We enter chapter 5 in the middle of a thought from Paul because (reminder!) this is a continuous letter being interrupted by chapter breaks that was meant to be read as a whole. This chapter is heavy. It’s where we get many of those lists of dos and don’ts. And this dualistic language, fruits of the flesh vs. fruits of the spirit, can be really harmful when read and interpreted out of context. We gotta look at this from the perspective of Paul framing an argument, using examples, imploring new Christians to live into this community, and wrestling with the trauma that came from the religion that he left. We talk about Paul’s continuous dialogue about circumcision and why he’s really the worst kind of convert… But how we can’t get rid of him completely because he does have an important message in there!
Resources:
- A Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Teaches Us About The New Testament, Dr. Amy Jill Levine Podcast Episode
- Digging the Details, on demand workshop
- Journey Into the Bible, on demand course
- Join the online community Sanctuary Collective
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Episode transcript