Session 8: Virtue in Action: The Royal Priesthood

Session 8: Virtue in Action: The Royal Priesthood (pp. 219-255)

1. According to Wright, what is the importance and purpose of worship? What does worship have to do with virtue?

2. What does Wright mean when he claims that Christians are meant to be “rulers”? What would it mean for us to take this “royal” Christian vocation seriously?

3. What do you think about the way Wright connects good works to Christian virtue? Have you thought of it this way before? Is it helpful or not?

4. How did Paul argue for a Christian form of the ancient pagan theory of virtue?

5. How are Christians meant to act as “angled mirrors”?

6. How do you respond to what Wright has to say about humility, patience, chastity and charity? 

Coming this Fall!

Our next book will be one that we've mentioned this summer: Paul Among the People: the Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden.

Here's how the publisher describes the book:

In Paul Among the People, Sarah Ruden explores the writings of the evangelist Paul in the context of his time and culture, to recover his original message of freedom and love while overturning the common—and fundamental—misconception that Paul represented a puritanical, hysterically homophobic, misogynist, or reactionary vision.
               
By setting famous and controversial words of Paul against ancient Greek and Roman literature, Ruden reveals a radical message of human freedom and dignity at the heart of Paul’s preaching. Her training in the Classics allows her to capture the stark contrast between Paul’s Christianity and the violence, exploitation, and dehumanization permeating the Roman Empire in his era. In contrast to later distortions, the vision of Christian life Ruden finds in Paul is centered on equality before God and the need for people to love one another. 
 
A remarkable work of scholarship, synthesis, and understanding, Paul Among the People recaptures the moral urgency and revolutionary spirit that made Christianity such a shock to the ancient world and laid the foundation of the culture in which we live today.

We will be discussing the book over the course of four sessions in the library beginning at 7:30pm.
We will meet on the following Wednesdays: 10/10, 10/17, 11/7 and 11/14.

Here's a link to bn.com for more information: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/paul-among-the-people-sarah-ruden/1102392032?ean=9780385522571

Session 7: Three Virtues, Nine Varieties of Fruit, and One Body

Session 7: Three Virtues, Nine Varieties of Fruit, and One Body (pp. 181-218)

1. Why does Wright claim that love (as understood by Paul) is a virtue?

2. What does Wright mean by this: “Love is not a ‘duty,’ even our highest duty. It is our destiny” (pg. 188)?

3. How does Wright interpret “If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law” (Galatians 5:18)?

4. What is the “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23? What insights does Wright offer about the fruit of the Spirit? Does anything here strike you as interesting, surprising or important? What?

5. What does Paul mean (or what does Wright think that Paul means) by the notion that the three virtues of faith, hope and love abide? What are the implications for how we live our lives?

6. How do you respond to this: “Personal morality is enormously important, but overconcentration on it can function as a displacement activity when we don’t want to address the larger, equally important issues” (pg. 209)?

7. What is Wright’s understanding and vision of Christian unity? Why does he think it is essential?