Pl the Apostle is often brand as a patriarchal misogynist who hated all gays. But dig to his letters and you'll fd an tense votn to erasg all forms of opprsn.
Contents:
- WAS THE APOSTLE PL GAY?
- WAS J GAY? PROBABLY
- J AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN
- UPDATED: CATHOLIC BISHOP: HOMOSEXUALY IS FE; SOME OF THE APOSTL MAY HAVE BEEN “GAY”
- 21 GAY POPES, CARDINALS AND ASSORTED CATHOLIC LEADERS.
- WERE ANY APOSTL GAY
- THE (POSSIBLY) GAY, ELE APOSTLE WHO BELIEVED RADIL EQUALY FOR ALL'ALL OF THESE ARE ONE'PL THE APOSTLE IS OFTEN BRAND AS A PATRIARCHAL MISOGYNIST WHO HATED ALL GAYS. BUT DIG TO HIS LETTERS AND YOU'LL FD AN TENSE VOTN TO ERASG ALL FORMS OF OPPRSN.JAY PARIPUBLISHED APR. 20, 2019 11:22PM EDT PUBLIC DOMADURG THE PAST , IF NOT BEFORE, I’VE BEEN WRTLG WH AN ANGEL: PL THE APOSTLE. I’VE BEEN READG THE LETTERS OF PL TENSELY OM THE TIME I WAS A YOUNG MAN, DRAWN BY HIS WILD AND VISNARY SENSE OF REALY, HIS “VENTN” OF CHRISTIANY, HIS EXAMPLE AS A MAN WHO MOVED THROUGH THE WI SMOPOLAN WORLD OF THE FIRST CENTURY WHOUT THE SLIGHTT FEAR OF NSEQUENC. (IN THIS, HE’S VERY DIFFERENT OM ME AND, I SPECT, MOST OF !) AS EASTER APPROACH, I BEG TO THK ABOUT WHAT PL SAID WHEN HE URGED TO “TAKE ON THE MD OF CHRIST” [PHILIPPIANS 2.5], WHICH HIS THEOLOGY MEANS ENTERG PLETELY TO THIS SMIC SPIR SO THAT THE SPIR SELF BE PART OF . MY OWN SPIRUAL JOURNEY HAS BEEN A TEXTUAL ONE PART, LIVG THE GOSPELS AND LETTERS OF PL AS A REAR, DIGGG TO THE GREEK WORDS THEMSELV TO UNEARTH THEIR FULL MEANG. THIS WORK, MOST RECENTLY, HAS LED TO A SERI OF 21 LECTUR THAT I RERD SOME MONTHS AGO ABOUT J, PL, AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. AND I HAVE JT PUBLISHED THE DAMASC ROAD: A NOVEL OF SAT PL. IN THIS NOVEL, I WRE AS PL THE FIRST PERSON, UNTERG OR “RRECTG” HIS NARRATIVE WH THAT OF HIS TRAVELG PANN, LE, WHO WROTE THE GOSPEL OF LE AND, OF URSE, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTL, THE LATTER BEG AN ACUNT OF THEIR MISSNARY JOURNEYS THROUGH THE ROMAN WORLD—A JOURNEY THAT END WH THE MARTYRDOM OF PL ROME AROUND THE TIME OF THE GREAT FIRE OF 64 A.C.E. LE’S OL-HEAD VIEW OF WHAT WAS HAPPENG STANDS (AT LEAST MY NOVEL) NTRAST TO PL’S MAD VISNARY RHETORIC, AS EMBODIED HIS LETTERS. TO WRE THIS, I HAD TO SK TO THE PHYSIL AS WELL AS MENTAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MEN, TRAVELG TO THE HOLY LANDS (WHAT I LL PALTE THE NOVEL, AS ALL OF THIS REGN WAS LLED ROMAN TIM), TO THE JORDANIAN SERT, TO ASIA MOR OR WHAT IS NOW TURKEY, TO GREECE AND ITALY. I FOLLOWED AS BT I ULD THE FOOTSTEPS OF PL, HOPG TO SUMMON THAT WORLD IMAG, TRYG AT ALL TIM TO REMD MYSELF HOW THE PLAC WOULD HAVE PLAYED ON THE FIVE SENS, WH S TGLG ATMOSPHERE OF HERBS AND SPIC, WILD FLOWERS, SH THE STREETS, YG BODI, BRILLIANT SUNSHE ON THE SEA, AND EVERGREEN FORTS AS EP AS ONE N IMAGE. THIS WAS AN TELLECTUAL JOURNEY AS WELL AS A PHYSIL ONE. LIKE PLATO, PL WAS A FOUNDG THKER THE WT. IN FACT, I BEGAN TO WRE THIS NOVEL AFTER READG AGA THROUGH THE DIALOGU OF PLATO—ALWAYS A TEXT I RETURN TO FOR SPIRATN AND BRACG MENTAL EXERCISE. I REALIZED HOW MANY OF PLATO’S IAS, EVEN PHRAS, HAD SUNK TO PL’S UNNSC. HE SUALLY