#scripture tag

[godmechanic]

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17

[asinglesock]

The thing about Galatians is that nobody is happy. Nobody is having a good time. Paul is really really angry, and we only know about the context of the audience from his letter itself but there's a whole lot of arguing and disagreeing and discord among brethren and such. And it's the only Pauline epistle without an opening thanksgiving. And Paul is making curses, and he's probably directing them toward his opponents but he's speaking so very authoritatively and assertively, sometimes he even comes off as arrogant. And as far as reader reception goes, it's got an ugly history of being misused as a prooftext for Christian antisemitism.

And somehow it's still such a lovable little book? You've got Paul's autobiography. You've got the fruit of the spirit. You've got a rather mean spirited dirty joke about circumcision, which on second thought might belong with the unpleasant things about Galatians. You've got magic in the academic sense. You've got some really memorizable scriptures like "Bear ye one another's burdens."

If you're interested in Christianity having healthier neighborly relations with Judaism careful study of this book could be really helpful. I recommend John Gager's writings as a start if you're interested in alternatives to supersecessionism. There are some difficult passages, especially chapter 4 with its Isaac and Ishmael comparison. But I think we should confront difficult passages instead of ignoring them.

anyway yeah Galatians is Blorbo from my Bible Quizzing

[godmechanic]

Do not invite death by the error of your life, or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;  because God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living.  For he created all things so that they might exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them, and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.  For righteousness is immortal.

wisdom 1:11-15

[godmechanic]

prayers of preparation, psalm 43

[godmechanic]

psalm 27:5-6

[godmechanic]

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

‭‭james‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭10‬

[godmechanic]

1 timothy

[godmechanic]

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20