Fallen Into Knowledge

{If you downloaded the schedule for this lenten reading, be aware that I forgot to include Philemon and the Peters in the schedule (as well as Esther, but we’re well past that now) and so in order to include them I am fiddling with the schedule from now until Saturday}

In light of the previous post, the rhetorical moves that Paul makes in the book of Philemon are very interesting. Some of them are obvious (I say nothing about your owing me even your own self), and some less so. A less obvious move:

Paul lays the characters in the Philemon - Onesimus saga over the roles in the story of the Cross, so that Philemon - rhetorically speaking - occupies Christ’s role. As such, Philemon has the opportunity to redeem Onesimus as he himself had been redeemed.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

by means of several allusions to Deuteronomy in this passage - on is highlighted, but there are more - Paul draws parallels between the Exodus and our experience of leaving the “world” to join together with Christ. Paul does this - that is, draws parallels between the exodus and the church by means of allusions to the Pentateuch - consistently in Titus.

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

That scripture is authoritative for the church is tautological, and has been commented on many a time. The second half of this verse, it seems, receives less comment: Scripture has an appropriate function in the church. That is, when we use scripture in the church toward these ends, it is appropriate. It may be inappropriate (bad) to use scripture toward other ends. These two things: Scripture’s authority and appropriate use sets limits on the place of the Bible within the church. We cannot deem it less than authoritative on the one hand, and on the other we cannot deem it to be more than a tool by which we are shaped into Christ’s likeness.

Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling …

While reading through Paul’s letters I have been struck again at how holiness - or righteous living - has mostly to do with treating people well. More specifically, I have noticed two trends: 1) The lists of virtues and vices that are scattered through the Pauline corpus are nearly always social in nature, and 2) language use is a key battleground in the struggle toward righteousness.
For Paul, the harmony and the unity of the Church is of utmost importance, and we threaten those things primarily though the ways we speak (or fail to).