Category: Tarazi Tuesdays

This week Fr. Paul notes that the subject of the biblical text is determined by the story’s content and not by the sensibilities of those hearing the story. In Genesis 34, the rape of Dinah, typically emphasized in contemporary Western scholarship, is not the main point of the chapter, which instead condemns her brother’s abuse…

This week Fr. Paul highlights examples from the biblical text that deal with humans and animals on the same level, noting that animals are also called to repentance. (Episode 273)

This week, Fr. Paul explains that in the Bible, God is the only King and the owner of his children, not his children the owners one of another. (Episode 272)

This week, Fr. Paul stresses the importance of fearing God not as an awesome or impressive character but in his function as judge. (Episode 271)

This week, Fr. Paul explains how the practice of honoring all mothers or all fathers, as we do on national holidays, undermines the biblical admonition that each person, even if they happen to be parents, is under pressure by Scripture to honor, specifically, the father and mother from whom they originate. (Episode 270)

This week, Fr. Paul explains that the prohibition, “you may not take the name of God in vain,” is a warning that you may not speak of God as though he exists only as a statue. (Episode 269)

This week Fr. Paul laments the way we shortchange the biblical function “steadfast love” in which the scriptural God, a jealous God, who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon children, the compassionate and gracious God, listening to prayers but not necessarily answering them, is the faithful judge whose steadfast love endures from age to…

In today’s episode, Fr. Paul offers a practical tip to pastors and teachers: as in the case of the specific example of the Decalogue, when someone says, “I know what the Bible says,” ask them to recite it. (Episode 267)

This week Fr. Paul calls out the standard error of rendering “unto the age” as “eternal” in English translations of the Bible. (Episode 266)

This week, Fr. Paul emphasizes from Exodus what the Apostle Paul underscores in Galatians and people of all religions systematically ignore: “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples.” (Exodus 19:5), (Episode 265)