Category: Updates

Podcasts… Joseph Steinberg

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by Martin Scott
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My mate, Martin Purnell, hosts ‘Off Grid Christianity’ podcasts interviewing all sorts of interesting people (including the very famous Noel Richards… but includes me in so that Mr. Noel stays within boundaries!)… He recently did two interviews with Joseph Steinberg. Joseph is the CEO of International Mission to Jewish People and grew up in a Reformed American Jewish family who were opposed to any thought of belief in Jesus. Part 1 gives a wonderful insight into his family background and his amazing conversion… part 2 is on his understanding of the land the people and the current Middle Eastern conflict.

Theologically (he said he was a Calvinist!) and on issues of the land I would go a different direction, BUT his passion for Jesus and the centrality of Jesus means these two podcasts compelling listening. Easy to listen to and very inspiring.

Off Grid Christianity – Episode 78 (Part One) – Joseph Steinberg
Off Grid Christianity – Episode 79 (Part Two) – Joseph Steinberg
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A reminder… Zoom tonight

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by Martin Scott
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There is an open zoom – all welcome. It is the second Zoom on eschatology, with a focus on Matthew 24 (Luke 21; Mark 13 parallels). It will be helpful if you plan on coming if you have either read a pdf that I wrote covering this chapter with also Paul’s cryptic comment on ‘the man of lawlessness’:

The pdf is here:

The Second Horizon

or watch a video (interview):

The Zoom link is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5728039267?pwd=NEozVVM0Z1NJSDFKKzNwdG9KUDc5dz09

ID: 572 803 9267
Passcode: 5GkMTA

And the time is 7:30 UK time.

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At last!!

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by Martin Scott
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I have today completed and uploaded the next pdf on Eschatology. It focuses on the ‘second horizon’, the fall and destruction of the city of Jerusalem and Temple in AD70. I do not believe there is any justification in trying to make the words of Jesus in Matt. 24 / Mark 13 / Luke 21 fit in to some future time (as related to us) but that he spoke to the future of the disciples who were hearing his words, and he makes this clear with all the signs he gave would be fulfilled in the generation alive at the time. I end with Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians on ‘the man of lawlessness’ with the suggestion that the time frame he is looking to is the same one that Jesus gave. The first horizon was deeply unexpected as it was initiated by the death of Messiah. They could not imagine that could take place; the second horizon was to occur over the 40 years following.

Click to download / read (pdf format).

Eschatology: The Second Horizon.

I plan next week to record a YouTube video to accompany the pdf. The video will be simpler with a more of an overview, the pdf digs deeper.

If you wish to find other pdf’s and the one that precedes this volume go to:

Extended Articles

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A Christmas Podcast

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by Martin Scott
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Of course you are interested in this ‘Off Grid Christianity’ Christmas podcast, Noel Richards and I (never know when it is a ‘me’ or an ‘I’) with Martin Purnell as host. A bit of fun but also a little bit in there about the Imperial world that Jesus entered… Here is the blurb from the site:

Another year over! Martin and Noel re-join me for this special festive podcast with yet another quiz before we tackle some questions that might tax your brain cells! So please sit back, enjoy and listen to some laughter along with some silly facts plus serious statements in which to ponder. If you’re feeling lonely over this Christmas period, you are not forgotten and we trust that this episode will make you feel part of the conversation.

Off Grid Christianity – Episode 67 – Christmas Special 2023 with Noel Richards and Martin Scott
https://www.accessradio.biz/podcast/off-grid-christianity-episode-67-christmas-special-2023-with-noel-richards-and-martin-scott/
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Want to journey on a zoom?

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by Martin Scott
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A long term project!!! I am beginning a set of videos / articles that will be on eschatology.

I plan (and what can go wrong / get delayed / discovered I have bitten off more than I can chew??????) to put together material on Eschatology. The material will be two fold:

Short videos and a more detailed pdf. I have made four videos that serve as an introduction. Two are already uploaded… hopefully the second set of 2 will go up early next week. These are introductory as I am convinced that unless we have some basis on which to grapple with the ancient literature that we call the Bible (it was not written to us but for us) we might just make 2+2 = 666!!! Hence these 4 are basic but foundational – the final one will be to expand on how the ‘one horizon’ of Jewish future is split into ‘multiple horizons’. (I made a series of podcasts some 14 years ago – so I thought it was time to update.)

The videos and the pdf’s will be one element, then the second part will be a Zoom meeting. I think the Zoom evening will consist of 15 – 20 minutes input, then discussion, feedback. Before the evening either a viewing of the four videos should be done and / or reading the pdf.

The first two videos are here (the following 2 will be up by early next week):

And the pdf is here:

Eschatology: Introduction.pdf

I am setting two dates – they will be repeats so it is not necessary to attend both evenings:

Tuesday September 12th 19:30 UK time

Tuesday October 10th 19:30 UK time.

And I will also be doing Zooms on Book 4 ‘The LifeLine’:

The first one will likely be Oct. 11th. Let me know if you wish to join – either you have done previous volumes with me; or if you want to join I can give you a summary of the first three. Please email me if you wish to join so as I can add you to that mailing list.

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Webinar with Anna Mercedes (at Kenarchy)

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by Martin Scott
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This is a copy of an email from Roger:

The Kenarchy Journal: Anna Mercedes Webinar 20th September 19.30hrs

Happy autumn! As you may know, we at The Kenarchy Journal are experimenting with webinars to give readers of the journal the opportunity to engage with our authors. The first of these will be on Wednesday September 20th with Anna Mercedes, whose article “Kenosis in Catastrophe” was published in Volume Four of the Journal. I am contacting you as someone who has been in touch asking about this, or who I think will be interested. It would help us if you could reply by return if you plan to participate. A zoom link will be sent to those enlisting in due course.

