Purity rings, abstinence pledges, courting— Evangelical Christianity has a particular and peculiar stance on human sexuality. If you’re like me, you grew up surrounded by this “Purity Culture,” which relies … Continue reading Temptation and Women’s Clothing: How Purity Culture Imposes Shame as Modesty
Category: Community
Soulmates: How Purity Culture Grafted the Nuclear Family into Christianity
Purity rings, abstinence pledges, courting— Evangelical Christianity has a particular and peculiar stance on human sexuality. If you’re like me, you grew up surrounded by this “Purity Culture,” which relies … Continue reading Soulmates: How Purity Culture Grafted the Nuclear Family into Christianity
Chapter 16: Final Words to Corinth
Having wrapped up his points about the problems in Corinth, Paul spends the final paragraphs of this letter as he does so many of the other letters: hitting a few … Continue reading Chapter 16: Final Words to Corinth
Chapter 15: Resurrection
As mentioned before in our discussion of chapter 6, Paul writes to an audience with conflicted viewpoints on souls and bodies: To Gentile listeners influenced by Greek philosophy, humans are … Continue reading Chapter 15: Resurrection
Tongues, Worship Practices, and Diversity (Recap of Chapters 8-14)
So much ink has been spilled over the subject of speaking in tongues, but what if Paul is really using this worship practice as an example? What if he has … Continue reading Tongues, Worship Practices, and Diversity (Recap of Chapters 8-14)
Chapter 14: What Paul Probably Didn’t Say About Women
Jessi and I stared at the verses. We had both read those words in isolation many times before. We had wrestled with them and responded to them already, but they … Continue reading Chapter 14: What Paul Probably Didn’t Say About Women
1 Corinthians 13 (Part 3): Words for Love and Why They Matter
Copious ink has been spilt over the different Greek words for love in the New Testament. There’s eros, which refers to romantic love. Philia describes affection like you might feel … Continue reading 1 Corinthians 13 (Part 3): Words for Love and Why They Matter
Chapter 13 (part 1): Putting “The Love Chapter” Back in Context
Paul tells the Corinthians that love is the greatest of all because there was jealousy and strife among them, and the church was in danger of being divided. —Theodore of … Continue reading Chapter 13 (part 1): Putting “The Love Chapter” Back in Context
Chapter 12: One Body
As we discussed last week, when Paul talks about worship with the Corinthians, he also emphasizes equality among Christians. The Corinthians were really messing up in this department by granting … Continue reading Chapter 12: One Body
Chapter 11: Women & Men, Bread & Wine
Paul has spent several chapters now talking about meat sacrificed to idols— a practical issue with larger implications for community and belief. Similarly, in chapters 11 through 14, Paul goes … Continue reading Chapter 11: Women & Men, Bread & Wine