In Romans 13:1, it was under the darkest of circumstances that Paul outlined the responsibility of Christians to the state. In light of the fact that Jesus has been slain and Paul himself will shortly be murdered, Christians can defeat the powers through the same revolutionary subordination, defeating death (the power of this world's kingdoms) and …

Jordan Wood introduces the alternative logic of the incarnation in which the symbol is the symbolized, and usual modes of ordering cause and effect and time and eternity, the apophatic and cataphatic, or the Platonic and Aristotelian are surpassed. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work. Become a Patron!…

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…

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…

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…

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!…

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…

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!…

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…

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…

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!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 …

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!Paul Axton

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…

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…

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 …

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…

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…

In this repeat edition of a PBI course discussion on science and language, Tim, Tyler, Trenton, and Paul discuss how Girard's theory might or might not fit evolutionary theory, or a deterministic or a free will universe, and how modern science accords with a particular theological understanding of language. To register for the course René Girard an…

Here is a repeat of an earlier interview with Michael Hardin, who will be teaching a class with PBI beginning in the second week of October. In this fascinating interview with Michael, author of some ten books dealing with René Girard he tells of his relationship with both Girard and Walter Wink and he describes the essential element which Girard b…

In this conversation, Michael Hardin introduces his class with Ploughshares Bible Institute on the work of René Girard. He describes the 8 week course which will begin the second week of October. Michael was a friend of Girard and was present at the founding of the Colloquium On Violence and Religion, and he will share published and unpublished wor…

Here is a repeat of an earlier episode on René Girard pointing to our upcoming class with Michael Hardin. Paul and Frank have a conversation about the work of Girard, who has given us a tremendously useful and biblical understanding of the scapegoat mechanism which shapes all culture. (To register for the upcoming class on René Girard with Michael …

Jordan Wood answers a series of question on duality and nonduality, contemplation, embodiment, and time, in his explanation of Maximus the Confessor. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.Paul Axton