100 :
09 Apr 2009

St Paul as model for following Christ... Easter bears down on us. For many it is looked forward to as a break — a time for rest and recreation, a time to enjoy "the good life" our work has secured for us. Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today on St Paul is in part triggered by the recent discussion in the forum on the good life, the pleasant life, and the meaningful life. What are we here to live? We have a choice. In choosing to follow Christ though we often have to put up with much. It can be a life in chains. Do we choose to follow Christ in order to become mannacled or in order to secure a freedom that breaks all the chains that bind us? Perhaps that might be our collective reflection this Easter and use Dr Elmer's reflection on St Paul as the starting point... [more]

099 :
02 Apr 2009

The relationship between the letter and spirit of the law... One of the great beauties — and the tensions — in Catholic thought is the relationship between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. So often we find in the parables and examples of Jesus' life itself examples where the Teacher himself sought to draw out the relationship. His disciple, Paul, perhaps more than any other was the one who made this insight most clear. Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today seeks to explore more deeply this relationship between letter and spirit in Law in the thinking of St Paul. [more]

098 :
26 Mar 2009

The ultimate success of Paul... Today's lead commentator, Dr Ian Elmer, is celebrating another small milestone in his own academic career, and emerging international prominence as a Pauline specialist, with the publication in the last week of his doctoral dissertation, Paul, Jerusalem and the Judaisers by the German publishing house, Mohr Siebeck. Congratulations from all of us Ian. Today's commentary — which takes a big picture overview of Paul's battles with Peter and his followers — is largely taken from one chapter in his new book and examines how, despite the constant criticism that Paul was subjected to ultimately it was his ecclesial vision which seems to have won and been the basis on which the world was eventually evangelised. [more]

097 :
19 Mar 2009

Who will be saved? The editor of Catholica headlined today's email "Treasure This...": Today Dr Ian Elmer seeks to cut to the heart of St Paul's theology — what's this "I believe in Jesus" game ultimately really all about? Ian enttled the essay "Who will be saved?" but he's really delving deeper than that in an endeavour to give insight into Paul's thinking as to how we (collectively and individually) will be "saved". As Ian says: "resurrection and salvation are linked in Paul's writings, and one cannot consider one without the other". But what does "resurrection" and "salvation" actually mean when we strip away the ecclesial cliches that have come to bury the real meaning? [more]

096 :
12 Mar 2009

Was Paul a Misogynist? Dr Ian Elmer's commentary on Greed [link] written as part of the Seven Deadlies series in 2006 is still "climbing through the roof" in terms of the number of people reading it each week. Is the global economic recession causing such interest in the question of Greed? Today's commentary from Ian might come to rival that in that he has chosen a topical issue. This is how Ian himself introduces today's commentary: "Was Paul a misogynist? This is a question that is often asked classrooms, seminaries, parishes and in internet discussion forums. This question is particularly relevant in any examination of the Corinthian correspondence, which seems to offer conflicting answers to the question of Paul's attitude towards women." [more]

095 :
05 Mar 2009

"Conflict at Corinth" Over the next two weeks Dr Elmer turns his attention to St Paul's dealings with the churches of Corinth. He draws out the continuing parallels between the events we ought learn from this early history of the Church and events that are destablising of the institution today. [more]

094 :
27 Feb 2009

"A Universal Church" Dr Elmer introduces his commentary today: "Last week we began an examination of Paul's ecclesiology by noting how Paul responded to his opponents at Galatia by stressing the eschatological character of the Christian family. The image of the Pauline churches that emerges from Galatians and elsewhere in the Pauline corpus is that of small house churches — groups of ordinary people meeting in ordinary homes and sharing a common identity as brothers and sisters 'in Christ' (Gal 2:19-20; cf. Rom 6:3-11; 1 Cor 15:22; 2 Cor 5:14-16). But this was not a form of early congregationalism. Paul and his converts were very much aware that they were part of a larger, universal Church with an inherited tradition of beliefs and an established hierarchy of leadership." [more]

