Many of us read the Bible, but how many of us do our best thinking when we read it? In this series, author and philosopher Jack Pelham seeks to use the very best thinking methods to interpret the Bible, so as to avoid the cognitive errors shown in the Bible and in cognitive science as well. For example, where Jesus said, "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment," a cognitive scientist might say the same thing like this: "You need to decouple from your focal bias and look at ALL the evidence, so that you can draw a conclusion that jibes with reality." And so we re-examine the Bible in an attempt to get right what is so frequently gotten wrong. The episode formats vary between solo-lecturer (Jack Pelham) presentations and family discussions with Jack's wife, Kay, and son, James. The solo episodes have episode-specific show notes on the web page that bears each episode.
DESCRIPTION: This unusual episode consists of nothing more than a recording of Jack reading a piece he wrote on the Christmas Truce of 1914—a most peculiar event in World War I that raises the question of just what Jesus had in mind for his true followers. Jack debuted the piece at the Montana Christmas! concert … Continue reading The Christmas Truce of 1914 →
DESCRIPTION: Jack asks why there is so much fear that typifies the Christians and their fellowships today, when Romans 8 paints a picture of the Christians being delivered from slavery to fear. It's a hard-hitting episode, positing a question many will be tempted to ignore. In this episode, I'll be reading from a recent blog … Continue reading Episode 46: Who Can Explain the Fear? →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses Malachi 2:16, where some translations say that God hates divorce. He asks whether divorce is the only thing God hates, and whether there might not be some very serious issues that concern God at least as much as divorce does—and whether those other issues are being given the same weight in the … Continue reading Episode 45: Is Divorce the ONLY Thing that God Hates? →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses the common problem of people hoping to fill up their internal emotional voids, and how Jesus' “Golden Rule” may just provide a lot of the answer to this problem. A professional therapist told me once that most everybody's got an emotional void inside, along with some level of drive to fill it. … Continue reading EPISODE 44: The Golden Rule and Who Is Responsible for Filling Up the Emotional Void You Naturally Have Inside →
DESCRIPTION: Jack reads and discusses an article from his blog (jackpelham.com) about how so much of Christianity today is dysfunctional, with believers not turning out very much like Jesus.
DESCRIPTION: In this episode, we deal with questions that frequently arise, and that are rarely answered well. Why doesn't God answer our prayers as we might think he should? Why are we in this world in the first place? Why is there so much suffering here? Scriptures used in this episode will be posted soon.
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses eight possible ways Jesus could fix the mess that is ailing America. It raises the question of just what we're expecting when we pray for God's help. Scriptures Used in this Episode Korah-style judgment. Numbers 16: 28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to … Continue reading Episode 41: Eight Possible Ways Jesus Could Save The United States of America →
DESCRIPTION: Harry Potter spent the first eleven years of his life in the care of the unloving Dursley family, who had little concern for Harry, and very low expectations for the outcome of Harry's life. In this episode, Jack draws several parallels between the follower of the whole-and-true Jesus and the general church culture of … Continue reading Episode 40: Surprising Parallels Between The Harry Potter Saga and Authentic Christianity →
DESCRIPTION: A great deal of confusion exists in the churches today because of the careless attention that is given to the various roles that people played in the First Century ekklesia (“church” to most). Without careful attention, it's easy to assume upon ourselves roles and promises that were given to someone other than us. This … Continue reading Episode 39: You Are Not An Apostle. →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses various things, including a great and relevant interview The Bible Project did with Dr. John Walton, regarding interpretations of Genesis 1. Jack mentions the Jack, Anne, and George Problem (Hector Levesque) from Cognitive Science, and how it has such a crucial lesson for us with Bible study. (The lesson is to consider … Continue reading Episode 38: Recommending an Interview with Dr. John Walton at BibleProject.org →
DESCRIPTION: Jack continues discussing several ideas about what makes for good Bible study attitudes and techniques. It ends with a discussion of how having a high IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is not necessary for good Bible study, where having a high RQ (Rationality Quotient) is. Jack's Points (continued from Episode 36) 23. The (Protestant) Bible has … Continue reading Episode 37: Jack's Considerations for Good Bible Study, Part B →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses several ideas about what makes for good Bible study attitudes and techniques. It ends with a discussion of how having a high IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is not necessary for good Bible study, where having a high RQ (Rationality Quotient) is. Jack's Points Good Bible study should be done with a mental attitude … Continue reading Episode 36: Jack's Considerations for Good Bible Study, Part A →
DESCRIPTION: Throughout the history of humankind, there have been several distinct phases in how God has run things on the Earth. And every human is born into just one of these periods, and our lives rarely span across more than one or two of them at the most. But what if we don't like what … Continue reading Episode 35: Would You Approve of How Jesus Would Run His Kingdom? →
DESCRIPTION: In this lengthy episode, Jack discusses the gradient of faith that exists between mere mental assent to the statement that “Jesus is Lord”, and the opposite extreme at which someone is fully persuaded that the Image of God is good, and wholeheartedly invests him- or herself to living in that Image. He tells several … Continue reading Episode 34: Authentic Faith Will Swim Against the Tide →
DESCRIPTION: Jack begins the exploration of baptism, starting with John's baptism. There seem to be four types of baptism discussed in the New Testament: John's baptism, baptism into Jesus' name, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the metaphorical use of “baptism” by Jesus to describe the ordeal he was to undergo. Scriptures Used in this … Continue reading Episode 33: Understanding Baptism: Part A: John's Baptism →
DESCRIPTION: This is Part B of a 2-part episode. Jack continues the discussion of the “salvation” language in the New Testament, and in this part, gets into the “children of God” and “sons of God” passages, too. SCRIPTURES READ IN THIS EPISODE Here are the “children of God” and “sons of God” passages in the … Continue reading Episode 32: The Already-But-Not-Yet (ABNY) Salvation Language in the New Testament, Part B →
DESCRIPTION: In this 2-part episode, Jack discusses how the New Testament writers and speakers didn’t only speak of salvation in the past tense, as so many of us today do, but also in the ongoing tense, and in the future tense. Taking all their language into account leads to some different conclusions that we might … Continue reading Episode 31: The Already-But-Not-Yet (ABNY) Salvation Language in the New Testament, Part A →
DESCRIPTION: Jack talks about how it’s hard to know a prophecy has been fulfilled when you’re not sure about the details of what was supposed to happen. He also approaches the problems we run into when trying to understand Bible topics in neat, little packages when the fact of the matter is that we are … Continue reading Episode 30: Vetting Your Expectations for the End Times and the Beginning Times, Too →
DESCRIPTION: Jack sums up the Bible as the story of the many who didn’t listen to God, and of the few who did—some even after having started off as non-listeners. This is timely for the Easter week because Jesus was the one who had been telling humans all along what was right and just and … Continue reading Episode 29: The Story of the Many Who Did Not Listen, and of the Few Who Did →
DESCRIPTION: Jack reads and discusses two related from his blog, concerning how we tend to size things up, both in our own minds, and as we describe them to others. The discussion contains many practical examples from real life, including religion and politics. Articles read and discussed in this episode. Why Exaggeration is Lying. December … Continue reading Episode 28: Why Exaggeration Is Lying, and We Love Our Labels! →
DESCRIPTION: Some say things like, “The goal of all good Bible study is application….”, but Jack takes a closer look at that idea, and gets into the nitty gritty of how consistently (or inconsistently) we apply (or don’t apply) various Bible verses. So this is a bit of a “get real” episode, in answer to … Continue reading Episode 27: Some Good Sense about Bible Application →
DESCRIPTION: Jack reads from a recent blog post about how liars, not being able to twist the reality of things, have to twist themselves in order to pretend that things are different from how they really are. This is an extended discussion that’s highly relevant to the direction this podcast has been headed. Text of … Continue reading Episode 26: Liars Are Twisted People →
DESCRIPTION: What happens when you omit certain teachings from Christianity? You can end up with a big picture that looks very little like what Jesus taught. In this short episode, Jack reads his recent blog post. Text of this Episode …the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The phrase above, taken from … Continue reading Episode 25: Whittling Christianity Down to a Twisted Lie →
DESCRIPTION: Jack reads from and discusses a two-part article from his blog, concerning how it simply takes work to study the Bible, and how the book, as fabulous as it is, simply wasn’t designed for lazy-minded people. General Links Introduction to Reality-Based Thinking: This is Jack’s video podcast, which only has three episodes, which together … Continue reading Episode 24: There Is No Special Bible for Lazy People. →
DESCRIPTION: Jack reads from and discusses an article about his observations of various cognitive biases that were in play at the time of the controversial Freddie Gray death in 2015. He details a list of 46 biases he observed in various people of different social, racial, and political backgrounds, and then discusses how biases of … Continue reading Episode 23: Our Cognitive Biases, and How They Keep Us from Understanding the Bible Correctly →
The mass resurrection of “many holy people” just after Jesus himself was raised. DESCRIPTION: In something of a follow-up to Episode 19 (Hebrews 11), Jack reads and comments on a blog article of his (pasted below from his blog, concerning how the “cloud of witnesses” from Hebrews 12:1 were the “many holy people” who were … Continue reading Episode 22: Jesus’ Resurrection Day Was a Bigger Deal than You May Realize! →
DESCRIPTION: Continuing on the theme of “abandoned trails”, Jack opens many cans of worms that it’s difficult to get Christians to discuss today. He talks about changes that have occurred in the experience of believers from the First Century to now–and most of these are changes that most Christians would agree have happened (though some … Continue reading Episode 21: What All Has Changed in the Experience of Believers from the First Century Until Now? →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses the ideas that “God loves everybody” and how they stack up with the actual words in scripture. Much is made of the “gold and silver” passages, as well as passages about worthiness, usefulness, and so forth. SHOW NOTES Introduction to Reality-Based Thinking: https://youtu.be/v3qkk2jA1Jw This is Jack’s video podcast, which only has three … Continue reading Episode 20: How God Values People →
DESCRIPTION: Jack continues with the discussion of the text of Hebrews 11, pointing out that these people “embraced the promises” of God regarding the afterlife for the faithful/righteous, and thus, lived a different life from those in the world around them who did not embrace those promises. He also discusses the concept of “when faith … Continue reading Episode 19: Hebrews 11, Faith, and What In The World Is Going On In America? Part B →
DESCRIPTION: Jack discusses the text of Hebrews 11, pointing out that these people “embraced the promises” of God regarding the afterlife for the faithful/righteous, and thus, lived a different life from those in the world around them who did not embrace those promises. He also discusses the concept of “when faith was rational”. All this … Continue reading Episode 18: Hebrews 11, Faith, and What In the World Is Going On in America? Part A →
DESCRIPTION: Jack talks about “Blessed are the meek…” from Matthew 5:5, demonstrating that the original idea behind the Greek here is a virtue that is sadly rare among Christians today. Patreon IssueOur apologies, but after setting up a Patreon account and announcing it in this episode, it came to our attention that Patreon has been … Continue reading Episode 17: Understanding “Blessed Are The Meek” (Matthew 5:5) →
DESCRIPTION: Jack continues this 2-part discussion by explaining more of the cognitive science and how it fits in with the way we tend to manage our Bible learning. It ends with a discussion of the “core doctrine” concept, and how that so frequently is used as a “thought stopper” for discussions Christians should naturally be … Continue reading Episode 16: Understanding Our Emotions. Part B →
DESCRIPTION: Jack explores what human emotions are and how they work–as well as why not knowing how to manage our emotions well can cause us to “shut down” in conversations about the Bible. He gives a basic description of the standard 2-part theory of the mind, as well as the newer 3-part version, and explains … Continue reading Episode 15: Understanding Our Emotions. Part A →
DESCRIPTION: In this episode, Jack completes the discussion of the Proverbs passages about fools and foolishness. SCRIPTURES USED IN THIS EPISODEFor your convenience, I have listed all the scriptures used in this episode below. You may find it helpful to have this page open while you listen. RELATIONSHIPS NASB Proverbs 10:1b A wise son makes … Continue reading Episode 14: The Profile of a Fool, According to Proverbs. Part B →
DESCRIPTION: In this “experimental” episode, Jack is off the script with a list of proverbs about fools and foolishness. It’s a frank and down-to-earth discussion comparing our intended role as people created in God’s image and likeness to the schemes that the fool would rather play out instead. NOTE: All the Bible passages used in … Continue reading Episode 13: The Profile of a Fool, According to Proverbs. Part A →
DESCRIPTION: After we “finished” the three COVID-19 episodes, Jack kept thinking, and thought of some more very important related issues that Christians need to think about. This family discussion episode brings in Kay and James to consider some of the often-unrealized implications and consequences of conventional Christian wisdom on this issue. So if any of … Continue reading Episode 12: Family Discussion: More Challenging Thoughts About the American Mask Crisis →
DESCRIPTION: This is the third of a 3-part series on this topic. Also, this entire podcast is designed for you to start at Episode 1 and work your way forward. If you don’t, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage when starting here.In this episode, Jack finishes the discussion of Romans 13:1-7, and shows … Continue reading Episode 11: The American Mask Crisis, and How Romans 13 Does Not Prohibit Civil Disobedience, Part C →
DESCRIPTION: This is the second of a 3-part series on this topic. Also, this entire podcast is designed for you to start at Episode 1 and work your way forward. If you don’t, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage when starting here.In this episode, Jack shows how the “higher powers” language of Romans … Continue reading Episode 10: The American Mask Crisis, and How Romans 13 Does Not Prohibit Civil Disobedience. Part B →
DESCRIPTION: If you haven’t listened to Episodes 1-8 yet, you’re going to be at a real disadvantage when starting here at Episode 9. We strongly urge you to start at the beginning. In this episode, Jack jumps ahead of the plan for this podcast series, in order to face a serious crisis that many American … Continue reading Episode 9: The American Mask Crisis, and How Romans 13 Does Not Prohibit Civil Disobedience. Part A →
DESCRIPTION: In this episode, Kay and James join me for our second family discussion, generally reflecting on the recent episodes about What It Means to Be Created. We also get into some meaty discussion of what it means to have a spiritual heritage, starting with having been created by God—and in a world where so … Continue reading Episode 8: Family Discussion About What It Means To Be Created →
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
