Thoughts from My Corner of the World
PAUL'S LETTER: PERSONAL OR PASTORAL? Most of Paul’s letters were written to churches. That is not the case with the letters to Timothy and Titus. These letters – long identified as Pastoral Epistles – serve as a quasi-church manual for ministers in a local church setting. I am becoming more and more convinced that this... Continue Reading →
It has been a while since I posted. Family and holiday events have filled the last couple months. Plus, I enjoyed a trip south with my DIL to attend January Adventure held at the spectacular Epworth Retreat Center on St. Simon's Island in Georgia featuring guest speakers Brian McLaren and Wil Gafney. I plan to... Continue Reading →
STILL A LACK OF CONSENSUS Biblical scholars have yet to agree on what actually took place in the church at Ephesus that motivated Paul to write his first letter to Timothy. What issues or false teachings did Paul address? Since Paul did not state the problem clearly many speculate about the trouble in Ephesus. In... Continue Reading →
HAVE WE LOST OUR WAY? In “Cherry-Picking & Breadcrumbs, Part 1,” available here, I claimed that using a cherry-picking methodology to study through the letters of Timothy and Titus – mis/identified as church-manuals centuries ago – in order to solve the women-in-leadership issues in the church is undoubtedly one of the reasons we are unable... Continue Reading →
HOW “CHERRY-PICKING” MISSES PAUL’S MESSAGE IN 1 TIMOTHY Ever since the early 1700s three short books in the Bible – 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus – have been classified as Pastoral Epistles (PE), with 1 Timothy relied upon as the premier church manual for churches everywhere. Is this a misclassification that obscures Paul's message... Continue Reading →
In my Bib Research class in 2014, the professor assigned the task of selecting a scripture passage that would form the foundation for our final research project. I began listing subject after subject— theological matters that were of interest to me, while doggedly steering clear of all women’s issues. But a thought niggled its way... Continue Reading →