Expedition 44

By Expedition 44Religion & Spirituality Christianity

Expedition 44 episodes

July 08, 2024 Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire - Interview with Preston Sprinkle
In this episode Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt have a conversation with Dr. Preston Sprinkle about his new book Exiles and how the church should relate to the governments and empires/kingdoms of the world as the people of God.

Dr. Preston Sprinkle is a biblical scholar, speaker, podcaster, a New York Times bestselling author, and is the co-founder and president of The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland (2007). Preston loves talking and writing about hot-button cultural and theological issues with thoughtfulness, honesty and grace. He has written a dozen books including Erasing Hell (w/ Francis Chan), Nonviolence, Scandalous Grace, People to Be Loved, Living in a Gray World, and Embodied. Preston also hosts a popular bi-weekly podcast titled Theology in the Raw, where he engages in honest conversations with interesting people.

Buy Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire: https://a.co/d/09O2TqNX
1 hr 10 min
June 28, 2024 Abraham's Silence: The Binding of Isaac- Interview with J. Richard Middleton
In this episode Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt have a conversation with Dr. J. Richard Middle about his book Abraham's silence: The Binding of Isaac, The Suffering of Job, and How to talk back to God.

BIO
J. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary and Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester, NY.
He has been President of the Canadian-American Theological Association (2011–2014) and President of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (2019–2021). Middleton has a Ph.D. from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, in a joint-degree program with the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto.

1 hr 3 min
June 27, 2024 The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: Interview with Philip Payne (Part 2)
Part 2 of 2
Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt continue the interview with Dr. Philip Payne. In this episode we discuss women in ministry in 1 Timothy and Titus, mutual submission in marriage, gender equality in the church, and how this theology affects our mission.

Dr. Philip Payne is the founder and president of ⁠Linguist’s Software⁠, and is a specialist in New Testament Studies. He is well known for his studies on New Testament Textual Criticism, the Parables of Jesus, and Man and Woman in the Teachings of Paul. He and his wife Nancy were missionaries in Japan with the Evangelical Free Church, where they ministered to students in the Kyoto Christian Studies Center and taught New Testament. He received his PhD in New Testament from Cambridge and has held many NT teaching positions at prominent Universities and Seminaries such as Cambridge, Gordon-Conwell, and Fuller.

Order the book: ⁠the Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God’s Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality.
1 hr 30 min
June 12, 2024 The Wood Between the Worlds: Interview with Brian Zahnd
In this episode Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt interview Brian Zahnd and have a conversation about his newest book “The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross”.

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and Unconditional?: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness.

Buy The Wood Between the Worlds: https://www.amazon.com/dp/151400562X?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_5DDPJN2CMCSJ00FY7X0M

1 hr 23 min
June 06, 2024 The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: Interview with Philip Payne (Part 1)
Part 1 of 2
Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt interview Dr. Philip Payne. In this episode we discuss the concept of gender roles, the meaning of "head" and "headship", and the text critical issues with 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and how it relates to inerrancy and gender equality.

Dr. Philip Payne is the founder and president of Linguist’s Software, and is a specialist in New Testament Studies. He is well known for his studies on New Testament Textual Criticism, the Parables of Jesus, and Man and Woman in the Teachings of Paul. He and his wife Nancy were missionaries in Japan with the Evangelical Free Church, where they ministered to students in the Kyoto Christian Studies Center and taught New Testament. He received his PhD in New Testament from Cambridge and has held many NT teaching positions at prominent Universities and Seminaries such as Cambridge, Gordon-Conwell, and Fuller.

Order the book: the Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God’s Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality.
2 hr 1 min
June 05, 2024 Isaiah 53: NT use of the OT
In this episode Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt look at the NT author’s usage of Isaiah 53. It is quoted 9 times in the NT directly. We’ll also look at Acts where we’ll see how the disciples use the same depiction we encountered in the last episode to describe the Servant and the people’s actions against Him. Last, we’ll look at “bearing sin” in the NT and show show it also lines up with how it is described in Isaiah 53 where the servant bears the abuse of the people (not God) for their healing.

