Podcasts about hellenistic greek

On today's Equipping You in Grace show, Dave has a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Guy Waters about biblical illiteracy and biblical preaching focused on helping you understand the aim, goal, and marks of biblical preaching, how to listen to such sermons, and much more on this new Equipping You in Grace show.What you'll hear in this episodeWhat it means to preach the Word.Why it matters how we preach the Word to God's people.The marks of biblical preaching.The role biblical preaching should have in the life of the church.Why Christians should be under biblically qualified male pastors.How biblical preaching helps address the issue of biblical illiteracy.How pastors can continue to grow in their biblical literacy.How Christians should listen to sermons.How church members should address concerns about their pastors' sermons with their pastor and elders.How pastors should address false teaching from the pulpit.Concerns about preaching in the evangelical church and what to do about them.About Today's GuestDr. Guy Waters is the James M. Baird, Jr. Professor of New Testament with a particular interest in the letters and theology of Paul, the use of Scripture in the New Testament, and the Synoptic Gospels. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1995), his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary (1998), and his Ph.D. from Duke University (2002).  Prior to coming to RTS Jackson in 2007, he spent one year teaching Hellenistic Greek at Duke Divinity School and five years as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Belhaven College.  In 2003, he became a teaching elder in the Mississippi Valley Presbytery (PCA).  He served as the Chair of the Credentials Committee for more than ten years.Subscribing, sharing, and your feedbackYou can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook, or via email to share your feedback.Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!

On today's Equipping You in Grace, Dave is joined by Dr. Guy Waters to talk about common questions and objections to Reformed theology considering why Christians need to study Scripture and church history on this new episode.What you'll hear in this episodeWhy Reformed theology is good for the Church.Why Reformed Christians aren't against evangelism.What Reformed Christians think about pain and suffering.What reprobation means and what effect it has on our evangelism.What a Reformed understanding of sanctification should produce in the life of the Christian.Where Reformed theology came up with and what role did John Calvin play in the founding.How a Reformed understanding of assurance can help the Christian with assurance in their lives.Why Christians need to study Scripture and church history.About Today's GuestDr. Guy Waters is the James M. Baird, Jr. Professor of New Testament with a particular interest in the letters and theology of Paul, the use of Scripture in the New Testament, and the Synoptic Gospels. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1995), his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary (1998), and his Ph.D. from Duke University (2002).  Prior to coming to RTS Jackson in 2007, he spent one year teaching Hellenistic Greek at Duke Divinity School and five years as Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Belhaven College.  In 2003, he became a teaching elder in the Mississippi Valley Presbytery (PCA).  He served as the Chair of the Credentials Committee for more than ten years.Subscribing, sharing, and your feedbackYou can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you've heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook, or via email to share your feedback.Thanks for listening to this episode of Equipping You in Grace!

In this episode, we talk to Mark Jeong about his book "A Greek Reader." This volume is a companion resource for use with N. Clayton Croy's Primer of Biblical Greek, featuring dozens of simple, enjoyable narratives to reinforce the content and skills introduced by Croy. Mark Jeong was born in South Korea but grew up in the states. After becoming a Christian in middle school, he felt called to ministry while in college which led to a long path of further studies in New Testament. He is an instructor of Hellenistic Greek and a doctoral student in New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He has published articles on the New Testament in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament and New Testament Studies. As always, this episode is brought to you by Biblingo, the premier solution for learning, maintaining, and enjoying the biblical languages. Visit ⁠biblingo.org⁠ to learn more and start your 10-day free trial. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app and leave us a review. You can also follow Biblingo on social media @biblingoapp to discuss the episode with us and other listeners.

#084 Welcome to Episode #084 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fourth of eight episodes in our eleventh mini-series entitled, Mystery of Christ | Galatians to 2 Thessalonians. On this episode, Jesus Beyond Dimensionality, we're going to overview the book of Colossians which many have noted as the most Christ-centered book in the Bible. In this overview we're going to see the Supremacy of Christ, our Submission to Christ, and discover more insight into the Mystery of Christ. Colossians is one of Paul's four prison epistles written while he was under house arrest in Rome. The other three being Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. It was likely written between 60-61 AD. Colossae was a minor city about a hundred miles east of Ephesus and about a mile from Laodicea. What makes that significant is Laodicea is the last of the seven churches in the area Jesus dictated his own epistles to in Revelation 1-3. It is not thought that Colossae exerted any significant influence on early church history, so why the letter?    Many scholars believe Paul was arguing against the teaching of Gnosticism, a Christian heresy that didn't really become widely recognized until the second and third centuries. Others see Paul arguing against influences by several streams of thought including Hellenistic Greek speculation, Jewish legalism, and Oriental mysticism. But to tell you the truth, you get no sense of either of these scholarly arguments being mentioned by Paul in the text for the occasion of the letter.Paul hammers home in this letter to the church at Colossae the preeminence and sufficiency of Christ in all things, and the implications of a believer's union with Christ. Jesus Christ is the creator and Lord of the cosmos and we have been hidden in him until he returns. THIS IS HUGE!!!! I can't describe to you how much I've grown in grace preparing for and recording these podcast episodes. When I finished prepping and recording the Ephesians and Philippians episodes my mind reached it's limit as I tried to comprehend all that we have in Christ. I can honestly say while studying out Colossians I discovered how to go beyond the limits of my own mind. It was something Paul mentioned back in 1 Corinthians 2:16 – But we have the mind of Christ. Our own minds simply could not contain it all but the Holy Spirit within is our hardwire to the mind of Christ.   To God be the glory through Jesus Christ our Lord.PUSH Play and Enjoy the lesson.ShowNotes: https://www.wayofthebible.com/resources