093 :
19 Feb 2009

"The Ecclesiology of St Paul" Last week, you will recall, Dr Elmer invited us to explore the Christology of St Paul. This week he turns to look at the Ecclesiology of St Paul as it is expressed in Galatians. What was Paul's view of "church" and "Christian community" and how might we take it on-board today? [more]

092 :
13 Feb 2009

"The Christology of St Paul" If you were uplifted by the essay we pointed you to yesterday by Dr Jerome Murphy-O'Connor on Paul the Pastor, you will more than probably find this first of Dr Ian Elmer's 2009 commentaries on St Paul equally interesting and uplifting. What Dr Elmer is essentially looking at today is the Christology of St Paul — what did Jesus mean to St Paul and what was the picture of Jesus that St Paul was endeavouring to communicate through his writing and his missionary activities? [more]

091 :
05 Feb 2009

"Apostle to the Gentiles" This is a "catch-up" commentary from Dr Ian Elmer. It went astray somewhere in cyberspace between Brisbane and the Blue Mountains before Christmas. We insert it now as this series is also being followed by students in various tertiary institutions and seminaries as part of their reading. The dispute Paul was involved in with Peter, James and the leaders at Jerusalem was complex and scholars are still seeking to fully understand it with various explanations being put forward. The thrust of this commentary is, as Dr Elmer concludes, "[i]n a very real sense, it was this dispute that gave birth to Paul's quintessential mission as the 'Apostle to the Gentiles'". [more]

090 :
27 Dec 2008

Justified — By What? The question as to whether we humans are "saved" by faith alone or by our actions and adherence to the Law is still controversial in some quarters nearly 2000 years after the line was drawn between the two viewpoints. in today's lead commentary, Dr Ian Elmer takes us back to examine the origins of this on-going controversy which can be found in the time of St Paul. The commentary includes discussion of an interesting re-evaluation of the Jewish approach to the Law — "The Mosaic Law was not a means to salvation or redemption, but a response to Grace". [more]

089 :
13 Dec 2008

One of the great theological insights… We've had a slight glitch this week in that Ian has gone on holidays. Just before leaving he sent through two commentaries but, for some reason, the one due to be published this week was snaffled by our mail scanner and we've not been able to retrieve it yet. Ian is also uncontactable at the moment. Today therefore you're receiving the commentary that was due to be published next week. We're now into what Dr Elmer describes as "the most productive phase of Paul's mission as Apostle to the Gentiles". Perhaps the most interesting part of this commentary though is the discussion towards the end on what Dr Elmer describes as "one of Paul's greatest theological insights: Justification by Faith". [more]

088 :
06 Dec 2008

A film script? There's probably a good film script in the series of commentaries Dr Ian Elmer has brought us in recent weeks exploring in some detail the fighting that went on in the early Church around the time of the first Council at Jerusalem. Unfortunately the Scriptural record is actually not clear about what actually transpired. As becomes clear through reading Ian's commentary today, to make sense of what was going on "back then" we are largely reliant on scholarly conjecture. Studying this material though is important because it has fairly direct relevance to the disputes we see still going on within the Church today. Enjoy the next thrilling instalment of the contest between the goodies and the baddies at Antioch and Jerusalem. Whose side are you on? [more]

087 :
29 Nov 2008

The unfinished business of the Jerusalem Council… When you've wandered around the Catholic Church long enough you learn that one of the systemic ways of dealing with problems is by not dealing with them. If a complaint comes in, and you're in a position of responsibility you simply ignore it. Dr Ian Elmer's exploration of the very unclear outcome of the first Council of the Church at Jerusalem might suggest we learned this institutional behaviour a long, long time ago. The written records we have are confusing, even conflicting, as to what was resolved at this first Council. Today's commentary is a prelude to next week's commentary where Dr Elmer will look at the practical outcome of the Council — which is easier to discern. [more]

