God & Humans

Unequally yoked

What does it even mean to be unequally yoked? And does any part of the New Testament actually forbid Christians getting married to people who aren’t Christian? And if so, why?

The Disappointment of the Spirit

God’s spirit living inside of our bodies. That is the central, climactic idea of the New Testament. But what if this grand climax also turned out to be a little disappointing? And what if much of the New Testament actually seems to acknowledge and deal with that disappointment?

Sacrifice after Jesus

How did the early church think about the Levitical system and sacrifices after Jesus? Nate and Tim discuss this common and problematic question while seeking to avoid antisemitic supersessionism and find a more sensible understanding of things.

Shower First, Spirit Second

Is baptism really just a bath? Does God really only forgive ignorant people? What is the order of operations related to atonement? Nate and Tim respond to a few more listener questions.

Atonement must be Universal

Nate and Tim respond to a few listener questions, discussing how forgiveness itself is tied to liberation as well as why universal atonement isn’t just a possibility but a necessity.

What Does Ransom Mean?

What does holiness and chemical atonement have to do with liberation and ransom? Did Jesus pay a ransom price, and if so, to who? And how might we better synthesize these various ways of describing what Jesus accomplished? (We even get into The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and how C.S. Lewis portrays the ransom theory in Narnia.)

Chemistry and Scapegoats

What do ancient science, the “scapegoat” of Yom Kippur, and holy tree branches have to do with Jesus’ death? And what does resurrection have to do with everything? Nate and Tim continue discussing how the contagious nature of holiness undergirds much of the New Testament theology about Jesus and discover some fascinating ideas along the way.

Did Jesus have to die?

Did Jesus have to die, or is that not even how we should think about it? And why is blood both a source of holiness and defilement? Also, what do menstruation and “nocturnal emissions” have to do with each other in Leviticus? Nate and Tim discuss a few listener questions as well as some of their own.

Holiness is the Gospel

Holiness and purity were two of the central concerns of the entire Levitical system. Neither were moral categories, but rather had to do with something like chemical states. In this episode, Nate and Tim discuss the idea of holiness and how the New Testament authors believed the gospel was that Jesus had made the world holy.

Why blood?

Why the blood? There is actually an important bit of ancient science underlying the whole idea of sacrifice and atonement. Also, what happens if we just can’t believe that science?

Contagious

Why sacrifice animals? Why send some people outside the camp? Why all the rules? Nate and Tim discuss how the threat of viral contagion is the primary principal underlying the Levitical system, and how that is why the Torah talks so much about separation and mixture.

Cosmic campout

What all is required in order to camp out with God? And what is holiness anyway? Nate and Tim discuss all this and more, including why there are so many long lists of detailed instructions in the Torah and how to read them. Also, what do the golden calf, Nadab and Abihu, and the tragedy of Uzzah and the cart all have in common?

Priests are holy bouncers

Did you know that Adam and Eve worked as security guards in the Garden of Eden? And what does it mean to be a priest? And once again, why is there a snake in the garden? Nate and Tim discuss the role of priests and how Genesis 2 depicts Adam as a priest representing Israel.

God might kill us

Are we supposed to be afraid of God? Why did the ancient Israelites fear the Lord? What was it that scared them exactly? Nate and Tim discuss how we may have gotten this all very wrong for a long time and maybe we shouldn’t be so scared after all.

Distance and Separation

The New Testament claims Jesus is helping reconcile humanity and God, but why were they ever separated in the first place? Does God want to separate from us because we’re awful, or is there something entirely different going on? Nate and Tim discuss the biblical authors’ surprising assumptions about why God is so distant and what is actually required to bridge the gap.

Blood and Guilt

What were the sacrifices for? What did blood do? What is the main problem which the tabernacle and temple and then Jesus were trying to solve? Nate and Tim introduce a new series on Leviticus, atonement, and the crazy idea of blood as a kind of cosmic insulation. In this first part, they highlight some of the big ideas soon to be discussed and reflect on why it matters.