QUOT OM THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER THROUGHOUT HIS LETTERS. THE VERY IA OF THE ETERNAL SOUL WAS, OF URSE, ILLUMED BY PLATO, AND PL RAN WH THIS, CREATG A PLATONIC THEOLOGY. IT’S IMPORTANT TO RELL THAT PL WAS A GREEK-SPEAKG JEW, BORN TARS (NOW TURKEY), PRIVATELY TED THERE BY GREEK-FLUENCED TUTORS—THE LATTER IS AN ASSUMPTN, BUT ONE THAT SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE, GIVEN HIS EDN, HIS MAND OF GREEK PROSE, HIS RANGE OF ALLN. HIS STAT AS ONE OF THE ELE IS EVINT THE FACT THAT HE “TRANSFERRED” TO THE AMY N BY GAMALIEL JESALEM AS A YOUNG MAN. ONLY THE CHILD OF A WEALTHY FAY WOULD HAVE BEEN SHIPPED TO A FAR-OFF UNTRY TO STUDY UNR A MAJOR SCHOLAR LIKE GAMALIEL, THE GRANDSON OF HILLEL—THE FAMO JEWISH SAGE. BUT WHAT MOSTLY DREW ME TO PL WAS HIS VISN OF EQUALY—NOT WHAT ONE UALLY THKS ABOUT WHEN ONE THKS OF PL. INED, MANY IENDS WHO HEARD I WAS WRG ABOUT PL RAISED AN EYEBROW OR TWO, SAYG: WASN’T HE A PATRIARCHAL MISOGYNIST WHO HATED ALL GAYS?MY ANSWER, VARIABLY, WAS NO! NO! NO!PL’S CHIEF IA WAS THIS, AS FOUND GALATIANS 3:28: “IN CHRIST THERE IS NEHER JEW NOR GENTILE, NEHER SLAVE NOR EE MAN, NEHER MALE NOR FEMALE. IN CHRIST, ALL OF THE ARE ONE.” FOR ME, THIS IS THE KEY VERSE THE ENTIRE NEW TTAMENT.BOLDLY, PL ERASED THE MOST CCIAL BARRIERS OF HIS DAY. HIMSELF A JEW, A MEMBER OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAM, A PHARISEE BY AFFILIATN, HE TOOK THE GOOD NEWS (AS HE LLED ) TO THE WT, UNRSTANDG THAT IF THE WAY OF J WERE TO PROSPER, WOULD HAVE TO GO BEYOND THIS POWERFUL BOUNDARY. IN THIS, HE FOUGHT AGAST THE CHURCH JESALEM, LED BY JAM, THE BROTHER OF J, WHO WISHED ONLY FOR THE WAY TO REMA A KD OF HYPER-JEWISH SECT VOTED TO THE STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE LAW OF MOS. HAD JAM WON OUT OVER PL, CHRISTIANY WOULD SOON HAVE DWDLED TO A TY GROUP THE HOLY LAND, ONE THAT WOULD SOON BE OVERRIDN, OBLERATED BY TIME AND CIRCUMSTANC.NEEDLS TO SAY, PL CHALLENGED CLASS DIVISNS WHEN HE ERASED THE BOUNDARI BETWEEN SLAVE AND EE MAN. REMEMBER THAT HALF OF THE PEOPLE ONE MET THE ANCIENT WORLD WERE SLAV. PL WOULD HAVE GROWN UP WH A HOEFUL FULL OF SLAV WHO FETCHED WATER, BOUGHT FOOD THE MARKET, OKED AND CLEANED, RAISED THE CHILDREN, AND SO FORTH. MOST OF THE PEOPLE WORKG FOR PL’S FATHER HIS TENT-MAKG BS TARS WOULD HAVE BEEN SLAV. AND SLAV WERE VISIBLE, NOT REALLY PEOPLE, HARDLY CREATUR POSSSN OF A “SOUL” OR— GREEK—PSYCHE. PL DIDN’T WANT TO SEE DIVISNS AMONG THE CLASS, BELIEVG THAT ENLIGHTENMENT (A WORD I PREFER OVER THE LS TERTG AND MISLEADG TERM “SALVATN”) WOULD E TO EVERYONE THE END, SLAV AS WELL AS EE MEN AND WOMEN.WHICH BRGS , CCIALLY, TO MEN AND WOMEN. PL HAD NO DOUBT THAT WOMEN WERE EQUAL TO MEN THE SIGHT OF GOD, THE MD OF CHRIST. THE WORLD OF EARLY CHRISTIANY WAS LARGELY FANCED AND LED BY WOMEN, CLUDG THE POWERFUL PHOEBE, LYDIA, AND PRISCILLA. PHOEBE IS SCRIBED AS A PRIDG OFFICER THE EARLY MOVEMENT, A AN, A DOMANT FIGURE. SHE ULD EASILY BE SEEN AS THE FIRST POPE, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO SUCH OFFIC AS THE CHURCH WAS NOT AN OFFICIAL BODY BUT A LOOSE AGGREGATN OF GATHERGS WH NO HARD L OR CLEAR