Isaiah 53:1
John 12:37-38
Romans 10:15-16

Isaiah 53:4
Matthew 8:16-17

Isaiah 5:7-8
Acts 8:32-33

Isaiah 53:9; 4
1 Peter 2:22-24

Isaiah 53:12
Mark 15:28-28
Luke 22:36-38

8/9 uses of Isaiah 53 in the NT are quoted from the LXX. Remember from the last episode this is the version with 1 voice that shows how God is not acting against the servant but the people are.

Acts and the Suffering Servant
Acts 2:23-28
Acts 2:29-36
Acts 3:13-18
Acts 4:10-11
Acts 5:27-28
Acts 7:51-52
Acts 10:39-41
Acts 13:26-41

The Release from Exile and “Bearing Sin”
Galatians 3:8-14
2 Corinthians 5:22

Conclusions
As in the interpretation of the OT context of Isaiah 53, we don’t see God acting in wrath against the servant but rather healing and redeeming him. It was the people who acted in violence against the servant. But God used this for our redemption.

Jesus did bear sin… He bore the sinful and violent actions of the people.

Some of the major things we can take away is that God can redeem evil for his good. The evil actions of the people were redeemed in the healing of the servant. And the crowd later realized those actions were not of God, even though they thought they were doing the Lord’s bidding in their scapegoating.

PSA is also non-existent in the interpretations of Isaiah 53 in the OT when we compare the voices of the LXX and the MT. Also the NT writers consistently use the LXX when referring to Isaiah 53 and never apply Jesus’ death to anything regarding wrath satisfaction or appeasement.
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If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]

1 hr 21 min
June 04, 2024 Isaiah 53: Septuagint (LXX) and Masorectic Text (MTT)
Today Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt dive into Isaiah 53 looking at the textual and message differences in the Septuagint (LXX) and the Masorectic Text (MTT).

When read as pros (singular voice) these 2 texts disagree with each other and depict 2 different pictures of God. So, in this episode we examine the message of each (and imported doctrines) and see if they agree. The main points of this conversation are: Inerrancy, the character of God, and how this affects atonement theories.

THE LXX TEXT
13 Look! My child will understand and be raised up and be magnified exceedingly. 14 ⌊Just as⌋ many will be impressed by you, so your appearance will be despised by people and your glory by the people, 15 Thus many nations will be impressed at him, and kings will shut their mouth, because those to whom it has not been declared concerning him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
53 O Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 We proclaimed as a child before him, as a root in a thirsty land. He has no appearance or glory. And we saw him, and he had no appearance or beauty. 3 Instead, his appearance was dishonored and forsaken among the sons of men, a man who experiences misfortune and who knows how to bear sickness, for his face has been rejected; he was dishonored and was not esteemed. 4 This one carries our sins and suffers pain from us, and we regarded him as one who is in difficulty, misfortune, and affliction. 5 But he was wounded from our sins, and he became sick from our lawless acts. The discipline of our peace was upon him; by his bruise we were healed. 6 We all have been misled like sheep; each person was misled in his own path, and the Lord handed him over for our sins. 7 And because he was afflicted, he does not open his mouth; like a sheep is led to slaughter, and like a lamb is voiceless before the one who shears it, so he does not open his mouth. 8 His judgment was taken away in humiliation; who will describe his family? For his life was taken from the earth; he was led to death because of the lawless acts of my people. 9 And I will give the wicked in place of his tomb, and the wealthy in place of death, because he committed no lawlessness, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 The Lord is willing to cleanse/heal him of the injury. If you make a sin offering, our soul will see long-lived offspring, and the Lord is willing to remove him from the difficulty of his soul, 11 to show him the light, and to form him with understanding, to justify the righteous who serves many well; and he himself will carry their sins. 12 Because of this he will cause many to inherit, and he will apportion the spoils of the mighty, because his soul was given over to death, and he was reckoned among the lawless, and he himself bore the sins of many, and he was handed over due to their wickedness.
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Visit www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more.
If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]
1 hr 28 min
May 30, 2024 The Lost World of the Prophets: Interview with John Walton
In this episode Dr. Ryan and Dr. Matt interview Dr. John Walton on his new book The Lost World of the Prophets.

