#epistle to the romans

[apenitentialprayer]

i know that as a catholic you just have to believe with what the church says but i really dont like the belief of the original sin, i feel like its such a horrible thing to believe about yourself and about other human beings too

There are actually ways of legitimately dissenting from less essential Church teachings in a way that leaves you in good standing with the Church; I'm not sure if Original Sin is one of those things, though, to be honest.

But, anon, I'm going to offer another perspective here, starting from a quote (perhaps ironically?) from my favorite heretic. One of the things that James Carroll believes is that Original Sin has been given a bad wrap. In Constantine's Sword, he says:

I referred to Augustine’s assertion of the idea that the human condition implies a perennial state of finitude, weakness, and sin, all of which will be overcome, even for the Church, only with the end of time. [...] Augustine is thus regarded as the father of a severe, flesh-hating, sin-obsessed theology, but that dark characterization misses the point of his insight. His honest admission of the universality of human woundedness is a precondition for both self-acceptance and the forgiveness of the other, which for Augustine always involved the operation of God’s grace, God’s gift. Only humans capable of confronting the moral tragedy of existence, matched to God’s offer of repairing grace, are capable of community, and community is the antidote to human woundedness. Augustine sensed that relationship as being at the heart of God, and he saw it as being at the heart of human hope, too. This is a profoundly humane vision.

I wish I had understood the spirit of this quote when I was in high school. I remember learning in my World History class that Islam teaches that all children are born good, and then the world makes them evil. And I remember my teacher asking how that compares with Christianity, and I raised my hand and said that Christianity teaches that all of us are born evil. Because I believed that at the time. And, really, the whole framing of that question was wrong and gave really simplistic representations of what Islam and Christianity teaches, but I don't think we're alone in having internalized that understanding, anon. And that's a shame.

I thin it's important to remember the worldview that the doctrine of Original Sin is actively defending us against; there was an idea, that gets called "Pelagianism" (the poor guy it got named after may not even have believed it), that said that humans were capable of being saved on their own, by their own power. Someone on this site recently asked what people's thoughts on Pelagianism were, so you can read my thoughts here. But to keep it short and sweet, I think Original Sin is an important doctrine because it saves you from the need to be perfect.

There are ways to treat Original Sin that I think are certainly unhealthy, and I think the doctrine can be a source of anxiety and fear. But I also think, very deeply, that Original Sin should be a reason why we treat ourselves and especially our neighbor with kindness and understanding. I can look at myself and say "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. […] For I do not do the good that I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (Romans 7:15, 19). And I can say that because I know I am ontologically wounded; that all of us have our weaknesses. That while we may still be in the moral wrong for committing a morally wrong action, our wills are compromised in a way that causes us to incline towards the comfortable and the easy rather than the good.

I wish I could go back in time and tell that class that Christianity does not teach that people are born evil. I wish I could go back and tell them that it teaches that we are born in a state of dis-integration, that we are wounded beings yearning for wholeness; alienated beings seeking everlasting belonging; beings lost in darkness, seeking the light. But I can say it now: the doctrine of Original Sin doesn't have to be an occasion to think you're depraved and without value, but it can be an invitation to come to terms with your own woundedness, because doing that (to use the words of Lutheran theologian Nancy Eiesland) "opens a space for the inflowing of grace and acceptance."

#Christianity #Catholicism #Original Sin #James Carroll #asks #Saint Augustine #Pelagianism #grace #Epistle to the Romans #sin #weakness #Lutheranism

[averagechristiannet]

Romans 8: An Assuring Word

This article hones in on verses 16 and 17, which teach that the Holy Spirit in us testifies to our spirit that we are children of God. From PlaceforTruth.org………… https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/romans-8-an-assuring-word

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#Adopted by God #Bible Interpretation #Children of God #Epistle to the Romans #The New Testament #Trusting Jesus

[biblebloodhound]

Good Citizenship

Be a Good Citizen Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So, live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to…

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#apostle paul #authority #citizen #citizenship #common good #deportment #epistle to the romans #fairness #god&039;s wrath #good citizenship #injustice #justice #love #obedience #righteousness #romans 13 #submission #vigilante

[hollers-and-holmes]

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

#read the epistles with me! #a chapter a day #Romans 1

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Be Humble

And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. — Romans 12:3 | Good News Translation (GNT) Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Cross References: Ecclesiastes 7:16; Romans 1:5; Romans 11:20; Romans 12:6; Romans 12:16; Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 3:10

#humility #low thoughts (of self) #sober judgment #faith #God #gift #Romans 12:3 #The Epistle of Romans #New Testament #GNT #Good News Translation #Holy Bible #American Bible Society

[uwmspeccoll]

The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE remains one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Not only did the volcano destroy the economically powerful city of Pompeii, but Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae were also buried and thus lost to the Roman Empire. The number of victims is unknown, but given the size of the four cities, estimates have reached over 18,000 individuals.  

Today only one first-hand account of this horrific event survives in two letters from Pliny the Younger to the Roman historian Tacitus. They are preserved as letters 6.16 and 6.20 in the collected Epistles of Pliny. Among our holdings of the works of Pliny is this 3-volume set of the Epistles with William Melmoth’s 18th-century translation edited by Clifford Herschel Moore, and printed by the Harvard University Press in an edition of 405 copies for members of The Bibliophile Society, Boston, in 1925.

While the term ‘volcanic eruption’ evokes scenes of lava and fire, the reality is much more frightening. Curiously, there is no word for volcano in the Latin language. While ancient Romans were aware of the destructive power of volcanoes, there’s some debate about whether they were aware that Vesuvius was a volcano before its eruption. Signs of the eruption began back in 62CE with a great earthquake that caused much of the city to collapse. Smaller earthquakes continued over the next 15 years until one was accompanied by the rise of a column of smoke from Mt. Vesuvius in October 79 CE. 