THEOLOGY. INED, PL SENT HIS MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF WRG, AN EPISTLE TO THE ROMAN GATHERG, THE POSSSN OF PHOEBE, THIS SPIRED WOMAN OF THE WORLD WHO TRAVELED WILY AND KNEW EVERY LEAR THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PATRIARCHAL PL WHO SAID WOMEN SHOULDN’T SPEAK CHURCH? THERE ARE TWO MENTNS OF THIS, ONE THE 14TH CHAPTER OF 1 CORTHIANS, ONE 1 TIMOTHY. THE FORMER IS WILY NSIRED A LATER ADDN, AN “TERPOLATN” BY EDORS. IN THIS SE, THE ASSERTN THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE SILENT WILDLY TERPTS THE FLOW OF THE PASSAGE, WHICH IS WHOLE WHOUT . AND THE FAMO REMARK IS NOT PRENT SEVERAL EARLY MANCRIPTS OF THIS LETTER. FURTHERMORE, THE JUNCTN NTRADICTS THE MA THST OF THE EPISTLE, WHERE ( 1 CORTHIANS 11:5) PL SAYS THAT WOMEN SHOULD “PROPHY AND PRAY” CHURCH. IT JT MAK NO LOGIL SENSE FOR PL TO FOLLOW WH A MAND FOR THEM TO REMA SILENT: THIS WAS AN EDORIAL HAND AT WORK, MUCH LATER. AND THE MATTER OF 1 TIMOTHY IS EASILY DISRD AS NOT SOMETHG WRTEN BY PL HIMSELF.PL ONLY WROTE SEVEN LETTERS THAT SURVIVE: ROMANS, 1 AND 2 CORTHIANS, GALATIANS, 1 THSALONIANS, PHILIPPIANS, AND PHILEMON. THE REMAG SIX LETTERS ARE “SCHOOL OF PL,” WRTEN MUCH LATER. TO ANYONE WHO READS GREEK, THE DIFFERENCE PROSE STYLE IS OBV—GARRY WILLS BURROWS TO THIS WH MON SENSE WHAT PL MEANT (2006). THE DIFFERENC BETWEEN THE TWO CLUMPS OF LETTERS IS PROFOUND: THEY E OM WILDLY DIFFERENT WORLDS, WH DIFFERENT UNRLYG ASSUMPTNS. A ANTIC EFFORT WAS UNRWAY ON THE PART OF SOME WH THE EVOLVG MOVEMENT TO KEEP THE PATRIARCHAL PRACTIC OF JUDAISM AND THE ROMAN WORLD PLACE. HENCE THE “PASTORAL EPISTL,” 1 AND 2 TIMOTHY, WHICH ARE VERY LATE ED AS ADDNS TO THE NEW TTAMENT NON. “PL SENT HIS MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF WRG THE POSSSN OF PHOEBE, THIS SPIRED WOMAN OF THE WORLD WHO TRAVELED WILY AND KNEW EVERY LEAR THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT.” THERE IS ALSO THE PLITED MATTER OF PL’S SEXUALY. I TEND TO AGREE WH BISHOP JOHN SHELBY SPONG, A BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN AND CHURCH LEAR, WHO ARGU THAT PL WAS “A RIGIDLY NTROLLED GAY MALE,” AS HE WR RCUG THE BIBLE OM FUNDAMENTALISM (1991). BE THIS AS MAY, PL WAS CLEARLY AT WAR WH HIS OWN BODY, TORMENTED BY THE IA IF NOT THE REALY OF SEXUAL SIRE, AND EAGER TO WHDRAW TO THE PANY OF HIS MALE PANNS: LE, TIMOTHY, SILAS, AND OTHERS. HIS NFLICTED FEELGS ABOUT HIS OWN SEXUAL NATURE MAY ACUNT FOR THE “THORN HIS FLH” THAT HE WROTE ABOUT HIS SEND LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT CORTH. (2 CORTHIANS 12:7-9)IN MY VIEW, THE THENTIC PL WAS BATIVE, FIERCELY TELLECTUAL, PROBABLY PRSIVE, BI-SEXUAL OR GAY, A RADIL VISNARY WHO HAD A FIERY IMAGE HIS HEAD OF A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH. HE HAD A VISN OF WHAT MEANT TO TAKE ON THE FULL MD OF CHRIST, AND THIS VOLVED EMPTYG HIMSELF OUT THOROUGHLY, TAKG UP THE CROSS, WHICH FOR HIM MEANT FOLLOWG THE PATH OF SELF-ABANDONMENT, UNG WH THE MD OF CHRIST, WHERE EVERYTHG—MALE AND FEMALE, SLAVE AND EE MAN, JEW AND GENTILE—FDS RENCILIATN UNY WH GOD THE ETERNAL MOMENT OF RURRECTN. JAY PARI
WAS THE APOSTLE PL GAY?
<p><strong>Pl Otreicher:</strong> I preached on Good Friday that J's timacy wh John suggted he was gay as I felt eply had to be addrsed</p> * were any of the apostles gay *
Once unlocked, the msag not only cease to be hidn but they bee obv, glarg at the rear, who wonrs why such obv meangs had not been seen have suggted that that Pl was plagued by homosexual fears. This is not a new ia, and yet until recent years, when homosexualy began to shed some of s negative nnotatns, was an ia so repulsive to Christian people that uld not be breathed official circl.
When I did this for the first time, I was startled to see how much of Pl was unlocked and how eply I uld unrstand the power of the gospel that lerally saved Pl's I suggt the possibily that Pl was a homosexual person, I do not mean to be salac or tillatg or even to suggt somethg that many would nsir sndalo. The war that went on between what he sired wh his md and what he sired wh his body, his drivenns to a legalistic relign of ntrol, his fear when that system was threatened, his attu toward women, his refal to seek marriage an outlet for his passn-nothg else acunts for this data as well as the possibily that Pl was a gay 's relig tradn would clearly regard gay mal as aberrant, distorted, evil, and praved.
He dared to suggt that possibily and was met wh disda, as though he were simply out to much reflectn and wh certaly no wish to shock, I felt I was left wh no optn but to suggt, for the first time half a century of my Anglin prithood, that J may well have been homosexual. What matters this ntext is that there are many gay and lbian followers of J – ordaed and lay – who, spe the church, remarkably and humbly rema s fahful members. It seems clear now that this is ls a negative repudiatn of fay and more a posive exhortatn to jo affirmatn of a gay liftyle and is at least one new parable, that of the two young men.
WAS J GAY? PROBABLY
Before, one might have thought that, given Mary's virgy, Joseph's attu was reflectg the ambigui of his stat the fay; but now seems more probable that we have here a classic example of the Frdian triangle: over-posssive mother, hostile father, gay have we known so ltle about all of this before? The classilly ted Pl, who was himself gay, saw that same-sex activy was imil to the succs of Christiany the highly homophobic societi which he lived.
J AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN
Córdoba’s clarifitn, published by the Colombian Bishops Conference, me a day after he stated that homosexualy isn’t a s and that “we don’t know if one of J’ discipl” had a same-sex orientatn. Consir this news acunt of a Catholic bishop “sistg that beg homosexual is not a s [and sayg] ’s possible that one of the twelve apostl of J was gay or that Mary Magdalene, another key New Ttament figure, was a lbian. The piece reports that “Córdoba reerated Church teachg when to marriage – that ’s a unn between a man and a woman, permanent, and open to children – he said that homosexualy isn’t a s.
Córdoba asked those favor of the gay rights bill not to ll the opposn “relcrant, dosrs, vemen, retard, bee we also have the right to prent our ias and our emotns wh rpect.
Stggle agast his own homosexual sir an tolerant society may have spired Pl the Apostle to wre sublime Biblil teachgs on unndnal love and clivy — and also a few “clobber passag” ed by anti-LGBTQ bigots. Both Pl’s sense of unworths and his appreciatn for God’s grace may have the same unexpected e: Some scholars believe that Pl was a celibate homosexual man tryg to rencile fah and sexualy a culture that nmned same-sex attractn.
UPDATED: CATHOLIC BISHOP: HOMOSEXUALY IS FE; SOME OF THE APOSTL MAY HAVE BEEN “GAY”
“When I suggt the possibily that Pl was a homosexual person, I do not mean to be salac or tillatg or even to suggt somethg that many would nsir sndalo. The war that went on between what he sired wh his md and what he sired wh his body, his drivenns to a legalistic relign of ntrol, his fear when that system was threatened, his attu toward women, his refal to seek marriage as an outlet for his passn — nothg else acunts for this data as well as the possibily that Pl was a gay male. “The war gog on si of him is a fairly classic scriptn of what I have e to unrstand reprsed gay mal, ” Spong said a Los Angel Tim terview on Feb.
For Spong, the ntradictns fally ma sense when he first enuntered the possibily of Pl’s homosexualy the 1937 book “Sat Pl” by Brish theologian Arthur Darby Nock. There may also be a homoerotic ponent to Pl’s love for the risen Christ, as explored “Eros and the Christ: Longg and Envy Pl’s Christology” by David E. “To me is a betiful ia that a homosexual male, srned then as well as now, livg wh both the self-judgment and the social judgments that a fearful society has so often unknowgly pronounced upon the very beg of some s cizens, uld nohels, not spe of this but bee of this, be the one who would fe grace for Christian people.
“When I was young, would have given me enormo urage had I known that not jt once but twice the New Ttament honors a transgenr and homoerotic prophet by quotg him a posive ntext. … Acrdg to Greek sourc, Epimenis was the shaman who succsfully helped to rid Athens of a plague and who assisted the Athenian statman Solon his famo reforms, cludg the stutnalizatn of homoerotic love as was practiced Crete.
21 GAY POPES, CARDINALS AND ASSORTED CATHOLIC LEADERS.
The gay historil romance swch between their love affair soon after the ath of Christ and a story set the near future, when young prit Fn McDonagh fds the secret love letters om Pl to Timothy. This vivid historil fictn is said to clu a reverently homoerotic scriptn of Pl’s relatnship wh Timothy, pecially right after his circumcisn when Pl embrac and kiss him. ” Key reflectns ver two “clobber passag” that have been ed to nmn homosexualy (Rom 1:26-27 and 1 Cor 6:9) and monstrate the relevance of texts throughout the Pl’s wrg.
Tradnal and alternative sats, people the Bible, LGBT and queer martyrs, thors, theologians, relig lears, artists, i and other figur of special tert to lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people and our alli are vered. For almost the entire 2, 000 years of rerd Christian history, the apostle Pl’s nmnatn of all typ of homosexual practice was nsired an unqutnable fact of biblil teachg.
Not until the sexual revolutn of the 1960s did “gay liberatn theologians” emerge to dispute and distort the pla readg of Scripture on this subject. ”- “Every major dictnary of New Ttament Greek or Classil Greek unrstood Pl’s key vobulary ( particular, the word arsenoko) to refer to men engagg homosexual acts. Furthermore, the historic theologil nsens exprsed no distctn between exploative (prostutn, rape, perasty, promiscuy, sex slav) and nonexploative (nsensual, mted, monogamo) forms of homosexualy.
WERE ANY APOSTL GAY
We will be examg two particular Ple passag wh an emphasis on the Greek word “arsenoko” (plural, arsenokoai), which is properly translated as homosexual. The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners [malakoi], practicg homosexuals [arsenokoai], thiev, the greedy, dnkards, the verbally abive, and swdlers will not her the kgdom of God.
