Podcasts about seriously dangerous religion

Here is the third and final of our reboots from Iain Provan's epic 2011 series on the Old Testament Reloaded – “What is Creation?”. In this talk Iain concludes his magnificent trilogy of talks positioning the vast Mosaic vision of God and reality in contrast to the prevailing Ancient Near Eastern worldviews. It is so important to grasp the fact that this was a contest of worldviews – not religions. In the ANE world, the ‘cosmology' was their total worldview – it was philosophy, reality, society and values. So Moses upturned all of this. We do Moses a vast disservice if we then put him back in our ‘religious' box – and we can learn from these talks how to widen our grammar of the gospel from merely religious language to all of life language. This talk will echo lots of the themes that I raised in my latest Breakfast with Jesus talk on Ezekiel's Wider Vision of the Temple where I explained some of the motifs that link the cosmos to the temple. Iain goes into even deeper detail here and weaves a vast tapestry together of OT allusions to the creation as ‘sacred space'. His overarching theme is that creation is not divine – but it is sacred. But Iain does not stop there – he moves onto the associated vision of humanity that this ‘cosmos as temple' vision implies. That humanity is placed in the temple as the image of God – the vice regent of created space. If you like listening to Iain, then dive into more of his talks on our website. You will find two series there – the 2011 series called ‘The OT Reloaded' and the 2015 series called ‘Seriously Dangerous Religion'. We will add a great short bibliography that Iain gave us recommending some key resources if we want to take some of the thinking further. Of course, one of them is John Walton, another valued guest of ours in Gospel Conversations. Our next talk will return to Ezekiel to continue the Breakfast with Jesus series. In that talk we will discuss ‘What is ‘glory'?'

Sermon Text: Leviticus 19:9-18; 33-34

Sermon Text: Leviticus 19:9-18; 33-34

Sermon Text: Leviticus 19:9-18; 33-34

Episode #4 begins with some helpful reading practices, discusses last week's assigned reading, introduces some books that arrived in the mail, and opens a discussion topic on Calvinism.  The largest portion of the episode features a discussion of the high points from chapters 7 & 8 of T. Desmond Alexander's "From Paradise to the Promised Land".  Alexander's book is currently featured in the weekly reading assignments.  There are also brief reviews and introductions to "Kingdom Come" by Sam Storms, "Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes" by Kenneth E. Bailey, "Drawing Water From The Wells Of Salvation"Doug Edward, "Practicing Proverbs" by Richard Mayhue, "Jesus the Sage" by Ben Witherington, "Seriously Dangerous Religion" by Iain Provan, "Elect in the Son" by Robert Shank, and "The Gospel Plan of Salvation" by T. W. Brents.  If you have a favorite book to recommend on the topic of Calvinism, please send us the title and author's name to ChristianResearcher@gmail.com. 

Iain joins The GoodCast to talk about the sacredness of work, creation, the fall and so much else. He is an excellent human who has given his life to studying the scripture and in this episode he reframes the creation account from an ancient near eastern perspective and completely rethinks life and everything else...There is so much goodness to hear in this episode. He has written prolifically on the Bible and specialises in the Old Testament including his most recent book, 'Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Says and Why it Matters'. He has a unique ability to embed the Biblical account into a rich context. Iain is the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College in Canada and has been lecturing there for the past 20 years. For more information feel free to email him or check out more from him at Regent College.

As always Iain shines in this important and extended question and answer session. As one participant observed to me about Iain’s ability to answer questions—‘He has the gift of understanding what the questioner was really trying to say and what lay behind the question—even if the asker could not articulate it well themselves.

This is a talk lots of us have been waiting for—what kind of position should believers take in politics? Iain confronts the fear that many people hold – ie involving faith and politics will result in a kind of ‘Christian Taliban’. Many Christians feel caught in a no-man’s land between the hard choice of involvement and detachment. We want our faith to be involved in politics and society but fear becoming hardcore fundamentalists—the ‘Christian Taliban’ comment. But we also fear to retreat into a totally private world of faith. Iain’s talk charts a brilliant third way and as such is one of the most important talks you will ever hear.

This talk is a fitting climax to the grand sweep of this series. Iain finishes with ‘hope’ or the vision of the future that Jerusalem gave the world. Importantly he begins by demolishing the Greek notion of the intrinsic immortality of the soul, and he explains that this is not the vision of hope here. He grounds God’s promises of the future in the great covenants of the Bible and their increasing scope until they climax in the incarnation where God became human in order that humans might become like God forever.