Please feel free to forward this to friends and colleagues who you think might be interested.

Peace and love,

Roger

Use this link to let Roger know of your intention to attend:
https://kenarchy.org/response-to-an-article-author/

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Advance Notice

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by Martin Scott
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I am so far ahead of myself with this… but…

Over the past months there have a variety of ‘open zooms’ and the most recent ones have tried to explore what a ‘kingdom economics’ might look like. In September I plan to get a Zoom date where I will present some material that will act as introductory material on Eschatology (so a little bit of a shift… but ultimately eschatology is deeply practical with the biblical question always being a ‘so what?’ or ‘how then do we live in the light of that?’. I am currently recording /editing four short videos and will also make available a pdf (10,000 words) to go with this evening. If we find there is sufficient material we will make this into 2 evenings.

At the heart of this first set of videos (more videos to come) will be:

  • Prophecy is not history written in advance – it is promise.
  • We cannot draw a straight line from OT prophecies to current events.
  • The NT must show us how to read OT texts.
  • A move from a one horizon of ‘Messiah will come’ to three levels of horizon (debt to Andrew Perriman on this) – three horizons of ‘cross’, AD70 and the fall of Jerusalem, and the final parousia.
  • That ‘end times’ is not about a set of events but the final transformation of this world constructs into the kingdom of our Lord and Christ, therefore it must include
  • the transformation of creation not simply the ’saving of souls’ – indeed the paradigm of who is saved and who is not is to miss the thrust of creation to new creation.

I will post here when I have more firm details.

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Kenarchy Volume 5

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by Martin Scott
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Volume 5 (‘Sovereignty Upended’) of the Kenarchy Journal is out.

https://kenarchy.org

A new aspect will be Zoom webinars with some of the authors. September 20th 2023 at 19.30hrs there will be the opportunity to meet with Anna Mercedes around her article “Kenosis in Catastrophe” that was published in Volume 4:1, and on September 21st at 19.30hrs the opportunity to discuss with Roger the relationship between kenarchy and sovereignty. (Times listed are UK time zone.) I will post details when nearer to the date, but best also to enlist via the contact form:

https://kenarchy.org/response-to-an-article-author/

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God, humans… but Jesus

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by Martin Scott
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Karl Barth once wittily remarked,

One can not speak of God simply by speaking of man in a loud voice.

God wholly different, set apart; cannot project from here to there and think that in the ‘there’ that we have pointed to that we have discovered God. Well said Mr. B!

BUT, let’s put another ‘quote’ following KB’s:

One cannot speak of God by saying ‘humanity’ in a loud voice…
but even with the softest voice, and even if we tentatively say ‘Jesus’ we have truly spoken of God.

God is wholly different (the meaning of holiness) AND has become one of us, and I think given the resurrection, we can add ‘for ever’. (And just to push that one step further, hence in parenthesis, so no need to read if it is a step too far for the reader… after all, we do not want to offend do we? For ever, human, but not now male… nor female.)

The radical nature of the Christian faith is that the Christian God reveals Godself in human form. God is beyond human, but not so wholly different. We cannot shout ‘Martin’ and immediately God is manifest, but we can whisper ‘Jesus’ and God is present. (Yet as I whisper Jesus, increasingly as someone else raises the volume of their voice and says ‘Martin’ a little bit of God becomes present… ‘follow me as I follow Christ’ being the paradigm.)

We should always realise that even when we talk of the best that is within humanity we have not fully talked of God for ‘fallenness’ runs throughout humanity; but when we talk of Jesus (for there is no other God than the one revealed by Jesus – revelation being personal not propositional) we really are talking of God. Not only is the Christology of the New Testament a high one (Jesus is God) but it is high in the sense of raising the bar as to what it means to be human.

I pursue some of this in the book ‘Humanising the Divine’… where I use the paradigm of Jesus being fully God (we are not); fully human (this we share) and also uniquely truly human (we are being redeemed into this image). Sin therefore is not about a set of laws, but about falling short of the glory of God, of failing to be truly human.

BTW… from time to time I hold Zoom sessions on the book(s) – if interested you can send me an email here:
https://3generations.eu/zoomcourse

Here is a link to a little more on the book series:
https://3generations.eu/book-series

And to purchase ‘Humanising the Divine’:
https://bozpublications.com

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Reminder: ‘Open’ Zoom on Monday

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by Martin Scott
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The next of the ‘open zoom’ evenings is now scheduled for Monday April 3rd, 7.30pm UK time. (NB: Two days away).

This evening we will have Spencer Thompson with us and the input he will bring will be both stimulating and practical. We have been focused on a ‘Kingdom Economics’ and at the time of writing this already two banks these past few days (with a third I am sure right on the heals of those two) have been suspended, making issues of economics highly visible.

Spencer lives in Edinburgh where he works as an economist in the Scottish Government. He’s currently on secondment at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation where he does analysis aimed at solving poverty in the UK. He also has an interest in theology and writes on the intersection between theology and economics.

Spencer will be introducing some of his emerging thoughts on the theology of counting. Counting appears to be inherent to the universe and innate to human beings, yet it is loaded with historical, philosophical, and theological baggage which needs to be unpacked. Particularly in the modern world, which is increasingly ruled by numbers, we are often blind to the ways that our thoughts and actions are shaped by this apparently neutral act. Intrigued? It will all become clear and nicely ‘earthed’ with Ro Lavender and Steve Lowton hosting. See you Monday?

No need to reply to this email. If attending the Zoom link will be:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5728039267?pwd=NEozVVM0Z1NJSDFKKzNwdG9KUDc5dz09
Meeting ID: 572 803 9267
Passcode: 5GkMTA

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