The Belfast Podcast

In his book "Reaching Out: Three Spiritual Movements" Henri Nouwen starts talking about the move from loneliness to solitude. I read to Daniel in this episode from the first chapter, "A Suffocating Loneliness," and we discussed how we have felt these things in our lives.

In an independent conversation, Daniel and I discuss the consequences of being in seminary and how it may have made us cynical. Email me at: Belfastpodcast@gmail.com

What do we mean when we ask for Scripture's "literal" meaning? Is there a "neutral reading" one can have of the Bible? What is the battle between the scientific atheist and fundamentalist? Pageau Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLPDSRL5f4&t=623s Peterson Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-pvcdLTJg

Continuing our discussion about the nature of literature and communication in a place and time, Daniel and I react to a sermon by Rob Bell on Revelation he gave at Willow Creek. In this sermon, Bell takes us back to the time of the early church and tells us how John flips Emperor worship in his letter to make a point about who is really on the throne.

Continuing our discussion about the purpose of literature, using it as a lens, Daniel and I consider how time and place are necessary when understanding and interpreting a text, especially the Bible. Knowing time and place are essential; we see how the Bible communicates to us from a particular context and should be seen, especially for us today, as "cross-cultural" communication.

How are we supposed to approach the things we read? Daniel and I attempted to answer this question in the podcast by seeing what Lewis thought to be the aim of literature, what he says in the "Abolition of Man," and what this can do when viewing fiction like Todd Phillip's movie, "Joker." Links: McGrath lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPWgZR7peJk&t=2601s Behind the Curtain Joker Video: ht...

In this supercut, I attempt to streamline the conceptual work Daniel and I determined to do around what an Egregore is. With loads of help from Paul Vanderklay and Michael Heiser, I hope this can help turn on some light bulbs. 

In this episode, Daniel and I react to a video by @PaulVanderklay where he reacts to a @RebelWisdom video on the sensemaking crisis and COVID. BJ Cambell brings in the idea of an Egregor, a demonic non-physical entity that emerges from groupthink. I intertwine this with the history of the Egregor being from the Enochian tradition, bringing us to Heiser and the Sons of God in Genesis 6 and 11. Vand...

Daniel and I discuss the Augustinian framework of interpreting the Bible as art. Within this, though, is the assumption that the Bible is artistic, which it is! So we talk about how intertextuality affects the interpretation of the text along with a modern-day example in the new Spider-man film. Also, I brought in Michael Heiser's podcast episodes about Revelation to show how intertextuality is us...

*Explicit Content Warning* (For the Bible too) In this episode, I attempt to frame how reading the Biblical Narrative like we read fiction can be helpful in understanding how smart stories work. I start with Stephen King's "IT", using the story of Beverly Marsh, how her childhood affects her as an adult, and how those allusions can aid in understanding the stories of Judah in Genesis 37 and 38. 

I read from "The Problem of Pain" and more of C.S. Lewis's thoughts on hell in this episode. Daniel and I then discuss what it means to be a monster and control it, the art of self-discipline.

I was blessed to have a conversation with an old friend from boarding school who is now a pastor. We discussed a lot about the reality of being given a new heart by God at salvation, and I read from "Waking the Dead" and "The Divine Conspiracy".

Daniel and I discuss some things I have been thinking about recently, Original sin and Hell. I have run across scholarships against the usual Augustinian conceptions of original sin common in evangelicalism and reformed circles. The typical Augustinian view also has major Christological issues, which I address. Second, Daniel and I discuss conscious eternal Torment (the majority conception of hell...

In this emotional, challenging, and convicting episode, Daniel and I walk through the story of Jonah, how it parallels with Genesis imagery and is used by Jesus. Timestamps: 0:00 introduction 11:48 Jonah in Genesis 23:55 The story of Jonah 1:15:00 Jesus and Jonah 1:37:00 The Challenge of Jonah Resources: Tim Mackie's Sermon series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah1RRqQg2fM Heiser's interview abo...

This one went in a different direction than initially intended. The conversation starts off with me talking again about Adam and Eve and morphed into a conversation then about how to stay humble around those who may not have as much knowledge. The humility conversation leads to a discussion about my issues with proclamation preaching that happens. We ended the episode with a discussion on inspirat...

Daniel came back for another episode, and this one was even more fun! We talked about the Bible as a story, the theme of Divine Marriage throughout the Bible, and the uselessness of inerrancy as an argument for the Bible's authority. Timestamps are bellow Apple Podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-belfast-podcast/id1472441982 Spotify Podcast link: https://open.spotify.com/show/1...

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 a...

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 literar...

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...

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!

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.

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...

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 h...

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. 

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...