Archive for category Romans
Did Paul Believe or otherwise know of the Virgin Birth?
Or so was the question posed last night. As we know from the Creeds, the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ expressly state that it was a doctrine of the Church. Yet, Paul never once mentions it.
What made Jesus, well, Jesus? For Paul, it was the resurrection and the Davidic line:
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.
The Good News is about his Son, Jesus. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.(Rom 1:1-4 NLT)
Of course, there is that one instance in Galatians…
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. (Gal 4:4 NLT)
In my opinion, Paul may be thinking of Genesis 3.15:
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15 NLT)
For Paul, which is summed up in 1st Corinthians 15, the Gospel comes down to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, then again, he may not have needed to address a Virgin Birth….
Oh, and other people during that time period claimed the same miraculous birth – such as Vespasian.
So, why do you think Paul didn’t include the Virgin Birth in his preamble to the Romans, or anywhere really, to show who Jesus Christ was?
Oh, and because I have to clarify in to day and time… yes, I believe in the Virgin Birth…how the authors meant it.
Was Paul a Convert?
No, not really. He believed in God, but didn’t know who Christ was. Unlike many who do neither, Paul’s Damascus road experience wasn’t a conversion, but in reality, it was more along the lines of the call of a prophet. For me, I don’t think that the Parting of the Ways occurred at Pentecost, nor anytime there after.
The book to your left is one of those provided for our Wednesday evening church class on Romans. Tonight, we will be tackling the first chapter of it and while I am tempted to give you the reading assignments, etc… I won’t. I mean, they have several of those books for a penny (plus 3.99 in shipping).
However, one of their points is that Paul wasn’t a convert. He wasn’t. He was still a Jew, but he was introduced to the Son.
But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. (Gal 1:15-16 NLT)
Compare that with Romans 1.1:
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (Rom 1:1 NASB)
Paul believed in YHWH, but though the experience of God’s calling, he was introduced to the Son and set apart to reveal the Gospel. His eyes were opened, you might say, but I don’t think he changed religions.
Also, because chapter 1 is uber-controversial, I will be bringing my post on Paul’s rhetorical device in the first few chapters.
As I did with Ruth, no doubt I will be posting a few things tomorrow on tonight’s discussion.
What To Do With Romans?
Posted by Craig Falvo in Romans on May 22, 2010
Apparently we are to burn it.
File this under “Internet Cracks”…or “Very, Very Bad Hermeneutics”.
I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. “Pastor” Harry Walther of The Church of Philadelphia-Internet believes the Paul’s Letter to the Romans should be “torn from the Bible and burned.”
I am not sure if Paul actually wrote the Book of Romans as we read it today, if someone changed his writing or if the entire Book of Romans is a forgery? What I do know is this New Testament book is demonic, wrong and a source of confusion, doubt and evil to all who read it.
As Christians study the Bible, they read The Gospels and in general it makes sense to them. They they come upon the Book of Romans and everything goes wrong. much of what The Book of Romans says contradicts much of what JESUS taught and we are left with confusion and chaos, WHICH ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE, JESUS or Romans?
The Book of Romans even contradicts much of what Paul wrote in his letters to the Corinthians, Thessolonians, Galatians, Collosians, and Ephesians.
Now, I’m not sure where this guy studied hermeneutics…but…wow…just wow!
First off, Romans is a letter…but that’s just me being nit-picky. Also, it’s Thessalonians…with an and Colossians…one l, two s’s. But that’s not the disturbing stuff. The fact that this “pastor” wants us to tear out Romans from our Bibles should automatically raise up a red flag.
From what does Walther base his conclusion one?
Examples: Chapter Nine of Romans, wrongly denies Free Will, Chapter 10 distorts Salvation into a false belief system and chapter 13 Justifies wicked rulers as infallible, “ministers of God”.
What follows is an example of very, very bad hermeneutics. And what’s really disturbing is there are people out there that believe this nut. An acquaintance of mine said she was involved in a discussion of Facebook about this very topic…and the individual she was talking to bought this nonsense hook, line, and sinker. Walther is promoting a very dangerous and heretical hermeneutic…and doing so to the damnation of others.
You can check out the rest of Walther’s site, satansrapture.com (The name alone should send up more red flags.)
Being Lutheran, I couldn’t help myself from commenting on this site. Walther states,
Baptists, Evangelicals and Lutherans say that Romans has a “perfect flow and harmony” with The Gospels, but it is clear they are living in a delusionary fairy tale and are not honest with themselves, with their faith and their study of The Bible.
It’s hard to take this guy seriously…with all the spelling and grammar mistakes on the site. But people do. It’s a dangerous game they are playing. This is a modern day heresy that needs to be fought. The nonsense spouted off by this “pastor” is leading people away from Christ, not to Him.
