Postmodern Realities Podcast

In her new bestselling book, Shameless A Sexual Reformation, Nadia Bolz Weber, a foul mouthed, irreverent, tattoo covered pastor, posits that the traditional Christian view of sex has resulted in damaged souls who are mistreated, confused, angered, and or wounded by the shaming sexual messages so prevalent in religion. Her thesis is that the Christian church for centuries has tried to control human sexuality and that a new sexual ethic is in order. This podcast discussion unpacks Bolz Webers view of sexuality, the Bible, abortion, and much more. This Postmodern Realities podcast episode is a conversation with Journal author Doug Groothuis about his Christian Research Journal online exclusive book review article Shamelessly Wrong. Wed also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help to provide the resources that minister to people worldwide who come to get answers at equip.org. And these resources include our free online exclusive articles, such as this review, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast. To subscribe to the Journal, please visit. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

Sometimes our evangelism efforts have been received with angry outbursts and personal insults by those rejecting God and the Bible. What should we do when those with whom we share the gospel are adverse? Sometimes Christians quote Matthew 7:6, Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you ESV to posit that there are some people who are hostile to the gospel that we should not share with. What does that verse really mean? How should we approach our evangelistic efforts who those seemed closed to talking about the gospel? This Postmodern Realities Podcast episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Eric Johnson about his Effective Evangelism article Offering Pearls to Pigs and Dogs in the Volume 42, number 1 issue of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL.

Christians concerns for social justice have a rich history, rooted in the Lords commands and compassion revealed in Scripture. Biblically, justice is grounded ultimately in Gods character, who is just and calls us to be just because we are made in His image. Thus, the standard for justice is universal it is Gods communicable attribute, which is immaterial.
While Christians agree that people should be just, much depends on how we answer two major questions. First, what kind of things are justice and dignity, and even humans? Christians have offered many different views about the nature of morals yet, not every interpretive framework will preserve these biblical positions and these core morals.
Second, how do we know these things? The biblical authors seem to presuppose that we simply can know some things directly, such as that racism is unjust, even though we are finite and fallen. Yet, this presupposition has been denied by many today, both nonChristians and Christians. However, that means we cannot access Gods intended meaning itself in a given passage of Scripture we simply work with our interpretations.
Today, many, including some Christians, are advocating a new form of social justice, new in the sense that is grounded not in the universal, shared standard of Gods character and His Word but on different bases formed on answers to these questions. The question will be, Can these new bases for social justice preserve justice, human dignity, and equality? Or will they undermine them? I will identify some of the key Christians (such as Brian McLaren) who are embracing these new bases for social justice. Then, I will assess briefly these bases. I will show that moral qualities such as justice cannot be sustained on them. Finally, I will extend these findings for an implication to the gospel itself.This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author R. Scott Smith about his online exclusive feature article Emergent Christians and the New Social Justice.

The biblical depiction of Moses as an ancient leader par excellence, albeit a somewhat reluctant one, is wholly believable despite scholarly claims to the contrary. Some recent interpretations anachronistically analyze the historicity and leadership of Moses with little concern for comparative ancient data or context. One example compares him to George Washington, as a jack of all trades leader, who is essentially too good to be true. For many scholars, Moses is a mythical figure whose life accounts are not historically reliable. They are quick to point out a perceived lack of substantiating archaeological evidence. As a result, they believe the search for the historical Moses to be futile. This demonstrates two larger problems regarding scholarly treatments of Moses: 1 the failure to seek external, independent data from the ancient Near East and 2 a misunderstanding of the capabilities of archaeological data. While the Hebrew Bible remains the primary source for Mosess life, comparisons to relevant ancient texts reveal that Moses, while extraordinary in many ways, was in fact a typical ancient leader. Close examination of the biblical accounts of Mosess life reveals parallels from both Egypt and the broader ancient Near East. Such ancient data provides the only suitable and useful comparisons. From his allegedly legendary birth to his upbringing in Pharaohs palace, Moses was well suited to the role Yahweh assigned to him. The covenant Moses helped establish between his people and Yahweh has parallels from other ancient civilizations. He was an ancient leader through and through attempts to reinvent him to fit modern conceptions reveal modern mentalities, not the historical Moses. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Mark D. Janzen about his Volume 42, No. 1 feature article, Making a Case for the Historicity of Moses. To read his article about Moses, please subscribe to the JOURNAL

