The Bible as Literature

Latest Episodes:

Opinions Are Cheap Oct 19, 2017

Show notes

When people gossip, they oppose the Gospel of Jesus Christ in two ways: first, they show disregard for the biblical warning that no one is allowed to judge anyone before the time; second, they show disregard for the actions demanded by the Lord's teaching. To be clear, the one who gossips wastes precious time talking when they should be taking action. In Mark, not only do they waste time spinning empty words; but they do so by criticizing the one person besides Jesus who does take action. “But I tell you,” Jesus exclaims in Matthew, “that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 14:1-9.

Episode 196 Mark 14:1-9; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “EDM Detection Mode” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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I'll Sleep When I Die Oct 12, 2017

Show notes

In the Gospel of Mark, the greatest threat—not just to humanity, but to life itself—is human behavior controlled by human perspectives. When an individual faces any question, they can't help but ask how that question impacts their life. Will they suffer? Will they survive? Will they lose? In this way, their next action—whether committed by word or by deed—can't help but be selfish. The individual thinks and acts in defense of what they believe is best for them. They do not think about the rest of humanity, let alone the totality of the Lord's Creation. Nobody says, I am going to do X because if I do not, in 500 or a 1000 years, there will be a negative outcome for a generation yet unborn. That is not how the human mind works, and that is exactly why the Bible seeks to sabotage human reason and undermine the individual. How do you get a person to act against their interests in the short term for the sake of something far more important than themselves? You remind them that the day of reckoning, which they believe is far away in the future, could, in fact, come at any moment, and not even Jesus knows when. So stay awake and keep watch, because you never know.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 13:32-37.

Episode 195 Mark 13:32-37; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Furious Freak” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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The Time is Now Oct 05, 2017

Show notes

Human beings repeat two critical mistakes every day and every hour. First, we live each day of our life as though we are going to live forever; second, we make life and death decisions at every moment without having all the facts. I don’t mean the facts about our life or the narrow parameters of the decisions we think we understand. I mean the boundless fact of the Alpha and the Omega. Each day, we make careless choices about permanent things on the basis of our very temporary and limited point of view. In the Gospel of Mark, this narrow point of view leads to human complancency about the urgency of the gospel to the nations. Like a wise parent, Jesus intercedes on our behalf: my son, you do not have all the facts, so you are going to have to trust me, the time to act is now.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 13:21-31.

Episode 193 Mark 13:21-31; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Mystery Bazaar” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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He Will Teach You What to Say Sep 28, 2017

Show notes

Whether a student is preparing for an exam or a professional is reviewing notes for their presentation, one thing is certain: when the hour comes, you can’t fake it. A professor knows which student worked hard all semester and which crammed the night before. A good executive recognizes who is spinning a PowerPoint and who has done the actual work and understands facts on the ground. You have to do the work; and it takes time, effort, and patience. You can’t fake it. If you think you can, it’s because no one has been decent or courageous enough to call you out. Thankfully, the biblical God is a loving and kind teacher who is not only willing, but eager to call you out. If you let him, he will defintely teach you what to say when the hour is at hand.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 13: 11-20.

Episode 193 Mark 13:11-20; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Egmont Overture” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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Hurricanes, Temples and Tyrants Sep 21, 2017

Show notes

Whenever something terrible happens, someone always asks, “how could a just God allow bad things to happen?” Unfortunately, the question is silly and unbearably self-entitled. Bad things happen because that’s how the world works. Sometimes people cause suffering and sometimes suffering just happens. Why? Because death and suffering are a part of life. Every human being who has ever lived has had to die, so on what basis can anyone ask, “why did this person have to die?” Death and destruction in nature are a necessary component of the natural world and ultimately contribute to the continuation of life, so on what basis can anyone call them evil? These things happen beyond the scope of human control, because, far from mastering the natural world, human beings are subject to it. We may not like it, but that is the way things are. For Scripture, it’s not a question why things happen, but of how the things that happen in the world can be coopted as teachers for the cause of the gospel; in Mark, transformed from the pain of human despair and fear into the pain of birth-giving for the life of the world.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 13: 1-10.

Episode 192 Mark 13:1-10; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Perspectives” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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All That She Had Sep 14, 2017

Show notes

Whether chasing wealth or reveling in piety, people aspire to ascendency. Looking to Caesar as their frame of reference, they measure everything in terms of progression, growth, movement, or expansion. But that's not how Scripture works. The biblical God does not seek the growth of his followers. On the contrary, he desires the growth of his teaching, often at our expense. When we become weak and lose everything for the sake of his Gospel, we may fail, but his teaching grows. We may become weak, but as the prophets teach, our defeat becomes a sign of the reality of his power, because it is he, not our enemies, who is the true cause of our crucifixion. Truly, the Bible is the only teaching in human history in which a deity is considered victorious because his city is destroyed, his people are scattered, and his Temple is burned to the ground. It's no wonder, then, that in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus sits in opposition to the Temple treasury. It's no wonder that he measures a person's value, not in terms of Caesar's coinage, but by their willingness to lose everything for the sake of his victory.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:35-44.

Episode 191 Mark 12:35-44; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Super Power Cool Dude” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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There is Only One God Sep 07, 2017

Show notes

People like to handle the Bible as though it were a mysterious or complicated story that can’t be easily explained in clear terms. We do so precisely because the content of the Bible is crystal clear, and at the same time, totally inconvenient. That’s why the Sadducees in Mark’s Gospel can’t comprehend Deuteronomy and why the Pharisees, along with the Herodians, unwittingly follow after false gods. It was a lone Scribe—a man whose only job was to make handwritten copies of Scripture—who grasped the point that Jesus has been emphasizing throughout Mark: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.” Not only is he is the one and only Lord, but you are not him and neither is your Caesar, your Temple, your teachings, your possessions, or your armies.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:28-34.

Episode 190 Mark 12:28-34; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Robobozo” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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Commandment Without End Aug 31, 2017

Show notes

In Deuteronomy 25:5, the commandment to marry your brother’s widow is given for one purpose: to ensure the continuation of life, so “that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.”

The purpose of the commandment is life: so that your brother’s wife will not be abandoned; so that his household will continue for the generation yet unborn; so that—in fulfillment of God’s Law—life will continue. For Jesus, this life does not come from men, but from his Heavenly Father.

When the Pharisees, the Herodians, and now, the Saducees, approach Jesus, their questions betray their personal belief, that life comes—not from God—but from men. They talk about God and they even quote his teaching, but their true god is Caesar. They do not hear Scripture in the light of Scripture, but according to the light of Caesar, which is passing away. This choice leaves them talking in circles about their theology, not only ignorant of God’s instruction, but actively working against it.

Of course the Saducees do not believe in the Resurrection. One need look no further than their mishandling of Deuteronomy to understand this fact.

“Is this not the reason you are mistaken,” explained Jesus, “that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mark 12:24)

Indeed, they are greatly mistaken.

Be warned, O Caesar: “The Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to die, does not salute you.”

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:18-27.

Episode 189 Mark 12:18-27; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “The Return of the Mummy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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Ideological Entrapment Aug 24, 2017

Show notes

All ideology is self-referential: it begins with a desire for self-preservation and achieves fulfillment by exercising power. Whether we wield this power ourselves or ask others to wield it for us--because it is self-referential--it is always employed at the expense of others, especially those who are weaker than us.

All ideology is self-justifying and therefore destructive, but the worst kind operates under the pretense of morality. We see this all the time in traditional and social media: If my idea is morally right, then I am right and I have the right to exercise might. So you go ahead and post that meme that shows how stupid or evil “they” are. You took a stand. You stood up for right. You feel good. Congratulations, you're a hypocrite.

When the Pharisees and the Herodians approach Jesus to entrap him, they too operate under the pretense of morality. As the prophets proclaim, you cannot serve God and at the same time seek security from worldly powers. You have to make a choice. So they accuse Jesus with a question. But their question, itself preoccupied with self-preservation, pertains neither to the Prophets nor the Law. On the contrary, their false question concerns the one from whom they seek security at the expense of God's teaching: the Emperor of Rome.

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:13-17.

Episode 188 Mark 12:13-17; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Truth in the Stones” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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Unless the Lord Builds the House Aug 17, 2017

Show notes

Entitlement is the most destructive force on earth and no person, group or ideology is exempt from its barbaric cruelty. Students demand the “right” not to be offended; the wealthy contend that they've “earned” the fruit of “their” labor; and consumers “demand” access to products with righteous indignation, even as citizens grumble about public benefits. All of us believe that we are entitled to receive, earn, own, produce and/or protect whatever we want, whenever we want it. The worst part is that we all complain that everyone else is entitled, itself a sign of our own entitlement! Alas, we turn to the Prophet David for wisdom:

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, [and] to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2)

In other words, in the Bible, human beings do not accomplish or deserve anything. Everything is a free gift. It is the Lord who offends students for their sake. It is the Lord who provides both our employment and our hard work. It is the Lord who fills the land with bounty and it is the Lord who provides and revokes benefits; yet, for some reason that is not enough; humans are not satisfied with sharing in God's generous provision. On the contrary, we want to possess it, to control it, and to hoard it for ourselves.

“Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Mark 12:10-11)

Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:1-12.

Episode 187 Mark 12:1-12; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Industrious Ferret” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/

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