Sometimes the Bible just doesn’t seem to cooperate with our efforts to develop tidy systematic theology. Pesky ‘problem texts’ require us to explain away, ignore, or discount the parts that don’t say what we want them to. "Harmonizing" texts is a polite way to describe misreading them to fit neatly into our theological paradigms our faith is built on. Nick and Matt look at some of the issues that arise when we try to use an eastern text to solve western problems. When we work to use the Bible as its authors intended, we can appreciate the multivocality of scripture, rather than selecting the parts to use and the parts to explain away.  When we appreciate the benefit of dialogue, we can face the messiness of canon without a crisis of faith.

Interlude Music:  I Will Hold Onto You (Instrumental Version) by Garden Friend

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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In an era where some Christians on the forefront of social justice and peacemaking advocacy, while simultaneously other Christians are running the department of war or promoting racial homogeny, it has never been more important for Evangelical Christians to wrestle with the questions, “what is the center of the Christian faith?” and “how is God known?” These are the questions we are engaging with in this four part series on “reframing the center.” While many western Christians may answer these questions with a simple, “the Bible tells me so,” there are a myriad of problems with this approach, the primary one being that the Bible does not speak consistently about God. This is a problem for the western mind, but it wasn’t a problem to the writers of the Bible, because they took a much more dialogical, paradoxical, and narrative-driven approach to their holy texts. In this episode, Matt lays out some of the ways that a Hebraic reading of the Scriptures changes the questions we ask about the text, and fundamentally reshapes how we use the Bible for theology and community formation. 

Resources Referenced: Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus and Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus by Louis Tverberg, Jesus and the Law of Moses by Paul Sloan

Interlude Music: Vision (Instrumental Version) by Lu’

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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Romans 13 has been a go-to text for answering Christian questions about government. Does it teach christians how to use political power? Are christians supposed to obey good government? Should christians overthrow bad governments? A look at Romans 13 in context shows that some of the claims about this text don’t hold water. Nick and Matt take a look at God’s ordering of worldly authorities and how Christians are called to participate (and sometimes not participate) in God’s work. They also consider common questions around violence in light of this calling, such as using violence for good and violence in the Old Testament.

Interlude Music: Rosita Linda by DonVayei

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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In a world of deep political division, how should we as followers of Jesus navigate national identity? And how should we think about not only partisan allegiance, but allegiance to the states we are born into? From the "Constantinian shift" to modern Christian Nationalism, the church has often struggled to balance the ethics of the Gospel with the demands of worldly power. Sometimes we have privatized the Kingdom of God, while at other times, we have sacrificed its uniqueness in order to seize state power.

In this episode, we strip away the layers of "Christian Realism" and "Two Kingdoms" theology and we urge American Evangelical Christians to rediscover the radical political identity of the early church and reject the spirit and propaganda of our age.

Resource Referenced: Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon, The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder, Moral Man and Immoral Society by Reinhold Niebuhr, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, The Schleitheim Confession (1527) (Anabaptist Statement of Faith), The City of God (De Civitate Dei) by Augustine of Hippo, Whether Soldiers, Too, Can Be Saved (1526) by Martin Luther

Interlude Music: Elysian Echoes by Ben Elson

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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Did Jesus satisfy God’s wrath on the cross? Christians have developed a wide variety of theories to explain how Jesus saves from sin. The most popular theory in Evangelical churches, Penal Substitutionary Atonement, is considered central to the gospel by some, an unbiblical distortion by others. Matt and Nick look at the history and development of atonement theories through church history in order to understand the origins of this debate and the way it’s being handled by Evangelical churches today.

Resource Referenced: The Major Works by St. Anselm of Canterbury, The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views Edited by Jakes K. Beilby, Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement by Gustaf Aulen, The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance by Leon Morris, The Cross of Christ by John Stott, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts by Mark Baker and Joel Green, Two Views of the Cross: Orthodoxy and the West by Frederica Mathewes-Green, Reclaiming the Atonement by Patrick Henry Reardon, Word Studies in the New Testament by Marvin R. Vincent, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion by N.T. Wright

Interlude Music: Known and Loved by JOYSPRING

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Apologetics are important, reading the Bible well is important, but we can make a big mistake when we read our Bible with apologetics-driven questions in mind. The history of the church is full of strange (and sometimes troubling) interpretations arising from apologetics-driven interpretations. Nick and Matt discuss the difference between reading Scripture for answers, and reading scripture for wisdom, looking at God’s purpose for Israel’s law, modern creation debates, and the church’s interpretation of scripture on slavery.

