Pharisees, Torah, and Sacrifice: What We Miss When We Misread the Law (Paul Sloan) Ep. #219

10 snips

Sep 25, 2025

Dr. Paul Sloan, a New Testament scholar and author of *Jesus and the Law of Moses*, delves into the often-misunderstood relationship between Jesus, Paul, and the Torah. He argues that legalism distorts perceptions of biblical law, presenting it instead as a relational framework. Sloan explores how Jesus engaged in sophisticated legal reasoning and why Paul remained involved in the temple sacrifices post-conversion. He critiques the negative caricature of Pharisees, highlighting its damaging impact on views of Judaism today.

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INSIGHT

Legalism Is A Distorting Mold

Modern readers default to legalism and then filter every Gospel controversy through that mold.
Paul Sloan argues this Play-Doh framing misreads Jesus and Pharisees and blocks serious study of Torah on its own terms.

INSIGHT

Controversies Are About Eschatology

Jesus and Pharisees are best understood as debating eschatology and restoration, not mere styles of religion.
Paul Sloan says differences reflect competing visions about whether restoration has arrived.

INSIGHT

Beware The Hard Law/Gospel Divide

The popular law/gospel split (e.g., Luther) reduces law to constraint and gospel to freedom.
Sloan argues that reading Paul this way misinterprets both Paul and the Gospels.

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Did Jesus come to cancel the Law of Moses—or fulfill it? In this compelling episode, Dr. Paul Sloan joins Dru Johnson to challenge one of the most persistent misunderstandings in modern Christianity: the idea that Jesus and Paul opposed the Torah.

Drawing from his book Jesus and the Law of Moses, Sloan explains how legalism, misunderstanding of impurity, and modern Christian readings of Paul have distorted our view of the biblical law. Instead of a rigid checklist of 613 rules, the Torah was a wisdom-guided, relational framework that assumed the realities of sin, forgiveness, and impurity—and offered ways to address them.

They explore how Jesus engaged in sophisticated legal reasoning, why Paul continued to participate in the temple sacrificial system even after his conversion, and why the “burden” of the law has been misunderstood. Sloan also critiques how Pharisees are caricatured as villains, with damaging theological consequences—especially for how Christians view modern Jews and Judaism.

This episode brings clarity to what Jesus and Paul were really doing with the law—and why recovering this perspective is crucial for theology, biblical interpretation, and interfaith understanding today.

To get your copy of Jesus And The Law Of Moses:
https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9781540966384_jesus-and-the-law-of-moses

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Chapters:

00:00 Understanding the Law and Jesus' Perspective
02:22 Hurdles in Understanding the Law
05:13 Legalism and Its Misinterpretations
08:20 The Case for Jesus and Paul Abolishing the Torah
11:35 Exploring Dietary Laws and Their Implications
14:33 The Nature of Law and Forgiveness
17:31 Ritual Purity and Its Misconceptions
20:24 Pharisees: Villains or Misunderstood Figures?
23:25 Modern Implications of Ancient Interpretations
24:43 Paul's Observance of the Torah
25:33 The Role of Sacrifices in Early Christianity
31:40 Jesus and the Sacrificial System
34:04 Cultural Critique: Rabbinics and Jesus' Teachings