Paul’s use of Wisdom and Aristeas on Idols
Posted by Joel in Pseudepigrapha, Romans, Wisdom on January 22, 2010
I am researching something unrelated to this, however, as I was reading the Letter to Aristeas, I came across a familiar refrain:
Paul’s Use of Prosopopoeia in his Epistle to the Romans
Previously, I posted Quintilian’s boundaries for the use of prosopopoeia, a literary device that allows a speaker to create a fictional dialogue partner. It has been long recognized that Paul employs such a method in Romans 2-4 in dealing with Jewish resentment to Gentile salvation. We will examine Romans 2-3 (chapter 4 is continued from chapter 3 directly and only in Paul’s speech) in light of prosopopoeia as well as move into forgotten episode of Paul’s use of this which I hope to cast in a different light. (While I am sure that this is old work to many, it is new to me.)
WB returns: Romans 1
Posted by Joel in Bible Translation, Homosexuality, Romans on July 28, 2009
One of my first ‘blogger friends’ was Wb Moore, and after a long hiatus, he has returned, in traditional form, with a bang! He tackles Romans 1.27-28 against charges such as ‘words used only here by Paul. Familiar words are used here in unusual ways.’ Wb answers it soundly.
Welcome back, Wb.
Jeremiah 3.1-5: Thoughts on Israel’s Divorce
Posted by Joel in Messianic Judaism, Romans on March 14, 2009
Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the LORD. “Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men? By the road you have sat for them Like an Arabian in the wilderness; And you have polluted the land With your harlotries and your wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain. You have had a harlot’s forehead; You refuse to be ashamed. Will you not from this time cry to Me, “My Father, You are the guide of my youth? Will He remain angry forever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and done evil things, As you were able. (Jeremiah 3:1-5 NKJV)
I want to speak a bit more about the divorce of God and the children of Israel.
Humanity has never had a steady walk with God. Throughout the covenants established by God with His Creation, God has never broken His promises while those on the other side have on a regular basis. During the past few weeks, there has been a conversation going on on this blog concerning the Law and Grace. I and others have taken the position that we are under Grace, and because of this we are no longer required to obey the Law, specifically the ceremonial Law detailing the sacrificial system, the holy days, and the holiness code of physical cleanness.
I have attempted to put forth a previous argument concerning another view of the Cross of Christ, and I will take this time to add to it.
The Book of Jeremiah was God’s bill of divorce to Israel and Judah. It laid out the reasons why God had now been forced to withdraw from the Covenant (the Law) that He had made, as in reality, the Covenant was broken many times over. But a mere withdrawal was not enough for our righteous God.
Below is a passaged from Romans 7.1-6 (NKJV) with some slight modification
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the Torah),
Paul was speaking to the Jews.
that the Torah has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the Torah to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the Torah of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that Torah, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
We already know that the marriage between a man and wife is a motif that represents the relationship between God and Israel as well as Christ and His Church. Paul is not creating a new allegory, but using something very familiar to his Jewish audience. Ideally, a man and a woman would stay married until the end of life – how rare that seems to be today – but if a divorce occurred for ungodly reasons , then it took a death to finalize the agreement.
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the Torah through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another-to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the Torah were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the Torah, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Paul is speaking, I believe directly to the Jews, and indirectly to the entire Church when he says ‘my brethren.’ We have become dead to the Torah because of the body of Christ. This is not the Church or the communion, but the death of Christ on the Cross. Yes, Christ was a substitution for us, in that we could not offer a sacrifice for our sins, but it was also the end of the Old Covenant. The day that Christ died, the Torah’s letter ceased to exist as a means of salvation.
Are we free from the law? Yes, we are under grace instead (6:14). Does this mean sin is irrelevant, that we can be indifferent to the distinction between sin and virtue (6:15)? No, as slaves of God we are still under absolute obligation to obey his commandments (6:16-23).
In the body of Christ, we can find peace because the enmity – the Law – has been removed,
For he himself is our shalom – he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity. (Ephesians 2:14-16 Complete Jewish Bible)
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. (Ephesians 2:14-16 NKJV)
Chapter 7 of Romans is not a new and complete conversation, but a continuation of chapter 6. Death to sin is accomplished by baptism,
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Far be it! Seeing that we have died to sin, how can we live any longer therein? Are you ignorant that all we who were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried together with him through baptism into death, and just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we should walk about in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be sharers of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, that the body possessed by sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer serve as a slave to sin: For he that has died in baptism, stands free from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we know that without a doubt that we shall also live with him, Knowing that Christ having been raised up from the dead, no longer dies; death has no more dominion over him. (Romans 6:1-9 CTV-NT)
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