What you'll learn in this episode:   Why people get so concerned with categorizing art, and why some of the most interesting art is created by crossing those boundaries  How Joy balances running a business while handmaking all of her pieces What noble metals are, and how they allow Joy to play with different colors How Joy's residences in Japan influenced her work How Joy has found a way to rethink classical art and confront its dark history     About Joy BC   Joy BC (Joy Bonfield – Colombara) is an Artist and Goldsmith working predominantly in Noble Metals and bronze. Her works are often challenging pre-existing notions of precious materials and ingrained societal ideals of western female bodies in sculpture. Joy BC plays with mythologies and re-examines the fascination with the ‘Classical'. Joy, a native of London, was profoundly influenced from an early age by the artistry of her parents - her mother, a painter and lithographer, her father, a sculptor. Joy's art education focused intensively on painting, drawing and carving, enhanced by a profound appreciation of art within historical and social contexts. Joy BC received her undergraduate degree from the Glasgow School of Art and her M.A. from the Royal College of Art in London. She has also held two residencies in Japan. The first in Tokyo, working under the tutelage of master craftsmen Sensei (teacher) Ando and Sensei Kagaeyama, experts in Damascus steel and metal casting.  She subsequently was awarded a research fellowship to Japan's oldest school of art, in Kyoto, where she was taught the ancient art of urushi by the renowned craftsmen: Sensei Kuramoto and Sensei Sasai. Whilst at the RCA she was awarded the TF overall excellence prize and the MARZEE International graduate prize. Shortly after her graduation in 2019 her work was exhibited in Japan and at Somerset house in London. In 2021 her work was exhibited in Hong Kong and at ‘Force of Nature' curated by Melanie Grant in partnership with Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery. Joy Bonfield - Colombara is currently working on a piece for the Nelson Atkins Museum in the USA and recently a piece was added to the Alice and Louis Koch Collection in the Swiss National Museum, Zurich.Additional Resources:  Joy's Website Joy's Instagram Photos: Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript:   While others are quick to classify artists by genre or medium, Joy BC avoids confining her work to one category. Making wearable pieces that draw inspiration from classical sculpture, she straddles the line between jeweler and fine artist. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about why she works with noble metals; the exhibition that kickstarted her business; and how she confronts the often-dark history of classical art though her work. Read the episode transcript here.   Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. Today, my guest is the award-winning artist and goldsmith Joy Bonfield-Colombara, or as she is known as an artist and jeweler, Joy BC. Joy is attracted to classical art, which she interprets from her own contemporary viewpoint. Welcome back.    You're alone, and it's always a challenge to me, whether you're a writer or jeweler, to find ways to get out of the isolation. You can only spend so much time alone. How do you figure out a way to do that?   Joy: I love it. I love it because I'm an only child. Often people don't think I'm an only child, but I think that's because we had so many people coming and going from our house when I was a kid. My mom would invite lots of people, and they would stay and go. They all added very much to who I am as well, all those people that came through our house. The thing with imagination, I used to spend so much time on my own. My mom and my dad were always working. They were fantastic parents, but they were oftentimes—I think also when you're a child, time is a completely different realm. You experience it in a completely different way.    I have memories of playing in the garden and looking at flowers, taking them apart, and putting together arrangements of stones or turning a copper box into a spaceship, all sorts of different objects transforming into other things. I still hold on to that aspect of being a child. I think it's important not to lose the ability to play and imagine. I spend hours doing that. I'm now in my studio, and I often really like the early mornings or rare late nights when no one is around. There's a quietness that I find quite meditative. When I'm carving, things can be going on around me, and I'm so focused that everything else disappears. So, I don't mind the isolation because I really enjoy making.   Sharon: I like when it's quiet, but I can only take so much. At some point it starts to affect me. It sounds like you handle it better. In the materials I read about you, it says that you work in noble metals and in bronze, but a lot of people don't know what a noble metal is. What is a noble metal?   Joy: It makes them great. Just the word noble I think is lovely.   Sharon: It is. What is it?   Joy: A noble metal, apart from the metal family in the periodic table, is a reluctant oxidizer combined with oxygen. I have the exact definition for you. Let me find it. “A noble metallic chemical element is generally reluctant to combine with oxygen and usually found in nature in a raw form, for example gold. Noble metals have outstanding resistance to oxidization, even at high temperatures. The group is not strictly defined, but usually is considered to include palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum and the second and third transition series of the periodic table. Mercury and copper are sometimes included as noble metals. Silver and gold with copper are often called the coinage metal, and platinum, iridium and palladium comprise the so-called precious metals which are used in jewelry.”   This also goes back to the fact that I had bad eczema when I was a kid. I remember putting on a pair of costume earrings that had nickel in them and they made my whole head swell up. I don't like the smell of brass. There are certain materials I find an attraction or a repulsion to. Noble metals, because of the way they don't oxidize, can sit next to your skin, and I love the feeling of them.   Sharon: That's interesting, because I've only heard the term noble metals in a couple of places. One was at a jeweler's studio, making jewelry, but it was explained to me, “It's gold, it's silver, but it's not copper.” You said it's copper. I never realized it had anything to do with whether it oxidizes or not.    Joy: Interestingly, copper also is really precious in Japan. Some of the most expensive teapots are copper ones.   Sharon: Oh, really?   Joy: It's a type of copper where you've created a patination, which is beautiful, deep red color. This technique is quite hard to explain and is really highly prized.   Sharon: What's the name of the technique?   Joy: Shibuichi. I'm not good at the pronunciation, but I can write it down afterwards. I love metal patination and metal colors. In fact, that's why I love bronze. Bronze is mostly composed of copper as an alloy. It doesn't smell in the way that brass does, and also I love the reactions you get. Verdigris is one of the techniques I like to use a lot in my work, which is used with copper nitrates. You get these incredible colors of greens. When you think of classical bronze sculptures or bronzes that are found under the sea, they often have these incredible green colors to them. I think about it like painting or a composition, the colors you find in metal colorations. People often question what the color of metal is, but actually the different alloys or treatments you can give to metal can give you an incredible array of different colors.   Sharon: I'm curious. I agree, but I see the world through a different perspective. I might look at the statue you've taken from the under the sea and say, “Somebody clean that thing.” I don't clean things that have a patina, but that would be my first reaction, while you appreciate that right away. Why did you go to Japan?   Joy: The first time I went to Japan was through The Glasgow School of Art. There was an exchange program you could apply for, and if you were awarded, there was also a bursary that you could apply for. The first time I went, I was awarded this bursary. One of my friends while I was studying at The Glasgow School of Art was Japanese, and she said to me, “Go and stay with my grandmother. She will absolutely love you.” I went to stay in her grandmother's apartment in Japan, and I studied at the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry, which is in Harajuku. I don't know if you've heard about it before.   Sharon: No.   Joy: This school is really interesting. Actually, when I was there, they hired Lucy Saneo, who recently passed away. They did an exhibition of hers at Gallerie Marseille. She was there as a visiting artist, and she was lovely. We had some interesting discussions about different perceptions of materials and jewelry between Europe and Japan. I was there on a three-month exchange, and I met Lucy as well as the teachers that I was allocated.    One of them, which I mentioned before, was Sensei Ando. He taught to me how to make Damascus steel. I made a knife when I was there, but the whole process had a real philosophical theory around it, with how difficult Damascus is to make. Often in modern knife making, you have pneumatic hammers. The hammering is done by a machine, whereas we have to do everything by hand in 40 degrees Celsius with 90% humidity outside with a furnace. We had to wrap towels around our heads to stop the sweat from dripping into our eyes. It was really difficult, but the end result was amazing. He said, “Life can be hard, but if you push through it, you can find its beauties.” It stayed with me, the way he had the philosophy, that process, and what that means to put yourself into the piece.    I also did metal casting and netsuke carving with Sensei Kagaeyama. It was in Tokyo that I first saw netsuke carvings in the National Museum in Tokyo. They really fascinated me, these tiny carvings. Do you know what a netsuke is?   Sharon: Yes, a netsuke, the little things.   Joy: They're tiny carvings. If anyone doesn't know, in traditional menswear in Japan, you would have a sash that goes around your kimono to hold your inro, which is your pouch which would hold tobacco or money or medicine. You would have a sash buckle to stop it moving, which was sometimes simply carved. Other times they were incredibly elaborate and inlaid. It could be this tiny bird so that the underside of the bird, even the claws, are carved. It was only the wearer that would necessarily see those details. In the same way that really good pieces of jewelry have that quality, the back is as important as the front.   Sharon: Oh, absolutely. My mom sewed, and it was always, “Look at the back of the dress, the inside of the dress. How's the zipper done?” that sort of thing. The netsuke, they were only worn by men?   Joy: They were only worn by men. It was combs that were worn by women, which were a social hierarchical show of your wealth or your stature. They were also given as tokens of love and were the equivalent of an engagement ring. They were given in this way. A comb is something I've always found interesting. I didn't know the scope of the importance of the comb in Japan, specifically in the Edo and Meiji periods.   Sharon: Are you considering adding combs to your repertoire? Maybe the comb part is plastic with a metal on top.   Joy: Combs are one of the things I explored within my degree show. I did a modern iteration of Medusa as a body of work, 17 different bronze sculptures that were a collection of combs with all different bronze patinas, but those were sculptures. They were not actually wearable. There was a whole wall of these pieces. My whole degree show was about metamorphosis and the ability to change. It was a combination of sculpture and jewelry.    For “Force of Nature,” the exhibition Melanie invited me to do, I did one wearable comb. It was called Medusa. The bristles were moving, and they had fine, little diamonds set between all the bristles so they would catch the light in certain movement. It also had a pin at the back so you could have it as a sculpture or you could wear it.   Sharon: It sounds gorgeous. You mentioned classical art, and I know classical art is a big catalyst or an influence on your jewelry today. Can you tell us about that and where it came from?   Joy: Growing up in London, London has some of the most amazing collections of ancient art. Also modern collections, but if you think about the V&A or the British Museum, there are artifacts from all over the world which are incredible. As a child, they were something my parents would take me to and tell me stories or show me things. There was also a moment when my mom took me to Paris when I was about 13 years old, and I saw the Victory of Samothrace, which is this huge Hellenistic statue which is decapitated. She doesn't have a head and she doesn't have arms, but she has these enormous wings and retains this incredible sense of power and movement, and that stayed with me. I've always found particularly the Hellenistic—not the Roman copies, but the older pieces—incredibly beautiful. I don't why, but I've always felt this attraction to them.   When I studied at The Glasgow School of Art, there was also a collection of plasters of Michelangelo's Enslaved and the Venus de Milo. They were used since the 1800s as examples of proportions, and you would use them in your drawing classes. I used to sit with them and have my lunch and draw them and look at them. I started to look at the histories or the stories behind some of them, and I didn't particularly like how they were often silencing women. Some of the stories were quite violent towards women, so I started to deconstruct and cut apart these classical figures.    I also looked to Albrecht Durer's book on proportion, because they had a real copy of it at The Glasgow School of Art that you could request to look at. I also believe that to understand something, you can deconstruct it and take it apart. Like a clock, if you start to take it apart, you understand how it works. So, I started to take apart the proportions, literally cutting them apart, and that's how the deconstructed portrait series started. It was not just the form; it was actually what classicism stood for. Many of the collections at the V&A and the British Museum were stolen or taken in really negative ways. They're a result of colonialism and the UK's colonial past. There are often darker sides to those collections.    That was something I had to confront about this attraction I had towards these classical pieces. Why was I attracted to them? How could I reinvent it or look at that in a new way? I still love these classical pieces. My favorite painter is Caravaggio, and my favorite sculptures are the bronze and stone pieces from the Hellenistic Greek period. It didn't stop me from loving them, but it made me rethink and redefine what classical meant for me.   Sharon: Is the deconstruction series your way of coming to terms with the past? Besides the fact that they're beautiful, ancient statues, is it your way of reinventing the past in a way?   Joy: Absolutely. The past, you can't erase it. It's been done, and the fact that these pieces have survived all of this time is testament to their beauty. Something survives if it's beautiful or evocative or has a power about it. I think it's interesting that Cellini, who was a sculptor and a goldsmith, is known more famously for his bronze statue of Medusa in Florence. He made lots of work out of precious metals, but they didn't survive. It was the bronzes that survived.    Translating these works into precious metals also makes you reflect or think about them in different ways, and it makes the cuts or the breakage something positive or beautiful. The way I placed diamonds into the breakages or the cracks is also to celebrate our failures or celebrate our breakages. That moment I had the accident and everything in my life fell apart, it was also through that process that I discovered the most. We need creation and destruction, but it's a cyclical thing.   Sharon: Interesting. My last question has to do more with the dividing lines. Do you consider yourself an artist who works in jewelry, or do you consider yourself a jeweler who happens to make art through your jewelry? There are a lot of jewelers who don't consider themselves artists; they just make jewelry and that's it. How do the two rub together for you?   Joy: I see myself as an artist. I think within the arts, that encompasses so many different disciplines. A beautiful piece of literature written by Alice Walker, I think, is as moving as an artwork or a painting. The same with a composition of music. I see jewelry as another art form and expression. I don't divide them. However, I don't like all jewelry, in the same way I don't like all paintings or sculpture. The way in which we look at or define art is so subjective, depending on your norms, the way you were brought up, which part of the world you grew up in, how you have been subjected to certain things. When people ask me what I do, I say I'm an artist and goldsmith because I particularly work in noble metals and bronze. There's still a jewelry aspect of my work. It is very much jewelry. You can wear it, but it is also sculpture. It is one and the other; it's both.   Sharon: Have you ever made a piece of jewelry in gold where you said, “This is nice, but it's not a work of art. It doesn't express me as an artist; it's just like a nice ring”?   Joy: Definitely, and definitely through the period of time when I did my apprenticeship. I learned a lot. I made pieces where people would bring me albums or pieces they wanted to reinvent and find modern ways of wearing. I thought that was pretty interesting and I enjoyed that work, but I don't necessarily see it as an artwork that moves the soul or has the same effect as one of my deconstruction portraits or the Medusa series. I still think it has its place and it means a lot to that individual, and I enjoy the process of making it, but it's different.   Sharon: I know I said I asked my last question before, but I'm curious. Did your friends or colleagues or people in the street see something you had on and say, “Oh, I want that”?   Joy: Yes, definitely. I think if you like something and wear something because you like it enough that you wear it, usually someone else will like it, too. That's definitely part of it; I started making things and people still wanted them. I think my mom and dad were also sometimes the first port of call I would test things on to see whether they liked it. My dad is much more challenging because he doesn't wear a lot of jewelry. I made him a piece recently and he does wear it occasionally. He's quite a discerning artist. He won't sell his work to certain people. He's very particular about how he works and who he works with. But yes, that did start happening, and it's grown. I'm not sure how else to answer that question.   Sharon: I'm sure it's validating to have people say, “Oh, that's fabulous. Can you do one for me?” or “Can I buy it from you?”   Joy: I think that sense of desire, of wanting to put your body next to something or wear it, is one of the highest compliments. I went yesterday to a talk at the British Museum about an exhibition they're about to open called “Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic.” I went with a friend of mine who's a human rights lawyer. I made a piece for her recently which is very personal and is about various important things to her. Seeing her wear it made me feel really honored because she's an incredible person, and I could make her something that's part of her journey and that she loves so much that she wears it. Knowing it gives her power when she wears it is an incredible feeling. Also knowing that she may pass it down; that's another aspect with jewelry.    My mom has this one ring that was passed down in her family. My parents were struggling artists in London, and she sold most of her elegant pieces. I also find that aspect of jewelry really incredible, that it could transform by being sold so she could continue to do projects and things she wanted to do. I think jewelry's amazing in that way, that the intrinsic value can transform and be handed down and changed. I think that's interesting, but there was one ring she didn't sell because it's a miniature sculpture, and we all agree that it's incredibly beautiful. The rest of the pieces weren't things my mom or I or anyone really engaged with, but this one ring, to me, looks like a futurist sculpture in a seashell. It's a curved form. I think it's the Fibonacci proportions, and it's incredibly beautiful. Going back to your very first question, I think that may have had a strong influence in my appreciation and realization that I liked jewelry.   Sharon: It sounds like you're several years into a business that's going to be around for a long time. I hope we get to talk with you again down the road. Thank you so much for talking with us today, Joy.   Joy: Thanks for having me.   Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.  