THE (POSSIBLY) GAY, ELE APOSTLE WHO BELIEVED RADIL EQUALY FOR ALL'ALL OF THESE ARE ONE'PL THE APOSTLE IS OFTEN BRAND AS A PATRIARCHAL MISOGYNIST WHO HATED ALL GAYS. BUT DIG TO HIS LETTERS AND YOU'LL FD AN TENSE VOTN TO ERASG ALL FORMS OF OPPRSN.JAY PARIPUBLISHED APR. 20, 2019 11:22PM EDT PUBLIC DOMADURG THE PAST , IF NOT BEFORE, I’VE BEEN WRTLG WH AN ANGEL: PL THE APOSTLE. I’VE BEEN READG THE LETTERS OF PL TENSELY OM THE TIME I WAS A YOUNG MAN, DRAWN BY HIS WILD AND VISNARY SENSE OF REALY, HIS “VENTN” OF CHRISTIANY, HIS EXAMPLE AS A MAN WHO MOVED THROUGH THE WI SMOPOLAN WORLD OF THE FIRST CENTURY WHOUT THE SLIGHTT FEAR OF NSEQUENC. (IN THIS, HE’S VERY DIFFERENT OM ME AND, I SPECT, MOST OF !) AS EASTER APPROACH, I BEG TO THK ABOUT WHAT PL SAID WHEN HE URGED TO “TAKE ON THE MD OF CHRIST” [PHILIPPIANS 2.5], WHICH HIS THEOLOGY MEANS ENTERG PLETELY TO THIS SMIC SPIR SO THAT THE SPIR SELF BE PART OF . MY OWN SPIRUAL JOURNEY HAS BEEN A TEXTUAL ONE PART, LIVG THE GOSPELS AND LETTERS OF PL AS A REAR, DIGGG TO THE GREEK WORDS THEMSELV TO UNEARTH THEIR FULL MEANG. THIS WORK, MOST RECENTLY, HAS LED TO A SERI OF 21 LECTUR THAT I RERD SOME MONTHS AGO ABOUT J, PL, AND THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. AND I HAVE JT PUBLISHED THE DAMASC ROAD: A NOVEL OF SAT PL. IN THIS NOVEL, I WRE AS PL THE FIRST PERSON, UNTERG OR “RRECTG” HIS NARRATIVE WH THAT OF HIS TRAVELG PANN, LE, WHO WROTE THE GOSPEL OF LE AND, OF URSE, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTL, THE LATTER BEG AN ACUNT OF THEIR MISSNARY JOURNEYS THROUGH THE ROMAN WORLD—A JOURNEY THAT END WH THE MARTYRDOM OF PL ROME AROUND THE TIME OF THE GREAT FIRE OF 64 A.C.E. LE’S OL-HEAD VIEW OF WHAT WAS HAPPENG STANDS (AT LEAST MY NOVEL) NTRAST TO PL’S MAD VISNARY RHETORIC, AS EMBODIED HIS LETTERS. TO WRE THIS, I HAD TO SK TO THE PHYSIL AS WELL AS MENTAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MEN, TRAVELG TO THE HOLY LANDS (WHAT I LL PALTE THE NOVEL, AS ALL OF THIS REGN WAS LLED ROMAN TIM), TO THE JORDANIAN SERT, TO ASIA MOR OR WHAT IS NOW TURKEY, TO GREECE AND ITALY. I FOLLOWED AS BT I ULD THE FOOTSTEPS OF PL, HOPG TO SUMMON THAT WORLD IMAG, TRYG AT ALL TIM TO REMD MYSELF HOW THE PLAC WOULD HAVE PLAYED ON THE FIVE SENS, WH S TGLG ATMOSPHERE OF HERBS AND SPIC, WILD FLOWERS, SH THE STREETS, YG BODI, BRILLIANT SUNSHE ON THE SEA, AND EVERGREEN FORTS AS EP AS ONE N IMAGE. THIS WAS AN TELLECTUAL JOURNEY AS WELL AS A PHYSIL ONE. LIKE PLATO, PL WAS A FOUNDG THKER THE WT. IN FACT, I BEGAN TO WRE THIS NOVEL AFTER READG AGA THROUGH THE DIALOGU OF PLATO—ALWAYS A TEXT I RETURN TO FOR SPIRATN AND BRACG MENTAL EXERCISE. I REALIZED HOW MANY OF PLATO’S IAS, EVEN PHRAS, HAD SUNK TO PL’S UNNSC. HE SUALLY QUOT OM THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER THROUGHOUT HIS LETTERS. THE VERY IA OF THE ETERNAL SOUL WAS, OF URSE, ILLUMED BY PLATO, AND PL RAN WH THIS, CREATG A PLATONIC THEOLOGY. IT’S IMPORTANT TO RELL THAT PL WAS A GREEK-SPEAKG JEW, BORN TARS (NOW TURKEY), PRIVATELY TED THERE BY GREEK-FLUENCED TUTORS—THE LATTER IS AN ASSUMPTN, BUT ONE THAT SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE, GIVEN