086 :
22 Nov 2008

The Quest for Koinonia… Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today on happenings in the embryonic Church at Jerusalem and Antioch torpedoes down through the centuries and lodges like an "arrow of relevance" into our own time. This is a commentary about different models of leadership and how leaders need to mediate between various factions. It's a commentary about "building community or fellowship" in an environment where one, or some of the factions, do not want to listen to any other interpretations other than their own. As Dr Elmer points out, the lesson we can learn has direct relevance to our own time. [more]

085 :
15 Nov 2008

The Calling of the First Council… We've been having much discussion in recent days on Catholica as to the nature of Church — how do we, as Church, interpret what God asks of his people, and his Church? Different groups of people have different opinions — and they're all prepared to die to defend their interpretations. In today's lead commentary Dr Ian Elmer takes us right back to the First Council of the Church where these sorts of disputes first came to a head — The Council of Jerusalem. Dr Elmer draws the link between those events almost two millenia ago and events happening today right around on the other side of the world in Australia. Will our ecclesial leaders reward the "spies and tattletales" or will they act with courage as the leaders did at the First Council? [more]

084 :
08 Nov 2008

The Ascendency of Saulos Paulos… Studying what Dr Ian Elmer serves up to us each week about the activities for St Paul you could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that the possibility of the story of Jesus Christ ever reaching us Gentiles was the greatest bit of serendipity that ever happened. Today Ian looks at another fascinating dimension to the story: why Paul changed his name. Dr Elmer describes his name change as "a watershed moment in religious history". [more]

083 :
01 Nov 2008

The Rise of St James… Dr Elmer introduces his commentary today with these words: "Much talk in the Church during recent decades has centred on the rise of Catholic fundamentalism or neo-conservatism. The heady days of Vatican II seemed to have slowed as conservative forces within the Church have sought to slow change and progress. Once again, events surrounding Paul's early commerce with the Jerusalem apostles remind us of these events and provide insight into the social dynamics at work in times of change. In particular, we explore this week the rise of the conservative James in the wake of the Hellenists' mission in Antioch." [more]

082 :
25 Oct 2008

Policing the boundaries… Ah, the politics and games that we human beings play! Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today well illustrates the fact that we have been playing these games since the birth of the Church. "My rules are better than your rules" and some arbiter has to be sent in to settle the differences. At times it was so vicious that some literally got killed. When we think of the terrorists who still think it is OK to bomb innocents in pursuit of their religious objectives we might wonder has human civilisation really advanced that far in 2000 years? [more]

081 :
18 Oct 2008

Hebrews and Hellenists… This is a fascinating commentary from Dr Ian Elmer. It contains many references to events two millennia ago that still resonate today as issues we struggle with in trying to understand what Jesus (and Paul) were ultimately driving at. What Ian attempts to do today is "break apart" the social and theological differences between two very different groups that had emerged in the early Church — the Hebrews and the Hellenists. Does this help us better understand the divisions within Christianity today, or the divisions within, say, just the Catholic Church? [more]

080 :
11 Oct 2008

Barnabas and Paul… In today's commentary Dr Ian Elmer shifts the focus from Paul to his lesser-known colleague, Barnabas. There are anomolies in the Scriptural accounts that Dr Elmer explores in this continuing endeavour we are engaged in of seeking to both better understand the nature of the early Church and the nature of Jesus' ongoing mission. [more]

079 :
04 Oct 2008

Paul's relationship with Peter… In our lead commentary today Dr Ian Elmer is looking at the nature of St Paul's legacy. In recent days, Benedict was seeking to play down the controversial side of Paul's leadership. That has prompted Dr Elmer to examine in closer detail the relationship between Paul and Peter and the issue of where Paul stood in relation to the authority or primacy of Peter. [more]

078 :
27 Sep 2008

The search for Certitude -vs- The search for Truth… The tensions and conflicts within the Church seem to be ageless. In today's commentary Dr Ian Elmer examines the tension between the search for truth and the search for certitude — which Bishop Geoffrey Robinson has pointed to as one of the key lines of conflict in our contemporary Church — through the perspective of similar tensions that existed between St Paul and his followers and Peter and James and their followers. [more]

