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THEME III PAUL & JUSTICE SESSION 3.1 Baptism As New Creation RESOURCE GUIDE
THEME III PAUL & JUSTICE
SESSION 3.1Baptism As New Creation
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SESSION 3.1 BAPTISM AS NEW CREATIONIn Theme 3, Session 1, Dr. Crossan begins by reading a phrase from Romans 6:3-4. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” What does that mean?
1 Whenever you have heard “dying in Christ,” what have been your thoughts? What have you understood the expression to mean? Have you ever had a clear thought about it?
2 How do you understand Dr. Crossan’s statement, “Early Christian baptism meant entering into Christ’s rejection of Roman values; dying to Roman values as Christ had died by Roman values.”
3 Dr. Crossan says that, for Paul, being baptized “in Christ” means dying to the values of Roman civilization. What are those Roman values?
4 What is your understanding of the fundamental model of Roman hierarchy?
5 How do you respond to Crossan’s suggestion that as “baptized Christians” we die to the hierarchies of normal civilization? How would such a thing show up in your life? In our lives together?
6 Dr. Crossan returns again to the Roman “mantra,” “Peace through Victory.” Compare this Roman belief with the “myth of redemptive violence.”
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THE CHALLENGE OF PAUL 2PAUL & JUSTICE: SESSION 3.1
THEME III PAUL & JUSTICE
SESSION 3.2War and Slavery
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SESSION 3.2 WAR AND SLAVERYIn Theme 3, Session 2, Dr. Crossan begins by saying, “It is fascinating to read the Greek philosopher Aristotle on slavery in the 4 th century BCE. He says that It is always fascinating to watch the human mind trying to justify the unjustifiable, or pardon the unpardonable. It is especially revealing to see a great mind trying to do that.” Dr. Crossan is referring to Aristotle’s view on slavery.
1 Often called the “father” of Philosophy, Aristotle (3 rd c. BCE) apparently looked around him and said (paraphrase), “I guess some humans are meant for freedom and others for slavery. That’s just the way it is.” Do you agree with that? Don’t just think of actual “slavery.” Think also of “enslavement.”
2 Are you aware of any particular feelings you have when the subject of “slavery” comes up whether it’s about ancient slave practice or American practice? Do you notice any differences in your own response to either one? Dr. Crossan flatly states that you get slaves through war. Do you agree? Disagree?
3 Dr. Crossan claims that the Roman Empire was literally built on the backs of slaves. How does his statement “sit” with you? Which of the following are you more likely to say in response to Dr. Crossan’s claim: A. “Here we go again”; B. “What do you expect me to do about stuff like this?” C. “I don’t like it, but I don’t see how it will ever change.” Or D. “It’s got to change.”
4 Crossan says, “According to Paul, Christians cannot have slaves.” He further claims that Paul makes it clear that as baptized Christians, he expects Christians to actively resist the empire or the domination systems of their own time. As you listened to and watched this session, did you experience frustration? Confusion? Resentment? Hopelessness? Hope? Think about why.
5 “In the 13 letters of Paul,” says Dr. Crossan, we can actually watch the devolution or deradicalization of the radical Paul back into Roman normalcy. Where do you see this process in Colossians, Ephesians, and Thessalonians? Where do you see this deradicalization of Paul in 1 st and 2 nd Timothy, and Titus?
6 What do you think you will take away from participating in this session?
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THE CHALLENGE OF PAUL 4PAUL & JUSTICE: SESSION 3.2
THEME III PAUL & JUSTICE
SESSION 3.3War and Patriarchy
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SESSION 3.3 WAR AND PATRIARCHYA beloved professor of religion at a notable liberal arts college a hundred years ago would often say to his students, “Easy, don’t rock the boat. Take a breath. Let’s figure this out.” He said this whenever he was going to talk about one of the “sacred” cows of the prevailing culture. In this session, Dr. Crossan says that while he can’t say exactly how and why it is, he suspects that there is an inevitable link between war and patriarchy.
1 RE. Not rocking the boat. As adults, we can allow others to express feelings and thoughts we might personally find objectionable. That said, what is your initial response? When Crossan speaks of “the patriarchy,” what comes up for you? If we can agree that our common history is a story of “evolution,” does this make such a conversation more productive?
