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Evil Between Us

 
 

Introduction

The resources below are examples of evil done by one person to another in an interpersonal way. They are also examples of the need to believe in good and evil as larger moral categories.

For example, two women found out they were dating the same man, who had deceived them. One recalled, “He was super big on the fact that good and evil don’t exist,” she said. “And when things happen, it just is; it’s not bad, it’s not good. Now when I look at that, I’m like, oh my God, he’s trying to justify dating two women at the same time.” Reported by Avery Kleinman, They Learned They Were Dating the Same Man. They Dumped Him, Took a Vacation Together. Washington Post, Sep 30, 2022 (italics ours).

Examples like this illustrate our needs. We need a loving God to tell us what loving boundaries, responsibilities, and responses are. But that’s not all. We need a loving God to heal human nature in a loving way that has interpersonal integrity.

The following clips are from our 2019 Conference: Healing Atonement. The first highlights the importance of stories where good triumphs over evil, and what they reveal about us. The second highlights what Jesus has done with human nature to retell and heal our stories.

 
 
 

Spotlighted Resources

What Made Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa So Heroic — And His Vision for Wakanda’s Gift

This is part 4 of our series on our video series The Theology of Marvel’s Black Panther. The video looks at T'Challa, who was heroic -- but why? Was it because he honored women? Because he honored tradition and the ancestors? Because he challenged his ancestors? Because he sought to include others and the concerns of others? Because he rejected both the imperialistic and isolationist options for Wakanda? Because he allowed himself to be influenced by Nakia and Killmonger? We look at T'Challa's heroism as rooted in his willingness to suffer for others, to descend again and again, which then invites us to compare T'Challa's arc to Jesus' arc.

To see our four part video series (with one more for Wakanda Forever), see our Arts and Theology page, or our YouTube channel, where we put brief descriptions of each video. It’s a great way to engage people who have an appreciation for the movies. Each video has questions for group discussion and/or personal reflection.

 
 

Does the Bible Have Evidence of Supernatural Design? A Sociological Approach

A series of case study comparisons. Why does the Bible begin with monogamy as an ideal, when other traditions begin with polygamy? Why does Genesis 2 indicate that marriage must take priority over family of origin in terms of relational priorities, contrary to every other ancient culture? How did the Bible come to stop kidnapping and promote enormous debt-relief, when the leading cause of people falling into enslavement was debt, then and now? The relational vision expressed by the Bible is unexplainable on naturalistic grounds, and is an argument that a good divine Mind was involved in its composition.

 
 

Slavery: How the Early Church Got It Right

Presentation given October 2, 2021 to the Reconstruction class. Explores early Christian emancipation and abolition. While Christians did not eliminate all forms of servitude, since servitude for civic penalties, indebtedness, war captivity, and self-indenture persisted, Christians eventually did eliminate what we know as chattel slavery. The presentation examines Old Testament institution of the Hebrew ebed servant, and the New Testament approach to Greco-Roman modes of servitude. We glance at how colonialism and Trans-Atlantic slavery deformed traditional Christian teaching, mindful that more slavery exists today across the globe than every before, and that in the U.S., indebtedness and incarceration show that we have greatly exaggerated the claims that the U.S. has done better than the Bible on “slavery” and its constellation of challenges. The following video is taken from our 2022 class, Reconstruction: The Deep Roots of Early Christian Theology.

 
 

Women in the Early Church

A presentation given May 7, 2022 to the 2022 Reconstruction class, accompanying the video. Greek and Roman views of the inferiority of women began with Plato and Aristotle (4th century BC). But Pulcheria was a Christian woman who became Roman augusta in 414 AD and presided over the Third and Fourth Ecumenical Councils. Empress Theodora was very influential in the 500s. And Irene became Emperor of the Romans by 800 AD. How did this happen? This presentation explores vocation as the main category by which Christians empowered women in roles distinct from family, examining the Catacombs of Priscilla, Irenaeus of Lyons, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, Montanism and the orthodox reaction to it, Melania the Elder, Paula of Rome, Nino of Georgia, Brigit of Ireland. The presentation also discusses the disagreements between Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen about how to interpret women in 1 Corinthians 11. This presentation and the video are the second of the 2022 Reconstruction class topics on the early church. See also our YouTube channel Reconstruction playlist for all the videos.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Evil: Topics

Christian teaching explains the Evil Within as the source of the Evil Between, Evil Laws, and Evil Institutions. Evil and God’s Goodness spotlights God’s call for our partnership in undoing evil, via the theme of divine fire in Scripture. So if you are on a spiritual search, consider browsing through our materials in that sequence.