HIS EDN, HIS MAND OF GREEK PROSE, HIS RANGE OF ALLN. HIS STAT AS ONE OF THE ELE IS EVINT THE FACT THAT HE “TRANSFERRED” TO THE AMY N BY GAMALIEL JESALEM AS A YOUNG MAN. ONLY THE CHILD OF A WEALTHY FAY WOULD HAVE BEEN SHIPPED TO A FAR-OFF UNTRY TO STUDY UNR A MAJOR SCHOLAR LIKE GAMALIEL, THE GRANDSON OF HILLEL—THE FAMO JEWISH SAGE. BUT WHAT MOSTLY DREW ME TO PL WAS HIS VISN OF EQUALY—NOT WHAT ONE UALLY THKS ABOUT WHEN ONE THKS OF PL. INED, MANY IENDS WHO HEARD I WAS WRG ABOUT PL RAISED AN EYEBROW OR TWO, SAYG: WASN’T HE A PATRIARCHAL MISOGYNIST WHO HATED ALL GAYS?MY ANSWER, VARIABLY, WAS NO! NO! NO!PL’S CHIEF IA WAS THIS, AS FOUND GALATIANS 3:28: “IN CHRIST THERE IS NEHER JEW NOR GENTILE, NEHER SLAVE NOR EE MAN, NEHER MALE NOR FEMALE. IN CHRIST, ALL OF THE ARE ONE.” FOR ME, THIS IS THE KEY VERSE THE ENTIRE NEW TTAMENT.BOLDLY, PL ERASED THE MOST CCIAL BARRIERS OF HIS DAY. HIMSELF A JEW, A MEMBER OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAM, A PHARISEE BY AFFILIATN, HE TOOK THE GOOD NEWS (AS HE LLED ) TO THE WT, UNRSTANDG THAT IF THE WAY OF J WERE TO PROSPER, WOULD HAVE TO GO BEYOND THIS POWERFUL BOUNDARY. IN THIS, HE FOUGHT AGAST THE CHURCH JESALEM, LED BY JAM, THE BROTHER OF J, WHO WISHED ONLY FOR THE WAY TO REMA A KD OF HYPER-JEWISH SECT VOTED TO THE STRICT ADHERENCE TO THE LAW OF MOS. HAD JAM WON OUT OVER PL, CHRISTIANY WOULD SOON HAVE DWDLED TO A TY GROUP THE HOLY LAND, ONE THAT WOULD SOON BE OVERRIDN, OBLERATED BY TIME AND CIRCUMSTANC.NEEDLS TO SAY, PL CHALLENGED CLASS DIVISNS WHEN HE ERASED THE BOUNDARI BETWEEN SLAVE AND EE MAN. REMEMBER THAT HALF OF THE PEOPLE ONE MET THE ANCIENT WORLD WERE SLAV. PL WOULD HAVE GROWN UP WH A HOEFUL FULL OF SLAV WHO FETCHED WATER, BOUGHT FOOD THE MARKET, OKED AND CLEANED, RAISED THE CHILDREN, AND SO FORTH. MOST OF THE PEOPLE WORKG FOR PL’S FATHER HIS TENT-MAKG BS TARS WOULD HAVE BEEN SLAV. AND SLAV WERE VISIBLE, NOT REALLY PEOPLE, HARDLY CREATUR POSSSN OF A “SOUL” OR— GREEK—PSYCHE. PL DIDN’T WANT TO SEE DIVISNS AMONG THE CLASS, BELIEVG THAT ENLIGHTENMENT (A WORD I PREFER OVER THE LS TERTG AND MISLEADG TERM “SALVATN”) WOULD E TO EVERYONE THE END, SLAV AS WELL AS EE MEN AND WOMEN.WHICH BRGS , CCIALLY, TO MEN AND WOMEN. PL HAD NO DOUBT THAT WOMEN WERE EQUAL TO MEN THE SIGHT OF GOD, THE MD OF CHRIST. THE WORLD OF EARLY CHRISTIANY WAS LARGELY FANCED AND LED BY WOMEN, CLUDG THE POWERFUL PHOEBE, LYDIA, AND PRISCILLA. PHOEBE IS SCRIBED AS A PRIDG OFFICER THE EARLY MOVEMENT, A AN, A DOMANT FIGURE. SHE ULD EASILY BE SEEN AS THE FIRST POPE, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO SUCH OFFIC AS THE CHURCH WAS NOT AN OFFICIAL BODY BUT A LOOSE AGGREGATN OF GATHERGS WH NO HARD L OR CLEAR THEOLOGY. INED, PL SENT HIS MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF WRG, AN EPISTLE TO THE ROMAN GATHERG, THE POSSSN OF PHOEBE, THIS SPIRED WOMAN OF THE WORLD WHO TRAVELED WILY AND KNEW EVERY LEAR THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PATRIARCHAL PL WHO SAID WOMEN SHOULDN’T SPEAK CHURCH? THERE ARE TWO MENTNS OF THIS, ONE THE 14TH CHAPTER OF 1 CORTHIANS, ONE 1 TIMOTHY. THE