1st, 16th, or 21st Century?

One of the hot topics for us here ("us" refering to everyone here at L'Abri) has been the interpretation of Paul's writings. We've had numerous formal lunch conversations and even this morning it was the focus of the lecture at our chapel service. Obviously, you can see it a bit in our thoughts regarding Hannah's post last week.

The thing that has been so eye opening to us is that most of our contemporary understanding of Paul comes from the interpretation of the reformers of the 16th century. They were looking at the Pauline letter through the eyes of their time especially in regards to the Catholic church. And that still shapes our understanding of Paul today. In other words, we often read much of the new testament for the 21st century through 16th century eyes.

What really needs to happen is that we (in our best effort) read Pual's letters in 1st century eyes. What was the state of Judaism in that time? What were the big issues that Paul was addressing (i.e. covenant, exile, promise, sacrifice, etc.)? What did that mean to the Jews and the early followers of Christ. Then we can ask how that affects us today.

I (Micah) have been studying world views and world religions a bit and I'm reading about Judaism. It has already been a tremendous help as I engage in these discussions and listen to the lectures. Hannah has been studying more of the specifics of what Paul wrote at that time... the latest being Ephesians and Timothy... in regards to topics like slaves, women, and homosexuality.