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Jumpstarter 7 of 10

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Romans Commentary Chapters 9-16  /  Romans 13:11 – 14 Walk in the Light, Not in Darkness  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 7
Clement contrasts pagan holiday partying (“senseless nightlong parties,” drunkenness, promiscuity, entertainments becoming indecent) with Christian love feasts; what would it require for a church today to offer a genuinely alternative kind of communal celebration that doesn’t merely “Christianize” the world’s party culture?
Another way to ask: Clement compares pagan holiday partying with Christian love feasts. What would a church today need to do to create a truly different kind of celebration instead of just copying the world’s party style with Christian labels?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests an alternative celebration would be marked by sobriety, reason, and purity—explicitly refusing the patterns that “delight in wine drinking,” promote promiscuity, and slide into indecency. It would aim to be a true Christian “love feast,” not a rebranded version of the world’s nightlong party.

Support from Transcript:

  • Clement’s instruction: “let the wild celebrations of the pagan holiday season have no part, nor should there be the senseless nightlong parties… that delight in wine drinking.”
  • He says such partying ends in “drunken stupors” and people confiding “the troubles of their love affairs.”
  • “Love affairs and drunkenness are both contrary to reason and therefore do not belong to our sort of celebrations.”
  • Pagan banquets are described as promoting “drunkenness and promiscuity” and becoming “indecent” through entertainment and rhythms.
  • Paul’s larger command frames celebration too: “walk uprightly, as in the day,” and “make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires.”
Discussion Follow-ups What would churches need to change (food/drink expectations, music/entertainment, time of day, accountability) to make gatherings clearly “of the day” rather than nighttime culture with Christian words?

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