FORMER IS WILY NSIRED A LATER ADDN, AN “TERPOLATN” BY EDORS. IN THIS SE, THE ASSERTN THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE SILENT WILDLY TERPTS THE FLOW OF THE PASSAGE, WHICH IS WHOLE WHOUT . AND THE FAMO REMARK IS NOT PRENT SEVERAL EARLY MANCRIPTS OF THIS LETTER. FURTHERMORE, THE JUNCTN NTRADICTS THE MA THST OF THE EPISTLE, WHERE ( 1 CORTHIANS 11:5) PL SAYS THAT WOMEN SHOULD “PROPHY AND PRAY” CHURCH. IT JT MAK NO LOGIL SENSE FOR PL TO FOLLOW WH A MAND FOR THEM TO REMA SILENT: THIS WAS AN EDORIAL HAND AT WORK, MUCH LATER. AND THE MATTER OF 1 TIMOTHY IS EASILY DISRD AS NOT SOMETHG WRTEN BY PL HIMSELF.PL ONLY WROTE SEVEN LETTERS THAT SURVIVE: ROMANS, 1 AND 2 CORTHIANS, GALATIANS, 1 THSALONIANS, PHILIPPIANS, AND PHILEMON. THE REMAG SIX LETTERS ARE “SCHOOL OF PL,” WRTEN MUCH LATER. TO ANYONE WHO READS GREEK, THE DIFFERENCE PROSE STYLE IS OBV—GARRY WILLS BURROWS TO THIS WH MON SENSE WHAT PL MEANT (2006). THE DIFFERENC BETWEEN THE TWO CLUMPS OF LETTERS IS PROFOUND: THEY E OM WILDLY DIFFERENT WORLDS, WH DIFFERENT UNRLYG ASSUMPTNS. A ANTIC EFFORT WAS UNRWAY ON THE PART OF SOME WH THE EVOLVG MOVEMENT TO KEEP THE PATRIARCHAL PRACTIC OF JUDAISM AND THE ROMAN WORLD PLACE. HENCE THE “PASTORAL EPISTL,” 1 AND 2 TIMOTHY, WHICH ARE VERY LATE ED AS ADDNS TO THE NEW TTAMENT NON. “PL SENT HIS MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF WRG THE POSSSN OF PHOEBE, THIS SPIRED WOMAN OF THE WORLD WHO TRAVELED WILY AND KNEW EVERY LEAR THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT.” THERE IS ALSO THE PLITED MATTER OF PL’S SEXUALY. I TEND TO AGREE WH BISHOP JOHN SHELBY SPONG, A BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN AND CHURCH LEAR, WHO ARGU THAT PL WAS “A RIGIDLY NTROLLED GAY MALE,” AS HE WR RCUG THE BIBLE OM FUNDAMENTALISM (1991). BE THIS AS MAY, PL WAS CLEARLY AT WAR WH HIS OWN BODY, TORMENTED BY THE IA IF NOT THE REALY OF SEXUAL SIRE, AND EAGER TO WHDRAW TO THE PANY OF HIS MALE PANNS: LE, TIMOTHY, SILAS, AND OTHERS. HIS NFLICTED FEELGS ABOUT HIS OWN SEXUAL NATURE MAY ACUNT FOR THE “THORN HIS FLH” THAT HE WROTE ABOUT HIS SEND LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT CORTH. (2 CORTHIANS 12:7-9)IN MY VIEW, THE THENTIC PL WAS BATIVE, FIERCELY TELLECTUAL, PROBABLY PRSIVE, BI-SEXUAL OR GAY, A RADIL VISNARY WHO HAD A FIERY IMAGE HIS HEAD OF A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH. HE HAD A VISN OF WHAT MEANT TO TAKE ON THE FULL MD OF CHRIST, AND THIS VOLVED EMPTYG HIMSELF OUT THOROUGHLY, TAKG UP THE CROSS, WHICH FOR HIM MEANT FOLLOWG THE PATH OF SELF-ABANDONMENT, UNG WH THE MD OF CHRIST, WHERE EVERYTHG—MALE AND FEMALE, SLAVE AND EE MAN, JEW AND GENTILE—FDS RENCILIATN UNY WH GOD THE ETERNAL MOMENT OF RURRECTN. JAY PARI
First Timothy 1:8-11 says, “But we know that the law is good if someone legimately, realizg that law is not tend for a righteo person, but for lawls and rebell people, for the ungodly and sners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murrers, sexually immoral people, practicg homosexuals [arsenokoais], kidnappers, liars, perjurers- fact, for any who live ntrary to sound teachg.