Some reasons to question and challenge St. Paul, too...

Ok, I've been working on the rehabilitation of some of the ideas of the apostle Paul of late - and using Peterson's new book, Practice Resurrection, as a guide through Ephesians and why that matters to the contemporary church - so now it seems only fair to lift up a Top Five list re: some questions and challenges for St. Paul. (NOTE: I am a sucker for Top Five lists - or Top Ten lists, too - from David Letterman to the most excellent work in the film High Fidelity. Take, for example, this clip re: Top Five Songs for Starting Work on Monday. Freakin' brilliant!)

That said, let me acknowledge two important Biblical facts that will make clear where I stand on the importance of Paul for our times.

+ First, I begin with the assumption that while old Paul is neither the author of all the Epistles attributed to his name - a perspective that puts me at odds with some more conservative readers - the record is clear. Most scholars agree that there are only seven letters that are authentically Pauline: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, I Thessalonians and Philemon. The others - Ephesians, Colossians, II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy and Titus - raise more questions re: Paul's role in their construction and theology. And, while Hebrews continues to be connected with Paul in popular culture, it is clear that it was not written by the apostle.

+ Second, I also take the position that by faith only sometimes does this matter for 21st century believers and the church. The hermeneutic of suspicion only takes me so far and then I must still take Kierkegaard's "leap of faith" beyond what I can comprehend, yes? So, with Paul's letters there are factors when his historic presence matters. Some of the disputed epistles, for example, suggest a more developed church structure than history allows. They also posit gender roles that violate Paul's more inclusive practice of celebrating both women and men and positions of pastoral authority. I believe that these things matter because they call us to be careful about the conclusions we consider normative about the church. This is one of the places where rigidity and/or ignorance move the words attributed to Paul into dangerous and ugly territory.

Simultaneously, just because a letter is pseudonymous doesn't necessarily mean it's Spirit violates the grace Paul received in his radical encounter with the Lord. Bruce Malina and John Pilch note in The Social Science Commentary on the Letters of Paul that the apostle "was authorized to proclaim God's good news NOT... by the any observable change agency... but rather like Jesus and John the Baptist through an altered state of consciousness." (p. 21) From my encounters with God's grace, therefore, I trust that even when Paul's hand was not physically present in the writing of an epistle, his insights and wisdom were passed on and are often were clearly articulated in a variety of texts, yes?

Colossians 3: 12-15, for example, resonates with I Corinthians 13: So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God!

And the radical inclusivity of Ephesians 4 is as authentically grace-filled as comparable passages in Romans: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all...to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it... Christ himself gave us gifts to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

From where I sit, most of the problems I have with Paul come from poor or even mean-spirited interpretation - and that brings me to the Top Five Texts from Paul That Have Wounded Innocent People.

+ Number Five would include the sociology (but not the spirit) of Philemon and Ephesians 6: 5-8 that not only accepts the first century status of slavery but has been used by slave-owners throughout history to perpetuate this evil: Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

+ Number Four would be Paul's words in I Corinthians 6 that have been misinterpreted as a condemnation of homosexuality. I would argue that here Paul is condemning the practice of sexual exploitation by stronger and more powerful older men who are using passive young boys as sex toys - an accepted practice at the time - rather than offering a blanket prohibition on the love equal partners share: do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

+ Number Three would be the equally nuanced critique Paul shares in Romans 1. Here he condemns people who have given themselves up to passion and addiction - he tells us that we become bestial - because we have wanted to act as God instead of merely God's creation. Paul condemns giving up natural sexual relations for unnatural ones given lust and abandon. This is not the same as a condemnation of authentic and natural same sex affection, however, and we need to own that. What's more, Paul also gives us a very helpful understanding of God's wrath, which is less about hellfire and brimstone and more about God's absence; essentially his insight is this: If you want to act like God, then God let's us - and also let's us experience the consequences of our selfishness, too. Still, the text has been used to beat many people up with the Bible and has become very ugly: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

+ Number Two would be the egregious teaching of I Timothy 2: 11-15 on women. It violates the essence and practice of St. Paul who in Galatians 3:27 taught that in Christ there is neither male nor female, etc. Still, this passage has been used not only to prohibit women's ordination, but also to institutionalize misogyny: I don't let women take over and tell the men what to do. They should study to be quiet and obedient along with everyone else. Adam was made first, then Eve; woman was deceived first—our pioneer in sin!—with Adam right on her heels. On the other hand, her childbearing brought about salvation, reversing Eve. But this salvation only comes to those who continue in faith, love, and holiness, gathering it all into maturity. You can depend on this.

+ And the Number One offensive and historically misinterpreted text from the Pauline canon would have to be Ephesians 5. It has given permission to violence against women for centuries by encouraging their subordination to men. That Paul is exploring a mutually sacrificial relationship between women and men that is akin to Christ and the Church is almost always overlooked. The consequence has often been brutality, fear, hatred and death in the name of the Lord. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

There is much to unpack with St. Paul - in many ways his words have done as much harm as good - but it would be wrong to throw the baby out with the bath water as so many advocate. At the same time, it would be equally wrong to give a pass on these - and other - passages that wound rather than bind and encourage hatred and fear rather than compassion and peace.