Episode: We discuss the alleged Isaiah Bulla (clay seal impression) with one of the finest epigraphers in the field. The seal was found by the Temple Mount in 2009 by Eilat Mazar, and first announced in Biblical Archaeology Review last month (February, 2018). Matt L. and Dru J. discuss the find with Prof. Christopher Rollston, who urges caution when making bold claims about the seal's link to the biblical prophet Isaiah. We also discuss our desire to make connections between archaeology and the bible, and for a material connection with the past. Guest: Professor Rollston is Associate Professor of Northwest Semitic languages and literatures at George Washington University. Rollston works in more than a dozen ancient and modern languages, including various ancient Semitic languages (e.g., Hebrew, Phoenician, Aramaic, Palmyrene, Nabataean, Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Ugaritic, Akkadian), several ancient and modern Indo-European languages (e.g., Hellenistic Greek, Classical Latin; Modern German, French, Spanish, and Italian), as well as Sahidic Coptic. He is the author of Enemies and Friends of the State: Ancient Prophecy in Context (Eisenbrauns), Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010), which was selected by the American Schools of Oriental Research (in November 2011) as the recipient of the prestigious “Frank Moore Cross Prize for Northwest Semitic Epigraphy,” a prize named for the late Harvard University Professor Frank Cross. He has also edited several volumes. Needless to say, he's very accomplished in his field! (adapted from the GWU website). Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Photo: Photo of seal impression, Ouria Tadmor. Copyright Eilat Mazar.

If you want your children and your wife and friends to survive no matter what, you are silly; for you are wanting things to be up to you that are not up to you, and things to be your own that are not your own. You are just as foolish if you want your slave to make no mistakes; for you are wanting inferiority not to be a flaw but something else. But if your wish is not to be frustrated in your desires, this is in your power. Train yourself, then, in this power that you do have. Our master is anyone who has the power to implement or prevent the things that we want or don't want. Whoever wants to be free, therefore, should wish for nothing or avoid nothing that is up to other people. Failing that, one is bound to be a slave. (Ench 14) There's nothing new in this chapter of the Encheiridion for those following the Exploring Encheiridion series. That is the nature of the Encheiridion, which Arrian created as a handbook a Stoic prokopton could keep readily available as a primer for Stoic doctrines. Therefore, many of the lessons are repeated in different forms. Nevertheless, as I was preparing for this podcast episode, I was struck by a question that inspired me to take this episode in another direction. The question is this: Why would anyone with a conscious or unconscious allegiance to the modern secular worldview consider Stoicism a viable way of life. Consider some other passages we've already covered in this Exploring Encheiridion series: When you kiss your little child or your wife, say that you are kissing a human being. Then, if one of them dies, you will not be troubled. (Encheiridion 3) Don't ask for things to happen as you would like them to, but wish them to happen as they actually do, and you will be all right. (Encheiridion 8) Never say about anything, “I have lost it”; but say, “I have returned it.” Has your little child died? “It has been returned.” Has your wife died? “She has been returned.” “I have been robbed of my land.” No, that has been returned as well. (Encheiridion 11) These statements by Epictetus contradict what all moderns, those raised in the West at least, are taught from childhood. When a person views these statements from the perspective of modernity, they will likely ask: How can anyone past or present assent to ideas like this? What kind of worldview could possibly support such apparently odd and counterintuitive ideas? Therein lies the conundrum moderns face when moderns encounter the Stoic texts. We are confronted with words like God, logos, and providence from the ancient Stoic worldview and likely lack the necessary knowledge to understand the meaning of these words within the context of Hellenistic Greek culture and the holistic philosophical system known as Stoicism. If moderns have any familiarity with words like God, logos, and providence, it likely comes from religious training or college professors who mocked these ideas. Therefore, secular-minded, enlightened, educated moderns might feel justified in rejecting those ideas. In fact, moderns may feel compelled to reject them as antiquated, pre-Enlightenment ideas. Unfortunately, that judgment of Stoicism is based on a modern worldview with some underlying assumptions and consequences moderns may have never considered. I know that was true for me. As I've previously said on this podcast, I was a hardcore atheist when I started studying Stoicism. It took me almost a year to overcome the misconceptions and cognitive biases of my modern worldview. Worldviews are essential because they guide our beliefs and actions in ways that may evade our conscious awareness and circumspection. Jean-Baptiste Gourinat wrote about this in a paper titled Stoicism Today in 2009. He discussed the connection between Stoicism and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy—CBT—which is partly derived from Stoic principles. He wrote: Cognitive therapy is based on three hypotheses: (1) one's behaviour springs from one's view of oneself and the world,

