For years, Fr. Paul has stressed that the only way to teach Scripture is by giving practical examples. Scripture is practical knowledge. From an early age, he explains, children can hear the text only if you relay its content with common sense examples, unlike complex theological theories that confuse children and betray the text, deactivating…
Category: Tarazi Tuesdays
The Hebrew Names
This week, Fr. Paul moves from his discussion of Leviticus to the book of Numbers, but not before a brief excursus to unpack the original Hebrew names of the books of the Law, which stress “speaking aloud” and “spoken words,” reflecting the content of the books themselves. (Episode 310)
Give the Land a Break
This week, Fr. Paul explains that God learned his lesson in Leviticus, where the land is not cursed, as it was in Genesis, but granted rest to enjoy its sabbaths—a rest it does not have when men dwell up on it. (Episode 309)
He Blesses and He Curses
This week, by the simple act of reading the text of Leviticus 26 aloud, Fr. Paul demonstrates the extreme poverty of Judeo-Christianism, its frailty, what this means for the widow and the orphan, and, painfully, what the subject of all his verbs has in store for those who do not heed his words, directly. (Episode…
You Shall Not Rule
This week, Fr. Paul highlights the folly of all modern hearers of the Bible, who, through their theologies, divest and disrobe themselves of the “fear” of God under cover of their “approach” to the Bible. There is a word for this: it’s called impiety. This leads to the transgression of God’s commandment: “You shall not…
Ask the Native Americans
This week, Fr. Paul calls to mind an example from his latest book, where he invites Native Americans to hear Scripture in the original language so that (with respect to the land) they can tap white Anglo-Saxons on the shoulder and say, “Hey, friend, that’s your Bible, not mine.” (306)
Take it Back Home or Leave it Outside
This week, Fr. Paul gives an example—one of his famous asides—an anecdote shared in class about a student’s old-school Greek uncle and his unsettling biblical attitude about what guests can do with their gifts when invited to his table. (305)
The Jubilee Year
This week, Fr. Paul reminds us that according to Scripture, anything we take with our hands is what someone else hands us. (Episode 304)
Listen to the Torah
This week, Fr. Paul explains that the Hebrew text underscores the fact that the Lord deb-ber unto Moses in order that Moses would deb-ber unto the children of Israel, in order that the hearer of the Hebrew text would be prepared for the beginning of Deuteronomy, where deb-ber is linked with debarim and is linked…
Meetings Proclaimed by God
This week, Fr. Paul notes that the one who reads Scripture reads aloud so that all would hear God speak directly. (Episode 302)