What if the letters of Paul were rewritten in the style of the Analects of Confucius?
The Apostle said: “If you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.”
I started a new tradition in 2022. Every year, I choose three words to anchor my thinking. I keep a journal for all my thoughts about these words. I read books related to these words. It’s a fun (and profound) way to focus my thinking and reflecting for the year.
One of my words this year is wisdom. I’ve read a lot of collections of wisdom sayings in the last several months. I’m teaching a first-year college writing class, and the theme for the class is wisdom. While most of the readings for the class are essays, I am also having them read little compilations of proverbs from various sources.
One of those sources is The Analects of Confucius. Many of the sayings attributed to Confucius follow the formula, “The Master said: ‘blah blah blah.’” For example: “The Master said: ‘In the old days, people studied to improve themselves. Now they study in order to impress others’” (Analects 14.24).
Sometimes there is more of a dialogue. A student or fellow minister makes a statement or asks a question and Confucius responds. For example: “Zigong asked: ‘Is there any single word that could guide one’s entire life?’ The Master said: ‘Should it not be reciprocity? What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others’” (Analects 15.24).
Recently, I was reading some of Paul’s letters in the New Testament. I wondered if some of Paul’s sayings could be rewritten in the form taken by the Analects. So I tried my hand at a few.
I don’t think you could completely recreate Paul’s letters. But I do think there are some passages that lend themselves well to the Analect form, especially those that may tend to get overlooked.
So, please enjoy this retelling of some statements from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. I’ve tried to keep close to the passages as written (NRSV translation), but sometimes make an alteration to enhance meaning and sometimes combine text from different passages, etc.
(There is one word you may find quite surprising—this is a translation of the Greek skubala, which most English Bibles translate mildly: “rubbish” (NRSV, ESV, NASB, NKJV), “garbage” (NIV, NLT), “refuse” (RSV), “sewer trash” (CEB), “dung” (KJV), “dog dung” (Message). I have been told skubala is the sailor’s word for dung, and so I have translated it thusly.)
As you read, consider what new things you notice. Are there any things that are shocking, confusing, affirming, exciting? As I wrote some of these out, I discovered new aspects of the text I’d never noticed before. What new insight calls to you?
Part of the purpose of retelling familiar stories or texts is to find something new in them. And the biblical texts are endless fountains of insight, providing new understanding each time we read them, each time we retell them. Maybe you could also try to rewrite some biblical passages in the Analect form yourself.
from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
Epaphroditus said to the Apostle: “May the Lord quickly deliver you from prison so that you may continue preaching!” The Apostle said: “What has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel. Everyone, even the guards, knows my imprisonment is for Christ. And other believers have new confidence to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. So I continue to rejoice. And you should rejoice with me.”
The Apostle said to Epaphroditus: “I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me.” Epaphroditus said: “Indeed, we were concerned for you, but had no opportunity to show it.” The Apostle responded: “Do not worry. I am not actually in need. I have learned to be content with whatever I have.” Epaphroditus said: “How have you learned to be content?” The Apostle responded: “I know what it is to have little. I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being well-fed and going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.” Epaphroditus said: “What is the secret?” The Apostle responded: “In all circumstances, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Anyway, it was kind of you to share my distress.”
Epaphroditus said: “We Philippians have supported you often. When you left Macedonia and when you were in Thessalonica, we sent help for your needs more than once.” Paul responded: “Indeed, your gifts are a fragrant offering, a sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God. But I do not seek your gift. I seek the profit that accumulates to your account.”
The Apostle said: “Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love.” Epaphroditus asked the Apostle: “How can we be of one mind?” The Apostle answered: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. In humility, consider others as better than yourselves. Don’t look to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
Epaphroditus said to the Apostle: “Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, hoping to make a name for themselves. They slander you because you are in prison.” The Apostle answered: “Rejoice that Christ is proclaimed! Indeed, let Christ be proclaimed in every way, with false motives or true, out of love or out of selfish ambition. Leave judgment to God.”
Timothy asked the Apostle: “Of what should the Philippians beware?” The Apostle answered: “Beware the dogs, beware the workers of evil, beware the mutilation.”
The Apostle said: “Euodia and Syntyche are blessed if they be of the same mind. These two, along with Syzygus and Clement, have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel. And I have many other coworkers in Christ.” Timothy asked: “And what are their names?” Paul responded: “It is enough that their names are written in the book of life.”
The Apostle said: “Have the same mind as Christ. He was in the form of God, but emptied himself, taking on the form of a human, the form of a slave. Even then he continued to humble himself. He was obedient, even when that obedience led to his public death on a cross. Because of such obedience, God highly exalted him, giving him the name above all names, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bend, in heaven and on earth. Therefore, have yourself the same mind as Christ.”
Epaphroditus said: “Some claim authority because of their accomplishment or pedigree.” Paul responded: “Whatever they have, I have more.” Epaphroditus said: “They have been circumcised.” Paul responded: “I was circumcised on the eighth day. Epaphroditus said: “They are Jews.” Paul responded: “I too, am a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin (from whom my namesake, Saul, the first king, also comes). I am a Hebrew born of Hebrews.” Epaphroditus said: “They know the Torah.” Paul responded: “As to the Torah, I was a Pharisee.” Epaphroditus said: “They are zealous.” Paul responded: “I was so zealous I persecuted the church.” Epaphroditus said: “They are righteous.” Paul responded: “If my righteousness had been judged by the law, I would have been blameless.” Epaphroditus said: “Why do you not claim your authority before such people?” The Apostle responded: “Whatever gains I had, I now consider them to be losses. Compared to the extravagant value of knowing Christ, I consider everything else as loss.”
Timothy said: “It is not troublesome to me to write the same things on your behalf.” Paul added: “And for you it is a safeguard.”
The Apostle said: “Compared to the extravagant value of knowing Christ, I consider everything else as loss.” Epaphroditus said: “Yes, you have told us this before. We understand.” The Apostle responded: “If you understand, why do some among you boast of their circumcision, their ancestry, their zeal? I, too have all these, and more. But for the sake of Christ, I consider these not just as loss, but as utter shit. Are you shocked I have said this? Do you not understand? If you think differently about this, do not worry. God will reveal it to you.”
The Apostle said: “God has granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.”
The Apostle said: “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”
The Apostle said: “Epaphroditus is a person to be honored, for he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to minister to my need.”
The Apostle said: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Do all things without arguing or murmuring. Rejoice in the Lord always. Do not worry about anything. In everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.”
The Apostle said: “If you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.”