Monthly Archives: July 2010

Does Paul understand himself? NTiR (2 Corinthians 1-3)

Posted on July 22, 2010 by | 2 Comments

Bible and magnifying glass????EGAH!!!!!!!


For some reason, I was thinking that 2 Corinthians was a short book. I thought it was the start of the smaller epistles, and was looking forward to reviewing just a few chapters. Instead, 2 Corinthians is the last of the extra-long, drawn out letters. Paul loves to go on and on as he tries to coerce people to follow his teachings instead of the teachings of others around him. While the subtext of people deciding which of the former disciples most represents the words of Christ is intriguing, we are reading letters written by the man who won. And the victor gets to write history as he pleases.

Obviously, I am not looking forward to this book. Procrastinating isn’t making things any better, though, so let’s move on to:

Second Epistle to the Corinthians

Chapter 1
Let’s see. We start off with greetings from Paul and Timothy. Paul states that it is good everyone suffered, because then they can help comfort others who are suffering. And apparently everyone is suffering a lot. Paul references the problems he ran into in Asia; it’ll be interesting to see if those are mentioned again.

Chapter 2
The chapter starts off with Paul bemoaning the acts of one of the members of the church in Corinth. Is this the same guy from I Corinthians, or someone else? He then gives hints of a god complex (“what I have forgiven I did in the presence of Christ”) and compares the followers to the “aroma” of Christ. (“Savour” in the KJV) This aroma is good for some and deadly for others.

I dunno… I think that at least half the time, Paul doesn’t understand what he is talking about.

Chapter 3
Paul gets into a glory contest here. Followers of Christ have more glory than followers of Moses do. Jesus has more glory than Moses does. Followers of Moses have a veil covering their hearts when reading what Moses wrote, while anyone who turns to the Lord has that veil ripped away.

Hmmm… sounds to me like there were a lot of Corinthians who didn’t want to give up their beliefs in Judaism. How is Paul going to win them over?

Up next: There’s something rotten in the state of Corinth…

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Monday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.

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NTiR: Paul keeps chucking the first stones (1 Corinthians 13-16)

Posted on July 19, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Bible and magnifying glassWe are at the end of another of Paul’s letters. There’s only a few more left, right? At least a few more ’til we get to hear from Peter and Timothy. They can’t be any worse than this, lemme tell you.

Or am I setting myself up for a major disappointment?

Chapter 13

The Wedding Chapter. Everyone knows this one (“love is always patient, always kind…”). Actually, I think everyone knows all of this chapter. Aside from the wedding verses, there’s “When I became a man I gave up my childish ways” (I call bullshit on that, too). There’s also “Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.”
Chapter 14
Lots of information about speaking in tongues. I don’t think that anyone but Pentecostals will care about this chapter, though there is one line that amuses me: “if the whole church gathers in the same place and everyone is speaking in tongues, when uneducated people or unbelievers come in, they will say that you are out of your mind, won’t they?” That’s why I call it the psycho church! :)
Chapter 15
My god this chapter will not end! 58 verses of Paul trying to prove that resurrection is true. He goes so far as to say anyone who doesn’t believe in resurrection has turned their back on Christ. HARSH! But as we’ve already established, Paul has no problems picking up that first stone and letting it fly.
Chapter 16
AMEN!!!! I don’t know what this chapter says yet – I am going to read it for the next paragraph. But for now, I’ll say AMEN for the end of this god-awful letter!
Paul once again finishes up the letter with his travel plans. He’s planning on maybe spending the winter in Corinth, which matches up perfectly with Luke’s description in Acts. Paul also exhorts the church to be nice to Timothy once Timothy gets there. And we are OUT!
Conclusion
Dull. Mind-numbingly dull. And it went on far too long. 16 chapters, one of which was long enough that it should’ve been split into two. A large part of the letter is once again Paul proclaiming himself to be the head of the church, and trying to justify that. And, of course, changing the teachings of Christ to better match up with his own personal beliefs.
All in all, I’d say to skip this book like the plague.
EEEGAH!!!!

Up next: 2 Corinthians

New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Monday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.


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Weekly Archive

Posted on July 18, 2010 by | Leave a comment
  • Hello new followers, thanks for adding me! I hope I won't bore you. :) #
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  • RT @algore 2010 setting up to be a record setting year http://bit.ly/9ALFXQ <– EEK! Though one year might just be a blip. #
  • Corrected this for you, @twistedxtian: Being up in Canada makes EVERYTHING tougher though. #
  • #saysitall RT @denverpost Ted Haggard's growing new church to move to a Colo. Springs performing arts center: http://bit.ly/bRjFBW #
  • If I were single, I'd have had a special moment: the woman in front of me ordered the exact same b'fast sandwich as me. #
  • If I were single, I'd have had a special moment: the woman in front of me ordered the exact same b'fast sandwich as me. #
  • RT @FrankConniff Teabaggers so upset NAACP called them racists, they sobbed while reciting pledge of allegiance 2 confederate flag. #tcot #
  • RT @Chris_Eh_Young Life is to be enjoyed. Let yourself go once in a while. Step away from regret and just do it. #
  • Damn, I don't cuss enough anymore -> RT @WeeLaura Fuck yeah! @omarg The three cursingest people I follow #fbombfollowwednesday #
  • Switched from #linuxmint to #macos on my work computer. Miss Mint, but there are some things that are easier to do in OS X #
  • RT @FrankConniff If Bristol #Palin #039;s love is as vast as her mother's stupidity, then her marriage to Levi Johnson will last forever. #
  • Discussing Paul and sexism w/ @melsite1, found creepy Ephesians 5:33: "let the wife see that she fear/revere her husband." #
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  • (No subject header) #
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  • #creepy A fifth-grade teacher anointed students with "holy" oil. A *public school* teacher. http://bit.ly/dAShiX #
  • RT @AtheistDamsel @distroia: "A bunch of stupid atheists!" http://tinyurl.com/38b8woc <– I actually know people like this… #
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  • Watching Buzz Out Loud's coverage of Apple's iPhone press conference. Can @mollywood keep her cool? http://bit.ly/bdPEcw #
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  • Only the cool people get to call me Biffster. Cool like you! #

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