2 RE. Taking a breath. “Hot button” is a term we frequently hear about people’s emotional response to certain issues. Ask yourself, “In this discussion about ‘patriarchy,’ do I have a ‘hot button?’ ” Might it be useful to hear other people describe such “hot buttons” and how they operate in their lives? Think about times when you consider “hot buttons” to be a bad thing. Think about times when you think having a hot button can be a good thing?
3 Dr. Crossan claims that Paul is quite clear that women can be apostles as well as in charge of churches and missions. This is made clear in the list of females and males greeted in chapter 16 of Romans. Do the exercise Dr. Crossan suggests. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle; then put the cited females on one side and the cited males on the other. (Make certain to get the genders correct.) Read aloud what Paul says of each person as either female or male. Since the first century, what happened to women’s leadership roles in the church. Why?
4 Why does Ephesians 5:22-33 stand in direct conflict with the teachings of the authentic Paul as found in Romans, Galatians, 1 st and 2 nd Corinthians, Philippians, Philemon, and 1 st Thessalonians? Why was the subjugation of women necessary?
5 Is war inevitable? Do you think there are any “real” alternatives? Do you think that we are trapped in a war cycle?
6 Paul and Dr. Crossan both insist that the only way to lasting peace is through “justice.” What does this mean to you?
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THE CHALLENGE OF PAUL 6PAUL & JUSTICE: SESSION 3.3
THEME III PAUL & JUSTICE
SESSION 3.4Saint Thecla
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SESSION 3.4 SAINT THECLAMeet Saint Thecla. In Theme 3, Session 4, Dr. Crossan explains what women thought about Paul … Not now in the present, but then, in the past, beginning in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Dr. Crossan introduces Thecla and reminds us that “she is a teenager around thirteen years of age. Thecla is depicted as a nubile virgin, a young women ready for marriage (hence unveiled breasts) but not yet married (hence unveiled hair).
In this session, Dr. Crossan asks, “What happens when such a young woman, having heard Paul’s preaching and his description of the alternative life of celibate asceticism, informs her father (remember “paterfamilias”) that she will not be passed from the power of her father to the power of a husband without having anything to say in the matter? What happens when a teenager defies both paternal authority and “patriarchal normalcy in her society?”
1 In the first few minutes of this session, Dr. Crossan says emphatically, “I want to know what a woman THEN, not NOW, thought about Paul.” Now that you have seen this session, The Case for Thecla, why do you think he wants to emphasize this so much?
2 Dr. Crossan describes the primary story line as, “A nubile teenage girl’s statement to her father, ‘I will not be passed from the power of my father to the power of a husband without my having say in the matter .’” A paraphrase might be, “I’m not going to do as you say and live like that.” How do you think Thecla’s father, and the other fathers throughout their community, reacted to her response? What happens when a teenager defies both paternal authority in her family and patriarchal normalcy in her society?
3 In Dr. Crossan’s “Seven Acts of Thecla,” what role does God play? Compare your response with those of the others in your class.
4 As you watched this session, did you find yourself having any particular emotional responses? If so, what was they and how do you understand this response?
5 After seeing this session of “The Challenge of Paul,” reflect on your own parenting of both female and male children. How can you imagine this discussion affecting your own parenting approach?
6 In The Acts of Thecla, God repeatedly saves Thecla from execution. Why is this an important part of the story?
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THE CHALLENGE OF PAUL 8PAUL & JUSTICE: SESSION 3.4
7 Why did the ancients such as Tertullian, have such a problem about women teaching? Why do you think The Acts of Thecla were preserved by tucking them into the beginning of The Acts of Paul? How do you respond to Dr. Crossan’s closing statement that if you really want to see the authentic Paul, look at Thecla?
8 Dr. Crossan talks about Thecla’s Defile in Maaloula, the long narrow defile in the mountain where God closes the mountain in order for Thecla to escape from two rapists. Dr. Crossan explains that the significance of Thecla’s Defile in Maaloula, as of 2010, was a place where Muslim and Christian couples met side-by- side in a holy place. Why is this important and why at Thecla’s Defile?
9 Whether Thecla is parabolic history or even all parable, why has she been, and remains to this day, of great importance?
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THE CHALLENGE OF PAUL 9PAUL & JUSTICE: SESSION 3.4
