by highdose 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I hate Paul. He hated women, was a control freak, and begat the patriarchy - which down through time engendered the inquisition, and many other atrocities, not to mention he's one of the cornerstones of the fundamentalists brand of religion today. It seems to me Paul's teachings fit more into the old testament style than the new. There's a total disconnect between his teachings and Jesus'.
Ada
"I do not permit a woman to teach."
Oh yeah.
Gotta love that Paul.
om
I don't know if it is worth repeating, since so many people obviously want to keep their "hero" and "villain" figures intact at all costs, but a lot of what they hate in Paul is probably not from Paul (e.g. the anti-feminist rhetorics of the Pastorals or the addition to 1 Corinthians 14, v. 33f), and what they love in the Gospels "Jesus" and oppose to Paul (e.g. freedom from the Law) probably echoes Pauline theology more than the teaching of some early 1st century rabbi in Palestine... to me it mostly shows that the narrative genre of the Gospels is infinitely more effective than the rhetorical genre of the epistles, which requires more intellectual effort.
Paul is first of all a thinker. And a fairly original one at that. You may disagree with what he thinks and dislike how he thinks, but you have to think along with him to be able to assess and criticise his thinking in a meaningful way. I would advise not to dwell too much on the "parenetic" or "practical" sections of his work (from which most "regulations" are drawn, and are actually the least characteristic part of his work when compared to comporaneous literature) and focus on the "doctrinal" parts (even if you are not particularly interested in religious doctrine). Romans 1--11 for instance. Paul's way of thinking is remarkably new and quite an event in the history of ideas, beyond religion proper, as a number of non-religious thinkers recognise (e.g. http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Paul-Foundation-Universalism-Cultural/dp/0804744718)
Didn't Paul say that we should stone men that had long hair?
I'm off to kill Kenny G, Slash and Michael Bay (he doesn't have long hair; but his movies suck and he needs to disappear).
RAB
I agree, any "smooth jazz" artist should be stoned, especially Kenny G
Bring back Miles Davis and John Coltrane...
All the best,
Stephen
surely Pauls words were far simpler then the Apostle John
When I think of Paul I think of redemption, even for the worse of Us ( for Paul certainly was that, he was a persecutor, a torturer), I think of God's unconditional love ie: Grace, I think of Jesus as our saviour, and I think fo these words by Paul:
"Love, hope and faith and of the greatest of these is Love".
