WELL, WE’VE SURVIVED the Mayan Doomsday. So we begin the first day of the rest of the aeon with a look back at the Newtown, Connecticut shootings.
For the record, Derek was not advocating giving toy guns to boys, he was just making a point: Boys have played at war for millennia and the vast majority never grew up to commit mass murder. It’s a spiritual thing, not a firepower thing.
Also: Deadly school attacks (with knives, axes, and hammers) in China; the New York Stock Exchange is bought by the Intercontinental Commodity Exchange; Giorgio Tsoukalos binds the universe together; transhumanism and human exceptionalism; and charges are filed for last month’s Indy home explosion.
Details on Future Congress 2 January 4-6, 2013 in Dallas are available here.
Please visit the P.I.D. Radio Facebook page. Find links to the articles we discuss at P.I.D. News, discuss the topics at the P.I.D. Radio Cafe, and don’t forget the great Christian podcasters at the Revelations Radio Network.
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Referring to the last VFTB podcast. I’ve stopped going to Mike Heiser’s website. Does he come to conclusions about anything? Could he show that it is not conclusive from the Bible that Jesus is Divine? Prophecy, the legitimacy of present day Israel, the Rapture,The Millenium. Everything appears to be up in the air.It would appear useless to discuss such matters.It appears to be all inconclusive. Do Replacement Theologians have a point after all. After coming away from Mike’s website I always have a feeling,however brief, that the Bible is unreliable.It is not a website I would send a new Christian to [ or a unlearned stumbling one like myself].
I agree with you Ghillie.
I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get through a whole podcast/interview with him. Heiser comes across as thinking he’s the smartest guy God ever put on earth and the way his comrades brag about him — like his very name means whatever follows is certainly credible — completely turns me off. Oh, and he’s the only qualified language scholar in the Body of Christ, right?
The Gospel is so simple that a child can understand it. Now we have Heiser – the new breed of theologian – that makes everything so complicated he could almost argue away one’s faith. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” There is nothing new under the sun.
I completely reject his “divine counsel” schtick. People come up with an idea, use extra-biblical sources to back it up, and then a host of podcasters promote it like it’s Gospel truth. Methinks something is rotten in Denmark.
I’m sorry to hear that you find Mike off-putting. He’s always been bee gracious to us with his time and we find him to be a careful scholar who doesn’t go any farther than the Biblical text allows–at least not without saying so. But I can appreciate that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
You’re entitled to your opinion, of course, but you’re mistaken if you think the Divine Council is an extra-biblical concept. The idea of Yahweh presiding over an assembly of divine beings is clearly depicted in Psalm 82, 1 Kings 22, and the first two chapters of Job. Mike’s papers introducing the basics of the idea are available at http://www.thedivinecouncil.com.
Now, you are absolutely correct that there are people out there adding their own extrabiblical interpretations onto the Divine Council paradigm. That doesn’t mean the basic idea is wrong.
Sorry for my reaction [ over reaction? ] to Mike Heiser. It’s just that when you’re looking for answers it’s disheartening to be told that there is no clear answer at all. How do you justify the present existence of Israel? Sorry, it’s just not completely evident from scripture. Why take a chance then with World peace.Let’s stop supporting modern Israel.If I’ve misunderstood Mike’s writings then accept my apologies.
@Ghillie
“I’ve stopped going to Mike Heiser’s website. Does he come to conclusions about anything? Could he show that it is not conclusive from the Bible that Jesus is Divine? Prophecy, the legitimacy of present day Israel. … Everything appears to be up in the air.It would appear useless to discuss such matters.It appears to be all inconclusive.”
2 Timothy 3:7.
“After coming away from Mike’s website I always have a feeling,however brief, that the Bible is unreliable.It is not a website I would send a new Christian to.”
Yeah, he’s hardly what you’d call uplifting. And that sardonic drone of his gets very wearing. He sounds like a nerd who’s trying to get chicks, rather than a believer exploring and upholding God’s glorious Word. Some Christian Red Pill would help him no end.
@Perlee
“I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get through a whole podcast/interview with him. Heiser comes across as thinking he’s the smartest guy God ever put on earth and the way his comrades brag about him — like his very name means whatever follows is certainly credible — completely turns me off.”
I know exactly what you mean and I want to scream when I hear Christians doing this — Jesus freed people from the pronouncements of the ‘experts’ of His day. …Can we really glean so little from Scripture without the aid of a PhD in Hebrew?