077 :
20 Sep 2008

Jesus and Paul – contrasts and similarities… Who was the real "founder" of Christianity, Paul or Jesus? In this thought-provoking commentary today Dr Ian Elmer explores the similarities, and the contrasts, in the approaches taken by Jesus and by Paul. We owe so much to each of these "towering figures" at the birth of Christianity but even today there remains plenty for confusement — or for productive meditation! [more]

076 :
13 Sep 2008

Paul and the Elephant… Dr Ian Elmer begins hts commentary today with the provocative statement "all religions are, in some sense, human inventions" and proceeds to discuss some of the commonalities between different religions before seeking to draw out the uniqueness of Christianity... [more]

075 :
06 Sep 2008

The Road Paul Travelled to Conversion… Today's commentary by Dr Ian Elmer might be likened to an attempt to climb into the mind of St Paul. Trying to place ourselves back 2000 years and really understand how St Paul self-understood his conversation experience. While Dr Elmer admits his way of doing this might be conditioned by his own experience of life nevertheless he also suggests that undertaking an exercise like this helps us to a better understanding of the "conversion experience" we are called to as followers of Jesus Christ... [more]

074 :
30 Aug 2008

Were Paul, and the other disciples, uneducated and unsophisticated? Now here's a really interesting commentary from Dr Ian Elmer that looks at the learning and intellectual sophistication of the early Christian leaders and particularly St Paul. Is it a myth that Jesus chose uneducated trades people as the leaders for his movement? Dr Elmer explores some of the evidence... [more]

073 :
23 Aug 2008

Is Christianity wasted on the young? Whlle the evidence points to St Paul being a contemporary of Jesus the conversion of St Paul occurred shortly after the death of Jesus. In today's commentary, Dr Ian Elmer examines the chronology in an attempt to establish the age of St Paul. Dr Elmer's wider mission is to examine whether Christianity is a religion that has more relevance to the second half of our lives. Is it a religion that is essentially wasted on the young? [more]

072 :
16 Aug 2008

Paul's Road before Damascus… Ian Elmer today takes us back before St Paul's conversion on he road to Damascus to explore the nature of his conversion not just from the point of view of scholarly or historical interest. The trasnformation in the outlook of St Paul has sharp lessons for the Church of today. [more]

071 :
09 Aug 2008

Conversion of heart… Is being a Catholic, a Christian, or any sort of religious or spiritual person, something radically different to being an Australian, a European, an American, or Chinese? Is it the same as being born into a particular family? Our religion, like our country of origin or family of origin, helps define us but doesn't it involve something more at some point — a conversion? Dr Ian Elmer's commentary today looks at the conversion of one of the most famous "converts", St Paul, and what his "conversion" might mean for us two millennia later. [more]

070 :
02 Aug 2008

Constructing the "churchly Paul"… By way of introduction to today's commentary Dr Ian Elmer writes: "In last week's reflection on the Year of Paul, we spoke of how Paul was "put in his place" by friends and foes alike. The impetus for that commentary came from Victor Furnish's 1993 presidential address to the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Washington D.C. where he spoke of the difficulties of delineating the 'historical Paul' from the 'churchly Paul' (Furnish, 1993). This week, I would like to reflect on the second of these constructs, the 'churchly Paul'." [more]

069 :
26 Jul 2008

Putting Paul in his place… Pauline scholar, Dr Ian Elmer, is at his cheekest best with this commentary. It's a commentary about ancient historical things but, at the same time, it is also a commentary about very contempotary things. Paul was passionate about his mission. Like all passionate leaders he developed both strong critics and loyal supporters. The challenge we face with all such leaders is navigating between "the spin" and the "put downs". How do we put Paul in his place? [more]

