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 h...

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 late...

"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...

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....

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 freaki...

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' Jo...

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...

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...

If God is all-powerful and loving why is there so much evil in the world? Why doesn't God stop avalanches, floods, and forest fires? Following theologian John Feinberg, I propose all manner of logical questions and the likely consequences of God's miraculous interventions in nature. Also? This episode has a review of the new Matrix Resurrections movie.

None of us approaches evil, pain, or suffering in neutral. We all do that through our pre-existing biases, pre-loaded perspectives. Across the Church what are four of the major positions on suffering? What is important to remember in showing mercy to those who are suffering? I also have a contemporary reflection related to the movie 300. Join me and let's think carefully!

The apostle Paul has lengthy passages about his suffering. He counted it a privilege to suffer for Jesus. What were the historical reasons he rehearsed all his pain? What were his theological reasons? What does all that mean for our own suffering? Do we suffer in a way that helps to complete the redemption of Christ? I also explore the resurgence of the WWJD Christian-cultural slogan. Just what wo...

Jesus prophesied that we would suffer for his name but added that his Spirit would accompany us. Our suffering, then, can have a pregnant kairos-moment quality to it. And that dynamic—a charismatic quality amid suffering for Christ—led to the rise of the doctrine of saints in history. How so? What's that mean? What is a confessor? I also think aloud critically about the obliteration of freewill in...

Anchored in reality, the Bible is not shy about our suffering or lamenting our suffering. Jesus knew that, too. But he changed things when he told us that there is a cost to be paid for following him: the cross. What does that mean exactly? What did it mean in his day? What did Jesus do with regard to our suffering? Together let's press suffering through a Christ-centered sieve. (I also talk about...

Ya know me? I hate glib Christian expressions. But still, it is good and wise to give God our pain, to learn from our pain, to practice a holy fear of God in the midst of our pain. So I share some heartfelt pastoral concerns about suffering. I also describe eating daily oatmeal with my grandson and share a story about Squirrel Tom, one of my golf friends. Come laugh and think with me about things...

Jesus was asked twice about the suffering of others. Did he attribute that to karma? To God's punishment? To people's sin? Actually, Jesus responded in a way that affirmed the theology in Job: there is non-order (if even disorder) present in God's creation. Let's unpack what that means. I also explore the matrix of Progressive political policies. Come laugh and think with me!

Why do we suffer? Is God punishing us? Did we deserve it? Does the book of Job teach us the law of karma? In this show I look at Job in its historic context to see what it is teaching us about suffering, life, and God himself. Why does God teach Job about the monsters Behemoth and Leviathan? I also discuss why my show is subversive in Christ. Come laugh and think with me!

Why do we suffer? Did we bring it on ourselves or is God punishing us? Job's story shines an intense light on those questions. Here's another, why do we serve God? For the bennies or because He is God? And then, how should we think about Satan in light of his appearance in the book of Job? I also share personally about why I serve God. Come think with me!

How did America's Founders' biblical understanding of human nature play into the way they framed the Constitution? How do the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence work together? If he showed up today what would James Madison be most proud of, and most disappointed about, regarding what has happened to what they founded? Is Covid being handled well according to the Constitution? Profess...

In this conversation with Political Science professor Darren Guerra I ask, were the Founders Christian? Or better, how were they? What were they doing with their faith that is so lacking in the contemporary Church? What is presentism and how does it shape people's assessment of history? What were the Founders' core commitments about being human? What did they borrow from Greek philosophy to build...

Memes this episode counters: "American Christians are too patriotic!"; "America was not really founded in a Christian worldview"; "America was started as an evil nation"; and, "American Christianity is too darned American!" In a quest for historical nuance, I critically work through the Declaration of Independence to discern the worldview of the Founders.

For 20 years I've been studying progressive ideology from a philosophical angle. Eric Hoffer wrote a book 70 years ago that peeled my eyeballs back about the psychology and sociology of mass movements. What ingredients fuel a mass movement? Why do mass movements become a holy cause? Why is there such credulity among those who join mass movements? I also ask more critical questions about the vaccin...

How do governmental vaccine mandates mirror an episode of the Twilight Zone I saw as a kid? How are officials going around the Constitution to censor freedom? What does "enlightened despotism" mean? The Bible teaches God is sovereign. Given evil's existence, how is that possible? Is God a puppet-master kind of king? What does belief in God's utter control do to social engagement?

I'm concerned that millions of church folk are not, in fact, Christians. How do I assess that? By what criterion? I also unpack mercy and grace as critical components of a Christian worldview; grand examples and daily examples. Along the way I tell a couple stories about having worked at a Burger King as a young man. Come think and laugh with me.