And really, is a PhD worth so very much? I myself did a doctorate in computational biomolecular physics, and thought I was pretty clever (by the standards of academe) — yet I was *lost*, *lost*, *lost*, and like the fool that I was, firmly believed that evolution was fact. It didn’t occur to me even to *question* evolution (which would actually have *helped* my research). And though I’d put them all on pedestals at first, the staff whom I knew (doctors, readers, professors) all proved to have feet of clay. It was only after I’d left the academy that I eventually got saved. I thank God for leading me out of it, since I’d set so much store by learning (so-called) that I would never have given Scripture a fair hearing had I remained there.
“The Gospel is so simple that a child can understand it.”
Amen to that. But it seems you’ll die waiting if you’re hoping to hear Michael Heiser give the Gospel in one of his interviews — even though he speaks to so many unbelievers and has so many fantastic opportunities with the ‘ancient alien’ crowd. Sometimes when I hear him talking with say, George Noory (or whoever does Coast to Coast) it’s like watching a football match (I mean proper football — not the bastardised version of rugby played in the US) and seeing the star centre-forward approaching an open goal, then dancing around doing fancy tricks, before gently tapping the ball to the goal-keeper with a friendly wink and running back smiling to his own half. It makes me want to cry.
“Now we have Heiser – the new breed of theologian – that makes everything so complicated he could almost argue away one’s faith. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” There is nothing new under the sun.”
Indeed there isn’t.
“I completely reject his “divine counsel” schtick. People come up with an idea, use extra-biblical sources to back it up, and then a host of podcasters promote it like it’s Gospel truth.”
The sad thing is that I actually find his idea of a Divine Council very interesting — and as Derek says, there are hints about it throughout Scripture. But then he’ll sorta spend an hour or so standing there with his hand on his hip and sneer at the beliefs of the oh-so-stupid flock, and stuff like that really just makes me doubt he’s saved. And if he’s not saved, then though he might be able to read ANE texts in the original, he nonetheless lacks the indwelling of The Spirit and His guidance — without which nobody can truly grasp the wonders of the Scriptures. Please, can we pray for him? I’d love to see him filled with the Spirit and giving a bold witness rather than just being another self-conscious media academic.
“Methinks something is rotten in Denmark.”
Speaking of Hamlet, here’s one for academics in general…
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
…Always liked that one. 😉
Regarding Dr Heiser From what i have seen on the blog he holds to a from of Pelegianism not clear if it semi or full blown due to his vagueness. He actually had a blog post called can unbelievers please God ? as far as divine council goes i think he has something but be aware of his theology which is not up front and open as previously mentioned, Which is disconcerting.
I have asked him to describe his theology before and he gave some vague answer, I’m pretty sure this is due to not wanting to alienate some audience members, but the fact he refuses to come out clearly and state where he stands is worrying to me. His thing is to not put labels on his theology and say it from the bible but sorry all cults and false teachers can say this, labels are needed in theology in order to define orthodoxy and Hersey.
Incidentally i have just had to ask Dr Heiser a question as he is the only Scholar i know who will answer me with a solid knowledge of Hebrew and ANE and early Jewish scholarship. So he has great points and some not so great points. Kind of like, well……. everyone.
If Mike is a Pelagian, he’s an odd one. He believes “…all humans are sinners (presuming they are allowed to live) and in need of Christ for salvation (i.e., salvation is only through Christ and is not merited in any way).”
Hey Guys, when are you having your fellow conspiracy Brother, Alex Jones on?
His performance last night was a shining light into your world of end times paranoia
This drives up the price of aluminum foil at supermarkets everywhere. Alex Jones and his pals are making so many tin foil hats that aluminum foil is often out of stock.
So sad
I love to hear from you guys regularly. Ever thought of doing 15 min shows, perhaps on a schedule? Blessings.
Comparing us to Alex Jones. So you don’t actually *listen* to our show, then.
Well you answered your own objection Derek “presuming they are allowed to live” This assumes a moral neutrality and that humans are unaffected by the fall by NATURE. This is called Pelagianism my friend.
John: Mike’s comment refers to abortion and assumes nothing more than a lack of biblical information about the spiritual state of the unborn.
Michael: Thank you for asking. Yes, we’ve done that before. You can check back in the archives around 2006 and see we posted daily for a while. My current work schedule doesn’t always allow for that.