068 :
19 Jul 2008

A flawed, fallible father of the Church… It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr Ian Elmer back to the lead commentary pages of Catholica. Ian's specialist area of study is St Paul and in his commentary today he would like to draw our attention both the Year of St Paul that is being celebrated for the next twelve months and to the enigmatic even contradictory example that St Paul presents to us as an example of a follower of Jesus Christ. [more]

067 :
08 Dec 2007

St Stephen… This is Dr Ian Elmer's last commentary for Catholica for a while. He has been called to higher things and the long voluntary commitment he has made to Catholica since we started has come to an end. Catholica is not an academic journal and in the new year Ian will be moving on to write for academic journals where his work is subject to the "peer review" which is essential to further consolidate his credentials now that he has been awarded his doctorate. I trust the readers of Catholica will join me in extending our deep appreciation to you, Ian, for the enormous contribution you have made to Catholica Australia in our first 18 months of publishing. We will certainly look forward to seeing your work in more august journals around the world and, from time to time, borrowing from them to publish here. Ian, we are already aware of the wonderful reputation you have established amongst the young people you have been teaching. It has been wonderful having here in Catholica two gifted teachers like yourself and Dr Andrew Kania who both have exceedingly high rapport with young people as teachers. We need many more like you who can open up "the Good News of Jesus Christ" in a world that has been closing its ears to his "Good News". We wish you well in now going on to enthuse much larger audiences. Ian's final commentary for us today is a joy-filled Advent commentary looking at the guy who helped start all this Christmas caper, St Stephen. [more]

066 :
01 Dec 2007

Who then were the founders of the Church in Rome? Over the last two weeks Dr Elmer has explored two possible candidates for the honour of founder of the Church in Rome, Paul and Peter. His exploration of the material from Paul's letter to Rome suggests that neither of these apostles can claim that title — although the later Roman apologists would make that claim for them. This week he looks at further scholarly speculation about who the true founders of the Roman church may have been and when Christianity first came to Rome. [more]

065 :
24 Nov 2007

Was Rome really the See of Peter? Continuing on from his commentary last week examining the origins of the Church in Rome, Dr Ian Elmer explores the connections between Rome as the See of Peter, and the notion that the Bishop of Rome can claim to be Peter's successor. Both of these notions are the sort of issues that John Paul II indicated as stumbling blocks in the path towards greater ecumenical co-operation, if not reunification. [more]

064 :
17 Nov 2007

Looking at a new question in a very old light… Today's commentary from Dr Ian Elmer builds on his series from recent weeks looking at the Mythology in the Gospel of Mark. He now turns his attention to looking at the origins of the earliest Church in Rome. His examination casts a useful light on a contemporary challenge: the present division in the Church between those who want a "strong" version of their faith and those not attracted to "strong". Poor yourself a strong coffee and sit back and enjoy this scholarly analysis that will leave you seriously asking yourself whether Benedict made the right choice or otherwise in re-introducing the Latin Mass in the way he has done. [more]

063 :
10 Nov 2007

Reading St Mark's Gospel III… This is Dr Ian Elmer at his very best — providing a completely refreshing analysis of words we've heard or read hundreds or thousands of times before. He borrows from an insight Fr Richard Rohr made in an interview on ABC radio last year to provide a new way of understanding this shortest and seemingly simplest of the Gospel narratives. [more]

062 :
03 Nov 2007

Reading St Mark's Gospel II… Continuing the fascinating commentary he opened last week, Dr Ian Elmer takes us deeper into the meaning we can draw from what is the shortest and perhaps deceptively simplist of the Gospel narratives. [more]

061 :
27 Oct 2007

Reading St Mark's Gospel I… Scholars believe the Gospel of St Mark was the first to be written. It is the shortest of the Gospel accounts and, apart from the empty tomb, has nothing to say about the post-resurrection events recounted in the other Gospels. Today Dr Elmer introduces us to a relatively new* way of understanding this "short and pithy" gospel narrative. (*It's about two decades since scholars came up with this way of interpreting St Mark.) [more]