Christians are aware of the Holy Spirit and lesser spirits like angels and demons. What about impersonal, non-living, spirits that are as powerful as demons? What about spirits that live as ideas and values in people's hearts and minds? In this episode I examine the spiritual nature of Marxism by unpacking some of its history and central doctrines. I also take you behind the scenes into a private church confessional.
We hear it from daily news coverage. We hear it from crowds chanting in the streets. Professors ubiquitously use it in lectures: social justice. Just what is social justice? What caused the phrase to arise? When did it first arise? What are its philosophical premises? Why are BLM and Antifa getting so much media attention and moral cover? What does the Bible have to say about justice? And who does the Bible blame for racism? Come, let us reason together.
We are profoundly shaped by our ideas, our mental outlook, and our vision. We are no less shaped by our vision for society. What does Marxism envision for society? How does that compare to a fundamentally Christian vision for society? Why do Karl and his dreary band of disciples constantly elevate mediocrity over excellence? Come think and laugh with me.
In this episode: why is the self-named anti-racism movement a false gospel? what is original sin in this new gospel? how does one get saved in this new false gospel? what kind of good things are going on despite our tumultuous era? why does this movement cherish grand gestures? how does Marxism consistently try to "help" people? why is there so much largesse involved in Marxism? And, what kind of things can Christians be doing to effect change? Come think and laugh with me.
Words are powerful. We shape both reality and ourselves with words. So it's interesting to me that Marxist shibboleths (insider religious code words) are more like word-clouds and less like specifically defined terms. Why is that? In this episode I work through several shibboleths and expose them. We need to understand some of what is going on in society. Oh, and I also describe what it is like to be the owner of a new puppy!
We are told this is neither a matter of individual racists wreaking havoc nor is it simply that there are towns or regions that are predominantly racist. No, the dominant narrative is that America is "systemically" racist. Why that resounding refrain? To sort this out I peer into the work of Robin DiAngelo, author of the best selling book, White Fragility. What can we take away from her? How is this all rather like a glacier going off a cliff?
Most coups are local and violent over-throws of rulers. Soft coups involve a gradual, incremental, willing handing over of power. Are we in the midst of a soft coup? Sure looks like it. So how'd we get here? What is the strategy that has brought us to this historic crux? Answer: a massive societal loss of nerve, a loss of nerve driven by a moral re-structuring. In this episode I relate all of this to my own golf game. Weird things happen when you lose your nerve!
Today's civil unrest is not a simple racial dichotomizing dynamic. The impetus, the drive, the energy is very particular: Marxist ideology. Specifically, we are witnessing the results of a sixty-some year long moral re-wiring of society. We've gone from personal morality to societal morality following the class structures of Karl Marx. A moral vacuum was created and guess what rushed in to fill it? White Guilt. Come think with me about what white guilt means and why millions feel vaguely guilty.
What is the anthropology (doctrine of human nature) that lies beneath Marxism? It's important to understand that because that doctrine both undergirds and reveals what is going on in our woke-scolding era today. Herein I argue that while a Marxist can convert and come to know the living Christ, Marxism itself is beyond redemption: at its core it is atheist. Trying to transform Marxism into Christianity is like a human being trying to live among grizzly bears.
Pulling down statues? Fairly easy. Totally erasing the past? Now that's a more difficult task. But that's precisely what we are witnessing across America. How can we discern what is going on? What "poker tells" are at hand that let us know the deeper agenda at work? And why does so much of what we are witnessing have a cult-like quality to it? What is a Christian response to the unrest?
Trinitarian reality is not some esoteric doctrine, it has implications for both public and private life. Herein I give some examples of how the character of God—an eternal unity in diversity—is the ethical foundation for our own lives, for society. I also take a few moments to talk about the meaning of the public presence of the Church and why that matters. Come think and laugh with me.
Creation echoes and mirrors God's own self. How is that so? I work through dynamics like finding meaning, reality versus thin copies, community, patterns, ecology, unity, diversity, and beauty. Building from the theological concept of panentheism I show what a mystery, a beautiful mystery, everything in life is. Nothing is eliminated by virtue of its group or species. So amazing!
We can learn through different mediums. Herein we examine two preeminent paintings from history: Luca Signorelli's "Anti-Christ" and Andrei Rublev's "Trinity." What insights do these two geniuses show us about human nature, about reality, about our mysterious God? Furthermore, what do these two painters, each of whom lived over 500 years ago, tell us about our current national crisis?
Temple is a biblical category much overlooked by Evangelicals and Charismatics. How does Temple play into the New Testament's portrayal of Jesus, or of Jesus as God's Son, or of what God's new and fresh covenant is about? Still more, what does Temple suggest about our own selves? Come, let us worshipfully turn our brains on for the glory of the living God!
"God is love" is not nearly as thick or rich as saying, "God is three persons in one essence." My point? Our words about God matter more, not less, than our words about other realities. But God as a Trinity crucifies the human intellect! So what to do? Then, what terms did the ancient Church give us that still inform us today? Why do those words matter? What is the essence of God? I also do a bit of processing the recent death of a family member.
"Trinitarian doctrine is a capitulation to Greek philosophy." So goes the standard critique. But is that true? Actually? Nope. Amazingly, the ancient church resisted Greek constructions of truth by developing Trinitarian worship. In this episode I explore that ancient Greek context as well as clarify who and what the ancient—biblically committed—Church pushed back against. The gist of it all? Jesus was not a plug n' play construction of truth. Jesus shatters all pre-existing categories and constructions!
What caused the doctrine of the Trinity to arise in ancient history? A quest for religious marketplace advantage? Was it all just mere philosophic speculation? If the Bible doesn't come right out and say "Worship God as three who is one" then why do we? In this episode I unpack the God-at-work-in-history reasons why Christianity is resoundingly trinitarian. Come and think and laugh and sing with me!
Life is a matter of frequency, of attunement, of stimmung (in German). How we attune ourselves, how we tune our frequency, greatly determines the quality of our lives. What kinds of things have entered the American frequency that have cloyed both a biblical and an American understanding of freedom? What Beatles song do I sing to make my point? Come think and laugh with me.
In John 15 Jesus commands us to abide in him. What does that mean? Talking with Josh Houston, author of The Abiding Life, we work through what it means to be a disciple and abide in Christ. What crisis led to Josh writing his book? How does American culture press down upon Christian discipleship? Why do I wish I had a spiritual mentor? And what does that even mean? How do the three centers of human wiring—Control, Security, and Esteem—play into our walk with Christ? This is good and intimate reflection!
I'm caught in an existential sandwich between numbness and irritation. What has led to this state of being? What truly frightens me about our response to COVID? I've coined a new word—slotch—to capture governmental over-reach, administrative gobbledy-gook, and managerial nonsense. And because we have all endured it, I even sing a song about slotch. Still more, what does both Animal Farm and the Bible teach us about human nature? Come laugh and think with me.
