S1 - Episode Guide for 1st Season, Episodes 7 ~ 12
Welcome to an extra episode of "What do you mean God speaks."
With this, the first season will come to a close. Now, I am planning to sporadically upload extra episodes between now and the start of the second season, but formally speaking, this is it. Please do drop by though if some of those sporadic episodes seem interesting to you.
So, we now have twelve main episodes--thirteen, or even fourteen, counting the addendums. Again, the entire series is written as a whole, like a single book that is broken up into sequential episodes, with each building upon the previous ones. So, I thought I should take some time here to review which episode is about what, and which point to remember from each.
There is one that does that for episode one to six, so please listen to that if you missed it; this one is for episode seven to twelve.
Now, the last guide episode mentioned how one purpose of the first season is to identify and correct some long-standing misunderstandings and confusions regarding Christian beliefs--ones that frame the whole thing wrong. The second reason s more difficult to explain, but with the entire first season in view, I can try.
The series in a sense is trying to start from a generally secular, scientific, skeptic, and humanist perspective, and embark from there on a step-by-step journey toward Christianity. Or, to put it differently, I’m trying to point to, or describe experiences, thoughts, or ideas from that secular or skeptical perspective, which can connect to some key Christian beliefs, and that will eventually prepare the ground for understanding the rest of the Christian worldview. In a word, I am translating Christianity, which if you recall, I started by translating the word, “God,” to “Reality.” Of course, I then refine and expand that translation further, but, that’s where I start.
This is what the podcast description means, when it states that this series “reconstrues and retells key Christian ideas, insights, and stories.”
Now, I am doing this for two groups. First are people who are secular, or scientific, or skeptical, or humanist, and so on, who are still genuinely open and curious about religious perspectives; but they usually would have problems making sense of Christianity when it is presented or defended from a standard Christian perspective. Second, are Christians who have questions about their own beliefs, for either of the two reasons. It may be that they, like their non-religious counterpart, want to understand the other side and their questions, and think about a meaningful response to them. Or it may be that though they hold some Christian beliefs, their thinking and reasoning framework is more from the secular, skeptical, humanist side, so there’s some disconnect; they can’t make full sense of at least some of their own beliefs. Hence, this series, as I repeat every episode, is for skeptics who want to understand religion, Christians with questions about their own beliefs, and everyone in between.
So, all of this is why we went over the idea of God as Reality, questions about science, God, and the universe, limits and analogies in describing Reality--and thus God, how beliefs are configured, and so on, during the first six episodes.
Now, on to the episode guide. Again, you can take this as an introductory summary to each episode, or as review. Listen to the actual episodes for the full thing… obviously.
Seventh episode: Why God is not a god.
This is the third part to the “What do you mean by God,” question that began from the very first episode of the series.
One of the trends I’ve been noticing in the past decade or two is that more and more people drop the capital “G,” when referring to “God.” I think the motivation range from a kind of juvenile spitefulness, to an honest effort to be inclusive to beliefs about all gods. If the motivation is the latter, then it is fundamentally misguided.
That is because the same spelling, “god,” is somewhat misleading. Because the concept of God, with a capital G, is trying to grapple with a very different idea from that of god with a small g. During the formative years of Judaism and Christianity, their idea of “God,” expanded and developed over… couple of thousand years, really, until their “God” was no longer what most people of other cultures meant by “god.” Now, that such a change has happened should not be surprising; children’s understanding of their parents, in a much shorter time, also change and mature too, after all.
But, there’s more to it than that. "God" is an odd name for a god, in that it's not a name. The same goes for Yahweh, the biblical name for God, which means "I am that I am." Again, it is not really a name. Both are trying to express something deeper, grander, and more universal than this or that god--but rather "God" for all peoples and all times, because this God is a kind of Divine Ground, or Infinite Reality of all things.
What that meant for Christianity though, as it reached out toward other peoples and cultures, was that those people would to an extent believe in “God” already, even if with another name, or a very different understanding. This is why contrary to popular belief, Christian missionaries and theologians, from apostle Paul onward, preferred to find an idea in other people's beliefs that paralleled their idea of God (who is not merely a god) and start their talk from there. So, In Acts, Paul quotes Greek philosophers to talk about God, as the Creator. Augustine drew upon Platonism, Aquinas drew upon Aristotle, and Christians continue to search for ideas in other cultures that reach beyond the gods, to "God."
Of course, preferred, is key. They didn’t always succeed. And Christianity became powerful, even that preference was far too often discarded in favor of utilizing imperial, colonizing force… but by then, the entire Christian message had been distorted… but, that’s another topic.
Now, there’s an addendum to the seventh episode, which deals with more in depth questions that pertain to religious studies and philosophy in general, so check them out if you’re curious.
Eighth episode: Why the idea of sin and judgment still haunt us.
So, one of the ways I think we misunderstand the idea of sin, is that we simply equate it with that of moral wrongs. There's a large overlap, but they aren't the same.
Sin means "missing the mark." And what's the mark? Well, one way to think about it is that according to Christianity, "love" is how God relates to us, and how we are to relate to everyone and everything. If we had done so, both our lives and our world will have unfolded in a certain way. And it hasn't. That's the missed mark.
So, there’s a question that haunts us--you can even say, it’s a question from God. Could your life, could your world, have been better than it is now? More loving, more just, more truthful, and more worth living for? If yes, then, why isn't it? We may say, we are limited, or didn’t know enough, or that society hindered our efforts, and so son, but then the question is still there. Taking account of all the limits imposed on you, could your life and your world still have been better than it is now? If yes, why isn’t it?
The part we played in why it isn't, is our sin. And it may be from profoundly evil motivations, or it may just be from petty failings, or cowardice, or others.
Another key point is that sin is inherited; by this I mean, what we do wrong today becomes the norm for tomorrow. Whether that’s environmental, social, or personal wrong, if we do not correct them now--and correcting them always has a cost--the sin remains, and the world remains to that extent, broken.
And that leads to the idea of judgment, because the primary mode of God's judgment for our sin is: we are to live in the broken world and broken life we made them out to be. That is what "hell" is, which is this extended forever. The more popular idea of judgment is in many cases, actually is God warning us that this primary judgment looms before us.
And that’s why even today, the idea of sin and judgment still haunts us, even when we think we’ve discarded such notions.
Ninth episode: What do you mean God speaks?
This is the title-drop episode! But, actually, the episode title really is referring to three episodes-- four, including the addendum extra episode.
The ninth episode is more for breaking the ground than anything else. One thing I wanted to clarify is that for Christianity, “God speaking,” includes much, much more than the specific sense of someone somehow getting some Divine message.
So, the episode presents a general Christian dictum, which states, “All truth is God’s truth.” This means that Christians are to recognize and affirm truth, wherever and from whoever it is found; so, a truth may be from the sciences, or other religions, or an insight you had, or even from an otherwise, evil and deplorable person! More than that, Christians must not only acknowledge these truths, but also that these truths are from none other than God!
This is because every truth, in a sense, is God speaking. And in Christianity, truth goes hand in hand with goodness, so every truth, and every true goodness. And that means, whatever truth that you hold—if it really is true—is what God is speaking, at least on that matter.
So, why say that every truth you learn is, God speaking? Well, for Christianity, Reality is “like” a speech. By that, we mean that reality communicates; that is its most fundamental character. That's why science can describe Nature, why talk of justice matters, why poetry is beautiful. Because Reality communicates, and that is God speaking.
But, we can go deeper than that. Every truth is God speaking. But, there are truths; then, there are truths that generate other truths. What do I mean? To know what kind of a person brings forth what is true, good, and beautiful, is to know the truth about how to find all other truths. Such a person is closest we can get to, to God who speaks every truth.
This is not just the case for some extraordinary people. When you realize who you really are, everything that you should've been, and who you must become, truthfully, without deceit, or sin, that's the moment when your thoughts match God's thoughts regarding you; that's when God "speaks" inside you. The problem is, of course, when do we ever do so?
Which leads us to the …
Tenth episode: What do you mean God speaks to you?
This continues right after where the ninth episode leaves off, but introduces a new dimension to the question. So, every truth, along with everything good and beautiful in truth, is God speaking. Yet, "hearing" God speak by knowing a truth, is not the same as having God speak to you. So, if you’re listening to a podcast, for example, you may be listening to someone speak, but that person usually is not speaking to you, personally.
Whereas in the Bible, God not only speaks, but speaks to people.
For Christians, Reality is Who, not a what. And that's because we believe Reality can speak to people. This is where I believe those who believe in God, and those who don’t, truly part ways; the real reason why one side calls Reality, “God,” and the other does not.
So, how does God speak to us? This episode explores one key way… well, a way before the Bible.
So, we all have this experience. Voices speak to us, not in the crazy, I hear voices sense, but in the sense that we have inner dialogues. Because within each of us, there is, for lack of better words, another "us"--many of "us"--many voices that speak inside our minds when we try to make decisions or find our way. The question is then, which voice speaks the truth? And which voice should we listen? Which won’t lead us astray?
