In this episode, Christopher and Riley explore revelation. What is revelation? Who can receive it? Is it something only prophets can receive? Can we? Is revelation infallible if prophets receive it? How about if we do? Has it ceased or is it continuing? If it has ceased, how do we know we’re interpreting it correctly? Wouldn’t that take revelation too, or does reason suffice? If revelation is continuing, can earlier revelation be abrogated by later revelation? Has this ever happened? If so, does that mean God has changed his mind, or could it mean he has changed our minds? What can we do to prepare our minds to receive revelation? What might prevent us from receiving it? Riley and Christopher do their best to problematize revelation by raising questions about it, to solve the problems by answering them, and to describe contemplative practices to prepare us to be open to receiving continuing revelation despite conservatism.
In this episode, Christopher and Riley talk about the need for a church. First, they refer to the Greek word in the Bible translated “church” and bring out its two simultaneously operative meanings. Next, they explore in-depth the need for a church based on those two meanings. Finally, they explore a threefold path one tends to take as a member of the body of Christ we call the church leading from dependence through participation to either disillusionment or leadership. But the leadership they discuss is not the top-down leadership one thinks of when thinking of the church as an institution, but the bottom-up, or grassroots, leadership in which one can participate if one sees oneself correctly as a member of the body of Christ called the church, with each member serving its particular function separate and distinct from all others, and at the same time in concert with them. ...
In this episode, guest-host Lindsey Ohlin is joined by educator Tom Bogle as they discuss their similar experiences with an unhealthy relationship surrounding the idea of knowing. What stumbling blocks might we encounter in our pursuit of perfect knowledge and how might that influence how we see our place in the world? What is the relationship between knowledge and faith, and where does wisdom fit into that equation? The pursuit of knowledge can often lead us toward better answers, but can the pursuit of wisdom lead us down a path toward asking better questions? ...
In this episode, Christopher sits down face to face with Riley on a visit to Heber, Utah from Bakersfield California to talk about arriving at certainty through methodological doubt. The conversation begins with the uncannily similar methodological doubt of medieval Muslim philosophical theologian and Sufi mystic al-Ghazali (1056 or 1057-1111) and the first modern philosopher, René Descartes (1596-1650), by which each arrives at certainty through direct experience of what Descartes calls “clear and distinct ideas” and Riley and Christopher share their own experience. ...
