The 106th podcast episode is available. It’s called “The Insurgency Began and You Missed It.”
GO HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical
Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.
The Insurgency Began & You Missed It
Don’t Confuse Me With the Facts
Hi Frank
I wish to make a qualified comment. I thought I heard you say something like “don’t listen to too many voices. In fact listen to only a few”. In some ways I agree. Too many voices can immobilize one. However there is a grave danger in only ever listening to like minded people. This is especially so when they are wrong. I have always heard you, (and your research and writing indicates you listen to many opinions) as being a very considered person. So when I heard that statement I hoped it was said with great qualification. The dangers of not listening, when we are still so deaf and blind, is never hearing at all.
I pray for joy in your being today.
Andre
You misunderstood my point. If you’ve read any of my books, you know that I am a voracious reader and am familiar with just about everything that’s out there in theology, etc. Including voices I don’t agree with, for I often respond to such voices.
In that comment, I was talking about what I LISTEN TO for PERSONAL EDIFICATION from those who are part of the PRESENT REVOLUTION. I thought the context was clear, but perhaps not for everyone.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but pursuing all studying and listening with a firm reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit is what is crucial. If God can send a message through a donkey, he can use some of the most unlikely resources to shine His light of truth.
When I first read From Eternity to Here, many of the thoughts were divergent from my spiritual upbringing . . . but the Spirit opened my eyes to truths that I had been aching to understand. In some ways, Frank’s writing was not new, but confirming, even though much ran counter to my church teaching.
Notably, not all readers have the same reaction. I learned of From Eternity to Here from a friend in seminary. The book was assigned reading. As we discussed the book, he noted that most of his class panned the book. Parts simply fell outside of their theology, so the whole was worthless in their minds.
Personally, I think they simply chose to eat from the wrong tree.
Interesting. Assigned reading in seminary? What seminary and who was the professor. Why did he assign the book?
Interesting, none of these folks came to me directly to dialogue. The book has been hailed and the reviews are very high, so this is very interesting. Sounds like it’s just another case of this – https://www.frankviola.org/2014/10/24/dialogue/
Yes, facts can be troublesome when we are vested in our decisions. Sarcasm aside, I think the biggest objection that some of the students had was to the concept of God creating humans out of a “need” for love. I think you explained your meaning more-than-adequately, but these students may have been looking for a reason to not like your book.
I will try to find out the name of the professor and send his name to you via email or Facebook message. The seminary was the American Lutheran Theological Seminary (alts.edu).
That’s too silly. Jesus had “need” of a donkey in the NT (not my words, but the Gospel writer). Yep, Jesus had a need. Cough. Thanks for “getting” that I was using human language to describe a Divine impulse, passion, and purpose in one paragraph of a 300 page book. Interestingly, that book has been echoed by scholars like Richard Hays and G.K. Beale.
It was also the approach of most of the historical church, including Luther himself: https://www.frankviola.org/JesusAppendix.pdf
That said, Christians can be really silly people, especially those who are mindy and heady and live in their frontal lobes and seek to use it to ANALize Divine truth which refuses to be grasped by Aristotlian, left-brained rationalism. 😉 Anyways, I’d be more than happy to dialogue (even debate) with these folks, if they dare come on here to discuss.
Glad you listened to this episode.
How do I stream it online? I don’t do Apple or Android. Laptop only.
Read the blog. It clearly says what to do if you don’t have a smart phone.