578: How America Got Mean & Why We Misread the Bible with John Walton
The Holy Post
Phil Vischer
4.5 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 August 2023
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a new article in The Atlantic, David Brooks asks how America became so mean. He says moral formation used to be a key part of social, religious, and educational structures in the country, but after World War II communal virtues were abandoned for an individualistic and therapeutic model. Simply put, we stopped teaching people how to be good. But what's missing from Brooks' solution? A popular preacher says he won't watch The Chosen because it violates the Second Commandment prohibiting any images of God. Is he right? Then, Dr. John Walton is back to discuss his new book, "Wisdom for Faithful Reading." He explains why relying on the Holy Spirit isn't enough when engaging the Bible, and why he believes the American church isn't facing a crisis of biblical illiteracy but a crisis of biblical interpretation. Also this week—snakes are falling from the sky in Texas.
Patreon Bonus:
Holy Post Office - Getting Schooled - Inerrancy 101
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0:00 - Intro
2:11 - Show Starts
4:32 - Theme Song
4:56 - Sponsor - Caldera Labs
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6:35 - Animal News
18:07 - The Chosen and the 2nd commandment
30:29 - How America Got Mean
53:55 - Sponsor - Faithful Counseling
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55:04 - Sponsor - Sunday's Dog Food
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56:18 - Interview Intro
John Walton
59:10 - Faithfully reading Scripture
1:05:39 - Hermeneutical literacy
1:14:43 - Difference between referencing and affirming
1:31:08 - End Credits
Links mentioned in news segment:
A Woman Was Attacked by a Snake That Fell From the Sky. Then a Hawk Dived In
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/texas-woman-snake-hawk-sky.html
Author, preacher Voddie Baucham says he won't watch 'The Chosen,' cites Second Commandment
https://www.christianpost.com/news/voddie-baucham-says-he-wont-watch-the-chosen.html
HOW AMERICA GOT MEAN
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/us-culture-moral-education-formation/674765/
Other resources:
Our latest explainer video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9sBIcrblS4
Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation by John Walton
Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to The Holy Post. Today, we've got a new article in The Atlantic by David Brooks |
| 0:05.0 | that asks how America became so mean. He says moral formation used to be a huge part of our culture, |
| 0:11.0 | both society, religion, and education were built around creating virtuous people. But after World |
| 0:16.8 | War 2, we kind of lost that and instead focused on individual and therapeutic models. Simply put, |
| 0:22.8 | we stopped teaching people how to be good. But what's missing from Brooks' solution? |
| 0:28.0 | Then, a popular preacher says that he won't watch the Chosen because it violates the second |
| 0:33.0 | commandment against making any images of God. Is he right? And I talk to Dr. John Walton about his |
| 0:39.2 | new book Wisdom for Faithful Reading. He explains why we're lying on the Holy Spirit isn't enough |
| 0:45.5 | to faithfully engage the Bible and why he believes the American Church isn't suffering primarily |
| 0:50.8 | from biblical illiteracy but a crisis of biblical interpretation. All of that this week, |
| 0:56.8 | plus, snakes are falling from the sky in Texas. Before we get started, two quick announcements. |
| 1:03.0 | First of all, I'm really happy to announce that we have a brand new Holy Post explainer video. |
| 1:07.7 | This time, it's Caitlin Chess looking at the Bible and politics. With everyone worried about the |
| 1:12.9 | rise of Christian nationalism, we might think it's always a bad idea to mix the Bible and politics. |
| 1:19.0 | But Caitlin offers a more nuanced view and as we head into the upcoming election season, |
| 1:23.9 | she offers two ways to spot the misuse of scripture in political rhetoric. |
| 1:28.6 | So check out that video at HolyPost.com or on our YouTube channel and we would love and appreciate |
| 1:34.3 | if you would share it with your social media network. It's a great way to introduce other people |
| 1:38.8 | to the Holy Post and a positive vision of Christianity in our culture. Secondly, as always, |
| 1:44.8 | we have new content this week exclusively for Holy Post Plus subscribers. And if you've missed any |
| 1:50.2 | of our past content like our recent Holy Post Book Club live stream with Dr. Carmen Eimes |
| 1:55.6 | or last week's Holy Post Office with Mike Erie, you can also access all of those great archives by |
... |
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