Having diagnosed the deep roots of modern thinking Iain moves on to the consequences. What are the practical implications of living within the ‘Jerusalem’ mindset? This talk is simple and profound: living with the Jerusalem legacy means building our lives around three archetypal relationships:Our relationship with God and the creational vision of cosmic realityOur relationship with our neighbours—where we find we ARE our brother’s keepersOur relationship with the creation

The first talk from Iain Provan's series titled Seriously Dangerous Religion.

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. In his new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor UP, 2014), Iain W. Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should–and according to Provan does–answer: questions such as “Who is God?” and “Why do evil and suffering mark the world?” By focusing on Genesis and drawing on other Old Testament and extra-biblical sources, Seriously Dangerous Religion constructs a more plausible reading. As it turns out, Provan argues, the Old Testament is far more dangerous than modern critics even suppose. Since 1997, Iain Provan has been the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-author, with V. Philips Long and Tremper Longman, of A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2003), and the author of Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). Provan received his MA in Medieval history and archaeology from Glasgow University, his BA in theology from London Bible College, and his PhD from Cambridge University. His academic teaching career has taken him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge; and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. In his new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor UP, 2014), Iain W. Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should–and according to Provan does–answer: questions such as “Who is God?” and “Why do evil and suffering mark the world?” By focusing on Genesis and drawing on other Old Testament and extra-biblical sources, Seriously Dangerous Religion constructs a more plausible reading. As it turns out, Provan argues, the Old Testament is far more dangerous than modern critics even suppose. Since 1997, Iain Provan has been the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-author, with V. Philips Long and Tremper Longman, of A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2003), and the author of Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). Provan received his MA in Medieval history and archaeology from Glasgow University, his BA in theology from London Bible College, and his PhD from Cambridge University. His academic teaching career has taken him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge; and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. In his new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor UP, 2014), Iain W. Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should–and according to Provan does–answer: questions such as “Who is God?” and “Why do evil and suffering mark the world?” By focusing on Genesis and drawing on other Old Testament and extra-biblical sources, Seriously Dangerous Religion constructs a more plausible reading. As it turns out, Provan argues, the Old Testament is far more dangerous than modern critics even suppose. Since 1997, Iain Provan has been the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-author, with V. Philips Long and Tremper Longman, of A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2003), and the author of Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). Provan received his MA in Medieval history and archaeology from Glasgow University, his BA in theology from London Bible College, and his PhD from Cambridge University. His academic teaching career has taken him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge; and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. In his new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor UP, 2014), Iain W. Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should–and according to Provan does–answer: questions such as “Who is God?” and “Why do evil and suffering mark the world?” By focusing on Genesis and drawing on other Old Testament and extra-biblical sources, Seriously Dangerous Religion constructs a more plausible reading. As it turns out, Provan argues, the Old Testament is far more dangerous than modern critics even suppose. Since 1997, Iain Provan has been the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-author, with V. Philips Long and Tremper Longman, of A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2003), and the author of Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). Provan received his MA in Medieval history and archaeology from Glasgow University, his BA in theology from London Bible College, and his PhD from Cambridge University. His academic teaching career has taken him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge; and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. In his new book Seriously Dangerous Religion: What the Old Testament Really Says and Why It Matters (Baylor UP, 2014), Iain W. Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should–and according to Provan does–answer: questions such as “Who is God?” and “Why do evil and suffering mark the world?” By focusing on Genesis and drawing on other Old Testament and extra-biblical sources, Seriously Dangerous Religion constructs a more plausible reading. As it turns out, Provan argues, the Old Testament is far more dangerous than modern critics even suppose. Since 1997, Iain Provan has been the Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a co-author, with V. Philips Long and Tremper Longman, of A Biblical History of Israel (John Knox Press, 2003), and the author of Convenient Myths: The Axial Age, Dark Green Religion, and the World that Never Was (Baylor University Press, 2013). Provan received his MA in Medieval history and archaeology from Glasgow University, his BA in theology from London Bible College, and his PhD from Cambridge University. His academic teaching career has taken him to King’s College London, the University of Wales, and the University of Edinburgh, where he was a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament Studies. Provan is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge; and the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices