this is, in fact, some of the earliest evidence we have suggesting that a Christian community existed there. In his letter to Titus, Paul describes the duties of elders and bishops within the church, stressing the importance of living a disciplined life.
Paul's letter to Philemon, written when he was imprisoned in Rome circa 61-63 CE, concerns the apostle's runaway slave Onesimus. Although the penalties for escaped slaves were severe, Paul requests that Onesimus be treated kindly since, as a convert to Christianity, his relationship to his master has changed. Okay.
Last but not least we have a letter to HEBREWS, which is actually not much of a letter; my study bible describes it as a "sermonic tract." We know little about the author of Hebrews, and earliest evidence of its use comes from the end of the first century in Rome.
The letter/sermon/book starts off by talking about Jesus's superiority to angels, emphasizing that because he is human and divine, his followers should be able to relate to him: "For this reason," the author writes, "he had to be made like them, fully human in every way... because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:17-18).
After this, we find out that on top of being superior to angels, Jesus is also superior to MOSES, who was a servant to God whereas Jesus is a son. Well, that makes sense, I guess.
Chapter 4 reminds us to rest on the Sabbath, and also establishes Jesus as the new eternal high priest, usurping the role from the Levite tribe. Can zombies sacrifice goats? It seems like sort of a banal task to get stuck with, I would expect Jesus has lots more important stuff to do!
The author goes on to draw parallels between Jesus and some other "eternal" high priest named Melchizedek, who was a contemporary of Abraham and the king of Salem. Why haven't I ever heard of this guy?! Anyway, he was supposedly "without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life" (Hebrews 7:2), which made him more awesome and powerful than the boring old mortal Levite priests. Jesus, the author explains, is just like Melchizedek in this sense.
Chapter 8 talks about the new covenant -- or testament -- that the Christians will make with God, since the "first one [is now] obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). The best part of this chapter was this line -- "This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle" (Hebrews 8:5) -- because I misread it as "This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the snowman."
I don't even know how that happened! There are no snowmen in the Middle East! Only Sandmen!
On that note, I'm going to get some freaking tea, because I swore to myself I wouldn't have any tea until I finished writing this entry and I WANT IT REALLY BAD!!!!!
The epistles to Timothy and Titus are grouped together as the "Pastoral Epistles" because they address "pastoral oversight" of the church. There is also some controversy as to whether or not Paul really wrote them, since they differ stylistically from his other, authenticated letters, and the timeline he provides does not correspond with the one in Acts. Because of this, they are a little hard to date, but scholars generally agree that if he did write them, it was probably towards the end of his ministry (circa 62-67 CE) and if he didn't, they were written at some point between the late 1st century and the early 2nd century. Sounds good to me!
Timothy, as you may remember from Acts, is one of Paul's close pals, and the content of this letter mostly centers around how the church should be run. This, of course, suggests that Timothy has some sort of formal institution up and running. Good for him!
Paul explains how a person might become a "bishop" or deacon in the church, and provides advice on how different groups of people should behave: young men, old men, children, young women, and widows. For the most part, he preaches the standard virtues of self-control, temperance, and charity, although I was amused by his discussion of widows. "No widow," he writes, "may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds" (1 Timothy 5:9). There's a list?! What is this, a club? Paul goes onto explain that young widows cannot be added to the list because within time "their sensual desires [will] overcome their dedication to Christ [and] they [will] want to marry" (1 Timothy 5:9).
SLUTS!
We also get some nice lines about how slaves should be obedient to their masters -- sorry, Uncle Tom -- and that's that!
The second epistle to Timothy is all about being a good little Christian soldier, espousing virtues of timidity, obedience, and willingness to suffer. Paul seems to know that he will eventually be executed for his shenanigans and bids that his friend "join with [him] in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer" (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Aaaw. How SWEET.
The last of the Pastoral Epistles is addressed to Titus, another one of Paul's friends who lived on the island of Crete; this is, in fact, some of the earliest evidence we have suggesting that a Christian community existed there. In his letter to Titus, Paul describes the duties of elders and bishops within the church, stressing the importance of living a disciplined life.
Paul's letter to Philemon, written when he was imprisoned in Rome circa 61-63 CE, concerns the apostle's runaway slave Onesimus. Although the penalties for escaped slaves were severe, Paul requests that Onesimus be treated kindly since, as a convert to Christianity, his relationship to his master has changed. Okay.
Last but not least we have a letter to HEBREWS, which is actually not much of a letter; my study bible describes it as a "sermonic tract." We know little about the author of Hebrews, and earliest evidence of its use comes from the end of the first century in Rome.
The letter/sermon/book starts off by talking about Jesus's superiority to angels, emphasizing that because he is human and divine, his followers should be able to relate to him: "For this reason," the author writes, "he had to be made like them, fully human in every way... because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:17-18).
After this, we find out that on top of being superior to angels, Jesus is also superior to MOSES, who was a servant to God whereas Jesus is a son. Well, that makes sense, I guess.
Chapter 4 reminds us to rest on the Sabbath, and also establishes Jesus as the new eternal high priest, usurping the role from the Levite tribe. Can zombies sacrifice goats? It seems like sort of a banal task to get stuck with, I would expect Jesus has lots more important stuff to do!
The author goes on to draw parallels between Jesus and some other "eternal" high priest named Melchizedek, who was a contemporary of Abraham and the king of Salem. Why haven't I ever heard of this guy?! Anyway, he was supposedly "without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life" (Hebrews 7:2), which made him more awesome and powerful than the boring old mortal Levite priests. Jesus, the author explains, is just like Melchizedek in this sense.
Chapter 8 talks about the new covenant -- or testament -- that the Christians will make with God, since the "first one [is now] obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). The best part of this chapter was this line -- "This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle" (Hebrews 8:5) -- because I misread it as "This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the snowman."
I don't even know how that happened! There are no snowmen in the Middle East! Only Sandmen!
On that note, I'm going to get some freaking tea, because I swore to myself I wouldn't have any tea until I finished writing this entry and I WANT IT REALLY BAD!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)