Gospel Conversations podcast

Tony continues looking at Ezekiel 12 - 14, this time through the lens of Dostoievsky’s ‘Grand Inquisitor’. Tony takes us into Dostoievsky’s famous imaginary confrontation where the Inquisitor berates Jesus for ‘overestimating’ humanity and wanting too much from them - love rather than servility. He draws a deep comparison between this and the idolatrous mindset. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Tony looks to the passage Ezekiel 12 - 14 to address the subject of ‘Idolatry in the OT and how modern Christians get it wrong’. “Getting rid of idols in our hearts” is a common refrain in lots of preaching.  But is it true to scripture - both in the NT and the OT? Tony dives into the worldview behind idolatry and the real challenge it presented to the Mosaic vision of the one true God. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Ezekiel chapter 6 - Ezekiel and the ‘angry God’ of the OT.  In this BWJ episode Tony confronts the question of the so-called ‘angry God’ or ‘just God’ of the Old Testament and whether this picture contradicts the loving and ‘broken’ God revealed in Jesus. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Introduction; Breakfast with Jesus kicks off again after a short break with a series of meditations on Ezekiel.  Tony begins with a big picture introduction in which he compares Jeremiah and Ezekiel, their overlapping lives, and the way Ezekiel pioneers apocalyptic thinking and the hope of resurrection. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Andrew and Tony explore a radical alternative view of the Fall – as ‘lost dominion’.  To do this they go back to the creation account and expand the concept of our being made in the image of God, and the implications of God calling humanity to have ‘dominion’. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

This is the second conversation with Andrew Baartz in our series on the increasingly controversial doctrine of ‘penal substitution’.The title of our series is ‘The Cross and Creation; can atonement combine both?’This week Tony and Andrew explore the question - ‘What are the challenges in creation for which the cross was the solution?’  Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

In this latest BwJ talk of Jeremiah Tony investigates ‘allegory’ as a way to read the OT in particular. Is it an outdated, and fanciful method – or were the Patristics really onto something in their attraction to allegory as a legitimate way to read the OT stories and prophets? Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

This is the first conversation with Andrew Baartz in our series on the increasingly controversial doctrine of ‘penal subsititution’.The title of our series is ‘The Cross and Creation; can atonement combine both?’True to our approach at GC, we want to explore the topic rather than wading into the blow by blow debate. Our guest is Andrew Baartz. Andrew and Tony talk about the big picture – what are the questions for which atonement is the answer? And what are the assumptions behind those questions? The discussion stretches our conceptual landscape to allow for some broader perspectives. True to our theme at GC, we will position this topic within the horizon of the ‘creation gospel’.The conversation will continue next month. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Jeremiah 17:9 is often taken as a proof text for ‘original sin’ and “total depravity”.  But is that a correct reading and is the human heart indeed ‘desperately wicked’?In this talk Tony explores this question and along the way uses the text – and its typical mishandling – as a starting point to explore smarter and more authentic ways to read Jeremiah – and indeed the Old Testament.  This is pretty important as it unlocks the text from its cage of assumptions and lets it speak for itself – and so challenge and transform us. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Tony takes an extensive look at the way Jeremiah uses the image of the ‘Valley of Hinnom’ (or Gehenna) in his prophecies about Jerusalem and its impending doom.  He then looks at how the gospels, Matthew in particular, deliberately position Jesus as the modern ‘Jeremiah’ or ‘prophet’.  This positioning shines a new light on what Jesus may have meant by his use of the metaphor of ‘Gehenna’ (the Aramaic for ‘Valley of Hinnom’).  Finally Tony looks at the neglected high point of the new covenant in Jeremiah – which is the apparent redemption of the Valley of Hinnom as ‘sacred to the Lord’…. All of this leaves us with a different view of ‘hell’ (Gehenna) that is much more grounded in the Biblical text. Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe