p. 662— Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ are interchangeable. Rom. 8 is the great chapter of indwelling and participation. p. 663— He sees no distinction between the Spirit is in the believer and Christ is except, the former phrase begins in Paul’s first letter whereas ‘Christ in you’ develops more slowly. With the terminology of indwelling comes the terminology of union conformed to the image, transform the body of our humiliation conformed in Rom. 8.29 is same word... Read more

p. 644– In Rom. 7 Paul writes as if all humans are under the Jewish Law. Because Paul parallels the law written on Gentile hearts (2.12-15) with the Mosaic Law, Jew and Gentile are equally under law and under sin Rom. 3.19 says that all those who are under law are accountable, and then he says the whole world is accountable to God. Everyone is a sinner condemned by the Jewish law, even though elsewhere he has argued Gentiles are... Read more

Sanders says in Romans Paul realized he made a mistake in Galatians by saying that circumcision came 430 years after Abraham who was righteous by faith, but Gen. 17. 9-14 commanded Abraham to be circumcised too. [This is not correct. Paul is right that Abraham was given right standing through trusting God in Gen. 12ff. before God commanded him to be circumcised. Furthermore, Paul does not say in Gal. that the command to circumcise came 430 years later, he says... Read more

p. 610—- Sanders notes the big difference between Gal. where there is no righteousness by the law, but here in Phil. there is such a thing 3.6,9— indeed Paul says he had a righteousness under the law, blamelessness. What really counts or matters is having the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ which involves sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death. Whatever righteousness from the law was, it didn’t unite you to Christ and provide... Read more

p. 615—- The major theme of Romans is the equality of Jew and Gentile before God. Paul was in Corinth for what he intended to be the last time and was heading to Jerusalem with the collection. p. 616— Paul asked for two sorts of assistance from the Romans— prayer for safety etc. when he went to Jerusalem, and then traveling assistance when he went on from Rome to Spain. Notice how tactful Paul is in Rom. 1 because the... Read more

PHILIPPIANS pp. 575-78— Sanders cannot discern a structure in this letter, not least because he doesn’t read it rhetorically. p. 579— This document may be a compilation of several letter fragments, but in any case Sanders thinks it all comes from Paul. He thinks the major break between 3.1 and 3.2 may hint at multiple letter fragments. pp. 580-81— While it is true, as Sanders says, that Acts leaves out a lot and is episodic, this does not give a... Read more

Gal. 6.7-9 makes clear Paul thinks there is rewards for good deeds as well as punishment for bad deeds. You reap what you sow. p. 561– Again works of the Law are not good deeds and vice versa. “With the exception of idolatry and sexual activity, the vice lists are about actions that hurt other people, and the virtue list, governed by the biblical commandment to love one another is entirely about how to act towards others. Ethically Paul is... Read more

p. 545—the allegory in Gal. 4.21.-5.1 p. 546— Paul is gifted at typology, not so good at allegory, and Sanders criticizes his olive tree discussion in Rom. 11 because it’s botanically incorrect [which was not the point] An allegory is a description or narrative presenting literal characters and event which contain sustained reference to a simultaneous structure of other ideas and event— he gets this def. from Cambridge Guide to Lit. in English 3 (2006). p. 547— the only info... Read more

p. 539— What does Paul mean in Gal. 4.1-11 by stoicheia—elemental spirits, elementary principles, elements of the world? p. 540— He says they could have been controlling thoughts but probably what is meant is supernatural beings who govern the stars and so controlling powers [N.B. there is no evidence for this meaning of the term before or during the NT era, and in Hebrews it means elementary principles] p. 541— Paul says we all become sons of God through adoption... Read more

This movie has already garnered a lot of attention and has been called many things, including, aptly, ‘No Country for Old X Men’. And this is indeed a movie about old X men, in particular Charles Xavier the leader of the band of X men, and Wolverine, known as Logan in this film. It is unlike any other Marvel movie ever in many ways. It is a serious drama, and Stephen Colbert says its the only Marvel flick that ever... Read more