In the Silmarillion, Tolkien pictures God singing a song and Satan trying to improve on it until he’s ultimately offering a different song. Paul sees something similar in the song of order being sung in Eden and the song that humanity has sang instead via Sin. We talk more about that in today’s episode as we continue through Romans.
You can listen to today’s 1208PODCAST episode here or wherever you stream your podcasts.
Paul's Theological Adjustment – 1208PODCAST
In ancient times, religion and state were the same thing. Therefore, you can imagine how difficult it was for the Jews to understand their theology when (A) some started to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, (B) the Messiah wanted non-Jewish people to join their religion/state, and (C) those non-Jewish people didn't practice any of the boundary markers that the Jews had always practiced (ie. obedience to the law, circumcision, etc).
In the Book of Romans, Paul strives to help his Jewish brothers and sisters understand the theological impact Jesus has had on their religion/state so that they can welcome their non-Jewish neighbors in. And that's what we hit on in the first half of Romans 3.
