Questions From The Pew - WOS

In this episode, we continue our conversation on reading Jonah better and ask: How do our questions affect our reading of Jonah? Do our questions clarify what’s going on in the narrative or only muddy our understanding? How can we read Jonah in a way that moves beyond Sunday morning or Sunday school? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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The biblical book of Jonah is one of the most well known in the Bible. It’s found in nearly every children’s Bible. Even those who do not read the Bible or hold to the Christian or Jewish faiths are acquainted with this narrative. With a man being swallowed by a fish only to be spat out again, it’s little wonder why. But that’s probably where the knowledge of the story ends for most people, especially for those who do not read the Bible or identify as adherents of the faiths that hold it as Scripture.

If asked about the point of the story, there would probably only be few who could give an answer. And that’s not surprising. After all, it’s an ancient story and we are modern readers. The questions we ask about the text often don’t allow the text to speak for itself. Where modern readers are concerned with how Jonah might have survived in the bellow of a fish, ancient readers likely would have asked why Jonah is portrayed the way he is. Perhaps we need to ask better questions.

In this episode, we ask: How do our questions affect our reading of Jonah? Do our questions clarify what’s going on in the narrative or only muddy our understanding? How can we read Jonah in a way that moves beyond Sunday morning or Sunday school? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

Leave us a short voice message or text message at (312) 725-2995.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/questionsfromthepew

In this episode, we continue our conversation about medical technologies. Are advancements in medical technologies always a good thing? What complications go along with advancements in medical technologies? What new ethical questions are raised as a result of the advancement of medical technology? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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Modern life has countless luxuries. Mundane things like written communication have drastically changed in the past hundred years. No longer do we have to wait weeks for letters to arrive. Email and text messaging have made the task nearly instantaneous. Our modes of transportation have moved from a reliance on horses, to steam, coal, and gas, and now electricity. All of these technologies affect the human experience in one way or another.

One area of development that has had perhaps the most direct impact on humanity is that of medical technology. Technologies like vaccines, X-ray, mRNA technology, just to name a few, have forever changed the way humans live in the modern age. Not only do we better understand ourselves as humans, but we are also able to push the boundaries of what human existence means. But all this talk of advancement comes with a host of questions.

In this episode, we ask: Are advancements in medical technologies always a good thing? What complications go along with advancements in medical technologies? What new ethical questions are raised as a result of the advancement of medical technology? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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In this episode, we continue our conversation and ask: What if we aren’t alone and unique in the universe? Have these kinds of questions become less outlandish given what we know about the universe? How does this affect our reading of Scripture and our theology? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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Extra-terrestrial life forms have fascinated generations of people. From cinema to literature, we have been fascinated with the question of whether or not human beings are alone and unique in the universe. As our understanding of the universe expands, so do our questions. And while these questions, and those who ask them, have lived on the periphery of “normal” society, the recent congressional hearings on government transparency related to UAPs (commonly referred to as UFOs) have moved those questions to the foreground.

All of this has ramifications for how we understand the Bible and our theology. It forces us to consider whether we are not just the observers of the universe, but also the subjects of observation. As we continue to learn more about the universe and our place in it, reassessments will likely need to be made again and again. In those reassessments the ancient and modern inevitably intersect.

In this episode, we ask: What if we aren’t alone and unique in the universe? Have these kinds of questions become less outlandish given what we know about the universe? How does this affect our reading of Scripture and our theology? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

Leave us a short voice message or text message at (312) 725-2995.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/questionsfromthepew

In this episode, we continue our conversation about artificial intelligence. Should AI be celebrated or feared? Or should we be indifferent to it? What ethical implications come with technological advances? What will the future look like in light of the rate at which technology is advancing? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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It is commonly said that technology grows at an exponential rate. Technology that would have been considered science fiction by one generation is an everyday reality a mere two generations later. The cell phone is a prime example of this. In a generation or two, it went from being a luxury owned by the affluent to an everyday item carried by most of the population, regardless of economic status. They went from bulky and cumbersome to sleek and compact. Nowadays, making phone calls is often the last feature people think of when buying a new cell phone. Cell phones can do nearly everything a computer can do, but from the palm of your hand. All of that in a matter of a few generations.

Today’s headlines are dominated by artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and deep fakes. In only a year or two, we’ve seen these technologies become more and more “advanced.” AI is able to do immensely more now than at their inception. Deep fakes continue to produce more and more realistic images of people. All of this has understandably begun to cause concern and alarm. If it’s true that technology grows at an exponential rate, are we keeping up? And if so, how long will we be able to keep up?

In this episode, we ask: Should artificial intelligence be celebrated or feared? Or should we be indifferent to it? What ethical implications come with technological advances? What will the future look like in light of the rate at which technology is advancing? All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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In this episode we continue our conversation with Dr. Michael O. Emerson about what he sees as one way to understand how the American church has gotten to the place it is in today. He presents a diagnosis for understanding the current state of the American church’s relationship with race and provides hopeful possibilities for the future. All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

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In this series we’ve been using the metaphor of an illness and its diagnosis to talk about the relationship between the church and the racial issues present in America. As the country has changed, so has the illness, growing worse at some points and getting better at others. Good observation can lead to a helpful diagnosis of a problem, whether in part or in its entirety.

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Michael O. Emerson and talk about the diagnosis that he proposes based on his current research. He talks about his current research and how it helps us understand how the American church has gotten to the place it is in today. He presents a diagnosis for understanding the current state of the American church’s relationship with race and provides hopeful possibilities for the future. All that and more on this edition of the podcast.

Leave us a short voice message or text message at (312) 725-2995.

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/questionsfromthepew