The Uncensored Unprofessor

With great detail the Jewish apocryphal book 1 Enoch delineates Genesis 6. What is apocrypha? How did Enoch inform the worldview of Second Temple Judaism? (What is Second Temple Judaism?) What kinds of specific sins does 1 Enoch describe sinful Sons of God committing? When giants die where does their spirit go? What does Enoch say a dead giant's spirit does? Come explore with me this significant historical era, one that greatly informs the New Testament.

Paleo (most ancient) cultures were aware of the existence of giants. Most of those cultures viewed them as great warriors, heroes, and transmitters of divine oracles. The Bible, in clear contrast, views them as abominations, corruptions, and transmitters of evil. This stems, at least, from the Bible's sensitivity to the spiritual world. This episode establishes important backgrounds for still later (newer) biblical teachings. I also share my thoughts on the war in Ukraine.

"There was a serpent in the garden of Eden." What does that mean? First? I erase some glosses that get overlaid onto the text. Then, we work through both some historical-cultural and textual framing of the story of the serpent. What would ancient readers immediately have recognized about that creature, that story? How does the notion of divine oracles play into the story? Come laugh and think with me.

Mirroring his purpose to have agents on earth who represent his character and goals, God has a council in heaven. This episode explores Jesus' prayer (the Lord's prayer) on daily spiritual warfare and how that ties into the Hebrew bible's portrayal of the structure of the heavenlies. I also reflect on my six-year-old granddaughter's recent Jiu Jitsu competition. Come laugh and think with me!

At the invitation of a friend I've been attending a liturgical church. What has me drawn there? What elements do I particularly love? How biblical are the services? At the show's start I also reflect on a double-crime that is ravaging society. Why would a Church, of all institutions, be motivated to do criminal things?

Why can humans see and perceive more efficiently, accurately, and beautifully than computers? Jordan Peterson wondered, then answered, that. I press his thoughts into a Christian worldview to brainstorm about both God's incarnation and how believers, indwelt by God Spirit, experience something that even angels do not. I also further unpack diakrino (discernment) in and for a 21st century context. Why do so many leading Evangelical pastors have radar that is spinning off the dial?

We take it for granted, but the dynamic of vision is a miracle. Better still, vision is a grand analogy for doing life, perceiving life. So when we see do we only see the raw data in front of us OR do we see through the constructs that make us who we are? I believe, following Jordan Peterson, there is a third category; a much richer theological vista that results either in sublime wonder or freakish terror. I also muse about those who are protecting the establishment-narrative today. Why do they get so defensive? Why is pulling down that narrative-idol important?

Discussions of evil and suffering usually focus on the horror and quantity of suffering. But life is, across the planet, about more than horror and anguish. Too often we neglect the wonders God daily rains upon us, we ignore the magic of life's fabric. In this episode I put evil into life's larger framework. We also explore the intentional policies of the current whitehouse. We're told poor ol' Joe can't catch a break. But is that really what's going on?

During my four years of high school I worked for a gas station-car wash. Across those years I learned to recognize the shapes, designs, and colors of every car manufacturer. Seeing only a tail-light I could tell you the brand. Life itself is comprised of patterns and shapes such that when we see even one element of a form we know what the larger pattern is. What does that mean for reading today's devolving culture?

The human race suffers far more from moral evil than from the evils rained upon us by nature. So just why doesn't God stop murderers or mass-murderers? If God knew Joseph Stalin was going to murder 60 million people why didn't He end his life long before Stalin's heinous crimes? Why do I believe—at long last—that we are living in the middle of a conspiracy? And, is God's remnant called to stand up to rampant evil or lovingly be passive?