Discover Your Roots

The podcast explores the nature of good and evil and discusses strategies for confronting evil. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and intercepting decay, being a force of righteousness, and pursuing justice and unity. The story of a selfless carpenter and the concept of doing good without validation are also explored. The podcast reflects on the brokenness of the world and the need to care for the vulnerable as a sign of our Christian identity.

Is it ever okay to lie to protect someone’s feelings? Is it okay to lie to save someone’s life? Should a nation go to war? Is it okay to murder an evil person? Christians are often faced with tricky ethical dilemmas, but this podcast is here to help! In this week’s podcast, we tackle whether ends justify the means and what the Bible says about these big questions. Take a listen!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

Dr. Dru Johnson discusses organizational evil in the Hebrew Bible, exploring the blur between personal and corporate responsibilities. The podcast touches on topics like institutional racism, collective accountability, and the importance of pursuing systemic justice and care for the vulnerable.

Life hurts. It seems like suffering is a universal part of being human, so this has led people across all ages to ask deep existential questions about the meaning and the nature of suffering. Let’s bring it to our context here in this podcast: How do the biblical authors view suffering? Is suffering the result of sin? What wisdom do they offer us as we come to terms with our own pain? Dr. Dru Johnson addresses all this and more in today’s fascinating episode. Take a listen!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

Does God do evil? Verses like Isaiah 31:2 seem to say He does: “Yet [God] also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words” (KJV). If that’s the case, what does this mean and how would Isaiah’s Ancient Hebrew audience have understood this? Dr. Dru Johnson walks through these complex questions and more in today’s episode as we grapple with the relationship between God and evil.National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

There’s a strange sound in the middle of the night. In the dark water, something brushes against your leg…  What goes through your mind? In this week’s episode, Dr. Dru Johnson explores the psychology and theology behind the fear of the unknown and evil. He gives us a glimpse into how our imaginations have been shaped by popular culture. Dr. Johnson also explains the relationship that Ancient Near East people had with spiritual warfare, the spiritual world, and the divine, helpfully reframing much of what we read in the Hebrew Bible! Make sure to save this episode and listen—you’ll be glad you did!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

Sometimes people do bad things. No one debates that. However, this simple fact cracks open the door to a world of complex moral and theological questions about the nature of evil in the realm of human choice.In this episode, Dr. Dru Johnson dives into what Scripture means when it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. He also talks through whether evil actions are committed voluntarily or involuntarily. This brings up questions about the figure of Lucifer—who is he and what role does he play in the cosmic story of good and evil? Let’s dive into these questions together and begin to understand more about the people around us and the world we live in!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

Is there such a thing as a purely good or purely evil person? Can bad people be redeemed? What did the word “satan” originally mean?Join Dr. Dru Johnson on this week’s journey to discover the foundations of our understanding of good and evil. The concepts of good and evil are undeniably fundamental to our experience as humans. However, this struggle has been conceptualized in many ways over the past 4,000 years. We’ll get to all this and more in this week’s episode. You won’t want to miss this!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

It’s pretty intuitive that evil shouldn’t exist. Things like the Holocaust or kids with cancer just seem wrong. However, some might argue that the fact that good exists is just as philosophically complex as the existence of evil.In this episode, Dr. Dru Johnson unpacks the idea of “good” in the Scriptures. Starting right from the beginning of Genesis, he shows us how original readers of the text probably understood both the word and concept of “good.” Pull up a chair and enjoy your insider peek into this fascinating conversation.National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.

Hitler is evil. Helping an old lady cross the street is good. Simple, right? But there’s an underlying question here: Why? What are good and evil?Biblical scholar, Dr. Dru Johnson is back with us in Season Two of Discover Your Roots to unpack weighty questions about the nature of good and evil. In this episode, Dr. Johnson gives us an overview of the season, walking us through a few common conceptions (and misconceptions!) about good and evil through the lens of psychology, philosophy, culture, and—ultimately—Scripture. You won’t want to miss this season!National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 988.If you or a loved one is in distress or thinking of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free and confidental 24/7 support, information, and resources. You are not alone.Crisis Text LineText HOME to 741741.Crisis Counselors are trained volunteers and not professionals. They can provide support, but not medical advice.Suicide.orgCall (800) 784-2433.Call the Suicide.org hotline to receive 24/7 crisis support and information about mental health crisis resources where you live.