Episode Notes

This week we continue an exploration to investigate influential and problematic St. Paul of Tarsus in The More You Know.  But first we’re going to visit the Supreme Court in a brief detour of Not Necessarily the Good News. 

Not Necessarily the Good News

In its final week of session, SCOTUS ruled in favor of a Philidelphia Catholic charity that wouldn’t allow same-sex foster parents.

In the grand tradition of solving a problem that doesn’t exist, in 2018 CSS declared that would not consider same-sex couples as potential parents for foster children. When it found out, the city of Philadelphia insisted that all its contractors agree not to discriminate.

So the charity sued. It said endorsing same-sex couples as foster parents would violate its religious teachings about marriage. In response, Philadelphia said the charity was free to express and practice its religious views but not to dictate the terms of municipal contracts. The city also said the charity was not being punished for its religious views, noting that it still has city contracts, worth millions of dollars a year, to perform other services for children in foster care.

SCOTUS did rule in favor of the charity, but kept its ruling narrow. The court rejected the urging of Catholic Social Services, one of 30 agencies that contract with Philadelphia to find homes for abused and neglected children, for a broad ruling that would allow religious objections to overcome anti-discrimination laws.

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The More You Know

The book of Romans is a primer in Christian theology as Saint Paul constructed it. It is one of the most referenced books in the New Testament, and venerated by many Christians It was started as a letter written to the Church of Rome somewhere in  47 - 57 AD, partly to raise funds for a missionary expedition to Spain. In it Paul lays the foundation of a new theology of Christ in the context of Jewish teachings, particularly the Pharisaic tradition he was educated in.  In Romans Paul meant to show that Jesus was the culmination of jewish teaching and ideas. Jesus was the completion of all God's promises to the Jewish people. Judaism alone, without Jesus Christ, is an incomplete faith. For that reason alone Romans is a deeply problematic book. 

In the book Paul sets up questions that one might raise from the traditional scriptures, then answers them as the authority on Christian teaching. It goes on this way, raising a question, generating a response, then responding to the question raised by the response. Sometimes, it has to be said,  he paints himself into a corner. 

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