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A podcast from two guys who love C.S. Lewis and are on their journey with his writing, scripture, and many other thinkers as they rebuild their faith.
Episodes
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
4 out of 5 flying saucers for Dr. Heiser's first science fiction novel. If you want to skip straight to the review, it starts at 10:33
I wanted to review this book because I have enjoyed much of Dr. Heiser's other work and was pleasantly surprised by his first fore into fiction. It is not perfect, but it was a delightful read!
I start the discussion with a link to a previous Gresham novel I read and some comments from Stephen King's book "On Writing" that helped me frame what Heiser is up to. I found it fun to talk about, but again, if you want to skip straight to the review, go to this timestamp: 10:33
Links:
"The Facade" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fa%C3%A7ade-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B00NBJKYN0/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+facade&qid=1624583834&sr=8-2
"The Portent" on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Portent-Fa%C3%A7ade-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B00N41UDCM/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+portent&qid=1624583935&sr=8-2 Stephen King's
"On Writing":
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King/dp/1439193630/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=on+writing&qid=1624583881&sr=8-1
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Daniel got in touch with me through a comment on my YouTube video about my hope for seminary. Because he has similar feelings, we thought it would be fun to sit down and have a conversation. We talked about various topics and had fun bouncing ideas off one another—time stamps below for the conversation.
my introduction to the conversation: 0:40
BEMA Podcast discussion: 2:30
How far to push literary interpretation: 9:30
How Daniel found my podcast: 18:12
Egyptian stories in Genesis: 33:15
Reading the Bible as a story: 43:20
Michael Heiser and JEDP: 1:04:30
Michael Heiser and cosmic geography: 1:19:30
Documenting my own changes: 2:07:30
Faith, works, and Shema: 2:28:33
Belfast email: belfastpodcast@gmail.com
Heiser on "sons of God" in Deuteronomy 32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8OoMLrAyo&t=93s
Heiser "Reversing Hermon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggcDvZUG36c&t=7366s
My video on my hopes for seminary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wetrj521KpI&t=567s
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppaWVYGcK6g
I've done content about how I think about the Bible, the formation of the text, and more or less a certain approach to the book as a whole, but what about the stories in the Bible? What about the first stories that a rife with controversy? Well, my mind over the past few years has changed dramatically on these stories, and I wanted to walk through the principle content that helped shape my thinking. Welcome to part 1 with reactions to Tim Mackie and John Piper.
Saturday May 08, 2021
Saturday May 08, 2021
The audio is from a YouTube video I made describing the last few months of my life, why I'm in seminary, and offers a discussion about influences that will impact the output of Belfast. I hope you enjoy it! There is more on the way!
Saturday Nov 14, 2020
Saturday Nov 14, 2020
Alex and I continue our discussion about the fundamentalist perspective of the gospel. We hit on how they frame salvation and the mission of the church. This goes off into a discussion about the relationship between the individual and the community and how we can be brought into the larger vision of unity in the body as we work for the Kingdom.
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
Britannica Link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-fundamentalism
Skye Jethani's Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpauWQero5E&t=469s
The Gospel in 7 Words: https://whitehorseinn.org/resource-library/articles/the-gospel-in-seven-words/
In this episode, Alex and I attempt to break down a question he had at 15, "Why are the gospels of Paul and Jesus different? Are they different?" In thinking about this, we will look at the two extremes that the gospel can take in the U.S. The "right" fundamentalist perspective focuses on personal, spiritual salvation, and the "left" social gospel that seems to focus purely on social advancement as the marker of salvation. The trouble is that there is truth in both of these views, but for many, they are seen as mutually exclusive.
This week Alex and I try to take time to tackle the fundamentalist perspective. We mainly discuss the fundamentalist views on scripture and how that affects the view of church and salvation. There will be two parts to this conversation. Here is part one, and part two will be coming next week!
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
Tuesday Sep 15, 2020
In Dr. Jordan Peterson's book, "12 Rules for Life," there is a rule that has stuck with me while reading. Rule 9: "Assume the Person you are Talking to Might Know Something you don't." It is a powerful rule, and one I think we all can learn from, especially in these trying times in the U.S. and around the world.
He begins the chapter with a meditation on what it means to give someone advice, and how advice is usually not helpful, longterm at least. The section on advice ends with a resounding statement on what it looks like to leave someone the "embodiment of your damned ideology," giving them a one-sided story to wisk away their problems, or says they are no problems at all, without going through the challenging process of facilitating discovery on what they actually are and how they can be fixed, not ideologically, but individually.
I'd encourage anyone who finds this attractive to read the chapter and the rest of his book for that matter. Dr. Peterson is a modern-day prophet. One who seems to see underneath current circumstances.
I haven't stopped thinking about that ending phrase ever since I read it weeks ago. I don't want to leave anyone the living embodiment of my damned ideology, no matter the ideology. I want to give honest thoughts as I try to follow Jesus, partner with Him in building the Kingdom, and help people think about things differently, not ideologically.
Introduction: 0:00-6:42
Chapter Section Reading: 6:42-21:07
Closing Thoughts: 21:07-43:00
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
I sat down with a great friend of mine, Peter Greenspan. We talked about him growing up in Brooklyn, being ethnically Jewish, becoming a doctor, becoming an orthodox Jew, wrestling with Jesus, and then accepts Him as Messiah.
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
What was your example of prayer growing up? How did this affect how you pray now? Is there a "proper" way to pray? What did Jesus say about prayer? What are some things you can do to get started praying again?
Matt Dean and I address all of these questions in this episode on prayer! We begin with a discussion of how we grew up praying (0:00-21:45). From there we move on to how prayer for us has changed over the years (22:00-40:35) and how having a "partner" in prayer can be a very beneficial thing. To end the episode we discussed the importance of the layout given to us on the Lord's prayer and Dallas Willard's invaluable words about it (40:35-1:03:30).
Saturday Aug 15, 2020
Saturday Aug 15, 2020
How did you grow up hearing about the Bible, if you heard about it at all? What was your frame of reference for the Scriptures? Do you think it is appropriate to wrestle with the text, or is it, "the Bible says it, that settles it" mentality? And finally, what do we mean when we say the Bible is inspired? all of this is discussed in this episode of the Belfast Podcast. But first, a brief talk about current social and political events in the first half of 2020, because it's been that long between episodes!
0:00-31:00 Dimitry and I start off with a short discussion of current social events in the U.S. since our last recording.
31:00-45:00 We talk about our growing up experiences with the Bible.
45:00-1:06:00 We go back and forth about recent challenges we have had in reading the scriptures as well as what it means to say the Bible is "inspired".