Historian of Religion, Science, and Biblical Interpretation
At the opening of BYU’s 2019 Reconciling Evolution workshop—which focuses on biology pedagogy with religious students— Associate Academic Vice-President John Rosenberg represented the University in welcoming the dozens of participants to BYU. He spoke on the pursuit of knowledge, using medieval depictions of Mary, Gabriel, and the Annunciation. I have adapted my notes from his presentation for this post, by permission.
We’re moving into some dense historical, textual, and doctrinal territory today, as there is lots of background to cover. I lean pretty heavily on some of my tools. Continue reading
My picture, from the Kidron Valley.
As always, it’s important to start with setting and context. Remember back in Acts 19, where the silversmiths who make Athena shrines start a riot and get Paul thrown out of the city? “Great is Diana of the Ephesians”? Paul met some disciples there and stuck around for three months, and now he writes to that congregation. Paul himself is now apparently in prison (Eph 4:1) and writing letters. Whether in Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea, we don’t know. Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon are known collectively as The Captivity or Prison Letters. These are Paul’s Folsom Prison Concert, if you will. Continue reading
Paul’s letter to Romans “has been the most studied of the apostle’s writings — indisputably Paul’s theological chef d’œuvre….With only slight exaggeration, one could claim that debates over the main ideas in Romans split Western Christianity…. [Nevertheless], for those who may have time to study in greater depth only one Pauline letter, Romans would not be my recommendation, even though it is the most important.” So says eminent Catholic New Testament scholar Raymond Brown in his Introduction to the New Testament.
If there’s a theme for today, it’s given to us in an understated way by 2Pe 3:16 – “There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand.”
Perhaps Romans’ opacity contributes to its ability to be wrestled into saying things it’s really not.
“Romans has suffered for centuries from being made to produce vital statements on questions it was not written to answer.“ NT Wright, IDB
Yeah. Well, onwards. “I can read hard things,” to borrow a current theme.
Let me open by saying, this is a wide-ranging and complex subject. I may well prove to be wrong on this or that point. I may be missing important nuances here or there, and it’s a bit scattered and repetitive. Let’s get those disclaimers out of the way and talk about this important subject. Continue reading
Since we’re about to start Paul’s letters, I thought I’d share this. It’s an expansion of a handout I’ve used sometimes about five common ways we misread Paul with modern, Western eyes. (Misreading with Western Eyes is one of the Top 5 I books recommend)
Arvo Pärt’s magnificent Magnificat, one of many songs based on the Latin translation of Mary’s “my soul doth magnify (magnificat) the Lord” in Luke 1:46ff. (Here’s a small ensemble version)
Genealogies
Both Matthew and Luke give us genealogies, and read through modern eyes, we’re inclined to skip over them, or misunderstand them; the one thing they are NOT telling us is the one thing we assume they are telling us: genetic genealogical descent. And this is one reason why we get confused as to why Luke and Matthew’s genealogies differ. Continue reading
This is the first of several posts talking about studying the NT and resources to do so.
It’s that time of year when sales happen, Christmas money appears in your stocking, and January is coming and bringing changes. We’ll study the New Testament again, and I suspect this will be an interesting year for many; Church-oriented Gospel Doctrine experience now happens half as often, and most of our study and learning will take place at home, by ourselves or with family (as it should be.) Continue reading
I had elaborate plans for this review, and just don’t have the time. The Maxwell Institute recently published Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, and these are my thoughts. Continue reading
This is video from a Stake class I was teaching… Continue reading
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