The Bible as Literature

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Teach and Move Aug 29, 2019

Show notes

Internet comment culture invites useless and emotionally charged conflict that accomplishes nothing, except to inflame everyone’s self-serving sentiments. That’s why, in Matthew, Jesus refuses to engage in any argument with the Pharisees. To do so, Matthew teaches, is to squander what is holy.

In keeping with the teaching of Isaiah, Jesus refuses to quarrel with anyone so that nothing and no one (including Jesus himself) stands out upon the earth, except the judgment of his Father, “who will not give his glory to another.” (Isaiah 42:8) It is the judgment of the Father that brings divine justice and victory, which Matthew proclaims as hope for the Gentiles.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the Matthew 12:14-21.

Episode 293 Matthew 12:14-21. Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Sneaky Snitch” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Ha Adam Aug 27, 2019

Show notes

This week, Fr. Paul uses his own family tree to help explain the tree of Adam in Genesis 5. Following verse 2, in which God “created them male and female, and he blessed them and named them man,” whether directly, as Seth or indirectly, as the followers of Seth, the main actor, Fr. explains, is Adam, through his tenth son Noah. (Episode 81)

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The Lord of the Sabbath Aug 22, 2019

Show notes

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your immigrant who stays with you.” (Exodus 20:8-10)

This commandment, which joins the needs of the vulnerable—of the immigrant and the lowly creatures in your care—with the needs of your sons and daughters, captures the truth of the Sabbath’s purpose: to supplant the empty work we do each day in the service of greed with the substantive work of hearing and doing the teaching of Scripture. It is no coincidence that encoded within this instruction we find the very thing that saves us.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the Matthew 12:9-13.

Episode 292 Matthew 12:9-13 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Whisky on the Mississippi” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Ha Adam or Adam? Aug 20, 2019

Show notes

This week Fr. Paul touches on the importance of the author’s purposeful use of the word Adam in some places and the words Ha Adam elsewhere. The various connections between biblical words, he explains, hinge not on philosophical premises, but the author’s use of these terms within the flow of the narrative. (Episode 80)

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God Doesn’t Need Our Bread Aug 15, 2019

Show notes

When the Pharisees complain about the disciples picking and eating grain on the sabbath, they betray both their ignorance of Torah, and their desire to control the consecrated bread of God’s instruction to consolidate their power. But God, Matthew teaches, does not need our bread. After-all, whatever we offer him already belongs to him. What he desires is knowledge of and obedience to his Law: that we are to love our neighbor, showing mercy and compassion on one another. This is the sacrifice that God demands in Hosea, one precluded by the Pharisees’ ignorance of his Torah.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the Matthew 12:1-8.

Episode 291 Matthew 12:1-8 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Investigations” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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When Men Begin Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

Dismantling the mistranslation found in Genesis 4:26, “at that time men began,” Fr. Paul explains that in the Hebrew, in the passive God merely allows—literally, it was allowed—to call on the name of the Lord. The action is initiated by God, without even mentioning human beings. This distinction is critical, since throughout Scripture, whenever men begin something, it is always negative. (Episode 79)

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The Father Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

In a society that consumerizes rebellion against parents both as entertainment and an axiom of pop-psychology, the basic premise of the New Testament—that the Son is disempowered because all glory and all power belong to his Father—is practically impossible to accept.

In Matthew, when Jesus praises his Father, in the very content of his prayer, he underscores that his God is the Lord both of the heavens and the earth, a span that imposes total dominion, stripping Jesus, and therefore, all human beings of power, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah.

Still, in language reminiscent of 1 Corinthians, in Matthew 11, we hear that all things are handed over to Jesus—but what does that power look like? What is the power that Jesus brought to Chorazin and Bethsaida if the outcome of his life is abject failure and defeat? How is this an easy yolk?

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the Matthew 11:25-30.

Episode 290 Matthew 11:25-30 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Modern Jazz Samba” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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In Spite of Cain Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

This week, Fr. Paul continues to unpack the story of the new seed given to replace Abel, in spite of his murderous brother, Cain. Pointing to the Hebrew, where an ish posits an ish, Fr. Paul notes the actualization of God’s blessing in Genesis 1. The human being produces another human being, and another, remaining alive throughout time and history. (Episode 78)

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It’s Worse for Us Aug 01, 2019

Show notes

One of the strangest characteristics of religious psychology is the commonly held belief that those who have received instruction are better than those left untaught. We don’t phrase it that way, but the implication of consumerized evangelism is that others need what we have so that they can become like us. It is precisely this arrogant mentality that is condemend in Matthew’s gospel. What the others truly need is not us but what we were given despite our wickedness to save them from becoming as evil as we are. Moreover, our wickedness knows no bounds, not only for having passed judgment on them, but for refusing to bear fruit for their sake through instruction.

Truly, “it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment” than it will be for us. (Matthew 11:24)

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the Matthew 11:20-24.

Episode 289 Matthew 11:20-24 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Big Rock” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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A New Seed Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

This week, Fr. Paul continues his discussion of Genesis 4, explaining how the RSV’s mistranslation of the Hebrew not only misleads but betrays and deconstructs the biblical text. Unlike the birth of Cain, the subject of Eve’s action, Seth is received by the wife of Adam as the gift of the Lord. Notably, Fr. Paul explain’s, Eve’s name disappears from the text with Cain’s in Genesis 4:1 and is not mentioned again until the New Testament. (Episode 77)

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