The hot gases that made up the column of smoke began to cool, darkening the sky, and not long after a rain of pumice began to fall, and after 15 hours ceilings began to collapse. Nevertheless, many residents chose to take shelter rather than flee. At 4am the first 500C pyroclastic surge barred down the volcano, burying Herculaneum. Six more of these surges occurred before the end of the eruption, destroying Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae. 

The 17-year old Pliny was in the port town of Misenum across the Bay of Naples from the volcano at the time. Pliny’s uncle, Pliny the Elder, commander of the Roman fleet at Misenum, launched a rescue mission and went himself to the rescue of a personal friend. The elder Pliny did not survive the attempt. In Pliny the Younger’s first letter to Tacitus, he relates what he could discover from witnesses of his uncle's experiences. In a second letter, he details his own observations after the departure of his uncle.

Mt. Vesuvius is still active and according to volcanologists, erupts about every 2000 years, which would be right about now. Who will be our next Pliny the Younger?

Our copy of The Epistles of Pliny is another gift from our friend and benefactor Jerry Buff.

View more of my Classics posts.

– LauraJean, Special Collections Undergraduate Classics Intern

#Classics #classical history #Roman History #Mt. Vesuvius #Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius #Pliny the Younger #Epistles of Pliny the Younger #Pliny the Elder #Tacitus #William Melmoth #Clifford Herschel Moore #Harvard University Press #The Bibliophile Society #volcanic eruptions #Pompeii #herculaneum #Oplontis #Stabiae #Jerry Buff #LauraJean

[siena-sevenwits]

Gushing about what I've learned on my deep dive on the Letter to the Romans to my brother as though it were fandom, and he's okay with it.

#I don't know if I'm pleased with myself or not - I set a goal to reread all the Pauline epistles this year and I was getting along fine but #then Romans came along and demanded I spend more time on it and I've chewed on it with commentaries and cross referencing and #prayer for months now and not moving on to the rest because I just want to keep understanding Romans better #(although it's got me reading lots of the literary and prophetic literature as well as the Pentateuch as references to them keep on arising #I highly doubt I will hit my original goal but hopefully this is good #less of a Goodreads challenge approach to it and more of letting it move in and live in my house for a good half year? #recovering reader #faith #sacred #coreander's old books

[notebooks-and-laptops]

#izzy hands #izzy #ofmd #blackhands #currently on a kick of applying religious language to izzy #anyway #first one is from richard silken #second is from the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament

[proud-spaniard]

Rom 8, 32

#st paul #epistle to romans #new testament #bible #catholic

[apenitentialprayer]

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans (6:17-18)

To see the good truly is to desire it insatiably; not to desire it is not to have known it, and so never to have been free to choose it.

David Bentley Hart (God, Creation, and Evil: The Moral Meaning of creatio ex nihilho)

Disobedience is not a choice, but the incapacity of the man who is no longer or not yet able to choose in real freedom.

Karl Barth (Church Dogmatics II: The Doctrine of God, Volume 2, page 779), trans. G.W. Bromiley et. al

[T]o be truly free is to be free from the blinders that prevent us from doing the morally good action. To put it another way: to fail in doing the morally good action is to presuppose some kind of bondage.

Matthew Distefano (The Wisdom of Hobbits: Unearthing Our Humanity at 3 Bagshot Row, page 120)

#Christianity #Orthodox Christianity #Karl Barth #goodness #free will #freedom #sin #florilegium #Saint Paul #Epistle to the Romans #Jesus Christ #Crucifix

[averagechristiannet]

Romans 8: Reading with Thomas Brooks

Thomas Brooks was a Puritan pastor and author in the 17th century and he had some interesting insights into prayer as discussed in Romans 8. From PlaceforTruth.org………. https://www.placefortruth.org/blog/romans-8-reading-with-thomas-brooks

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#Bible Application #Bible Interpretation #Epistle to the Romans #The New Testament

[justana0kguy]

2022 NOVEMBER 30 Wednesday

"Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ."

~ Romans 10:17

#bible #bible verse #scripture #reading #Paul #Epistle #letter #Romans

[hollers-and-holmes]

ROMANS SIX

Unsure of your identity in Christ?

ROMANS SIX!

At war with a besetting sin?

ROMANS SIX!

In an argument with an antinomian relative?!

ROMANS SIX!!!

#read the epistles with me #Romans 6 #a chapter a day #caloo callay #except when I don’t #*Meri please insert a funny rhyme here for me please my brain is tired*

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Overflowing with Hope

May the God of hope completely fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you will overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit! — Romans 15:13 | Free Bible Version (FBV) The Free Bible Version is a project of Free Bible Ministry; Copyright © 2018, Free Bible Ministry. All rights reserved. Cross References: 1 Samuel 1:18; Romans 14:17; Romans 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5

#God #hope #joy #peace #believing #Holy Spirit #Romans 15:13 #The Epistle of Romans #New Testament #FBV #Free Bible Version #Free Bible Ministry

[stjohncapistrano67]

Man, can relate to this!😳

#traditional catholicism #traditional catholic images #traditional catholic saints #the catholic bible #new testament #st. paul the apostle #st. paul's epistle to the romans #traditional catholic bible qoutes

[biblebloodhound]

Why Not Women? (Romans 16:1-16)

In the earliest church, within the New Testament Scriptures, women are mentioned as serving in every sort of capacity. And yet, women are the greatest and largest untapped resource in the church today.

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are…

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#apostle paul #authority #christian ministry #church authority #church change #church leaders #church life #church ministry #gender #pauline epistles #romans #romans 16 #spiritual gifts #women #women in ministry