The biblical depiction of Moses as an ancient leader par excellence, albeit a somewhat reluctant one, is wholly believable despite scholarly claims to the contrary. Some recent interpretations anachronistically analyze the historicity and leadership of Moses with little concern for comparative ancient data or context. One example compares him to George Washington, as a jack of all trades leader, who is essentially too good to be true. For many scholars, Moses is a mythic figure whose life accounts are not historically reliable. They are quick to point out a perceived lack of substantiating archaeological evidence. As a result, they believe the search for the historical Moses to be futile. This demonstrates two larger problems regarding scholarly treatments of Moses: 1 the failure to seek external, independent data from the ancient Near East and 2 a misunderstanding of the capabilities of archaeological data. While the Hebrew Bible remains the primary source for Mosess life, comparisons to relevant ancient texts reveal that Moses, while extraordinary in many ways, was in fact a typical ancient leader. Close examination of the biblical accounts of Mosess life reveals parallels from both Egypt and the broader ancient Near East. Such ancient data provides the only suitable and useful comparisons. From his allegedly legendary birth to his upbringing in Pharaohs palace, Moses was well suited to the role Yahweh assigned to him. The covenant Moses helped establish between his people and Yahweh has parallels from other ancient civilizations. He was an ancient leader through and through attempts to reinvent him to fit modern conceptions reveal modern mentalities, not the historical Moses. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Mark D. Janzen about his Volume 42, No. 1 feature article, Making a Case for the Historicity of Moses. To read his article about Moses, please subscribe to the JOURNAL

Editors Note: This episode contains an extended discussion about emotional and physical child abuse and thus its content may not be appropriate for all listeners. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you Exod. 20:12 ESV. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Col 3:20.Scripture commands us to honor our parents, but how do Christians do that if they were abused by their parents? This episode covers the following topics: What constitutes bad parenting as defined today? What truly rises to the level of abuse? Who is responsible for stopping parental abuse? When does the child stop trying to honor the abusive parent and begin to protect himself and confront the evil? When does abuse rise to the point where legal authorities need to be notified and involved? What is the role of the church in the prevention and mediation of child abuse? Can a parent take her or his children and leave her or his spouse in cases of child abuse? Can divorce be a legitimate biblical option in such cases? How should we respond to allegations of child abuse in our me too culture? And much more. This conversation is with author Michael F. Ross about his Volume 42 No 1 Viewpoint article Honoring Dishonorable Parents.Viewpoint articles address relevant contemporary issues in discernment and apologetics from a particular perspective that is usually not shared by all Christians, with the intended result that Christians thinking on that issue will be stimulated and enhanced whether or not people end up agreeing with the authors opinion. To read this article, please subscribe to the JOURNAL.

