Entire books have been written about the thorny theological issue I want to talk about today.

James chapter 2. At face value, James 2 seems hard to reconcile with the rest of the New Testament.

That’s because the rest of the New Testament pretty clearly teaches this doctrine of salvation by grace through faith not of works. That’s a direct quote, actually.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 4:2-3

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Galatians 2:16

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,

So it’s like, every page of the New Testament makes this clear: salvation is only by grace through faith. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation. Works play no part in it.

And then James comes along and says this in his second chapter,

Verse 14

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

Wait a second here. Let me read that again. (Re-read it)

Is James going against Paul? I can’t emphasize enough how much this seems to be saying the exact opposite of so many other verses in the Bible.

Is James contradicting Paul? Is James contradicting the Bible? Is James contradicting God Himself?

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to James 2, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

3:00 - James 2

6:15 - The Context of James

11:30 - Going Back to the Greek

17:00 - Next Time

20:00 - Closing Thoughts

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor

Let’s tackle one of the questions today that no Sunday School teacher wants to get: are Christian women supposed to wear “head coverings” according to I Corinthians 11?

Because when you read it very simply and plainly, it certainly feels like they should.

I Corinthians 11:5 says

But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head

Yikes! We don’t follow that one these days. Christians have all kinds of reasons to disregard some of the bizarre commandments and customs in the Law of Moses. But this one is a New Testament command. And it tells women that they should have some kind of covering over their heads.

It’s pretty clear. And yet almost no churches today follow this, at least in the Western world.

And if you ask your pastor or your Sunday School teacher why, they probably aren’t too sure. I mean, it’s right there in the Bible in the New Testament, but we don’t do it.

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to I Corinthians 11, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

1:30 - I Corinthians 11

6:00 - What is a Covering?

16:30 - What This Says about Gender and Nature

25:30 - Closing Thoughts

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor

What if someone came to a pastor and said, “How do I go to heaven?” Should the pastor tell him how to go to heaven? What kind of pastor wouldn’t tell someone who came to him and asked how to go to heaven how to go to heaven? That’s a pastor’s dream: for people to come to him and ask him how to go to heaven. That’s why we go to Bible schools and Bible colleges and spend years interning and preparing to lead churches: so we can tell people how to go to heaven.

And yet when a man came and asked Jesus how to go to heaven, Jesus didn’t tell him how to go to heaven. In fact, Jesus told him to do something else that wouldn’t even actually get him into heaven.

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to Luke 18, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

3:00 - The Rich Young Ruler Encounter (Luke 18)

9:00 - Mailbag

14:00 - What Was Jesus Doing?

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor