Last week we read the first two chapters of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and compared it to Rachel’s creative imagining of the letter. This week we’re finishing the final two chapters of Colossians, and reading one of Rachel’s essays on “resistance.”
Reading:
- Read Colossians, chapters 3 and 4.
- We talked last week about how chapter 3 is what chapters 1 and 2 have been leading to. Paul’s “exhortations” in chapter 3 make sense only because of the setup he has done to explain the good news of Jesus.
- Read an excerpt from Inspired chapter 5 “Resistance Stories” as posted on Rachel’s blog in 2018: https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/inspired-excerpt-resistance-stories
- Written in 2018, some of this essay’s references feed dated; others feel extra meaningful because they are still relevant.
Things to Consider:
- Rachel points out that “Babylon” was a real ancient city, but in the biblical tradition, “Babylon” becomes a catchall phrase to refer to all corrupt states and empires. Through a process of collective meaning making, something particular like “Babylon” becomes the method for talking about something universal.