Hey everyone. WE. ARE. BACK. Join Keri and Matthew this week as they cover Brian making his big screen debut, Darrington cooking up an event to rival 'Apple Day' and Adam going raving in the jungle. A huge, warm, mulled-cidery welcome to our SEVEN new Patrons: Tom, Steve, Frances, Debbie, Adam, Sally and Katy. Empty your pockets of the following pl…

The two on the Road to Emmaus, illustrate that the embodied, the fleshly, the historical, the scriptural is inadequate in recognizing Christ. To be stuck with the literal, which describes this theological/political moment in the United States, can be likened (according to Maximus and Origen) to being consumed by fleshly desire, while desire directe…

Dori Moody describes how poverty, chastity, and obedience bring a different kind of freedom.Av Plough

Jordan Wood answers a series of questions concerning how Christ is to be conceived in regard to hierarchy, lower and higher, cause and effect, and Jordan depicts his embrace and occupation of the inside and outside of hierarchical order. He also discusses contemporary issues of biblical interpretation concerning the body and sexuality and how consc…

Hey there listeners, despite a few beavers in the machine earlier, the pod is now up with all ads and jingles. A big welcome and thank you to new Patrons: Elizabeth, Marie and Paula. Dam Gurl : Rex is eager for beavers. Slum Chums : Helen reaches a new, cheesy level of condescension Passive Aggressive House : What's got Tony's goat? Produced by Mat…

Christ precedes and makes possible the fact of Scripture, both in its writing and formation, but also in the continuing reading and exegesis of Scripture. This fact is the unifying center of the faith, in answer to the multiplicities of Christian faiths now exposed in this politic moment, pointing to a deep theological crisis. If you enjoyed this p…

Rosemarie Garland Thomson asks why parents are not spared the terrible freedom of having to choose whether to have a child with a disability.Av Plough

In this discussion of Maximus' paradoxical view of the space and time bending elements of the Word/Scripture as the continuation of incarnation, Scripture is set in the context of Christ as Word - the Word incorporating and incorporated into all things. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!…

Join Keri, Matthew and their AI assistant Rex this week as they cover that slightly early Christmas Carol plot. We're also visited by a ghost of Ambridge future that you DIDN'T hear from on The Archers this week. Rest in Power June Spencer: We pay tribute. Massive thanks to new patrons, Richard, Melanie, Marie and Sam and a big shout-out to Chloe f…

This sermon on coming to Christ outside the city (Hebrews 13:12-14) traces the inevitable collapse of every civilization, and the attempt of Republican politicians such as JD Vance, Josh Hawley, and Donald Trump, and cultural warriors like Jordan Peterson and Peter Thiel, to weaponize Christianity to aid in civilizational war is equated with the of…

Jordan Castro describes how he sought freedom in drugs and novels, but they couldn't save him.Av Plough

Maximus, unlike N. T. Wright or Peter Enns but like Origen and the Apostles, equates Scripture with the body, soul, and spirit of Christ, treating the inspiration of Scripture as continuing to occur through Christ, and not through the letter. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!…

What can we do when Ambridge dishes up a week like THAT one we just had? Make a pod about it I guess. Thanks to new Patrons: Richard, Steven, Claire, James, Lauren, Luke, Caroline, Colin and Hannah, and a big up to John and Francesca for their upgrades. Name the following kittens: Death by Bonfire Cheese : Will Helen's plans hamper Fallon. Butt of …

The logic of Christ defeats the necessary logic surrounding death, in which life is fragmented and sequential in its beginning and end, but Christ's defeat of death introduces an order in which life reigns over death, and in this logic the life of Christ is an eternal reality, bringing together time and eternity, God and incarnation in a reciprocal…

John M.G. Barclay explores how Paul's letters probe the paradox of freedom through love.Av Plough

In this conclusion to part 4, Jordan takes on the scholastic notion that creation and incarnation are not a necessity, suggesting that such a notion leaves us with no particular understanding of God or his love. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!…

