Five of the seven nations that are the target of judgment oracles were found in Ezekiel 25. Tyre takes its position in the prophetic crosshairs next. Over the course of three chapters (26-28), God has Ezekiel pronounce Tyre’s dire future in the wake of her hubris and delight at Jerusalem’s destruction. This episode covers Ezekiel 26-27 with an oracle of judgment (Ezek 26) and a lament (Ezek 27).
The episode is now live.
27:45 to 31:33 minute marker left me with more questions than answers. What are the odds of you doing a podcast over pagan, “Christian” (e.g. Edgar Cayce), and gnostic views on reincarnation vs. Judaeo-Christian rejection of such views as demonic parodies to the resurrection. Is that something we could add to the to do list? Perhaps even a Peeranormal episode on “past life recall” in time Roswell? I noticed 3 reincarnation movies on the tv guide over New Years weekend and Dennis Quaid is currently starring in a movie about puppy reincarnation. It’s a legit problem. Just a thought. Thank you for all that you do!
on this podcast, pretty much zero. We may do reincarnation at some point on Peeranormal.
This has me wondering how you got to those thoughts from Ezek 26-27!
The short version? I’m weird. I have an analytical mind and Uncle Sam’s school for boys trained it to spot security threats like most people can spot their exit on a freeway. I also used to affirm a belief in reincarnation so certain verses hit my differently than most people. So what gnostics and guys like Cayce will do is when Ezekiel 26:20 says you will go down to the pit with people and ruins of old and be uninhabited they will take that to mean the body looking for its soul/spirit, not they city of Tyre. They will twist extraction from Sheol language (27:45-31:33 of this podcast) and Greek Orthodox’s the harrowing of hell, Ezekiel’s dry bones (also mentioned in this podcast), John the Baptist coming in the spirit of Elijah, the Joshua/Jesus typology connection, Peter’s confession that some say Jesus is John the Baptist and others say He’s Elijah (Luk 9:19), the Transfiguration and verses like 1 Timothy 4:10 that Jesus saved all of us, to all be a meta narrative for reincarnation running throughout the Bible. Some scary statistics:
According to Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, “About one in four Americans believe in reincarnation. Among college age young people the figure is nearly one in three. Surprisingly, about one in five who attend church regularly also believe in reincarnation, in spite of the fact that the Bible and orthodox Christian belief reject reincarnation” (p. 639). It’s sexy. It’ll preach. Hebrews 9:25-26 need not apply.
When I was in the world, universalism and reincarnation made sense. It had more explanatory power than John Hagee. It gets God off the hook for sending disobedient children to hell, as well as the preverbal guy on the island who’s never heard of Jesus. **CORRECTIVE THEOLOGY FROM AN ANCIENT ISRAELITE PERSPECTIVE WAS THE ONLY THING THAT FIXED ME.** I might add that while I would’ve enjoyed a Peeranormal episode debunking past life recall, I most likely would’ve filed it away under just another interesting theory. I doubt it would’ve changed my mind… because I didn’t have the correct theological framework in place with which to engage it.
Why has your analytical mind led you towards Christianity? My analytical mind has led me towards Buddhism, which in its orthodox form rejects the idea of a soul.
The Buddhist Saraha the Arrowmaker said “The Brahmins claim to know the truth, but they merely quote from the Vedas!” I say in a similar way “The Christians claim to know the truth, but they merely quote from the Bible!”
In terms of your specific question, because I don’t find materialism coherent.
Buddhism is not materialism. The Buddha and his followers were aware of materialist philosophy, which in those times and places was called Charvaka (IAST: Cārvāka), but they rejected this materialist philosophy as incoherent, as do I.
If you only accept Christianity because you reject materialism, then there are other non-materialist religions in the world, many of which accept souls. Why do you not accept one of those religions as true?
I’m not sure you’re following my point, but that’s okay.
And I didn’t say I am a Christian because of the one point about materialism. That’s a component (and a necessary one), but it’s not a line of cause and effect. For what I think, read “About” on my website.
I interpreted our conversation as follows:
I asked the question: Why has your analytical mind led you towards Christianity?
You replied: In terms of your specific question, because I don’t find materialism coherent.
I concluded, based upon your answer to my question, that you are a Christian because of the one point about materialism. You could have told me to consider other reasons, such as mentioned in your About Me page, but you only mentioned the rejection of materialism. So I took you in good faith at your word and replied accordingly.
I hope that this was not too bad a misinterpretation 🙂
Are you aware of Muggletonian Christianity? A truly fascinating sect of Christian, and extremely materialistic, to the point that they claimed that YHVH has a body between 5 and 6 feet in height, and that he lives several miles above the Earth. So it seems that not all forms of Christianity reject materialism. Unless you would reject the Muggletonians as not really Christian, perhaps? I would not be surprised, I suppose, if you were to define Christianity only in terms of the Nicene creed. For my part, I use a broader definition, related to holding Jesus as Saviour, either through Death/Resurrection or through his role as Revealer of Heavenly Secrets. This allows one to understand the Gnostics, Marcionites, Arians, Patripassionists, etc., as Christians despite their non-adherence to (and frequent predating of the Nicene Creed).
Not that I hold Jesus to be any person of value, except insofar as he inspired Martin Luther who in turn inspired a similar focus upon the Pali Canon by 19th century Theravada Monks.