In this episode we chat with the Struck CEO & Co-Founder, Rachel Lo! She shares her journey coming from a secular, technical background to developing an astrology-based dating app. Even if you're an astrology skeptic (like James), there still definitely something to be gained from this discussion. Rachel's message to skeptics: "Consider why astrology makes you so uncomfortable? Is it really harming you/other people, or is it just that you’re unfamiliar with it? Also: try reading your birth chart and see how it resonates with you!" HIGHLIGHTS: - Rachel grew up in the South Bay of LA and went to UC Berkeley for engineering. - Worked at Apple and other tech companies for a few years - Didn't believe in astrology at first, but the inequities in the workforce made Rachel consider that the world isn't concrete and filled with more nuance. - Met her co-founder after renting a house in SF with others working at Apple. - Struck designed to make experiences more meaningful and fun, it's based off astrological compatibility. - Dating apps have a similar playbook for launching apps, but the pandemic disrupted that. - Struck was in the Top 10 lifestyle apps in the Apple App Store. - James initially hesitant to have Rachel on as a guest due to his skepticism of astrology. - Parents immigrated from Hong Kong and met in NY - Struck is rooted in Western astrology (Hellenistic/Greek). - Parents were supportive of Rachel starting Struck. - Rachel breaks down James's and Dan's astrological chart - Had issues with the Apple App Store due to their restrictions on astrology apps. - Dating apps were engineered for people to continue to date, i.e. endless swiping. Struck aims to change that. LINKS: - Struck: https://www.struckapp.com/ - Struck IG: https://www.instagram.com/struck.app/ - Struck TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@struckapp LANGUAGE CORNER: Mandarin: - 相親 - xiāngqīn - blind date - 紅娘 hóngniáng (lít. red woman) / 媒人 méiren - matchmaker Cantonese: - 飲茶 - yám chà - Yum Cha, lit. drink tea, traditional Cantonese brunch with tea and dim sum. Japanese: - イケ面 - ikemen - good-looking guy - ギャル - gyaru - slang word for "gal", a Japanese subculture for woman who are tanned, have dyed hair, colored contacts, and other fashion trends. Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram: @yinyoungpodcast. Like and subscribe to our content so you don’t miss an episode. Credits: This episode was produced by James Y. Shih and Daniel Yin. — Consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yinyoungpodcast Follow Yin & Young: - Website: http://www.jamesyshih.com/yin-young-podcast - iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/yin-young-podcast-jys/id1185421015?mt=2 - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yinyoungpodcast/ - Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/rkrynzq - Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/yin-young-podcast Comments, questions? Email us at yinyoungpodcast@gmail.com.

Emily Ridout is a multi-disciplinary scholar and teacher of Astrology, Yoga, and Folklore. Join us to learn about the Inner Zodiac, how various parts of your body connect with the constellations, and what types of movements correlate to Astrological signs. As above, so below & as within, so without!"Most of us think that we’re born and we are our sun sign perfectly, which is a big cultural mistake. We’re actually here to learn a lot about becoming more like our sun sign. We can begin to wake up our sun sign by working with the related area of the body." - Emily RidoutJOIN INNERVERSE PLUS+Get double length interview conversations, early podcast access and more, while supporting Chance and InnerVerse with your energy!Check out this episode's Plus+ Extension!patreon.com/innerverseCONNECT WITH EMILY RIDOUTemilyridout.com@emily_ridout_astroyoga on InstagramWE TALKED ABOUT...Connecting cycles in nature and cycles of the bodyMining valuable knowledge out of cultural folkloreTypes of astrology: Hellenistic (Greek), Jyotish (Vedic/Hindu) & Tropical (Western)Astrological frequency and Saturn returns and Yoga for strengthening your inner SaturnWhole body intelligence and releasing trauma/fear held in the body Aligning personal shifts with planetary movementsThe body part correlations to each of the 12 astrological signsAccessing the creativity of Pisces through the feetBecoming more like your sun sign through your personal practicesThe connection between medical astrology and Astro-YogaHealing Cosmic Abandonment and awakening positive archetypes withinONLY ON PLUS+ (Check It Out!) Studying folklore and the wisdom in Hindu traditionsFood for thought regarding our thoughts on foodThe deep connections between astrology and TarotLunar Nodes in Astrology and balancing between Karma and DharmaThoughts on the upcoming Aquarian AgeMitigating malefic planets and Mercury retrogradesVenus energy and bringing the divine feminine into full bloomSUPPORT INNERVERSE WITH SECRET ENERGY POWER-UPSBlessed Herbs Colon Cleanse KitShilajit - "The Destroyer of Weakness"Become a Secret Energy affiliate and generate Karma Free wealth - Link To Spiritech Specialist ProgramINTERESTING QUOTES FROM THIS SHOW"In Yoga, everything is Shiva or Shakti, or Yin and Yang—a divine play between inert matter and the spirit that animates it.""We think we’re not whole because we’re a limited aspect of consciousness. If we remembered that we are ALL of consciousness, and we stayed in that state, we wouldn’t be able to function in the plane we live on."MUSIC IN THIS EPISODEIntro - "Foggy Dreams" by Wisdom Traders Outro - "Fractal Epiphany" & "Rent's Due" by LuSID See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, compiled over several centuries in circumstances that are largely unknown, are collectively identified as the Septuagint. In recent years, the study of what is sometimes known as “Old Testament Greek” has developed some very important new lexical and other interpretive tools. But many Bible readers, who recognise that New Testament documents refer to and quote from Septuagint texts, have struggled to access them. With apparatus prepared by Gregory R. Lanier and William Ross, who teach Old and New testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary campuses in Orlando, FL, and Charlotte, NC, Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson Publishers, 2018) unlocks that complex text, and opens up its transmission, to enable readers with a basic grasp of Hellenistic Greek to tackle one of the most important sets of documents in that language. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests focus on the history of puritanism and evangelicalism, and he is the author most recently of John Owen and English Puritanism (Oxford University Press, 2016). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, compiled over several centuries in circumstances that are largely unknown, are collectively identified as the Septuagint. In recent years, the study of what is sometimes known as “Old Testament Greek” has developed some very important new lexical and other interpretive tools. But many Bible readers, who recognise that New Testament documents refer to and quote from Septuagint texts, have struggled to access them. With apparatus prepared by Gregory R. Lanier and William Ross, who teach Old and New testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary campuses in Orlando, FL, and Charlotte, NC, Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson Publishers, 2018) unlocks that complex text, and opens up its transmission, to enable readers with a basic grasp of Hellenistic Greek to tackle one of the most important sets of documents in that language. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests focus on the history of puritanism and evangelicalism, and he is the author most recently of John Owen and English Puritanism (Oxford University Press, 2016). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, compiled over several centuries in circumstances that are largely unknown, are collectively identified as the Septuagint. In recent years, the study of what is sometimes known as “Old Testament Greek” has developed some very important new lexical and other interpretive tools. But many Bible readers, who recognise that New Testament documents refer to and quote from Septuagint texts, have struggled to access them. With apparatus prepared by Gregory R. Lanier and William Ross, who teach Old and New testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary campuses in Orlando, FL, and Charlotte, NC, Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson Publishers, 2018) unlocks that complex text, and opens up its transmission, to enable readers with a basic grasp of Hellenistic Greek to tackle one of the most important sets of documents in that language. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests focus on the history of puritanism and evangelicalism, and he is the author most recently of John Owen and English Puritanism (Oxford University Press, 2016). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, compiled over several centuries in circumstances that are largely unknown, are collectively identified as the Septuagint. In recent years, the study of what is sometimes known as “Old Testament Greek” has developed some very important new lexical and other interpretive tools. But many Bible readers, who recognise that New Testament documents refer to and quote from Septuagint texts, have struggled to access them. With apparatus prepared by Gregory R. Lanier and William Ross, who teach Old and New testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary campuses in Orlando, FL, and Charlotte, NC, Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson Publishers, 2018) unlocks that complex text, and opens up its transmission, to enable readers with a basic grasp of Hellenistic Greek to tackle one of the most important sets of documents in that language. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests focus on the history of puritanism and evangelicalism, and he is the author most recently of John Owen and English Puritanism (Oxford University Press, 2016). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pastor Olu tells the story of King Antiochus IV Epiphanies- a Hellenistic Greek king who Daniel was warned about through prophecy.King Antiochus tried to over-rule everything that God had set in place including how to worship God. Although some of the Israelites followed King Antiochus's evil plan, others endured and remained steadfast in the truth.Pastor Olu says that like Antiouchus, when we modify the truth we are responsible for the consequences but If we preserve the truth, God takes the responsibility of taking care of us. Pastor Olu says that no matter what happens, as Christians we are to hold onto the truth and uphold it because God's kingdom is still coming.