The Gospel of John depicts a real world deliverance from fear, real world healing from sin and slavery, and this is captured in John's deployment of Passover and treatment of Isaiah and the Suffering Servant, in which human evil (not God) results in his suffering and God brings mercy and healing from out of his oppression. This stands in contrast t…

Sohrab Ahmari asks what happened to the Christian tradition of supporting workers' rights?Av Plough

The death of Christ encompasses all dying and the life of Christ encompasses all of life, so that every individual true beginning and end is to be found in Christ. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!Av Paul Axton

Yom Kippur, the sacrifice of the Yahweh Goat and the sending of the Azazel Goat into the Abyss is the primary holy day for understanding the work of Christ. Clearly dividing and understanding the work of each goat arrives at a different meaning then those theories (like Calvin's) which fuse the work of the goats. Christ's life and death, like that …

J. Daniel Sims, an insider, reckons with complicity and compromise in Cambodia’s aid industry.Av Plough

Jordan Daniel Wood explains how Maximus' notion of the end is the beginning constitutes an understanding of salvation that encompasses and goes beyond legal understandings or ideas of Christus Victor. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!Av Paul Axton

Join us as we get into exactly what's waiting for George at Handale Prison, what's showing at Felpersham Orpheus this weekend and we ponder what might be the issue with the Ambridge tourist industry. Huge thanks to Rachel, Neil and Lara for becoming patrons and to James Griffiths who upgraded his membership. Bless you all. We're very grateful to He…

Christ connects to himself a long anti-sacrificial tradition in the prophets, connecting sacrifice with disobedience and violence, and not instituted by God. Christ sees himself as exposing the history of murder and murderous religion, but to reduce Christ to a propitiating sacrifice erases this central part of his message. If you enjoyed this podc…

James Wood tells his conversion story and asks: Is commitment just for suckers?Av Plough

In this repeat episode, Ryan Hemmer explains the significance of Paul Ricoeur, René Girard, and Sigmund Freud, in regard to the role of culture. What role for evil and desire or goodness and deity in language and culture? To register for the upcoming class on René Girard with Michael Hardin, Rene Girard and Nonviolent Atonement, go to https://pbi.f…

Join Keri and Matthew this week AND 22 NEW PATRONS! (shoutouts at the end you lovely people) as they kick the hornets' nest that is The Archers into the long grass. Baking in the oven, we have: Love at First Sting? : Zainab scooters into Ben's life. Bad-Time Story : Alice reads George his wrongs. Fake Off : Khalil likes to stir, but still gets his …

In Galatians, Paul explains that Christians are to read the law allegorically for their edification and to cling to the law for interpreting Christ is to continue to be enslaved by the elementary principles. As Origen explains, to cling to the violence and lust of the law by reading literally and historically rather than applying spiritually is to …

Peter Mommsen asks what's the point of freedom?Av Plough

Here is a repeat of an earlier podcast on Girard and Peter Berger. Jonathan, Matt, Brian, Brent, and Paul discuss Ephesians 4-5 and the singular lie exposed by Christ creating entry into love. The function of a hostile lie in the reification of culture and religion, as in the work of Peter Berger and Rene Girard, and the necessity of this lies expo…

Hey there you lot, Matthew was almost annoyed this week, while Keri was rocking in the corner. Our entries are: Table Emotion : Wish this storyline was on a wobbly table. I GET THAT REFERENCE! : Thanks Oliver and Pat. Cop Out : Harrison isn't feeling the force. Produced by Matthew Weir It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Earth by the immensely talente…

Joy is integral to the Christian life as described by Peter, commanded by Paul, and as defined by love and mutual indwelling by Dionysius and Maximus, who describe this joy and love as ecstatic longing and giving, culminating in the kenotic love of Christ. (To register for the upcoming class on René Girard with Michael Hardin, Rene Girard and Nonvi…

In this episode, Paul Axton discusses Girard's atonement theory - over against propitiation and penal substitution. (To register for the upcoming class on René Girard with Michael Hardin, Rene Girard and Nonviolent Atonement, go to https://pbi.forgingploughshares.org/offerings. The Course will run from the second week of October to the first week i…