Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The TL;DR Bible: Ephesians


Today we continue our adventure through the summarized New Testament with Paul's letter to the Ephesians.  

Paul wrote this letter to a successful community of Gentile converts.  He invites them to contemplate what God has done for them individual and how it fits into the overall narrative of God's providential pan for mankind.

Here we go!



Saturday, March 11, 2017

The TL;DR Bible: Galatians

Today we continue our adventure through the summarized New Testament with Galatians.

This letter addresses a community which had fallen victim to an early heresy.  Namely, people were thinking you had to be circumcised and obey certain parts of the Mosaic Law to be saved.

Paul wrote against this heresy in no uncertain terms;  contending both for the divine origin or his message and his apostleship.

Here we go!


Tuesday, March 7, 2017

The TL;DR Bible: First Corinthians

Today we continue our journey through the "Too Long; Didn't Read" Bible with Paul's first letter to the troubled community in Corinth.



Thursday, March 2, 2017

The TL;DR Bible: The Letter of Saint James


A while ago I had the idea to begin summarizing some of the epistles in the New Testament.  Today we're going to do the letter of Saint James.  

The letter is thought to be written by James of Jerusalem.  It is unclear who the target audience is.  He addresses it to the "12 tribes in the dispersion".  That could refer to Jews throughout the world, or to the Church as a whole.  There are good arguments for both.

In any event, this letter is meant to remind its readers about how our conduct in this life really does make a difference in the next.  It is the one place in the Bible where we find the phrase "justified by faith alone"... but the phrase is condemned.

Anyway, here we go: