The Yeast We Can Do
Dylan Pahman on Two Kinds of Leaven & Three Spiritual Disciplines
The metaphor of leaven has two opposite but related uses in Scripture. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which, when mixed with (or "hid in") flour, works its way through a whole lump of dough (Matt. 13:33). St. Paul, on the other hand, twice uses the metaphor of yeast as a warning. In one instance, he exhorts the Corinthians to cast out a sexually immoral man from among them, since he will corrupt (or has corrupted) the whole community (1 Cor. 5:4–6). Similarly, he cautions the Galatians against putting their faith in circumcision rather than in Christ (Gal. 5:3–9), for embracing this one error may hinder them from obeying the truth. Despite the opposite points made by Jesus and Paul, the basic meaning of the metaphor of the leaven is clear: little things often have big consequences.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Dylan Pahman is a research fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, where he serves as executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. He is the author of Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society (Acton Institute, 2017).
subscription options
Order
Print/Online Subscription
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Order
Online Only
Subscription
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
19.8—October 2006
on the Good Father’s Quiet Desperation by Russell D. Moore
34.1—January/February 2021
Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher by Hans Boersma
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
