Trauma-Informed Church Kid

The Life of the Age and the Second Death

What is gehenna? Is it the same as hell? What is the Age to Come? Is it only something for the far-off future, or is it something for here and now as well What is the second death? Is that the Lake of Fire? What does it mean for a human being to experience the second death? Will all be saved, or only some? Is this something we should be afraid of, and to whom are these warnings directed? Can we really trust that Adonai is merciful and gracious, when all this threat of punishment is hanging over us?
 
Today, we explore one of the thorniest, most shadowy, and least certain topics we've encountered so far. It is also the source of much of the pain, hurt, and loss of trust that has caused deconstruction. In this episode, I try to take a slow walk (almost double-length!) through the biblical language surrounding final judgment and the Age to Come. My hope is that you are able to hear within these stumbling words a picture of a Father who desires that none should perish, and that all should be brought to repentance.
 
Was “Gehenna” a Smoldering Garbage Dump? – The Baker Deep End Blog
 
NB 441 Transcript
 
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
 
Hades is Embittered — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick (ancientfaith.com)

Life, Death, and the Afterdeath

As we've been walking through Genesis 1-3, a few "plot holes" have emerged. What is life? What does it mean to be "alive" or a "living being" (nefesh)? What then is death? Did Adam and Eve actually die the day they ate of the Tree of Knowing? And what happens after death? What is Sheol? Abaddon? Abraham's Bosom?  What is the Old Testament idea of what happens when we die? Are we talking about heaven and hell here?In this episode, I give some trauma-informed and biblically/traditionally grounded responses to these questions. Along the way, we discover a God who is himself the source of life, who laments over the death of his children, and who will enter as deep as possible into enemy territory to rescue and redeem his children.
Naked Bible 440: The Afterlife Part 1 | The Naked Bible Podcast
An image of the Old Testament cosmology, including the Underworld
Azazel and the “Scapegoat” (Leviticus 16) | Zondervan Academic
1 Enoch (earlyjewishwritings.com)
Naked Bible 347: Jonah and the Chaos Dragon | The Naked Bible Podcast
Holy Sonnets: Death, be not proud | The Poetry Foundation
Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates - Psalm 24 and the Harrowing of Hades - The Whole Counsel Blog (ancientfaith.com)

Attached to the Father -- THE HOW OF HURT

In this episode, I tell my story of how I grew up without a clear sense that God liked me. I discuss my encounter with God up in the mountains, using contemplative prayer as a vehicle for that experience, and what that taught me about the heart of my Heavenly Father toward me. I dig a little bit into attachment science, discussing how it works in our relationship with both people and with God, and explore how experiencing "vertical" attachment repair affects our ability to also experience (and give) "horizontal" attachment repair. This episode is meant as a follow-up to the previous one: the Expert-Teas episode with Nicholas Soellner on contemplative prayer.Attachment patterns infographic
Anatomy of the Soul (Curt Thompson)   There is an excerpt of a contemplative prayer exercise from that book HERE
Attached to God (Krispin Mayfield)

Possessed by Hope -- EXPERT-TEAS

Today we sit down for "tea" with Nicholas Soellner! He is a friend of mine online who I collaborate with frequently on the Cosmic Corner, hosted by the Faith Unaltered YouTube channel. Find the playlist for that segment here:Cosmic Corner (FAU, hosted by Joshua Davidson)
 
In this episode, we look at the practice of contemplative prayer. This connects back to what we have been discussing with the human experience "in Adam": slavery to death, through sin. What does it mean to invite the presence and light and love of God into ALL the spaces of our lives, with one foot in the "already" and one foot in the "not yet" of redemption from that slavery? How can we build up a relational connection with Adonai through contemplative prayer? How does contemplative prayer purify and illuminate our minds (nous)? How can it bring healing to our memories -- not just our cognitive memories, but our somatic and emotional memories as well? What shaping effect does that have on our embodied identity? What is the hope of the resurrection and full redemption of our bodies? And what does it mean to be "possessed" by that hope?
 