Now, these voices are emissaries of something beyond you, because what they represent are not limited to your mind. They appear to other people too, across time and cultures. They are like apps you download on your phone; it's inside your phone, but the same app is in other phones, and the original app itself is beyond any one phone. And these voices represent often a certain way of thinking or behaving-- they have personalities. If you listen to the one that tells you to vent your frustration at the people around you, you take on its personality--your own version of the personality of "wrath," whereas if you listen to the voice that tells you to be aloof, analyzing things calmly and impersonally, you take on another personality. Again, the question is, which voice, and the personality behind it, should we listen to and taken on?
And the question Christianity poses is, which voice brings us to truthful, meaningful life, changing us for the good, bringing forth a better world, in best possible way, not only in some occasions, but in every occasion, every time we listen? Which voice encourages us, inspires us, and moves us to be truthful, or more loving, and turn us away from despair, spitefulness, deceit, or hatred? Which voice seems to present a way forward, a life that seems profoundly true and worth living, even if common sense right now, seem to be against it?
Because that voice, is God speaking to us from within, at least.
But, of course, that voice is more than just an inward voice. It can sometimes be corroborated by outside events. The miracles in the Bible is simply that. The biblical sense of miracle is not God interfering or breaking laws of nature; since as I mentioned in episode four, what we call Laws of Nature is also, God speaking--the Logos of God. Of course, things may happen that seems impossible for our understanding of how Nature works, but whether we can or cannot explain an event naturally is irrelevant to whether it’s a miracle. A miracle is God directing the course of events, in ways usually beyond our expectation and imagination, to confirm that what He said to you.
When that is needed, that is. After all, most of what God would say into our lives, likely don’t require a miracle--just us to act upon it and see where that leads us.
Episode ten point ten: Addendum, You, or God? Truth or Reality?
Yes, I watch anime. Hence, the quote for the episode. This episode is listed as an extra episode, but is actually full-length, twenty minutes long. I added it because one question I glossed over in the tenth episode kept bothering me.
If a voice within you that spoke the truth, and guided you, is God speaking to you, is there a line between you and God--at least, in the description that I gave?
Now, there’s a clear case where there is that line; when the voice spoke to you, and something that the voice spoke was beyond your imagination or expectation, but turned out to be true. So, a prophecy or a miracle that is performed in the Bible. But, are those the only cases? The only reason?
Hence, the quote from the Full Metal Alchemist. I used the quote as an illustration to how your experience of God, Reality, Truth, and yourself, is linked together. Now, we should by now, easily get the first three, God, Reality, and Truth. But, why yourself?
That’s because you, your character, shapes Reality that you experience. You can only experience Reality as you, and no one else. But, you can change. There’s another you, a self that you can become--one that is more truthful, more just, more good, more loving--a character who is closer to the one who makes life and the world around you more worthwhile. But, that’s only a potential you. It’s you who beckons you to become. Too often though, we fail to become that potential us.
But, here’s the kicker. Even when we do become that better us, we find that there’s even better version of us that’s beckoning. That “us,” that “you,” is like a horizon, ever moving beyond, closer we move toward them.
So there is a line between us and God within us, but that line is always moving.
Now, other religions connect this Divine self to ourselves through various different concepts. Christianity does so by teaching that we are created in the image of God, which is to say, we represent God to ourselves… and to the rest of Creation. And moreover, there’s a person who unfailingly and constantly represent that “us” at the horizon, the image of God we can and ought to have become, and this figure exhorts, encourages, and sometimes admonishes us, toward that horizon, no matter how many times we fail or even betray his expectations. That is the figure of Christ, in Christianity.
Because the thing is, we often fail, and fail catastrophically, and sometimes even deliberately and spitefully, to become what we can become. That’s the story of sin in episode nine.
Eleventh episode: How evil lurks behind Christianity (and every other good thing)
A.k.a. How a nightmare haunts every dream of God’s Kingdom.
This episode addresses a more immediately pressing issue that Christianity is often the venue for perpetrating great evils. But of course, some Christians would argue, other religions do it too, and secular and atheist ideologies. And before we devolved into arguments about who did what, and who is worse, or why this or that evil group is not representative of this or that religious, or non-religious people, I wanted to ask a deeper question. Why does evil rise so invariably from institutions, societies, and people who seek what they believe is good?
Now, there’s an even deeper question of how evil arises in people, but we can’t get into that until we explore relevant the narratives in the Bible, such as the story of the Fall, or Cain and Abel, and that’s not until second season. So, this episode is asking only about evil perpetrated in the name of good.
And one key Christian idea I bring up, is the idea that evil is parasitical on the good. Evil is a defect. It needs to latch on to something good. At the most basic level, it needs to latch onto something that is real; real people, real power. Your ability to make something happen for real isn’t evil, but evil cannot exist without it. But, listen to the actual episode for the details of this idea.
Now, this parasitical character of evil also plays out among people who use moral values as pretext. Most wars and atrocities are done with some pretext for justice, protection and so on. Evil needs a mask to fool other people.
But, at a more profound level, evil within us needs a mask to fool ourselves. That is how religious and non-religious hypocrites may justify our otherwise, cruel, spiteful, arrogant, or greedy actions, behind some veneer of respectability. And the thing is there is always something. Whatever our society will find as basis for our values, inspiration, and praise, it can also serve as the mask that the evil can hide and feed from. That is why, outright banning of religion in Soviet Union, Maoist China, North Korea, Khmer Rouge, or others, still led to the same kind of intolerance, deprivation, cruelty, and mass murder that we saw in say, the so-called Islamic State some years ago. There’s always something.
Then, is this inevitable? Will some evil always feed from us, from even the most admirable, inspiring, and good ideals and institutions we build?
That’s where the story of the temptations of Christ comes in. The three temptations that the devil pose to Jesus are ways to twist and distort His mission from God in ever so subtle ways that evil will take its parasitical root in the ministry that Jesus will begin. Jesus rejecting these temptations was him severing the very possibility of evil taking that root.
However, rejecting the devil means deliberately making oneself vulnerable to rejection, unjust suffering, and death on the cross. And Christians since Jesus often could not follow where their Lord went, and understandably so!
Again, check the details of this, by listening to the actual episode.
Twelfth episode: In what ways the Bible is, and is not, the Word of God
And with this, the first season comes to a close. The larger plan for the series is to go through all the main story arcs of the Bible, from Creation, Fall, History of Israel, the prophets, Jesus Christ, the Church, the End Times. And we will start that from Season Two.
But, then we need a preliminary an idea of what the Bible is.
And this episode is actually the third part to the question, “What do you mean God speaks?”
That’s because Christians say that the Bible is the Word of God, but as the previous episodes described, the Word of God--that is, God speaking—encompasses much, much more.
Every truth is God speaking. All of History is God speaking. The entire universe, or universes, that come into being, is God speaking. The rational principle of Reality, the Laws of Nature, is God speaking. Jesus Christ is God speaking, who became a human being. And God speaks to us, inwardly, or through Nature, or through other people… through more or less everything in Reality, really.
So, the problem for Christianity is, how do we know which of this Everything is God speaking to us specifically and personally? And how do we know in ways that won’t lead us astray, distort what is true, or say, let evil take its parasitical root in what we learn?
And the Jewish and Christian answer was, we need a map. We need a map to locate ourselves in everything that God may be saying, so we won’t get lost, or be deceived. But, how do we get this map? Well, by generations and generations of people encountering, and listening to God who speaks to them, who then lived them out, and saw what happened. Sometimes, things went well. Sometimes, they made catastrophic mistakes. Lots of other times, what happened was much more complicated. And over thousands of years of people growing and learning, their lives made the map.
Or, as the Jews and the Christians believe, God made a map from their lives. And that is the Bible. And because the Bible is a map made out of people’s lives, their limited knowledge or particular moral values they held that seem archaic to us, is necessary. Because they are real people, living in real times. And only real people can have a real relationship with God.
And Christians believe, as the map became more and more expansive, a sketch of a person emerged; a person who would perfectly relate to Reality, faultlessly walk with God, and so fully reveal God who speaks personally to us. This person turned out to be Jesus Christ.
So, for Christianity, the Bible is a map that God speaks through, and the map is a millennia-long journey toward Jesus Christ.
But, I think I said enough in terms of a summary.
So, those are the main episodes of the first season. This should prepare us, more or less, to explore the narrative arcs of the Bible in the upcoming season, and really see the contours of the Christian worldview.
Until the second season, what will happen? Well, as I said, I will upload sporadic episodes, which will be, I hope for my sake, shorter in length.
Many of those will go more in depth with particular issues or questions that were implicit in First season episodes, but I just didn’t have the time to talk about them.
So, questions like, what exactly, is a worldview, and how they do they work?
Others will be just some reflections or thoughts on this or that issue.
There’s one I’m thinking of doing right now, titled, “Argue as if you’re wrong.”
When’s the second season? Probably sometime in the summer. No definite date though. So until next time, I’ll be here, waiting.
