In this episode, Jonah and Patrick take up the divisive yet important topic: politics. To do this right will take a patient, deeper approach, so let's "sit down" and get into it.
With an election in the U.S. coming, social tensions running extremely high and deep running conspiracies perceived in every direction, we felt it essential to risk taking up the question of a Christ-permeated perspective on the world of politics, of a Christ-centered approach to social and political participation. Most important, we try and deeply enter the question: How does Christ rule in his kingdom?
This episode lays some of the groundwork for approaching this theme. We hope - and expect - that your own questions are stirred up by the conversation. We hope you will share them with us, either in the comments or in a message directly sent to us.
Next week we will get into more of the specifics of the challenges of this moment in time.
This was a longer conversation than fit into an hour-long episode, so we have edited it down a little. This took us an extra day to get ready so thank you for your patience!
Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road", the musical interlude "Water of Life" and the closing music, "Seeking Together". You can find more of his music here.
Episode Notes
This episode required a deeper dive into the spiritual history of humanity and the evolution of consciousness and often refers to images and texts from the Bible to reveal these signature moments. We hope the episode notes will be of some help for you in following up on these elements.
- We reference the conversations between Pilate and Jesus during his trial before the crucifixion as depicted in the Gospel of John. You can read this whole, powerful story in John 18:28 - 19:22.
- Patrick references the law that separated church and state, first passed in the colony of Virginia and drafted in large part by Thomas Jefferson.
- Caesar as the spiritual contrast to Christ is a deep and rich topic that we only briefly touch on. To follow up on the 'invitations' that a Caesar would go through, look here.
- We look at King Herod as an example of the 'false king' that is on the throne of Israel at Jesus' birth. His story reveals the 'by any means necessary' will to power to which Jesus' kingship is contrasted.
- Jonah and Patrick refer to the prophecies of Isaiah: first, the 'suffering servant' prophecy, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed." (Isaiah 53) and (correction) then Patrick refers to the prophecy that the "law will be written on their hearts". This prophecy does not come from Isaiah but from Jeremiah 31:33. Isaiah speaks similarly of such a future day, but differently,
The Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary.
Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.
