What do you mean God speaks? – Details, episodes & analysis

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“Organized religion” seems to have a bad rep nowadays. It’s associated with authoritarian hierarchies, dogmatic beliefs and rigid rules. Many of us instead want to identify ourselves as simply “spiritual”; we want to be people connected with some greater reality, some deeper truths and higher ideals, to something Divine, but without the confines of organized religion. Fair enough. 

And interestingly enough, in the Bible, the first heroes of faith—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, did not belong to some existing “religion,” and neither did Moses, at least at the start. It was from Moses onward that we have something that we’d now call “organized religion.” And the book Exodus recounts why the ancient Israelites needed it, and the reason may surprise us. Because today, we tend to only see one side of this idea, without understanding the other—the side that we’ll begin to explore in this episode.

Also: “GOD”? What’s That? A Translation Guide on “God” for our Godless World is now on sale. 

Publisher’s webpage: https://wipfandstock.com/9798385244102/god-whats-that/

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After the Israelites escape the Egyptian army that pursued them, they find themselves in the desert. In one sense, this was expected since geographically and physically, Egypt was surrounded by the desert. Yet, the narratives in Exodus, just as in Genesis, are archetypal stories—that is, they describe a kind of templates or pattern of what happens whenever a people follow the call of God. Or to put it differently, that's how Reality works. Such people, at one point or another, will find themselves in some kind of desert. And they will hunger and thirst in that desolate place. But, what does that mean, and how can that be? We will begin exploring this idea that the Exodus account presents us in this episode of What do you mean, “God speaks”?

Update on the book: The publication is proceeding even quicker than anticipated, as I’m now reviewing the finalized edit until the end of October. If everything goes well, the book should be out around Christmas time! The title has changed, to differentiate from this podcast series. It is titled, “GOD”? What’s That? A Translation Guide on “God” for our God-less World. 

Stay tuned for future updates!

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God that spoke to Moses is "Yahweh," unfolding everything around him. But, the question was: will reality unfold what this voice spoke to him? What if things go wrong? What if Moses was deluded, or mistaken, or deceived?

How Moses, and people who hear God speak to them, find out whether what they hear is true--whether God really is speaking with them--is actually a step-by-step process. Rarely do we make some heroic leap of faith, at least at the start. We embark on that journey, one step at a time. And sometimes, the first step can be very, very small.

But, the question that reality confronts us with--question that God asks--is "What will it take for you to take that step? And will you when that path opens before you? Whether we do or not separates people like Moses and those who aren't.
           
 3:03     God's name points to reality unfolding around us           
 11:38     Wavering between following or ignoring God’s voice           
 17:47     What it means for anger of God to burn against you           
 24:00     The question is, what it make you take the next step?           
 31:48     Taking the next step when stakes go up            

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Consider what it means for things to have names. Names point to things, and at least to some extent, tells us what they are. But, what could possibly be the name of God? After all, it would need to "point to" all of reality as a whole.

According to the Bible, the name of God spoken to Moses is "I am that I am," which in turn is presented as the meaning of the Hebrew name of God, "Yahweh." This passage has fascinated theologians and philosophers, because of the concept of "Being" and "existence" that it presents. However, this meaning presents something more immediate to our lives; it points to our experience of reality that unfolds around us, and invites us to a journey to find out what will unfold in our lives.
           
 3:59     What it means for God to speak from the burning bush             
 9:47     How Moses can know whether God really spoke to him             
 16:51     Why "miracles" God shows Moses is only the first step             
 23:07     What does it even mean to name God?             
 32:16     It / He Just IS, and what that means             
 37:30     Name of God calls us to see what reality unfolds       
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It is an iconic scene in the Bible: God calls Moses from the burning bush. But, why the burning bush? After all, God can speak through an immeasurable number of things.

It is because the bush that does not burn up, and the flame that blazes, yet will not burn itself out, means something to Moses--and to us--which connects us to how God, speaking all of reality, can speak to human individuals in a powerful and personal way. We'll explore what that is in this episode.

(edit: Jan 30, added ~1 minute of content from 26:26, and revised sentences that were too long the final 5 minutes )
           
 2:21     Moses is “born” twice – his birth narrative             
 8:28     Moses as a failed “Zorro / Batman”             
 16:51    Moses’s life before the Burning Bush             
 24:43    What was the fire, and "The Angel of the LORD"             
 32:33    What did the burning bush mean?              
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The fourth Season opens to explore the question of the people of Israel described in Exodus. Who were they? What is the significance of their story, regarding their oppression and slavery? What remnants or echoes, if any, remain of their story in the records and memory of ancient history, and what are their significance?

And where are we headed from here?

 2:21     Biblical stories as "Myth that has become History"             
 14:43    Opening of Exodus and the oppression of Israel               
 19:45     Egypt and the Hyksos, the Shasu, and Israel               
 27:46     Who were the Hebrews, 'Apiru, and why this matters               
 35:03     The Slave Bible and Exodus story as timeless truth              

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 Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

To celebrate(?), here is the trailer for Season 4 of "What do you mean, God speaks?"

God awaits in the desert

The prologue,  "They were born in the desert"

Music : "Exodus" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com

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The final 3rd Season’s post-season episode returns to some issues to wrap up before we move on to Season 4. 

First, part of this Season wrestled with the question that historians today has raised regarding the historicity of the life-stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their family—as they are recounted in the book of Genesis. But, what do I personally believe regarding the position held by most historians today? Here’s why the answer to that is somewhat complicated (and oddly, why it is related to how I deal with the question of the multiverse raised by some scientists today). 

Second, we will return to explore two of the stories in Genesis we didn't cover in this Season—the stories of two women: Dinah, and Tamar. Listen to why we did not cover their tales in the main season, and why they are nevertheless quite important. And lastly, check out how the word, “sex,” was said more times in this single episode than the entire series so far put together!

 0:00     Why would I leave things out of an episode?           
 3:09     What I believe about “historicity”… and the multiverse             
 18:28     Story of Dinah             
 28:54     Story of Tamar        
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There’s this adage that says, “Don’t talk about religion or politics unless you want to get in trouble.” Well, this series is all about religion, so we might as well go the rest of the way this episode, and talk about politics!

Now, politics is not what we usually explore in this series. But, it might be good to listen to me thinking aloud on topics outside my area, especially if these ideas are based on some of the insights and ideas this series has examined in the main episodes.

In this case,  the importance of the person, the character of the people we select as our leaders, over what they supposedly stand for. Here are some reasons--from the Christian perspective--why you might want to vote for a person even if they hold views or position you disagree with!
         
 0:33     To examine who we are is to examine our relation to reality - God           
 6:53     Why democracies are vulnerable to ourselves           
 17:28     My proposal : Vote for a person, not a party            

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It seems, at least from popular conversations in the News, opinion articles, or the constant postings on SNS, we are labeling more or more things or people as racist.  Now, racism does remain a significant problem even in countries and societies that have made significant progress against it, and strands of it do seem to have been woven into the societies and institutions we have inherited.  But, I also think that we have been too indiscriminate in labeling things or people simply as "racism" or "racist," with neither nuance or reflection--at least, at the popular level.
 
So, as a post-season extra episode, here's my rough and partial reflections on the issue of racism. To be specific, why I've concluded that we should distinguish two closely related things that are often identified together: prejudice, and racism.               

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