All Episodes
Salt of the Earth
If an author writes the words, “red lead,” is she directing a person named Red to lead a group of people or is she referring to a lead based substance that is colored ...
Scripture as a Totality
Fr. Paul reviews interconnected terminology, geographic references, and narrative themes in the Bible that point to Scripture as a totality. (Episode 34) This week'...
Blessings and Insults
The suffering of others should make us feel ashamed. When we see a neighbor in need, in poor health, overcome by calamity or besieged by violence, their burden is both...
Clarity of Purpose
Hunger and thirst are clarifying. When you are desperate for a drink of water, or you have not eaten in days, your biological needs control your actions. In turn, your...
The Chicken or the Egg?
Fr. Paul explains the terms flock and sheep and the problem individualism poses for our hearing of Scripture. (Episode 32)
The Fruit of the Spirit
When we hear the Beatitudes for the first time, it's tempting to philosophize—about poverty, humility, sadness, etc.—as though the Beatitudes themselves are a bunch of...
Direct My Footsteps
When we talk about behavior, we imagine that a degree of separation exists between our thoughts and our actions—as the saying goes, between mind and body—but this is i...
Nets of Our Own Making
Man toils in his service, acts on his behalf, and slaves for personal gain. Even when he strives to gather food for his family, the human being does so selfishly—for h...
On the Margin
The first three chapters of Matthew portray a confrontation between the God of Abraham and the many false gods and kings that rule the earth. Even as these kings—repre...
To Be, or Not to Be?
Fr. Paul discusses the biblical term exist and the problem of its conflation with the verb ”to be.” (Episode 28)
Jesus Does Not Speak
When a child reads a letter of St. Paul aloud in church, it does not matter if the child himself understands the reading, it only matters that he pronounce the text co...
King David
Fr. Paul discusses the meaning and development of King David’s character in the storyline of the Bible. (Episode 27)
W.W.J.B.?
To the extent that Christians believe in the power of their actions and the value of their ethics, it’s understandable why they would interpret the Bible as a set of m...
Eden and the Four Rivers
Fr. Paul discusses the four rivers that flow out of biblical Eden. (Episode 26)
The Axe is at the Root
It’s difficult for us to wrap our minds around, but the fact is, God does not need us. He does not need our abilities, our sentiments, our help, our efforts, our offer...
Lost in Translation
Fr. Paul explores the versatility of the term Eden and the loss of its literary interconnection in translation. (Episode 24)
Subjugation of Identity
People assert and impose an identity from their king, their nation, their city, their tribe, and their family—all of which are dismantled and repurposed in Matthew’s g...
Shepherdism
Fr. Paul talks about shepherdism in Greater Syria and it's significance for the Bible. (Episode 24)
A New Branch
When a person's behavior improves, we naturally speak of how they have grown or changed, when, what has changed is not the person, but the instruction that controls th...
It's Not a Fortune Cookie
Modern students of Scripture dumb down the power of the New Testament by dealing with the Old Testament as a kind of antiquated fortune cookie. They see a connection b...
The Liberation of Egypt
In secular ideology, we tend to depict everything as a struggle between bad actors and (so-called) good actors; between victims and oppressors. Thankfully, this self-r...
In Christ Jesus
Fr. Paul unpacks the literary function of the expression ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. (Episode 21)