A deep dive into Jesus's opening of his ministry and how it challenges our heart today.

We wrap up season one by connecting all the dots from our previous 8 episodes. The chaos dragon is in your heart and conquering your old brain is a spiritual exercise, not a psychological one. We also de-construct the idea of "hell" as a place of fire and brimstone and show that, just like the external chaos dragon in your heart connects the physical and spiritual realms, Christian belief says that our decisions in this life decide what we experience in the next one.

We close with a challenge - go start your own Reconciliation Project.

Heaven and Hell podcast series from the Bible Project

We build on our discussion of ancient dragon myths and show how the Bible took the external chaos dragon and personalized it within the human heart. The spiritual world and our physical reality are not separate but rather one reflects the other.

Sunday School is out Podcast

The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations by Robert D Miller II

Chaos Dragon Podcast Series by the Bible Project

Listen in as we continue our journey as point out that the God of Bible allows for free will among humans and start to explore the Ancient Dragon Myths of the 1st and 2nd century BCE that would have been the mythical and cultural context for the story of evil in the Bible. 

The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations by Robert D Miller II

Chaos Dragon Podcast Series by the Bible Project

The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser

Our final episode in the 3 part series on "self" we dive into the biblical story of Adam and Eve, illuminate what Christians mean when they say we are "born in sin", and discuss a specific teaching of Jesus around losing your life to save it. At the end, we visit the end state of evolutionary psychology and mindfulness meditation - a "default state of consciousness" that seems quite a lot like seeing God within creation.

Why Buddhism is True

Genesis commentary 

Listen in as we build on our theme "The greatest obstacle in life is yourself" with a discussion of Buddhism and "non-self". We'll cover the three mental poisons of anger, greed, and delusion, how Buddhism positions mindfulness meditation as the path to Nirvana, and start to build the philosophical bridges to Christianity, which we'll cover in the following episode.

If there is an all powerful creator, a God, then why do human brains have so much in common with the brains of our genetic relatives in the animal kingdom? What happens when we define "self" through the lens of evolution? Listen in as we discuss psychological research, how it frames the concept of "self", and set the stage for discussing both the Buddhist and Christian description of the human condition.

"The Sweet Spot" by Paul Bloom

The Matrix movie

Why Buddhism is True

Thinking Fast and Slow

What does it mean to find true "rest" in our hyper-busy culture? How does this tie to the idea that all life is connected and creation? And what does it mean for structural inequality in America?

Book - Thinking Fast and slow 
Scientific America on structural inequality
BEMA Podcast episode 1

Throughout human history and across cultures, different words have been used to communicate the same idea - all of life is connected.

Here are some source podcasts and a book by Joseph Campbell.

Bible Project Genesis podcast
BEMA Season 1 Episode 1 Podcast
Joseph Campbell Book - the Power of Myth

Both Love and God can be described as "unexplainable" forces, we explore how the two are connected and one proves the other.

The episode leans on two books:
Getting the love you want
The Other Half of Church