Christopher is joined by guest co-host Shiloh Logan to talk about the history of “Satan” from the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible through today. This is not a theological discussion but a historical discussion of how the idea of Satan has evolved. Shiloh and Christopher use scholar Ryan Stokes to show how the idea of “the Satan” was understood before the Jewish captivity in Babylon, how that changed and was possibly influenced by Zoroastrianism, and how the Dead Sea Scrolls solidified the idea of “Satan” that made it into the New Testament. Christopher and Shiloh also use scholar Elaine Pagels, to expand on how our idea of “Satan” affects and influences our view of the other and justifies us in our view. They conclude with a discussion of “Satan” through a Jungian lens, and conclude that the first step in improving our views of the other and our society lies in integrating our own “shadow.”
Christopher and guest co-host, Shiloh Logan, talk about the third Beatitude on meekness. When we read of Jesus’ temptations after 40 days of fasting and when Satan showed him the whole earth, our typical interpretation is that Jesus recognized and rejected the temptation–from a rather contemporary Lockean standpoint–because the world was already His (because He had already mixed his time and labor in creating the world). Why would Jesus worship Satan to receive something that was already His? Yet Jesus would soon explain that this was not the reason the world was His. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ taught us that the meek inherit the earth. The earth was His, not because He had mixed His time and labor with it, but because He was meek. That is the foundation for our possession and claim on the earth. But what does this mean? What is the connection between meekness and inheriting the earth? Satan’s temptation was to take power and control over the earth, but these are not God’s ways. God’s power and glory are found in His “grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers” (Alma 9:26). This power and glory are not found in control or coercive dominion, but they are found through meekness. ...
In this episode, Christopher and Riley discuss the contemplative practice of fasting. Beginning with the usual notion of fasting as abstaining from food and drink, they expand it to include abstaining from any appetite with the potential to be taken to excess or to become an unhealthy coping mechanism or even an addiction for lack of communion with God. Riley and Christopher describe indulgence in excess as a way we try to fill the emptiness in us resulting from a lack of communion with God, with food, sex, or the compulsive consumption of products or media, and draw upon examples and teachings from the Buddha, Aristotle, the Stoics, the Epicureans, Jesus, and al-Ghazali, to expand the scope of fasting as a way of becoming more aware of ourselves, our family, our neighbors, and our wider world. ...
Christopher, Riley, and guest, Jana Spangler, a seasoned faith transitions coach, talk about healthy ways of dealing with doubt, difficult questions, and supporting those in a faith crisis. They talk about opening a space for those in doubt to express their doubts and be heard without judgment or attempts to fix them. If we are not to “rehearse [our] doubts with doubters,” where can we turn for validation? Jana explains the mindset of those in a faith crisis. They don’t choose their crisis and want to remain in the fold, but often feel they don’t belong. Jana helps us frame doubt and even faith crisis as necessary steps in the growth, evolution, and long-term endurance of faith. She provides a framework for mutual, relational grace to help us grow towards a healthier discovery and acceptance of our own and others’ spirituality given different types and levels of faith and approaches to seeking truth. ...