Which of three explanations for the Messianic Secret do you prefer? Dr. Price in your experience, was Robert W. Funk's work with the Jesus Seminar in any way related to his tendency (on display in his A Beginning-Intermediate Grammar of Hellenistic Greek) to strike out on his own and redo the scholarship in a way that was new ? Could Isaac be an alternate name for Ishmael?  Perhaps an attempt to merge stories from different traditions? I'm curious as to your view on the Secret Gospel of Mark. Theme music provided by: Peter Benjamin - composer for media www.peterbenjaminmusic.org peterbenjaminmusic@gmail.com

DUSTIN' OFF THE DEGREE - The Mandeans A few weeks ago I mentioned a religious group that is effectively the church of John the Baptist. I mistakenly referred to them as the Ebionites, which were a Jewish Christian group that rejected Paul and viewed James the brother of Jesus and preferred James the brother of Jesus. They were also big fans of the John the Baptist, but not the group I was thinking about. The Ebionites disappeared by around 300 CE, but they'll come up again when we talk about Jews for Jesus. It's been nearly 11 years since I dropped out of the seminary so it's not surprising that much of my knowledge of obscure religious oddities has faded along with my knowledge of classical Greek. The group I was thinking of is the Mandeans. They started sometime in the first three centuries of the common era, but the historical record of them is pretty scant with many of the best early sources coming from Islamic writers and the Hadith. They are generally thought to be the Sabians that are counted by Muslims as a People of the Book. They are a Semitic Gnostic group. What's odd here is that most of what we know of Gnosticism is that it was a Hellenistic Greek phenomena drawing very heavily on neo-Platonic dualism, however that same kind of dualism and secret knowledge, the Greek gnosis or Aramaic manda. According to the Mandeans they are the continuation of the religion of Noah and they revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Aram, and John the Baptist, especially John the Baptist, as their prophets. According to one 13th century Dominican Catholic observers they detest Abraham because of circumcision. They believe in marriage, procreation, and family and don't practice celibacy or asceticism, this is in stark contrast with standard Gnosticism, but is likely part of why they have outlasted the Gnostics by more than a millennia and a half. Like the Gnostic they believe the world is a prison and governed by the planetary archons. Their dualism also takes an interesting form, while Gnostics typically had the spiritual pure opposite the evil material, Mandeans have a cosmic father and mother, light and dark, right and left. They believe in a supreme formless Entity who delegated the creation of spiritual, etheric, and material worlds and beings to creators. The cosmos is the creation of the Archetypal Man which was created so that it could be populated by beings created in his form. Souls come from the Entity and are in exile and captives on this world, but eventually they will return to the Entity. Planets and stars influence our lives and are also a place where souls are detained. There are also savior spirits that will assist souls on the journey to the worlds of light. Their sacraments are centered on purification, with washing, as a core part of it, hence at least in part their reverence of John the Baptist. The goal of the sacraments is to purify the soul so that they can be freed of the material world and reborn in the spiritual world. They reject the Torah and the Christian Bible, but have many scriptures where they have recorded things that have learned from the manda or gnosis, the secret knowledge of the spirit world. While this may all seem quite strange, it's actually quite logical. The Gnostics believe that Yahweh is an evil Archon and most believe that Jesus isn't much better. They tended to view mainstream Christians as slaves of the evil material world and that they needed freed from. Latching on to John the Baptist also makes since considering that with the poor hygiene and rampant disease of the era, any focus on bathing and cleanliness would result in improved health. To accept John, while rejecting Jesus is also logical if you view Jesus and the Christians as usurpers who tried to steal and corrupt John's message. Historically their population has generally been centered around modern day Iraq and Iran. The Iranian population probably didn't fare well during the Isla...

When you deal with the Occult, the Paranormal, the Supernatural, the Metaphysical, and especially when you discover that your belief systems are closer to those of pagan ancestors than those of the modern world, you have two resources: what's been written down, probably by Christians who disaprove of or scientists who disbelieve the subject matter, or your personal experiences. You wouldn't take on the inconvieniences of calling yourself a Pagan, Heathen, or Witch, if you weren't pretty sure that what you're dealing with is real, and your life will be better if you maintain a positive relationship with these beings that most of the world seems to be telling you are imaginary. There are enough of us now, (1-2 million estimated) pagans or polytheists in the USA, that you may have found others to hang around with. You may have found a Hellenistic (Greek), Khemetic (Egyptian), or Heathen (Norse) group that worship the same gods, and would like to do it together. Reconstructionist Pagans try to find as much material (often called Lore) from the pre-Christian writings on which to base practices. But we come to this situation through personal experiences, and keep having them. At the same time, we are modern people and know that it's possible to hallucinate, to see something briefly and have your brain turn it into something different, or even just remember things incorrectly. How do you know the experience, the vision, that you had was real? Joan of Arc wasn't burned for cross dressing, she was burned for believing her visions over the Churches objections. But polytheists don't have experts to tell them what's Canon, we tend to come to a consensus. If your personal experienced differs from historical sources, or others experiences, they'll be less likely to trust your description.

THE STORY: (57 minutes) This episode, pivotal to the entire Trojan War Epic, features philosophy, bedroom farce, and genuine tragedy -- all in equal measure.  Temptation plays the lead:  Agamemnon tempts Achilles; Hera tempts Zeus; and Patroclus tempts Deadly Destiny. THE COMMENTARY:  WERE ACHILLES & PATROCLUS LOVERS? (20 minutes; begins at 57:00) I dedicate this entire post-story commentary to the Achilles/Patroclus relationship:  a relationship which has confounded scholars, storytellers, and listeners for the past 3500 years.  The central question up for debate is whether the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus had a sexual component. I begin my conversation by stating the fact that all scholars, tellers and listeners agree on: Achilles and Patroclus were exceedingly close - best friends, dearest of companions, soul mates, brothers in arms – use what terms you will.  Of that there is no doubt.  And when Patroclus is killed by Hector, everybody agrees that Achilles’ response to that death is the pivotal turning point in the epic. Then I turn to a question on which scholars, tellers and listeners quite disagree.  Following are the three contending theories on the Achilles/Patroclus relationship. Most Homeric and Bronze Age scholars argue that the Achilles/Patroclus relationship was asexual.  They point to the text of the Iliad, which offers not a single reference or even allusion to a sexual relationship between the two men.  They further point to the Iliad to show that Achilles and Patroclus clearly have heterosexual relations with women.  The scholars in this camp suggest that what causes some readers to “infer” a sexual element to Achilles/Patroclus is the written language of Homer’s Iliad.  By our contemporary standards (and clearly by the standards of other time periods too), the verbal communication when Achilles and Patroclus speak to, or about each other, is romantic, florid, passionate and intimate – in a way that most societies reserve exclusively for communications between lovers.  But, scholars argue, many Bronze Age works are characterized by similar language and depths of passion between males, especially between male comrades in arms.  In the Hebrew story of David and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:26), David claims that the love he had for Jonathan surpassed even the love of women.  It is our contemporary sensibilities, scholars argue, that erroneously grafts a sexual meaning onto David’s claim, but there is nothing in the text to support such an interpretation. But Classical Greek scholars and readers disagree.  They argue that the Achilles/Patroclus relationship was pederastic.  This way of seeing the Achilles/Patroclus relationship originated (or at least was popularized) during the Classical and Hellenistic Greek period (c. 480-146 BCE) when pederasty was socially accepted and possibly even commonplace amongst upper class Greeks.  Pederasty involved an older man entering into a relationship with a young man in his teens.  The older man served as a “mentor” to the younger man, introducing him into adult male society.  The relationship lasted for a few years, until the younger man came of age, at which point the relationship would end.  Both men either had, or would go on to have, wives and children.  The pederastic relationship sometimes included a sexual element, in which the older man achieved sexual pleasure by rubbing his erect penis between the thighs of the younger man.  Anal penetration does not appear to have been common in these relationships.  Scholars who argue that Achilles and Patroclus were pederasts include:  the philosopher Plato (in the Symposium); the playwrite Aeschylus (in The Myrmidons) and many other prominent Greek and later Roman historians.  Replying to the objection that Achilles and Patroclus are never actually depicted in the Iliad engaged in sexual activity, these proponents argue that a pederastic relationship is clearly implied and obvious to anyone who examines t...

