Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | May 12, 2021
“You have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Paul wrote that simple statement although many good-hearted religious folks will say the exact opposite, “You cannot fall from grace.” It is a reality, but do we grasp the immediate meaning? Paul is not writing about people who give up and go back to the world. Yes, they […]
PHall | May 6, 2021
While Matthew 28:19 is often recited 28:19 before baptizing, Galatians 3:28 was possibly a Pauline “baptismal statement”. Let’s add the other similar baptism statements by Paul. • Colossians 3:11 – In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. • 1 […]
PHall | May 5, 2021
No one has figured out exactly what is the problem in Colossae. I am smart enough to know I am not smart enough to outsmart those smarter. Yes, I had fun writing that. So, I would like to tackle it from a different angle. Instead of looking only at Colossians or comparing Colossians to Ephesians, […]
PHall | April 8, 2021
Like reverse engineering, we can take the book of Galatians and learn how people persuade others to follow false teaching: Discredit Leader (1:1) – Paul immediately defends his apostleship because one way to dissuade people from believing what they already believe is to discredit those who teach it. Beware of those who insult and smear […]
PHall | January 25, 2021
Falling from Grace is Personal Being wrong is more than being wrong about things. Being right is also more than being right about things. Let’s take it personally. • “You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.” (CSB’17 Galatians 5:4) This is such a […]
PHall | January 21, 2020
“You foolish Galatians! Who has hypnotized you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was visibly portrayed as crucified?” (Galatians 3:1). J.B. Phillips paraphrases it, “O you dear idiots of Galatia…surely you can’t be so idiotic…” Some translators have “bewitched” instead of hypnotized. The meaning is “to cast an evil spell, wishing injury upon someone; to bewitch”. […]
PHall | March 12, 2019
ARE WE LED BY THE SPIRIT AND HOW? To borrow and adapt an old phrase, “God in Spirit, who at sundry times and in divers manners led the fathers by miraculous ways, hath in these last days led us by the Spirit in grander ways”.In days past, the Holy Spirit led Israelites by pillar of […]
PHall | November 13, 2018
Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This is a hotly contested verse today and is also unique; maybe if we focus on its uniqueness, it will lessen the heat. While Paul […]
PHall | November 11, 2018
Clerical Collars? A lot of symbolism is found in the clerical collar priests and pastors wear. [ ] Black reminds them they are sinners. [ ] The small white center patch stands for the purity of speech in speaking for God. [ ] Some even connect it to a slave’s collar in that they are […]
PHall | September 29, 2018
Galatians – An Exodus Story: Words often tell more when seen through a historical lens, even an unstated OT motif. I wonder if this is true in a book telling a familiar story reminiscent of Israel’s exodus, only for them to quickly turn away. That book is Galatians. Paul writes that God raised Jesus from […]