All Episodes
Necessity, the Mother of Obligation
In The Republic, the Platonic school discusses the origin of the state and the nature of human justice, implying that necessity drives the creation of human invention....
One of These Things
Things are never what they seem and your eyes can deceive you. Maybe that’s why Sesame Street was so important for so many of us growing up in the seventies.In 1968, J...
Needy Teachers
When you hear a parable on the lips of the Master, the worst thing you can possibly do is try to figure out what the parable means based on your understanding of the b...
If You Love Me
Institution and family (or tribe, or community, or friends, take your pick) are two sides of the same coin. Both mechanisms rely on ancient forms of currency to mainta...
Extrospection
What is self-righteousness? You hear the command of God, and refuse to introspect. You do not, as Paul teaches, “look to yourself.” You look to others. You gossip. You...
Excursus: Freedom in Christ
Father Marc Boulos provides an update on upcoming episodes of “The Bible as Literature Podcast” and makes an important announcement about Father Paul’s podcast series,...
How Could Architecture be Christian?
Years ago, when I worked in the city, I took perverse pleasure in the prophetic absurdity of a small, dilapidated, prewar brownstone jutting out against the pristine, ...
Paul Warned Us
The canon—not the text—of the Septuagint dates back only to the fourth century, to the area of, you guessed it, Alexandria. The canon—not the text—of the Septuagint co...
Origen Was a Monster
Imagine a monster whose primary interest is to embrace philosophy and then power—Roman power, Greco-Roman power, and Greek philosophy, in other words, human power.Orig...
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Resist
No statement more fully captures the anti-scriptural sadism of colonial solipsism than the American expression, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Unless, of course, t...
Stop Preaching Your Gods
It gets so old—your universal declarations, your philosophies, your ideologies, your heightened sensibilities, your values, your propaganda, your Kool-Aid. Your gods. ...
You Become What You Accept
Every immigrant, every minority, and every colonized person living under a human boot faces the same dilemma: how to live without imitating or accepting the ways of th...
Against Consensus
There is nothing like a cup of Turkish Coffee. That’s not an opinion. It’s an observation of fact. The local Starbucks does not serve Turkish Coffee.That’s why I never...
The Bible is Making Fun of You
The Bible, Fr. Paul explains, is a holy joke. That’s a big relief. Even hopeful. Looking around, I see that the current state of affairs is an unholy joke.Truly, if th...
A Maskil
Code Pink! Code Pink!People are running around with blinders on! It appears they’ve been reading English translations of the Septuagint!Half keep referring to somethin...
Lie to Yourself, Please
Scripture unmasks your illusions. Religion, family, friends, ideas, institutions, nations, individuals, “isms” of every school—all your human ideals and beliefs are a ...
Facts Not Narratives
This week, a few listeners reached out to wish me well on my sabbatical or to ask what I plan to do with my free time. First, please be assured that I will not be eati...
In Time and Out of Time
This week, Fr. Paul refers to the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, noting a disciple’s duty to take every single opportunity at every moment to channel the content of...
Scripture is its Own Interpreter
“Scripture,” Fr. Paul wrote years ago, “is its own interpreter.”“The sermon,” he continued,“…is at best an invitation to hear and obey the text.”“An invitation card ha...
Poor Josiah
This week, Fr. Paul notes the function of the two versions of the Ten Commandments in Exodus and Numbers and the futility of the so-called “Deuteronomic Reform.” (Epis...
Uncle Saleḥ
In view of current events, I am convinced that people who continue to insist upon the language of post-modernism are guilty of murder. A bullet is not a narrative. A c...
The Anti-Kingly Stance
This week, Fr. Paul highlights several key features—not only of the Book of Numbers—but also of the Pentateuch. Most notably, he points out that in all five books, God...
I Reject Your Gods
With all the silly memes floating around the internet about how to “live” your best life or how to live a “good” life, it was inevitable that people would talk about u...
Practical Examples
For years, Fr. Paul has stressed that the only way to teach Scripture is by giving practical examples. Scripture is practical knowledge. From an early age, he explains...
Respect
A prophet gathered people to do difficult, painful, and dangerous work, which was to be carried out according to specific instructions.He said, “I am going to do this ...
The Hebrew Names
This week, Fr. Paul moves from his discussion of Leviticus to the book of Numbers, but not before a brief excursus to unpack the original Hebrew names of the books of ...
We, the Dummies
Speak, be silent, have your discourse, hold your discourse, mansplain, or be ever so polite and attentive. Gossip, hold your tongue, roll it around seven times seventy...
Give the Land a Break
This week, Fr. Paul explains that God learned his lesson in Leviticus, where the land is not cursed, as it was in Genesis, but granted rest to enjoy its sabbaths—a res...