Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

In 2022, Vladimir Putin did what ancient kings in the Old Testament did: he invaded another nation - and he did it on his own.  We look at the Book of Daniel, and how it proports to be about the Babylonian exilic period, but perhaps was written hundreds of years later, when the Jews were fighting the Greek speaking Seleucids.  We look at this book and ask the question: Is Daniel simply a prophesy after the fact, or is it something that we should take in a more general context?  Was Daniel doing something wrong if he claimed to be writing about a much earlier period, but was doing it for a faith-based reason?

We look at a (very) non-canonical book called 1st Enoch, which tells us the story of the Prophet Enoch, who lived before Noah.  (But this was not written until just before the life of Jesus).  It tells us about the Watchers, evil angels who create a race of giants on Earth.  We see that there was apparently some influence of this book on the New Testament.  We consider what this means for us today - especially with respect to how we should live with humility and love.  We also look at professor I knew who was quite arrogant and pissed off the queen of his country.

I once had a neighbor who kept me up all night with loud rock and roll.  Then one day, there was a massive car accident in front of our two buildings.  I discovered that just as we see in Obediah, my neighbor apparently had learned a lesson.  In Obediah, we see a people called the Edomites who assist the Babylonians in conquering the people of Israel - the neighbors and linguistic cousins of the Israelites.  We look at the typical, simplistic theory of Obediah, one that has to do with God's vengeance - and then we look a little deeper.

We consider the progression of idol worship from the Old Testament to the time of Jesus - to today.  We also consider a man I met who collected restored classic cars and another man who owned a wall of expensive guitars, but who could no longer play them because he had developed a disability.  We consider that question of how we end up like our idols: blind, deaf, and spiritually lifeless.

My mother believed in miracles - and when I was born very sick, she baptized me herself, because at the time, the Catholic Church taught that unbaptized babies that died went to Limbo.  We look at the miracles of Jesus, and how the Synoptic Gospels refer to them as "deeds of power", while John refers to them as "signs".  We see that there is a very deep reason why John does this - and we consider how this reveals the very theological nature of the Gospel of John.

I once spend four hours in the middle of the night with a man who was dying from COPD.  A nurse had called me so that he would not die alone.  I heard his last words.  We look at the final words of Jesus as he was dying, which vary from Gospel to Gospel - significantly.  We consider this: Were some of the Gospel authors wrong about Jesus' last words on the cross?  Or were their goals something other than the obvious?  Were they trying to communicate some greater truth?  We consider the bigger issue: what do we mean when we say that the Bible is indeed the truth?

When I was an academic, I was exposed to a lot of anti-Christian diatribe.  Christians, I was told, are corrupt, selfish, and use their faith as a political weapon.  We look at the story of King Josiah in the Bible and how some think that he manipulated parts of Scripture, of our Old Testament, to suit his political purposes.  We then consider what would happen, what our planet would be like if all political leaders everywhere truly lived like Christ.  We also consider what our obligation is as truly sincere believers.

I once spent time with a couple who had just lost their only, very young child, their daughter.  Like many other people who have lost loved ones, they asked about Heaven.  We take a survey of Heaven, looking at the current Evangelical interpretation, and then stepping back and walking through time, from the 100's A.D. to the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, and to the emergence of the "Social Gospel".  Our goal is to see what Scripture tells us about the nature of Heaven, and to consider the highly varied interpretations of Heaven that have emerged from the minds of Christian Theologians.  Then we ask the question: What does it all mean?

Our conventional notion of Hell is not necessarily what we would derive from reading the New Testament.  We look at three somewhat different theories about the nature of Hell - all of them reasonably backed up by the Bible.  We also look at my father's father, who ran off when my father was a tiny boy.  My father never found his father, although he sought him out his entire life.  We see how this relates to the third of the three theories of Hell: Annihilationism, Eternal Punishment, and Restorationism.  We also consider why the Bible might deliberately be ambiguous about the nature of Hell.

The apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas gives us stories about the boy Jesus from the age of 5 to 12 - and it portrays him as precocious at best, and perhaps even evil-minded at worst, as Jesus struggles to understand his powers and his identity.  These stories have been widely read since the second century, and ancient manuscripts have been found in many languages.  We look at what these stories are, and what they tell us about what ancient Christians thought of the child Jesus.  We see what this means for us today, as people raising children, and as adults who, like the apocryphal version of the child Jesus, always have room to grow.

There is a Christian community on the outskirts of Cairo, up in the mountains, that is built into a huge cave.  The people are called the "Garbage People" by the general population of Cairo because they scratch out a living collecting garbage by hand and sorting it into recyclables.  We consider the Gospel of Mark - written by the man who founded the church that became the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt.  We consider persecution - faced by the Garbage People - and we consider the need to be giving, faithful people.

I once spoke to a young woman whose father had just died in a bike vs. car accident.  She told me that while her father had deep faith, she could not believe the "myths" in the Bible.  She read to me from Matthew, about the faithful being able to move mountains.  In this episode, we look at some of the Bible stories that are difficult to interpret literally, like the Creation story.  We consider why the literalist view is actually harmful and not simply misguided.  We consider the depth of the Bible and how a non-literalist view can indeed allow us to "move mountains".

I once spoke to a woman who was struggling to show true empathy for her mother, who was an alcoholic and had given this woman many terrible childhood memories.  She felt that there was no way she could care for her now very sick mother - and she wished God could send an angel to come from Heaven and care for her mother for her.  We look at angels in the Bible, in particular, in the Book of Daniel.  We see God send these heavenly beings to rescue people.  We also consider how this woman with the sick mother solved her dilemma of trying to show genuine love for someone she couldn't help but resent.

I once spoke to a young schizophrenic man who talked to me outside, after it had rained.  I was about to sit down on a very wet bench when he did something very kind.  We look at the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel that has a number of unique parables in it, including the Good Samaritan.  We look at the traditional interpretation, and we look at a more theological interpretation.  Then we look at the impact that this schizophrenic man had on me.

When I was a professor, I once had a French student accuse me of Xenophobia, of giving her a bad grade simply because she was French.  I was quite worried that this could explode into a serious problem, as universities want students to be happy and do not want claims like this making their way into the press.  I ended up putting my mother on the phone and letting her talk to this student.  The interesting part is that my mother was French.  We look at the Book of James.  We examine whether it was truly Jesus' kid brother who wrote it, and what it teaches us about dealing with problems, and interacting with people who are suffering.