All Episodes
He Sent Them Out
According to Google, to rationalize is to "attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these a...
Bread and Circuses
Human beings make decisions and take actions based on assumptions. We do so because without assumptions, we are paralyzed by complexity. In some cases, an assumption i...
Jesus Proclaimed the Letter of the Law
We've all heard it. On every corner. In every school. At every church. There is always somebody spouting platitudes about the "dangers" of taking the Bible literally. ...
Step Forward or Step Aside
Have you ever had a ton of work to do, only to be pulled into long meetings with people who talk endlessly to avoid action? You know that feeling when you have a simpl...
Don't Be Fooled by the Crowds
People deal with the miracles and parables of Jesus as biblical vignettes that can be extracted from the gospels and presented on their own. Biblical scholars refer to...
Do Not Be Amazed, Be Obedient
The fallacy of the Messianic Secret is based on a presupposition that openly contradicts the teaching of Mark's Gospel. While scholars assume that Jesus is preoccupied...
A New Teaching?
Teaching is tedious work. No matter how many times you explain something, for every one person who doesn't get it, there are a thousand people you can't get to. It's e...
Pleased With Himself
Ancient religions stood on a simple premise: find a way to please the gods or face their wrath. Are you afraid of bad weather? Make a sacrifice. Worried about your fam...
A Path in the Wilderness?
The first few verses of Markâs gospel are packed with prophetic imagery. From the impossible concept of a path in the wilderness to the Baptistâs position outside ...
Eye of the Needle Jokes
The biblical system proposes hyperbole, scandal, and logical contradiction as a means to disassemble the statues and false gods we construct in our minds. At the same ...
Third Time is Not a Charm
We Christians assume that God’s love is unconditional and that it is never too late to change our ways. Although comforting, this idea contradicts the story of the Bib...
It's Not a Two-way Street
In broken families, parents complain that their children "owe" them and children delude themselves that their parents "need" them. From each perspective, the relations...
Silence is Not Golden
What good would it be if a man were to ascend to the highest heaven and return with nothing to say? Would you be impressed by him? Would you brag about him to others? ...
Let No One Think Me Foolish
People embrace social norms in much the same way that fundamentalists embrace religious rules: as a means of self-approval. A person feigns modesty either to win accep...
The Great Corinthian Brain Hack
How can a teacher reach someone who is set in their ways or engulfed by ideology? What if the way a person looks at the world -- their unstated assumption about everyt...
A Yo Yo for Your Sake
Unfortunately, Christians often co-opt the Bible to justify philosophical axioms, such as, "it is good to be humble," or, "it is wrong to boast;" “it is good to be nic...
No Thanks to You
Is it possible to do something good without allowing yourself to take credit? I'm not talking about haughty expressions of socially encouraged self-deprication. On the...
The Bus Keeps Moving
People tend to overestimate their own importance while ignoring--or at least underestimating--the value of others. This problem is keenly felt in the church at Roman C...