Refudenounce the Roots VI: Romans, Chapters 10 - 16

Part VI, the final part, of my "Refudenounce the Roots" Series.

In Chapter 10 Paul is mobbed yet again by Old Testament ghosts. This time it's Moses, David, Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel. He drones on about belief and righteousness too.  There are really only two interesting points about this chapter:

• For the most part Paul seems to be saying that Moses had it all wrong. This is in line with what Jesus said, back in Matthew 19:8, about Moses making unauthorized concessions to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews. So much for the bible being infallible and containing no contradictions.
• Verse 9: "...if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." This is nothing like anything Jesus ever said. It also flies in the face of Trinitarianism, for its glaring failure to say "God" instead of "Lord". And if this were true, if it were really this easy to be saved, then why would we need all 27 of these New Testament books? Why would we need a bible at all? Why wouldn't we just kill everyone as soon as he/she accepted Jesus, so he/she could get on with eternity? Why would we need centuries' worth of exegesis, elucidation, elaboration? Why would we need laws against gay marriage? Stoner!

Chapter 11: focus on the cultivation of olive trees for a while. Dude! Olive trees are a lot like people!

• Verse 20: Here's a gem: "Do not be arrogant..." Don't assume that you understand the Supreme Being well enough to speak on its behalf. Don't assume that you would recognize God if you saw it. Don't assume that God even knows that you exist. No, kidding, he didn't say all that. He just said, "Do not be arrogant, but be afraid." Thanks, Yoda. I was already afraid of this god when it started drowning babies.
• Verse 26: "...all Israel will be saved." Nah, God doesn't show favoritism. That would be ungodly.

Chapter 12, Verse 9: "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." I can get behind that idea. Unfortunately, Jesusianismists' ideas about good and evil seem exactly backward in some really important areas.

Chapter 13, Verses 3 - 4: "...rulers hold no terror for those who do right," and "[The one in authority] is God's servant to do you good." Wow, thanks for explaining to me that all those people killed by tyrants during the 20th century never experienced terror, and that their executions were good.

In Chapter 14 Paul rambles for a bit about eating and food, judgment, and faith. Nothing of any consequence.

Chapter 15, Verse 5: "May the god who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves". Whoops, I guess Paul prayed to the wrong god for this one. He should have prayed to the god who gives a spirit of unity. Obviously, this prayer didn't work at all.

Chapter 16

• Verse 4: "[Priscilla and Aquila] risked their lives for me." Hmm, if you think that you'll be spending eternity in heaven after your body dies, then what meaning can it possibly have to risk one's life? Stoner. Actually, no, it seems that most Jesusianismists share Paul's internally inconsistent world-view. They think that heaven is bliss, but they don't want to leave this life, and they try very hard to make sure that no one else (say, unwanted fetuses, who certainly would be very much wanted in heaven) leaves this life until they've spent at least a few decades in it, even if they're suffering miserably the whole time.
• Verse 20: "The god of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Yeah, Paul has a hard time keeping his gods straight. The god of peace wouldn't go around crushing anyone, I should think.
• Verse 27: "To the only wise god..." Paul was clearly a polytheist: he mentioned no fewer than three gods in this book.

For my own sake, I hope that Paul was sober when writing his other epistles.