Saul and Barnabas, Part 1

After his encounter with the resurrected (and ascended) Jesus on the road to Damascus, after Ananias healed his blindness, after he was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit, Saul (also known as Paul) stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days,...

Is Sin Less Than Sin? Part 2

I’ll continue the survey of Galatians to understand the relationship of sin (παράπτωμα) to sin (ἁμαρτία).  Paul hinted at the attitude, activity and the content of the faith of those who were so quickly deserting (μετατίθεσθε, a form of μετατίθημι) the one who called...

Who am I? Part 3

Though I knew nothing of Freud and his theories about sex and aggression at the time, I had immediately equated sex and violence.  I grew up in a fairly tough blue collar neighborhood.  We boys fought all the time, mostly wrestling matches with an occasional blow with...

Peter and Cornelius

I can’t tell if I perceive some confusion in the Apostle Paul’s thinking (literally writing, specifically 1 Corinthians 5:3) because I have been confused so often in my own thinking, or if I am recasting Paul in my own image because I have been confused so often in my...

What is Sexual Immorality?

For a long time I thought I understood exactly what sexual immorality (πορνεία) in 1 Corinthians 5:1 (NET) [Table] meant. It is actually reported that sexual immorality (πορνεία) exists among you, the kind of immorality (πορνεία) that is not permitted even among the...