PapaZulu

quote:

---

Does that make sense?

---

It is certainly understandable that someone can come to that surface conclusion, yes. But I think it lacks a broader understanding of the overall Pauline record, and the Gospel itself.

quote:

---

Read that text, especially what I bolded, and ask yourself if Paul - who considered himself a devout Jew who worshipped the Jewish God, would have written that?

---

Yes, and here is why. First Paul describes himself as a Jew and Pharisee, and expresses on many occasions his love for his people. This is not uncommon. Remember Paul was called set apart to preach the word to the gentiles (Galatians, Romans, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and most emphatically Acts 9:15). The historical record points out the division of the church around the time of Christ in overwhelming volume. In fact there is more archeological record of this than any event of its time. Remember Paul called out his contemporaries Peter and John for such behavior. Paul had a unique mission, to not only to evangelize the gentiles but to graft graft them in with Christ accepting Jews. How else would these people consider themselves? Until Christ there was no Christian. Paul at this point no longer a "traditional" Jew. He is messianic. Paul also rightly pointed out over his epistles that the fulfillment of Christ rendered the law useless (Galatians,Romans, 2 Corinthians Phillipians). When Paul says “the Jews” in 1 Thess 2:15, he does not necessarily mean all Jews everywhere, the Jewish people as a whole, or Judaism as a religion. Think of how we refer to the Israeli government as the Jews today. Paul frequently uses broad ethnic labels to refer to specific hostile factions ie "the circumcision Party"-Galatians, "false brothers" - 2 Corinthians, and "the Jews"-Acts to name a few. Paul despised the exact theological elitism of educated Jews that Jesus did.

quote:

---

Do you think he would contradict himself and tell the Corinthians the archons killed Jesus while at the same time telling the Thessalonians the Jews killed Jesus?

---

I don't see this as a contradiction. This actually meshes with the gospel very nicely. We see the same overlap from Jesus in Luke and John. We also see it from peter and James. The NT language uses archons fluidly to describe cosmic, spiritual, political and human power. This is Paul's (and Biblical) worldview. Spiritual forces influence human position. it is a common theme throughout the entire Bible.

Next let’s look at (the Jews) “drove us out”. Drove who out of where?
Within context Paul is most likely referring to his experience in Theselonica in Acts 17. He was after all writing to that church, so they would have contextual understanding. He also experienced similar in Damascus, 2 Corinthians:11, which has an authorship of 5 years prior to this. needless to say, Paul, as well as his compatriots had been chased away by traditional Jewish factions throughout the NT.

quote:

---

And because all that happened in AD70, well after Paul would’ve been dead, we know Paul didn’t write it.

---

Not necessarily. However this is the most powerful argument for scribal insertion. However if we look at the full corpus of Paul's work, we see several options. Romans 1:18 the "wrath of God is being revealed..." The Greek eis telos does not necessarily mean finally in the context we understand it in English. It can also mean continually, fully, or to the utmost. The ancient Greek and Hebrew words are much more rich with connotation in context.This view can be found in 1 Thess 1:10, Romans 2:5, and Galatians 1:8-9 as well. In addition he could be alluding to the severe famine of the 40's (Gal 2 and Romans 15 which also allow us to conclude he was not talking of the fall of the temple) widespread political unrest, violence between Jewish factions, or Roman crackdowns on the Jews. This most wholly fits what Paul's worldview seems to be. Vocabulary, tone, and argument structure all support Pauline authorship.

Elaborate on scribal insertion.

quote:

---

i forgive you for the cigars

---

I always appreciated the cigars. Things were spicy. Call it poor sportsmanship if you want, but all that did was produce the onside kick to start the game and a 21-skunk hole they couldn’t dig out of. It was on that day that I fell in love with Nicholas Lou Saban, and it was all coach Tubberville’s fault.

Think about how contested that series was in that era. My favorite of all time. It was very personal.

quote:

---

But you love Russia now so that should make you all giddy…

---

What’s wrong with loving Russia?

Weird how they deleted my post though right?

quote:

---

quote:
were outscored 23-8 in the process.


This is the extra confusing aspect. It wasn’t just a miracle it was an arse beating.

---

Need to see if any Qatari royals bet on the games.

You misspelled and misabbreviated Gulf of America. It’s cool though. It’s still kind of a new spelling.

quote:

---

Why are protesters always left wing? And why do they look unbathed?

---

Because right wing are called insurrectionists.

I did. And again in 2012.

But we did it on a Monday.....

quote:

---

As long as they meet the male standards without lowering the standards, let them fight. The only real issue I see is the fear of them being captured then raped.

---

The never talked about and I believe most important issue is unit cohesion. Remember the bulk of a platoon comprises of mainly 18-25 year old hard legs, jacked up on testosterone and ripped fuel, or whatever they take today. I have personally witnessed what a chick in the motor pool can do to squad/platoon level cohesion in infantry units. Now you're talking about dropping that slab of raw chicken directly into the gator pit? Hard pass. the benefits (what are they, honestly? Can somebody please enlighten me.) do not outweigh the cost. Ever.
If the everyday American understood the means and methods a combat soldier is willing to pursue just to score a decent combat jack, no man woman or girl would ever believe this is a good idea.