Story / Symbol / Spirit is a podcast about how to make sense of Scripture. The Bible is a beautiful gift from God with the power to help us know God and better understand our lives, identity, meaning, and purpose. But for many people, reading the Bible is difficult. The ancient and confusing nature of the stories within the Bible are often prohibitive to our engagement and learning. How can we make sense of the Scriptures.
We believe that Story / Symbol / Spirit is a helpful framework to begin this journey.
Story - The Bible’s truth is communicated primarily as a story or a narrative. Genesis 1 - Revelation 22 is a unified narrative, and all of the stories, characters, and events in the Bible fit within this story. In order to understand a particular story in the Bible, you have to first understand and internalize where it fits in the grand story of Scripture.
The Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/
NT Wright: Simply Christian https://www.amazon.com/Simply-Christian-Christianity-Makes-Sense/dp/0060872705/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36NJI02KLF9JP&keywords=simply+christian&qid=1675703176&sprefix=simply+christian%2Caps%2C252&sr=8-1
Scot McKnight: Blue Parakeet https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Parakeet-2nd-Rethinking-Bible/dp/0310538920/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3Q2DOJ1O1J8HE&keywords=blue+parakeet&qid=1675703266&sprefix=blue+parakeet%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1
Symbol - Christians confess that God created the world. And God created the world for the purpose of being in relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him, and so He reveals who He is to us. One way He does this is through creation or “nature.” Every created thing has the imprint of the creator. So, everything in this world has the imprint of the Creator. The Bible sees the world this way, so in order to understand the meaning of a part of Scripture, we too must see the world through these eyes.
James B. Jordan: Through New Eyes https://www.amazon.com/Through-New-Eyes-Developing-Biblical/dp/157910259X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=YW53ZJS8SHYE&keywords=through+new+eyes&qid=1675703324&sprefix=through+new+eyes%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jamesb.jordanarchive564/videos
Spirit - Our modern world is materialist - we intuitively view the world as time, space, and matter that is sustained in a closed system of material cause-and-effect. In this kind of worldview, there is very little room for the Spiritual world - angels, demons, gods, unseen forces of good and evil. But the Bible explicitly believes that the world is NOT simply material. The Bible assumes an unseen realm that not only exists, but interacts with the reality that we inhabit. In order to understand the meaning of a part of Scripture, we have to see the world through these eyes.
Michael Heiser: The Unseen Realm https://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Realm-Recovering-Supernatural-Worldview/dp/1683592719/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y0SZOGX4CYIK&keywords=unseen+realm&qid=1675703428&sprefix=unseen+realm%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1
Dr. Michael Heiser’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DRMSH/videos
Stephen DeYoung: God is a Man of War https://www.amazon.com/God-Man-War-Violence-Testament/dp/1955890048/ref=sr_1_1?crid=S245SIE499I6&keywords=god+is+a+man+of+war&qid=1675703565&sprefix=god+is+a+man+of+war%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1