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

Have you ever wondered why early Jesus-followers called each other siblings, holy ones, or beloved? Norman Hubbard sits down with Matt and Nick to discuss the early church’s use of normal language in surprising ways to express and shape their unique relationships. He describes how these unique relationships were an expression of the gospel of Jesus, and considers ways our church tradition has been teaching an incomplete gospel when it prioritizes justification at the expense of reconciliation and redemption. Check out this conversation about Norm’s book, “More than Christians: Practicing Gospel-Shaped Community with the Language of the Early Church”.

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Greek translations of the Hebrew Scriptures helped prepare the way for the message of Jesus and the spread of Christianity. These translations (the Septuagint) were the Scriptures used by the earliest churches, and help us understand connections between our Old and New Testaments. Nick and Matt take a look at some of the interesting and significant differences between the Septuagint and the Masoretic text like the inclusion of Apocryphal writings. They consider the disagreement between Augustine and Jerome around which version to use when developing the Vulgate, Finally they discuss the multiple text forms present in the Dead Sea Scrolls which raise important questions for Bible translators considering the importance of the Septuagint.

Resources Referenced: Invitation to the Septuagint by Karen Jobes and Moises Silva, The Septuagint, What is is and Why it Matters by Gregory Lanier and William Ross, When God Spoke Greek: the Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible by Timothy Michael Law, Koine Greek Reader, Selections from the New Testament, Septuagint, and Early Christian Writers by Rodney Decker, A Plea for the Septuagint by Mogens Muller, Was There only ONE Version of the Old Testament In Ancient Times? by Michael Heiser

Interlude Music: Between Moments by Amber Glow, After the Fight by Cherry the Penguin

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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When astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo challenged conventional beliefs, Christians held to their understanding of Scripture’s plain teachings against the dangerous new ideas. Today we look back at those who stuck to their Biblical convictions and we celebrate … the astronomers. In this episode Nick and Matt reflect on the church’s response to heliocentrism and compare modern approaches to reading the Bible’s cosmology, and how understanding strange (to us) ancient cosmology can help us read the Bible better.

Resources Referenced: The Firmament and the Water Above by Paul Seely, The Hebrew Conception of the World: A Philological and Literary Study by Stadelmann, Luis, Ancient Near Eastern thought and the Old Testament by John Walton, John Calvin on Nicolaus Copernicus and Heliocentrism by Wyatt Houtz, Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture After Genetic Science by Scot McKnight and Dennis Venema, Reality is Not What it Seems by Carlo Rovelli, The Faith and Reason of Father George Lemaître by Joseph R. Laracy, Geocentrism: History and Background by Danny R. Faulkner, NET Bible Translation Notes

Interlude Music: On a Stroller by Harry Edvino, Space Waves by Ben Elson

Theme Song: Believe by Posthumorous

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