Our quote for today is from C.S. Lewis. He said, "Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day." Garry Morgan is a Professor of Intercultural Studies at Northwestern College. He served with World Venture for 20 years in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania.  Our topic for today is, "Christianity: What Sets It Apart?"  “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship!” We often hear this when someone’s trying to set Christianity apart from “religion.” Is it accurate? Is this the characteristic that makes Christianity unique? And if not, what does?  Based on our description of religion, Christianity clearly fits the definition. It is an organized system of belief and practice that answers ultimate questions and guides daily life. But why have we come to think of religion as a negative term in the first place?  Due to historical abuses, we tend to view it as something artificial or without true meaning. However, the New Testament uses the term in James 1:27 with the adjectives pure and undefiled. Religion can become tradition without meaning, yet that isn’t the fault of religion itself— responsibility would belong with those who wrongly practice a given faith.  So believers could say that Christianity is the religious expression of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our faith uses the Bible to answer ultimate questions about God and life. Because the Christian’s relationship with God through Christ is lived out with other followers of Jesus (what the New Testament calls “the body of Christ”), we worship and engage in other activities as a unified group, and this also is what characterizes religion.  Also, regarding the “religion vs. relationship” debate, we should keep in mind that other religious systems claim a relationship with the god or gods they revere and worship. The Qur’an says, “God is nearer [to a man] than [his] jugular vein”. The Bha-ga-vad Gita describes an incarnation of the god Krishna who helps a warrior king make significant life decisions. Many animists maintain relationships with ancestral spirits.  If relationship itself is not what makes Christianity unique, what does? Starting with stating the obvious, Jesus of Nazareth is the most compelling religious figure of all time. Historians, scholars, and even leaders of other religions widely acknowledge and admire (although sometimes distort) the unique quality of his life and teachings.  For the Christian, however, it is not Jesus’ teachings or even his earthly life that are most important. We look to Jesus not just as a gifted teacher and moral example but as our Savior. His death and resurrection are the watershed events that stand at the center of our faith. By them, Jesus established the truth of his claim to be God’s unique Son— fully human and fully divine— and provided the means of salvation for humankind, separated from God by sin.  Another way to describe the faith’s uniqueness is with the word grace. Grace means giving someone something they don’t deserve. Because the God of the Bible is a God of grace, he takes the first step to repair our relationship with him after disobedience (sin). Because of grace, God provides the way of salvation in Jesus, who takes our punishment for wrongdoing. Because of grace, God can be both just (punishing sin) and forgiving (removing sin). All other religious systems believe the main responsibility for solving life’s problems rests upon people. Christianity reveals and demonstrates that we cannot set things right by our own efforts, which makes grace all the more astounding and precious.  Historically, the Christian church is widely regarded to have begun on the day of Pentecost (described in Acts 2). It spread widely and grew quickly over the next several centuries. Early on, even as seen within the pages of the New Testament, it began developing religious forms. Initially, these were heavily influenced by Judaism. The first Christians worshiped in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and used the Hebrew Scriptures we now call the Old Testament.  But as non-Jews accepted the Christian message (the gospel) and became followers of Jesus, the church began adopting Hellenistic (Greek) forms, especially in how the message of Jesus was explained to others. John’s gospel, for example, describes Jesus as the Logos (Word), a term with significant meaning to those influenced by Greek philosophy. Indeed, Christianity can flourish in any culture. The New Testament focuses more on principles for living and the type of people we’re supposed to be (i.e., character qualities) than on specific behaviors, so its practices and forms tend to take on the local flavor of surrounding cultures. For example, the apostle Paul commands husbands to love their wives; the specific ways Christians obey this order look different from culture to culture.  This flexibility, coupled with extensive geographic expansion, political issues (especially after Christianity received favored status from the Roman Empire in the late fourth century), and theological differences of opinion, eventually led to divisions. The Western church, centered in Rome, became what is now the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern church, based in Constantinople, became the (Eastern) Orthodox Church with its regional fellowships (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.).  Later, near the end of the fifteenth century, various reformers protested against abuses within the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others, largely after being excommunicated, organized new expressions of the Christian faith that came to be known as Protestant churches. While there are smaller branches on the Christian church tree, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant form the largest or primary three.  From AD 500, and for more than a millennium, the Christian message was largely spread by groups of Catholic monks, reaching eastward as far as Japan and west to the New World. By the eighteenth century, Protestants began what came to be called the modern missionary movement, taking the gospel to every part of the world. Today, Christianity truly is a global faith. While there are still areas and people groups that have not heard the name of Jesus Christ, he has followers in virtually every country. Now, for An Extra Minute Christians of all walks comprise about a third of the world’s population (about 2.1 billion in 2010). Approximately 1.1 billion belong to the Roman Catholic Church, about 600 million to Protestant churches, and about 270 million are Eastern Orthodox, with the balance in independent groups. In 1900, about 68 percent of the world’s Christians lived on the European continent, with about 14 percent in North America. By 2050, Africa is likely to have about 29 percent of the world’s Christians, followed by Asia with 20 percent. Church historians refer to this trend as Christianity’s “global center” shifting from north to south.

Were going to get into Ephesians, and were going to be talking about husbands today, so I know wives have been spending the week sharpening your elbows. Hopefully husbands, you purchased elbow pads and made your wife put them on today. Ill try to be as gentle as possible with you guys, but I do want to address some things that Ive heard in the news. I think it was kicked off most prominently through the words of Pat Robertson. And I understand that his ministry has done some good things in Haiti and in the aftermath. I appreciate that very much, but theres been a lot of talk in Christian circles about whats going on in Haiti as being a judgment from God because of a voodoo ritual that took place that they made a pact with the devil. Although if folklore is correct, it was a voodoo god. [People are saying] that this has come upon them because of that curse. You know what? I think we are on very dangerous ground when we start connecting the dots and saying, Well, this judgment happened because of this. God did this because of that. Thats very dangerous ground to be on. We can connect certain dots in the Bible in history because the Bible talks about this happened because of that, but we cant do that here; and we cant do that with future events. So unless youre a Prophet on par with Elijah or Jeremiah or something, its best not to even go there. Jesus was addressing some followers about this very question-about why evil and suffering take place. Is it because of Gods judgment over mans sin? Is that why these things take place? In the Gospel of Luke 13:1 (page 1032 of pew Bibles), it says, Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. What probably had happened here was Pilot, who was the governor and a Roman official, had maybe tried to stomp out some insurrectionist; and it killed those who were rebelling against the authority of Rome near the temple grounds or on the temple grounds. It caused that holy place to be a place of bloodshed. So theyre talking to Jesus about this, Well, how could this happen? Theyre either coming from the point of why do bad things happen to good people? or How could Pilot do something like this? They want some answers. They want Him to get philosophical with them and explain to them why this happened to these people, and Jesus refused to go there. He says, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Because they suffered… Does that mean they were bad people? What do you think? Theres a pause there as they probably debate this and maybe go back and forth and share their opinions. Then Jesus gives the answer, and He says, I tell you, no! No. They were not worse people. God wasnt punishing them here because of their sin. He says, But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Now the word perish here-He doesnt mean simply die. Everybodys going to die, right? Hes not talking about death. This word means to destroy. Hes talking about eternal death. Hes saying, Listen, youre a sinner too. We like to think, Oh, this couldnt happen to me; but we live in a very fragile world. We live in a world where we just dont know whats going to happen. Sometimes good people suffer as well as evil people. He says the main thing you need to do is you need to make sure youre right with God. Then He goes on, and He tells them another story. He says, Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? In other words, it was some sort of a wrong place, wrong time event. A tower fell; innocent people died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time just like in the quake. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, theres a good chance you perished in that quake in Haiti. Jesus is saying, Did these people die from this freak accident because of their sin? Did God cause this tower to fall on them because of judgment? Im sure there were people speculating about that at that time. They were probably sending emails to each other back and forth, What do you think? Is this Gods judgment here with the tower of Siloam? Jesus says, No, that's not the reason the tower fell on them. He says, But you know what? Youre sinners too. You need to make sure youre right with God. These kinds of events tell us about the fragileness of life and the uncertainty of life-that we need to always live in a right relationship with God. Ive heard stories of people being pulled through the rubble in Haiti, and what Ive heard is tremendous stories of faith. Ive heard all kinds of people say, Jesus sustained me. Jesus helped me. There are some Godly people in Haiti; some of the most Godly people I have ever met in my life are the Haitians. We ministered to them last year and the two years before that. They are some of the most Godly people you will ever want to meet on the face of the earth, the Haitians. I understand voodoo is a bad thing. I mean if were going to say that God has brought this judgment on Haiti because of these voodoo practices, then He could open up our earth and swallow us in America tomorrow because weve done some pretty bad things too. Im just sharing that with you, that I think its a dangerous thing to start connecting dots and going, Well, God did this to these people because of that. If that were true, would our response be any different? Would we still not be compelled to reach out with the love of Christ and minister and help those who are hurting and dying? Children were trapped under rubble-orphanages, hospitals, for goodness sakes-people who God loves, and we are compelled to reach out and minister to them. So every time these natural disasters occur or these inhumane acts to man, I always hear these this is that. This is that [comments]. It just makes my blood boil, and I just wanted to share that with you this morning. So thats a free sermon and no extra offerings. Right now, were going to direct our attention to Ephesians; but before we do that, we are going to show a little clip. One of my favorite movies is Rocky. I really liked [Rocky] I and II. I thought those were well done. I thought they taught good values, courage and faith, loyalty, perseverance; so [Rocky] I and II, I thought were excellent. The next 12, not so much; but then when he came around with that last one, Rock Balboa, and he wrapped things up, that was a really good movie. If youve not seen the last installment, that was excellent. When we think of a mans man and how Hollywood portrays a mans man-rugged, tough, spitting nails… From what I see in that film, Rocky was a good husband. He did a lot of the things were going to be talking about today. He was a tender and compassionate man. This clip isnt long, but lets watch this short clip from Rocky Balboa as he says good-bye to his wife Adrian, his faithful companion in life. If you were a woman growing up in a Hellenistic Greek culture, you were a wife, you were the property of the man. He could write a letter and dismiss you if he grew tired of you. He didnt even need to have any grounds for his divorce other than he was tired of you. It was understood in that culture that he was going to have concubines for his pleasure. It was also understood that he may engage in relations with the temple prophetesses and the worship of Artemis. That was simply an acceptable part of the Greek culture. So your job was to kind of stay behind the scenes, run the household and take care of things. You tried your best to please him, and you lived in a little bit of fear and trepidation because at any time, you could be dismissed. Divorce and remarriage were rampant. It was not uncommon to have wives in the double digits. So into this society and into this culture, it is difficult to conceive. Paul talks about the wife, and he elevates her place in the home to a height and a level that was not seen before. He says in Verse 25 (of Ephesians 5, page 1159 of pew Bibles), Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her… Were going to be talking about these three manifestations of love in which Christ loved the church. Talk about raising the bar high. Paul takes a bar that was down here, and he raises it to a height that no man can attain. There is no man here that can attain the standard to which Paul has just raised. Christ loves the church with a perfect and complete love that we will not measure up to. I mean itd be like the board telling me, Hey, listen. Unless you preach like Billy Graham every Sunday, were going to have to let you go. Id say, Let me go now, then, because I cant do that. Somebody tries to hold you to an unattainable standard. Your son or daughter is going off to college to study business and start a business, and you say, Listen, unless you make as much money and are as successful in business as Bill Gates, Ill disown you. Hey, disown me now because that's probably not going to happen. I mean thats a really high standard! And so, Paul says, You must love your wives as Christ loved the church. I realize today now that not everybody here is a husband. Some of you are husbands; some of you will be husbands; some of you were husbands; some of you will be husbands again; some of you maybe not for many years, but I want to talk with you this morning about our responsibility as husbands. I stand before you today, no paragon of what a husband is. I certainly have not been a perfect husband. You may feel free to talk to my wife and ask her how I score out on all the things I may be talking about today. Shes right here in the front row. You can talk to her. Shell be happy to answer those questions. Thats fine; thats a fair game, but Im just telling you right now, Im not a perfect husband. I fall short, and we all do; but that does not mean that we dont strive. That does not mean that we dont seek to attain the standard which God has established for us. So number one is Christ loved the church. Christ loves us with the sacrificial love. Christ loves us with a sold-out love. He loves us to the point where He gave His life for the church. The highest priority on Gods list is our souls, our spiritual well-being; so Christs number one mission when He came to this earth was to make payment for sin, was to bring us back into a right standing with God. In the Book of Hebrews 12:2 (page 1193), the topic is on perseverance. The topic is on faith, not giving up and running the race, finishing strong. Some have other theories about who wrote Hebrews [besides Paul], but the author is going to be saying look, heres our standard. Lets keep our eyes on Jesus… Verse 2, …the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. For the joy set before Him… What kind of joy is he speaking about here? Is it the joy of Heaven? Is He looking forward to Heaven when the suffering of the cross will be over, and Hell be in eternity? Is that what hes speaking of? I believe the joy that is set before Jesus is redemption of His people. I believe thats why Jesus endures the cross, not just the physical suffering of the cross, but the spiritual suffering-the weight of sin that was placed upon Him-our sin-was put up on Christ on the cross. Jesus bore that sin and suffered in a way that you and I can never begin to understand. When He dies, He says, It is finished. The debt has been paid-tetelestai. The debt has been paid. That was what was on His mind. That was what was on His heart-to bring back and restore that which had been lost in the fall. His highest priority was to restore us to our fellowship with God, that we could come into the presence of God, know grace, know forgiveness and know eternal life. Husbands, the highest priorities you have is to look after the spiritual needs of your wife, to make sure that she is growing in God, to help her as she serves God. Ive now been a pastor-this May-it will be 28 years in full-time ministry. Then if you talk about full-time preparation, it was many years before that; so Ive been at this a long time, and I learned very early on. I had a friend whose wife had written him a letter, and she talked to him about the imbalance of his life because he was never home. He was gone seven nights a week. She wrote about her frustration, her anger and her hurt. He kept that in his Bible, and he showed it to me really early on. I came home, and I said, Honey, if I ever do that to you, would you please let me know because my first obligation of ministry is to her. Thats my first obligation of ministry. I have other responsibilities, but none greater than to my wife; and so thats priority number one, gentlemen-ministering to our wives spiritually. Now theres another priority that he speaks about in the Book of Ephesians 5. He says, …to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. This word holy is very important. Some of your Bibles might say to sanctify. Christ loves us secondly with a sanctifying love or a set-apart love. To sanctify something means to set apart for a sacred purpose. It comes from the root word hagios, which means different. The word holy means different. The Bible is a holy Bible because it is different than any other book. Its divinely-inspired. In this Book, we read the name of a king who is going to bring revival to the people of Israel. Hundreds of years before He is born, Josiah is called by name. In this Book, we read of a king who is going to speak the word for Israel to go back and begin to reassemble and rebuild the temple and begin to worship again in the Israel. His name is Cyrus, and hundreds of years before he is born, the Prophet Isaiah names him by name. We read about a King who will be born in Bethlehem whose days are from the days of eternity, about the life He will live, the death He will die, the sacrifice He will make, and His resurrection hundreds of years before He fulfills them in the person of Christ. The Bible is a supernatural Book, and so therefore it is holy and special. Jesus exalts the church. Jesus says to the church, You are special. Ive given my life for you. Ive redeemed you. And, husbands, we have a responsibility to love our wives with a sanctifying and a set-apart love. In the Book of Genesis 2, if youll turn there please, there is a passage, a Scripture, where God brings Eve to Adam. When I was preparing for ministry, one of my favorite professors was Dr. Linton. Dr. Linton was a Hebrew scholar, and he could read Hebrew from the text, from the Torah, like you and I could pick up and read a magazine. He understood nuances of words. It was just a fascinating class. To this day, he is my favorite professor at any level-grade school-junior high, high school, college, graduate school; he is my favorite professor. He would just teach us so much. He talked one day about what was going on here. Adam was looking for a helpmate, and there was no helpmate to be found; yet God made him for companionship. Here in the Garden, it says no helpmate was to be found; so God causes him to sleep, removes the rib, and He fashions a woman and brings her to the man. Adam sees her, and for a moment they look at one another. He looks at this person who is like him but very different from him at the same time. He likes what he sees. He says, This is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. She shall be called ishshah because she was taken out of ish. That's how you say that in Hebrew. He says, this is. He doesnt say it like this. He doesnt go (in a monotone voice), This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman… This is one lonely guy, and he has seen all this life, but theres no helpmate for him. Hes feeling very alone, and God creates this perfect mate. He sees her, his eyes get big, and his eyebrows go up. He smiles and Professor Linton said it doesnt really translate into our English Bible. He says, The closest word we can find that I can think of to tell you, class, is Adam says, Eureka! Whoa, God, You did fantastic! This is the one I have been looking for! Wow! Eves emotional tank is full now. I mean she just feels so esteemed and so valued as he affirms her, This is the one Ive been looking for. Can you imagine you are in an interview, and your potential employer interviews you and says, Youre the one this company needs! You are the one we have to have! Man, I have interviewed a lot of applicants, and I cant find anybody who compares to you. You are the person that we need, that this company needs! Youre hired! Your emotional tank is full when you leave that office. Youre like, Wow! If somebody builds into your life and tells you how much worth you have and sets you apart as something special or someone special. That is affirmation, isnt it? Any other collectors out here? I collect stuff. Anybody else collect stuff? Maybe you have something valuable. Dont worry-were not going to rob you. Its okay. You collect stuff, and maybe you have some stuff thats really rare. Maybe its in plastic or in glass or framed, or maybe its in a safe or maybe even a safety deposit box where you show people because it has value. Its rare and people want it. Maybe it has value because of who gave it to you and the significance of it. Its an heirloom. Maybe someone very special made you something, and so for that reason, Wow! This is really something. You treasure it, and you tell people about it. Its set apart; its unique; its of great value. Paul says, Husbands, we are to value our wives in this way. They are to be set apart. They are to know that they are unique, to know that they are special, and you are to affirm them. Jesus affirms the church. He told us how special we are, how much He loves us. Husbands, affirm your wives. Tell her how special she is; tell her how much you love her; tell her how wonderful she is; how thankful you are to her; fill her emotional tank. Let her know that she is unique in your life. Now theres a third attribute that is discussed in Ephesians 5. It says, In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it… Some of your translations might read nourishes or cherishes it. …just as Christ does the church-for we are members of His body. Now Paul talks about something very physical. He talks about, Guys, love your wives as you care for yourself. We care of our bodies. We keep our bodies clean. You may exercise; you may try to eat healthy; you groom; you comb your hair and cut your hair. You brush your teeth and all of that. If you have a wound, you minister to it physically. You put a band-aid on it or a brace on it, whatever it is. If youre sick, you take care of yourself. You take medicine. If youre cold, you put on a coat or a sweater or something. You take care of your body. Youre gentle with your body, and you take care of it. This is talking here about physical love. Isnt it amazing that God here is talking in this passage about the kinds of love that we are to have for our wives, and He talks about the spiritual; He talks about the emotional; and He talks about the physical-to love our wives in all three of those dimensions. Now Brenda had a procedure done recently. It was where they had to put the scope down and explore the esophagus and the stomach. It was a precautionary thing. Everythings okay, and I ask you not to ask Brenda about it; so dont go up to her and go, What was wrong? Its okay. She had a procedure. It was precautionary; its fine, and that's all anybody needs to know, so she went to the hospital and she had this done. Now I had to go with because they give you this drug that gives you this little bit of amnesia, so youre not going to remember what the doctor said afterwards. I have to be there to listen to the doctor and to drive her home because shes going to be drowsy, possibly a little bit nauseous; so she goes through this procedure, and she comes out. Shes kind of groggy, and I say, Everythings okay. She goes, Its all done? Its all done. Oh, good. She closes her eyes. They roll her in the corner and let her kind of slowly wake up. About 20 minutes or so later, the machine beeps. Beep. On cue, she opens her eyes, Is it done? Its done. Am I okay? Youre fine. Oh, good. She closes her eyes. About a half hour later, beep. She opens her eyes, Am I okay? Yeah. Is it all done? Its all done. They find anything? They didnt find anything. Go back to sleep. Okay. All right, good. Its time to wake up. The nurse is there. Lets go home. Oh, is it all done? Yeah. This conversation was going on, you know. Shes sleeping in the car. Finally I said Im going to have a little fun with this, like that movie 50 First Dates. So she would go, So, are we done with it already? Are we going home now? Yeah. Whatd they find out? Youve got no stomach! I dont have a stomach? No. They couldnt find it. They were down there exploring it. Theres no stomach. He doesnt know how you even eat. Youre going to lose a lot of weight now because they just sealed up your esophagus. You dont need to eat anymore because you dont have a stomach. That doesnt seem right. Zzzzzz. I had some more fun with that too, just that dark humor coming out in me. I had to take care of her. Shes coming home, and Im ministering to her. Now Im giving her ice water and ice chips and making sure shes covered. She has her bucket there if she needs it. Im checking on her and giving her her medicine. For about 24 hours, Im having to provide TLC here and minister to her. Hes talking here about ministering physically. …as you take care of your bodies, love your wives. Hes talking about the importance of touch and affirmation. I say to my wife, When do you most feel loved? She says, I like it when you put your arm around me. If Im putting my arm around her at church, at a movie, or wherever, she likes that. Affirming touch. Stroking your wifes back, rubbing her neck, kissing her cheek, giving her a hug, minister to her physical needs-thats important. That helps her to feel loved. So Paul is dealing with the totality of man. Hes saying, Minister to her physically, spiritually, emotionally. Minister to your wife. Love your wife as Christ loved the church. Now a couple practical things to help you with doing this: If youre really brave, ask your wife, How am I measuring up? How am I doing in these areas? Youre going to find out, wives, if your husbands are chicken or not. Then wives, you need to say how hes doing in each of these areas. Ive tried to explain it in such a way that you can remember it when you go home, so talk about it. Heres when I feel loved. Heres when I dont feel loved. Heres… Talk about how you can improve as a husband. Secondly, once youve done your homework, find a buddy. Find a friend and say, Hey, listen. We were talking at church about being better husbands, and as head of my household, I want to love my wife as Christ loved the church; so heres where Im falling short. Can you hold me accountable in this? Youre giving that brother permission to talk to you and ask you questions about your marriage and how youre doing in a certain area; so thats your homework for the message today. That's what I want you to work on. Now next week, were going to stay on this topic. As you can see in the passage, it talks about oneness, so were going to finish out Chapter 5 in talking about oneness, the oneness of marriage and what that means. Before we take care of other church business and what not, lets bow for prayer: Father, I pray that our husbands would be the heads that Youve called them to be, that they would love their wives as Christ loved the church. We thank You for setting the bar high, that our comparison is not with another individual. Our comparison is none other than to the perfect love of Christ for His church. We have been sold a line of goods that a mans man spits out nails, is tough and never cries. Hes kind of hard and cold, and thats not the case. A man is a man who is loving. He takes care of his family. He ministers to his wife. Lord, I pray that You would help us to seek to live up to that standard. I pray that where there is correction that needs to be done in marriages, that by Your grace and through Your Spirit, Youd bring that correction this week and we would partner together as husbands and wives to work on our marriages, to help them to be accurate reflections of Christ in His church. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Professor Kleiner discusses the rebirth of Athens under the Romans especially during the reigns of the two philhellenic emperors, Augustus and Hadrian. While some have dismissed the architecture of Roman Athens as derivative of its Classical and Hellenistic Greek past, Professor Kleiner demonstrates that the high quality of Greek marble and Greek stone carvers made these buildings consequential. In addition some structures provide evidence for the frequent and creative exchange of architectural ideas and motifs between Greece and Rome in Roman times. After a brief introduction to the history of the city of Athens, Professor Kleiner presents the monuments erected by Augustus and Agrippa on the Acropolis and in the Greek and Roman Agoras, for example the Odeion of Agrippa. Following with Hadrian's building program, she features an aqueduct and reservoir facade, the Library of Hadrian, and the vast Temple of Olympian Zeus, a project begun over six hundred years earlier. Professor Kleiner concludes the lecture with the Monument of Philopappos, a Trajanic tomb on the Mouseion Hill built for a man deprived of the kingship of Commagene by the Romans, but who made the best of the situation by becoming a suffect consul in Rome and then moving to Athens, where he died and was memorialized by his sister Balbilla.

Professor Kleiner discusses the rebirth of Athens under the Romans especially during the reigns of the two philhellenic emperors, Augustus and Hadrian. While some have dismissed the architecture of Roman Athens as derivative of its Classical and Hellenistic Greek past, Professor Kleiner demonstrates that the high quality of Greek marble and Greek stone carvers made these buildings consequential. In addition some structures provide evidence for the frequent and creative exchange of architectural ideas and motifs between Greece and Rome in Roman times. After a brief introduction to the history of the city of Athens, Professor Kleiner presents the monuments erected by Augustus and Agrippa on the Acropolis and in the Greek and Roman Agoras, for example the Odeion of Agrippa. Following with Hadrian's building program, she features an aqueduct and reservoir facade, the Library of Hadrian, and the vast Temple of Olympian Zeus, a project begun over six hundred years earlier. Professor Kleiner concludes the lecture with the Monument of Philopappos, a Trajanic tomb on the Mouseion Hill built for a man deprived of the kingship of Commagene by the Romans, but who made the best of the situation by becoming a suffect consul in Rome and then moving to Athens, where he died and was memorialized by his sister Balbilla.