Editors Note: This episode contains an extended discussion about emotional and physical child abuse and thus its content may not be appropriate for all listeners. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you Exod. 20:12 ESV. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord Col 3:20.Scripture commands us to honor our parents, but how do Christians do that if they were abused by their parents? This episode covers the following topics: What constitutes bad parenting as defined today? What truly rises to the level of abuse? Who is responsible for stopping parental abuse? When does the child stop trying to honor the abusive parent and begin to protect himself and confront the evil? When does abuse rise to the point where legal authorities need to be notified and involved? What is the role of the church in the prevention and mediation of child abuse? Can a parent take her or his children and leave her or his spouse in cases of child abuse? Can divorce be a legitimate biblical option in such cases? How should we respond to allegations of child abuse in our me too culture? And much more. This conversation is with author Michael F. Ross about his Volume 42 No 1 Viewpoint article Honoring Dishonorable Parents.Viewpoint articles address relevant contemporary issues in discernment and apologetics from a particular perspective that is usually not shared by all Christians, with the intended result that Christians thinking on that issue will be stimulated and enhanced whether or not people end up agreeing with the authors opinion. To read this article, please subscribe to the JOURNAL.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of various types of abortions. Therefore, this content might be disturbing and traumatizing and not suitable for some listeners. During the fall of 2018, a public and brutal Supreme Court nomination battle saw Judge Brett Kavanaugh assume the seat left vacant by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the highest courts perennial swing vote, establishing an assumed conservative majority. Those who defend abortion as a fundamental right fear that the permissive legal environment created through Roe v Wade hangs in the balance. States are declaring sides in the abortion battle with New York, Virginia, Illinois, and others shoring up permissive abortion laws similar to the national Roe environment while Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and others seek to restrict the practice of abortion. Actress Alyssa Milano recently headed a list of celebrities threatening to boycott the state of Georgias film industry in response to their Fetal Heartbeat Bill as heated Twitter wars erupted daily. The film Unplanned was released in March 2019 in the midst of all of this division surrounding abortion with accompanying high expectations about how it could impact this landscape. The film tells the real life story of Abby Johnson the former Bryan, Texas Planned Parenthood clinic director as she goes from college student and Planned Parenthood volunteer to clinic director and finally to prolife advocate. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Jay Watts about his online exclusive CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL film review Unplanned: An Imperfect but Brave film.

Trigger Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of various types of abortions. Therefore, this content might be disturbing and traumatizing and not suitable for some listeners. During the fall of 2018, a public and brutal Supreme Court nomination battle saw Judge Brett Kavanaugh assume the seat left vacant by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the highest courts perennial swing vote, establishing an assumed conservative majority. Those who defend abortion as a fundamental right fear that the permissive legal environment created through Roe v Wade hangs in the balance. States are declaring sides in the abortion battle with New York, Virginia, Illinois, and others shoring up permissive abortion laws similar to the national Roe environment while Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and others seek to restrict the practice of abortion. Actress Alyssa Milano recently headed a list of celebrities threatening to boycott the state of Georgias film industry in response to their Fetal Heartbeat Bill as heated Twitter wars erupted daily. The film Unplanned was released in March 2019 in the midst of all of this division surrounding abortion with accompanying high expectations about how it could impact this landscape. The film tells the real life story of Abby Johnson the former Bryan, Texas Planned Parenthood clinic director as she goes from college student and Planned Parenthood volunteer to clinic director and finally to prolife advocate. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Jay Watts about his online exclusive CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL film review Unplanned: An Imperfect but Brave film.

While there are many potentially healthy shaping influences for a Christians spiritual growth, one of the greatest shaping influences neglected by many Christians today is the Christian calendar. A 2016 survey done by LifeWay Research reveals that fewer than three in ten American evangelicals observe Lent 28 percent. Even 40 percent of Roman Catholics surveyed said they did not observe Lent. This general neglect of observing the Christian calendar is lamentable. God desires that His people be conformed to the image of Christ Rom. 8:29 and not to that of the world Rom. 12:2. How we mark and fill our time is a significant shaping influence that can aid us in this process of growth in Christlikeness. Many Christians today order their lives in basically the same way our pagan neighbors do. They work five or six days a week, take a break on Sunday maybe, plan a yearly vacation, and then observe the standard national holidays. At a glance, there is nothing notably different about this routine from the routine of our unbelieving neighbors. But as Christians, should we not mark our time differently? Should not our approach to our schedule reflect our commitment to Jesus Christ above all else? Keeping the church calendar year after year can bring the story of redemption into our time and space and can serve as another helpful means of speaking to our whole person. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Josh Moore about his online exclusive CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL Viewpoint article Why Christians Should Observe the Christian Calendar.