Paul & Differences

Unity in the midst of differences (reality or myth)

Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12)

This was part of today’s first reading and it reminds us Christians that all of us (despite innumerable differences) were baptized by the same spirit; or in some sense of the equal dignity of all as Christians. The later verses of the chapter will make it clear that equal dignity doesn’t mean all of us do the same task; each has their their charism and responsibility. But I wish to read the above Bible verses a little closely and think along with it.

1. Read the last verses again, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” If any of the church authority is writing a letter today, they will definitely not use phrase — slaves or free persons. Technically, nobody is a slave today, or slavery is illegal. So our writing would have been quite different. Some can ask the question how the author of the Bible didn’t understand this reality that slavery is illegal. It arises from a wrong understanding of the word of God. Bible is word of God written by inspired people and later accepted by the church as the word of God. These inspired people were also people of flesh and blood, with the cultural and scientific understandings of their time. So it is difficult to judge them (people/literature) with today’s understanding.
2. When that reality is understood, probably we can understand the radicality of the passage. Paul is saying that slave and free persons drink the same spirit and call God as Father. Yes, the differences between slave and a free person were enormous. But that was not sufficient enough to separate them. Or in the midst of differences, unity is possible. Or in the midst of strong differences that separate us, unity is possible. It’s quite sad that when we see Christians today with many ideological differences, an outsider can wonder whether Paul was right or wrong? Yes, nothing is unifying them and differences reign over. Yes, by our life, we show that word of God doesn’t make much sense (????)

Source : https://flamingtext.com/Word-Logos/difference/