RoboPreacher

Last week I raised the question about the dualism in this parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector ( Luke 18:9-14 ). I focused the open-ended question on theology, not particularly the parable. That was intentional. My goal is the notice the lens we bring to reading the Bible. My point, ‘sure, if you’re looking for explicit right & wrongs in the Bible you can find them.’ What is the consequence of this kind of reading, though? Well, for one; humans deserve to get humiliated by God. Is this a little troubling for you, too? Another less explicit issue is that, you water down the power of this parable. I am happy to say that much of the research I did noticed this. In fact, many astute and faithful theologians address similar issues. (This is a cause for hope in the trajectory of Christianity in the future.) As Brian Stoffregen notes : If the Pharisee is viewed as a villain and the tax collector a hero, besides the historical inaccuracies, the parable loses its ...

Or, those who lift themselves up will be humiliated * Reflections for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost; Luke 18:9-14 . The title and subtitle are meant to dynamically interact. I am trying to emphasize that while it might be easy to focus on the lifting up, there is this difficult sentiment about those who exalt themselves… *I choose to use the word humiliate because that captures “tapeinohn,”(participle, present, active). This week my research will be focused on the fact that the Pharisee “standing by himself.” I am also interested in researching the role of the Pharisee in the community, and dwelling on the piety of the Pharisee. While I research about the Pharisee there is a question I want to keep in mind: What kind of God would humiliate anyone? In regard to the troublesome sentiment I found a sentiment from Michael Hardin & Jeff Krantz (of the website Preaching Peace): “…we migh...