Resource Referenced: The Troublesome Nature of Apologetics by Patrick Henry Reardon, St Augustine: From the Literal Meaning of Genesis by Mark J Joshua, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity by Mark Noll, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption by Patrick Henry Reardon, Wisdom for Faithful Reading by John H. Walton, The Lost World of the Torah by John H. Walton and J. Harvey Walton

Interlude Music: The Softer Side by Wave Saver

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Is the Lord’s Supper an act of resistance against empire? What does Christ the logos mean for how we know God? Where has the church missed the mark? Dr. Paul Axton, Director of Ploughshares Bible Institute and host of the Forging Ploughshares Podcast, joins Matt and Nick in discussing psychology, atonement, and the church’s call to live as a peaceful kingdom community. He offers some harsh critiques for christian participation in the ways of the world rather than the way of the cross.

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great!” Revelation is loaded with descriptions of Rome’s oppressive systems, exploitative wealth, and coming downfall. Nick and Matt discuss the vivid imagery used to embolden the early Christian communities against their surrounding corruptions. They consider how Revelation encourages Christians to stand against Babylon in our own day as we look forward to the future restoration of all things.

Resources: In the Shadow of Empire, Revelation chapter by Greg Carey, Edited by Richard Horsley, Exiles: the Church in the Shadow of Empire by Preston Sprinkle, Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael Goreman, Revelation for the Rest of Us by Scot McKnight, “Towards an Ethical Reading of the Apocalypse: Reflections on John’s Use of Power, Violence, and Misogyny,” by David L. Barr, Revelation (Word Biblical Commentary) by David Aune, Revelation (The New International Greek New Testament Commentary) by G.K. Beale, The problem of violence: discipleship and non-violence in the Book of Revelation by Rob Nicholls, The Lion and the Lamb in Revelation 5 by Sergio H Monteiro.

Interlude Music: Heavy Handed by Ballpoint

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Revelation is often read as a predictive prophecy for the Western Church, full of obscure symbolism and veiled oracles awaiting future fulfillment. However, if we take seriously the context of the letter, and seek to understand the purpose of apocalyptic literature - we’ll find the letter becomes less cryptic and far more practical to its original audience. Nick explores how this letter would have served as both a challenge and a form of encouragement to Jesus communities seeking faithful allegiance to Jesus in a world that demanded allegiance to the Emperor.

Resources Referenced: In the Shadow of Empire, Revelation chapter by Greg Carey, Edited by Richard Horsley, Exiles: the Church in the Shadow of Empire by Preston Sprinkle, Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael Goreman, Revelation for the Rest of Us by Scot McKnight, Tim LaHaye, Revelation Unveiled, “Towards an Ethical Reading of the Apocalypse: Reflections on John’s Use of Power, Violence, and Misogyny,” by David L. Barr, Revelation (Word Biblical Commentary), Revelation (The New International Greek New Testament Commentary) by G.K. Beale

Interlude Music: Radioactive Cover by Joel Ansett

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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Is human violence ever right? Rev. Dr. Helen Paynter’s work Blessed are the Peacemakers: A Biblical Theology of Human Violence dives into the difficulties of finding a consistent Biblical theology among the variety of voices and perspectives offered in Scripture. Dr. Paynter joins Reparadigmed to discuss how Christians can find ethical guidance in Scriptures for navigating a fallen world. She addresses some common pitfalls and problematic assumptions that can skew our understanding of what Scripture has to say about human violence. She also discusses how a community of faith can work to hold the eschatological goals of justice, peace, and holiness in a tempered tension on this side of restoration.

Resource Referenced: The Bible Doesn’t Tell Me So: Why you don't have to submit to domestic abuse and coercive control, The Church, the Far Right, and the Claim to Christianity,  Blessed Are the Peacemakers: A Biblical Theology of Violence by Helen Paynter