Dr. John Walton is an emeritus professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois and an editor and writer of Old Testament comparative studies and commentaries. Throughout his research, Walton has focused his attention on comparing the culture and literature of the Bible and the ancient Near East. He has published dozens of books, articles and translations, both as writer and editor, including his Lost World book series (6 books). Today we are going to be talking about his latest book The Lost World of the Prophets.

Buy the book: https://a.co/d/faPu90D
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Check out www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more! If you have any questions or comments please email us at [email protected] or [email protected]
1 hr 3 min
May 28, 2024 Why Hell?: Interview with Steve Gregg
Today Dr. Ryan and Dr. Matt interview Steve Gregg on his updated edition of the book Why Hell?: 3 Christian Views Critically Examined.
Steve Gregg is a teacher, author, and international lecturer on the Bible, theology, and discipleship. He is the author of “Revelation: Four Views: A Parallel Commentary”(1997, 2013) and “All You Want to Know About Hell: Three Christian Views” (2013) and most recently his series on the kingdom of God “The Empire of the Risen Son. His talk show, “The Narrow Path,” broadcasts on stations across the USA and you can find his teachings on the website and mobile app: thenarrowpath.com.

Buy the book: https://a.co/d/gaU0G26

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Check out www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more. If you have any comments or questions please email [email protected] and/or [email protected]
1 hr 39 min
February 29, 2024 Original Sin: Implications and Conclusion (Part 6)
In this series, we have looked at the doctrine of Original Sin. We believe there was an original sin but disagree with the doctrine of Original Sin. We observed that Augustine introduced this doctrine into the church over 400 years after Jesus and none of the earliest church writers (or the Bible) affirm this doctrine. It’s actually more closely linked to Pagan and Gnostic ideas than Biblical Ideas.
Recap: What is Original Sin?
The doctrine of Original Sin teaches that because of Adam and Eve’s sin we are all born guilty before God and that we inherit their guilt from birth (Original Guilt). Augustine defined this through concupiscence which he believed that original sin was passed on sexually.
Total Depravity
Not only are we born with Original Sin, the guilt of Adam’s offense, but this also totally depraved and unable to respond to God according to this Doctrine. Total Depravity states that all mankind is born spiritually dead, possessing both Adam’s guilt and his sin nature and that man’s intellect, will, body, and spirit are so corrupt they cannot seek God or cry out for his help unless they are first saved and regenerated, given the gift of faith with a new heart and new mind.
Infant Depravity
According to John Calvin we are born “doomed from the womb”, and Voddie Baucham says all babies are “vipers in diapers”, born in the guilt of Adam and totally depraved. So in this view Jesus comes to save us from Original Sin (God’s wrath)… Or just save “the elect” (if you are consistent).
We have shown in this series how all of this is a distortion of what the Bible says and we’re going to get into some of the theological implications of this view today in our conclusion, showing how those who hold to original Sin are building on the wrong foundation and bad readings of scripture.
Theological Implications
Distortion God’s Character
Distortion of the view and nature of Humanity
Penal Substitutionary Atonement
The cross is not about satisfying wrath. It is actually about the liberation from the hostile Powers of Sin, Death, and the Devil and therefore the cross is a rescue. In this, there is still room for the wrath that is being stored up for the ungodly on the "Day of Wrath".
Eternal Conscious Torment
the notion of retributive punishment flows from original sin and what we have show earlier about Anselm’s medieval feudal views and Calvin’s retributive views of God.
The Better Way
There’s a better way to look at all of this.
· In the garden Humans were made in God’s image to rule with him and keep creation
· The humans sinned wanting to define good and evil on their own terms
· God separated them from the tree of life so that they might not live forever in their sinful state
· Adam did not transfer his guilt to all of humanity but transferred mortality to all (this is what Romans 5:12 says!)
· We are not born guilty but born mortal and into an environment of death and sin and because of this we become sinners when we sin.
· We are born with desires and they are neutral (yetzer). We can choose the good or the evil (tov/ra)- Choose life!
· The world was held captive by the Powers (D32) , Sin, and Death and Jesus came to release us from that futility of slavery and death. He didn’t need to pay off the Father but rather was on a rescue mission.
· We now are to walk by the Spirit and conform ourselves to the image of the Son and the Divine nature by walking in His Tov way of Life to return to our original purpose in Eden.
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Visit www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more.
If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]
1 hr 32 min