The Way

The Way

By The Ephesus SchoolSociety & CultureReligion & SpiritualityChristianityPhilosophy
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The Way episodes

  • The Cross, Archaeology, and Orthodox Hymns
    If you could go back in time and speak with a 1st-century Roman about crucifixion and how the empire used them, what would they say?

    They might say that "... By [the cross] barbarian nations are subdued, by it the scepters of kings have been secured …"
    Or, they might say that the cross, “"... grant[s] victory to the faithful over the enemy …"
    If they had said either of those things, they would be absolutely correct!
    The cross was an instrument of torture that the Romans used to keep subjected peoples—such as Galileans, Judeans, and other nations—in line. The Romans wanted to instill fear to prevent uprisings and revolts against them.
    But, isn’t that we Christians also say about the cross? That it grants victory and subdues barbarian nations?
    Yes … yes it is. So, how can both the Romans and the Christians say the same thing about the cross? After all, one put people on crosses while the other hung on them.
    The Bottom Line: For Christians, God’s victory comes through defeat!
    12 min
  • The Annunciation Convention (Type-Scene 1)
    One of the first type-scenes, or conventions, in scripture that we’re going to look at is Annunciations.
    “Annunciation” is a Latin word that essentially means, “announcement.”
    But, for the original biblical readers, what would they have expected when an announcement was made to someone from a messenger of God?
    What would they have expected the message to be?
    To whom and for what purpose would they have expected the message to be delivered?
    And, do we get “announcements” from God today?
    The Bottom Line: In understanding Annunciations, we may realize that an angel is making an announcement to us as well!
    22 min
  • Translating the Scene Instead of the Words
    We all know that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and, if we want to understand the Bible, we either need to learn the original languages or find a translation we understand.


    But, far too often, we think of translation and understanding in a much too narrow way. We limit “translation” work to translating the actual words.


    What we don’t think about is translating context.
    
Surprisingly, this context includes reoccurring scenes that become a pattern. The original biblical readers would be expecting this when hearing scriptural stores.


    The Bottom Line: Understanding type-scenes in the biblical literature will enhance our understanding so that we can walk the Way.
    11 min
  • It Isn't Just Bread, Dear Disciples!
    When is a story not just a story?
    

When is bread much more than water, yeast, and salt?
    

When is the command to “feed” someone more than a command to give someone actual food?


    When you’re dealing with the Bible, that’s when!


    The Bottom Line: Sometimes we have to look past the miracles and signs to see what scripture really getting at, to see how it’s feeding us with the bread of life.
    18 min
  • Regulations for the Gentiles?
    In today’s podcast, we continue our exploration of the Law and its relationship to Christians.
    However, this week we get a twist.
    Though the early Jewish-Christians in the Book of Acts don’t advocate for circumcision, they do apply some legal restrictions on Gentile-Christians.

    Why would they do that? What’s going on?
    The Bottom Line: the Law serves a greater purpose to guide us on the Way that leads to life.
    18 min
  • Which Law Are you Talking About?

    This week, we continue our exploration of the Law and its relationship to us as Christians.


    But, before we go further, we should pause and define what we mean by the Law.
     
    Are we referring to the Law that’s given to Moses in Exodus? Or, do we mean the whole thing: the Five Books of Moses? Or, perhaps, something else?
     
    Once we’ve decided that, we can turn our attention to how the Law was used by the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles to see what light that might shed on the issue.
     
    The Bottom Line: Understanding the Law is an instructional process that strengthens our Christian walk on the Way.

    19 min
  • Jesus as the Summary Argument

    Last week we looked at how the Old Testament is a mosaic in which Jesus can found. We learned that we can encounter Christ through the text of the Hebrew Bible.

    But, does the reverse happen? Do we see the Old Testament in the New Testament? If so, how?

    The Bottom Line: the New Testament isn’t just a continuation of the Old Testament story, it actually “sums” up the Old Testament in way that allows us to understand Christ in a much deeper way.

    18 min
  • The Old Testament: Not What, But Who!

    Perhaps one of the most confusing parts of the Bible is understanding the relationship between the New Testament and the Old Testament. And, in turn, understanding our relationship as “New Testament people” to the Old Testament. 


    Typically, we see ourselves as no longer being bound by the laws found within the Old Testament.


    But, in this upcoming Gospel reading, Jesus says that the law will not pass away ... not one letter, not one stroke? 


    How are we to understand this? What did Jesus mean?


    The Bottom Line: to appreciate how the Law will not pass away, we have to understand not *what* the Old Testament is about, but rather *whom* it’s about.


    23 min
  • God Bless America by Reorienting our Ideals!
    One function of scripture is to tear down our idols, our premeditated perception of God or those things we submit to in place fo God. This frees us so that we can worship the true God. Scripture does this in various ways.
    The Old Testament, for example, proclaims an unseen God, compared to the gods who exist as visible idols. This breaks our attachment to the gods we create in our minds and the ones we submit to in place of the Almighty.
    It also proclaims a God who willingly destroys his own temple, freeing us of the notion that God lives at a specific place during a particular time of history, and is a god for a particular ethnic group.
    And, finally, it proclaims a God who mocks us for using traditional forms of worship, such as sacrifice and incense, in order to force us to see the good in others and love our neighbor.
    The New Testament continues this tradition. There, we see how the gospel usurps the Roman household—which has the paterfamilias or Caesar as its head—and uses this societal structure. But, instead of Caesar being at the top, Jesus is. This causes us to question who is really in control: earthly powers or Christ?
    

Now, this may sound all fine and good, but does scripture still function this way for us today? I say, “Yes!” … a resounding, “Yes!”
    The Bottom Line: Many of the qualities we value as Americans are usurped by the gospel and given a fuller meaning that can only be found through the gospel.
    18 min

About The Way

From the publisher's feed

Fr. Dustin Lyon explores scripture to rediscover Christianity so that we can walk in the Way of the Lord.