Chalke Talk 88: Why do we think Paul thought like us?

It’s a common misconception, and common because we often don’t realize we’re making it. Steve asks, this week, Why do we think Paul thought like us? Paul wasn’t westerner, a modernist, liberal nor a conservative. He was deeply a product of his culture, and his encounter with the gospel.

As Steve puts it, “Modern-day Westerners ask, ‘How can I be saved?’ ‘What does this mean for me?’ 
Churchgoers rarely tire of singing songs littered with their individualistic hopes, fears, and promises of service. The problem is that this all represents a huge shrinking down of the message of the New Testament and, in turn, of Paul’s thinking and teaching.”

But what does that mean for us?  How do we make sense of the seemingly paradoxical parts of Paul’s writings?  How do we understanding hot-button issues like universalism and inclusion; issues that center at so much of the controversies the church finds itself in today.

Steve finishes by asking, "if it is clear that Paul believes that God is renewing the entire universe,  why would that NOT include all people, and why would that not be his meaning here?"
 
What do you think?