This is an episode that had deep resonances for me in my life; I hope you enjoy it! Below are some resources to look into for contemplative prayer. As always with resources like this, these are suggestions for your own exploration: not a burden to tie up and place on your shoulders. Do what you can, when you can, in whatever way you can... and always seek to give yourself as much mercy and grace as Adonai does.What is Contemplative Prayer and How to Do a Contemplative Prayer Practice (guidedchristianmeditation.com)
 
Centering Prayer - The Contemplative Society
 
An example of contemplative prayer
 
A good video that explores the uncertainty and mystery of contemplative prayer
 

Genesis 1-3 Question and Response -- LIVE EPISODE

This is the edited audio from our very first live Q&R episode taking questions from the live audience as well as the Facebook discussion group. In this episode, we dive very deep into a challenge from one of the listeners who sees "hierarchical headship" in Genesis 1-2 before the Gen 3 fall. We also look closely at the incarnational nature of the Scriptures as a joint divine-human revelation and work, and explore the extent to which we should adopt or privilege the cultural norms of the biblical authors.The audio is somewhat warbly due to the live recording; please forgive the quality. Hope you enjoy!

The First and Final Enemy -- NERD ALERT!

What does it mean to be slaves of sin and/or death? Who is paying "wages of death"? What, or who, exactly is the serpent-stomper promised to be? Do we possess a "sinful human nature" now, and what does that mean? What does it mean to have our natures "justified"? And who gets this gift? What does it mean to be "saved"? Who gets that reward, and how?We've been looking at the Genesis 3 fall narrative and its consequences for the sons of Adam. Now, we step away from Genesis 3 and look at how this passage of Scripture is interpreted by Paul in Romans 5-6. Along the way, we survey the apostolic witness (in the rest of the New Testament) as well as the Patristic witness (in the early centuries after the apostles) to uncover a way to respond to all of those questions above. In order that we might reconstruct religion for the hurting, with theology that doesn’t hurt.Instead of original sin and inherited guilt, we find ancestral consequences and personal guilt. Instead of a master demanding obedience upon pain of death, we see a Father who freely gives to all the gift of his own life, if only they will trust him enough to shema his voice. Instead of an implacable Judge demanding death, we see a gracious Son entering into death on our behalf: to turn the prison of Hades from a tomb into a womb.Jesus and John Wayne (Kristen DuMez)
Romans 5-6 (NKJV)
 
Verses discussing the scope of justification (NKJV)
 
Library of Church Fathers (search to find referenced quotes)

O Death; Where is Your Sting?

What happens after the humans eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowing? Who is to blame for eating the fruit? Are they cursed by God? Is he nothing more than a wrathful deity, punishing them for a tiny infraction? What does it mean to have "garments of skin", or to be mortal? And why block the way back to the Tree of Life?
 
In this episode, we unpack the Genesis 3 fall narrative and its consequences. Along the way, we look deeply and closely at all the ways this passage has been used to cause hurt. Through it all, we aim to reconstruct a different picture of Adonai which emphasizes his kindness and mercy -- severe though it may be -- as well as his unfailing commitment to restore his defaced images.
 
Women, Eve, and Deception - Marg Mowczko
 
The Tree of Knowing Good & Bad (bibleproject.com)
 
Against Heresies, III.23 (St. Irenaeus)
 
Tractate Sotah (sefaria.org)
 
On the Incarnation (St. Athanasius)
 
The Day the Revolution Began (NT Wright)

A Serpent and Two Trees

Humanity is firmly planted in the Garden, but why is there a serpent there? Is this a divine setup? Who or what is this serpent figure, anyway? Why would God put a tree there that they couldn't eat from? And what is the deal with the Tree of Life? Is humanity created to be mortal, immortal, or something else?Today, I take a closer look at all these questions out of the first portion of Genesis 3, and attempt to give some responses that don't hurt either your head or your heart. Article about elohim/the gods (Fr. Stephen DeYoung)
Article about s/Satan and the serpent (Dr. Michael Heiser)
Against Heresies (Irenaeus)
Against Autolycus (Theophilus of Antioch)
Tree of Life video (Bible Project)

Dr. Carmen Imes -- EXPERT-TEAS

Today, I sit down for tea with biblical scholar Dr. Carmen Imes to discuss the image of God, male and female, the importance of our bodies and embodiedness to our identity and resurrection, diverse embodiment and disability, the ways in which trauma is felt (and healed) in our bodies, and how to approach the Old Testament in a trauma-informed way.See Dr. Imes' bio HERE
See Dr. Imes' author page on Amazon HERE
See an article she wrote about creating a trauma-informed classroom HERE

Male and Female He Created Them

How has the Church treated LGBTQ+ folks? What should our responsibilities and duties be to the vulnerable and the hurting? What does it look like to love others, even when we disagree with them? How can we "become the gospel" to a world that sorely needs to hear good news? 
 
In this bonus mini-episode, I speak only to my Christian brothers and sisters. I take a look at how "male and female he created them" in Genesis 1-2 has been used to cause harm, and what we might be able to do to begin a long repentance. 
 
Spencer's Sermon on John 8