Is Paul a Jerk?

At the beginning of seminary, it was hard for me to learn about hermeneutics and church history when I had this glaring wound of the weaponized texts of Paul against women. I had some trepidation in the back of my head, “Do I even belong here?,” especially when you’ve been told to leave the heavy lifting of theology and interpretation to the men.

What I learned over the last couple of years was such a balm. I came to enjoy Paul, though it was a painstaking journey getting there. I wish there had been a “Stop the Bleeding,” course at the very beginning of seminary. As if to say, I know you’ve been in a car accident and have some gaping wounds and a broken arm. And we’ll eventually get to bandaging that up, but let’s talk about Moses on Mount Sinai.

I suppose it is exactly how God intended my journey to go. There were all the male professors who gleefully taught us and encouraged us to steward our callings to the max. That was healing after being in reformed spaces where men don’t quite know what to do with a woman who talks deep theology or is educated, perhaps more than them. In a world where I used to be a threat, now I was a co-worker and friend to the men.

Maybe I needed to see some Pauls in action before I could let the text defend Paul.

But alas, we all make things we wish we had for ourselves. What I really want to teach and journey through is the book of Luke and Acts. And we will get there! But the first course I put out had to be what I needed the most: A giant cleaning of wounds, stitching, resetting of bones, and time in a hospital bed just sitting.

Thus, I present to you my subscription group on the Circle app called Seminary Lite. The first course is called “Stop The Bleeding” and we work through the most weaponized texts against women. Each section has a video (These are not professional yet lol), a printable lecture (we get into the Greek) and a quiz/discussion questions if you’re doing it with a group. My hope is that you will study this with your husbands and girlfriends. If we can create a gaggle of people who know God’s heart for women, perhaps more and more captives can be set free from oppressive systems of hierarchy and patriarchy.

My wish is that you don’t use my videos as a podcast (though you can). But that you would read, learn, and really use this as a sit down season to heal. It has built in community too and no, you don’t have to do the tests (ha)! This course is for those for those who are wounded, deconstructed, have a hard time getting back to church, or who crave deeper theological teaching that leads them closer to Christ. It’s hard to do that consistently in 3 minute reels, and then dealing with the Theo bros/bras can be very taxing.

SO! Join me for deeper learning over on circle:

Click here to make an account and join! It has a paywall of $29 per month. Next month we will be delving into Luke at a snails pace, and a new class will drop weekly on Tuesdays. It will not be bulk dropped like this course. And then we’ll keep going from there. the Bible is inexhaustible, so we’ll have no trouble staying busy and learning.

If you cannot afford that, message me directly as no one will be denied access to school because of finances. Built into the cost are scholarships so that we can lift all women up together. Gather the Girls and get to learning!

Excited about this!

Jami