Religiosanity

Pastor Andrew brings us back to the ritual that points to the origins of the word "scapegoat," throw in a mysterious possible deity named Azazel, and you have the polytheistic roots of the Yom Kippur tradition for the Jewish people! A short video about the same subject: https://youtu.be/fVWz08cvXFI

On this second episode about Hawaii, as promised, Pastor Andrew digs into the myth of Pele (Goddess of Volcanos)and her significance to the Hawaiian people even now. But first, he talks about the devastating wild fires that have terrorized the island of Maui.

After mentioning it in many episodes, finally Pastor Andrew takes us deep into one of his favorite topics: Hawaii. This epic episode dips into many aspects of our 50th state, including its history, its religion, the Polynesian people in general, the surprisingly good results of the American occupation, the surprising lack of sandy beaches, and much much more.

Last week The Supreme Court ruled in favor of "303 Creative LLC," making it acceptable for a business to withhold service from Gay people. Pastor Andrew talks about this frustrating decision, and the myriad ways in which it makes no sense.

The decision reached at the latest Southern Baptist Convention to exclude churches with women clergy is the springboard for a larger conversation with Pastor Andrew about women in the church, Christian misogyny, female deities, and much more. A short video about 1 Corinthians 14 about women to be silent during worship: https://youtu.be/vFfoJYaG8Zw And an exegetical sermon on Luke 8:1-3 - https://y...

Pastor Andrew answers the questions that weren't asked (due to time)in the 100th LIVE episode, such as "Did ancient people really believe an immortal God could get drunk?," "Does someone have to believe in the Trinity to be considered Christian?" and much more!

In celebration of the 100th episode, Pastor Andrew invites the public to ASK HIM ANYTHING about the bible or ancient times! Co-host Peter Rinaldi moderates questions from the live audience, those in the YouTube chat, and anonymous questions sent in from the public! It's a fun, informative and even inspirational evening!

Baffled by the recent book bans, anti-LGBT legislation, and general fascist behavior from "Florida Man" Ron DeSantis, Pastor Andrew discusses the origins of a mindset that would think of this as acceptable, and religion's part in this insanity.

On the jewish holiday of Shavuot, Pastor Andrew takes us back to the ancient city of Ugarit to discuss KTU141, which is one of the tablets describing rituals for a holiday that could be considered to be the Ugarit equivalent of the Jewish holiday of Shukkot, and he talks about how, for every Hebrew holiday, you can find a Ugarit equivalent from which it was “transferred.”

News that Putin was ordering the handover of Russia’s most famous icon and work of art, Andrei Rublev’s 15th-century "Trinity," from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church, reminds Pastor Andrew of Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Andrei Rublev," which, he posits, might be a fascinating portal for the west to look into the dark soul of Russia.

Peter's traffic ticket leads Pastor Andrew into a discussion on government overreach, particularly in regard to abortion, and the hypocrisy of conservative cries for less government involvement, except of course when it comes to issues they want the government to reach into. Episode 83: We Refuse, We Resist: https://soundcloud.com/user-268177934-789175382/episode-82-we-refuse-we-resist?si=67529d72...

Consumerism in everything. "If they pay, give them (tell them) what they want to hear." This corrupted our public discourse and fostered bigotry in churches and bigotry and the big lie in politics. The latest news about the corrupt Fox News giving their audience lies (which they wanted) rather than truth. This scenario closely resembles what has been happening in many (mostly evangelical and conse...

The incredible musical presentation of Theodore Dubois' "The Last Seven Words of Christ" from music director Gabriel Evans and Rutger's Choir and Chamber Ensemble sparks a conversation of what, if anything, Jesus did say on the cross, and how various versions depicted in different Gospels should be taken separately, rather than all together, which lessens the impact and intentions of each. Watch "...

On this episode, Pastor Andrew returns us to Ugarit, this time to talk about the strange form of divination called teratomancy, which is the procedure of deriving insights into the future from the malformations of newborns. And shows how that documentation of these issues actually shows health in a society.

On this episode, Pastor Andrew poses the question "what kind of religion needs advertisements?" He discusses the 7 million dollar "He Gets Us" Jesus ad, and why we should be careful and questioning, not just with a message, but with who the messenger is.

Pastor Andrew reads selections from a sermon written by artificial intelligence which leads to a discussion about these exciting and possibly concerning advancements in technology, its crossroads with religion, and the ways people react to it.

Pastor Andrew brings us back again to the ancient city of Ugarit, this time to talk about a short cuneiform passage that briefly details (what most scholars think is) a solar eclipse. This leads into a discussion about viewing eclipses (including the Pastor's 2017 trip to Kentucky to see a solar eclipse), and the intersection of religion and astronomy, particular in Hawaii where the two have been...

A hike near Stony Point New York brings Pastor Andrew face to face (both literally and figuratively) with the current state of mental health care in America when he comes across the dilapidated remains of the Letchworth Village Sanatorium. He takes the opportunity to compare mental health facilities in his homeland, and to offer up ways to begin to deal with this crisis in humane and productive wa...

Pastor Andrew promised us a story about God El, head of Pantheon, getting drunk; and he delivered. As we dives into this Ugarit myth, we learn about ancient people's relationship to alcohol (particularly wine, and its road from experimentation to temperance) and other mind altering substances.

Freshly recovered from his first bought with Covid-19, Pastor Andrew shares his experience with it, how he fared, how he passed the time, why he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, and speculation on why people would deny themselves the vaccine for religious reasons. Plus much more! https://www.gresham.ac.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/c/GreshamCollege https://www.thegreatcourses.com/ https://en.wik...

Pastor Andrew offers up his thoughts on Francesca Stavrakopoulou's book "God: An Anatomy." Spoiler alert: he really likes it! He offers an appreciation of the maturity of the worldview, grasp of the biblical world, and understanding that the ancients were reflecting on their own humanity through the reflection of their deities. Plus much more!

Pastor Andrew returns to the Ugarit story of the twin gods Shahar and Shalim, this time to focus on another aspect of that ancient text--the circumcision of God El. He talks about the origins of circumcision as a form of marriage ritual, and how this leads right into the Hebrew tradition. Here is a YouTube sermon about Zipporah - Tsiporah Check out the previous episode about Shahar and Shalim--htt...

Pastor Andrew brings us back to the ancient city of Ugarit, this time to talk about interesting lists of Gods (KTU 1.47; 1.118 and RS 20.24). Deities numbering over 30, including...a guitar?!

We waited a month before sitting down to talk about the Supreme Court decision that the constitution does not confer a right to abortion. But now that some time has passed, Pastor Andrew expresses his feelings about this decision--morally, theologically, logically--and the steps Rutgers Church has taken to help out with this tragedy. Here's the statement released by Rutgers Church the week of the...

Pastor Andrew sheds light on a Ugaritic Day of Atonement that pre-dates the Hebrew bible by hundreds of years, which leads to a conversation and an idea for adding such a day to our calendar as Christians.