Discover Your Roots

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.

While our modern method of determining truth is to interpret information as either true or false, the Bible takes into account another side of “truth” that may not be so simple. In our final episode of the season, we discuss the concept of truth in light of the Hebrew word “emet” used all throughout the Bible, and how this Hebraic thought pattern enriches the way we view the Word.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/reading-the-bible-as-the-living-word-of-god/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael

Epistles in the Bible are letters written to God’s people by the apostles and prophets. Similar to the modern-day sermon, they reason with their listeners and offer wisdom for their lives. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into the epistles and how they helped the early church grow their knowledge of God’s word and think and act more like Jesus.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/how-the-new-testament-letters-preach-to-us/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael

So now that we know what stories do, let’s look at how they do it. If you dissect any good story and look at its structure, you’ll get a conflict, tension, rising action, and conclusion. But what does that have to do with reading the Bible? It turns out that knowing a story’s structure is a key aspect in developing Hebraic thought, revealing so much more than just a story.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/how-to-decode-the-stories-of-the-bible/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael

Why are stories so important? Stories, both fictional and non-fictional, have been used since the beginning of time to impart wisdom and reason upon their listeners. We’re discussing what makes up a great story and how biblical authors used stories within their writing to share with us the nature of our worldly and eternal realities.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/why-are-there-so-many-stories-in-the-bible/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael

How is biblical law unique from other legal systems throughout history, or even today? In this episode, we’ll be taking a closer look at how biblical law is unlike any other—how it functions as a narrative, its communal nature, and what all this means for the law’s followers.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/seeing-beauty-in-the-old-testament-law/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael

What do you think of when you hear the word “law”? Does it sound rigid, harsh, or punishing? Contrary to our modern assumptions, biblical law doesn’t work in the ways our law does today. When we look at the law of the Bible through the lens of Hebraic thought, it becomes something that reasons, rather than dictates. In the next two episodes, we’ll be reframing how we think about biblical law and the God who gave it to us.References & additional resources: https://passagesisrael.org/story/stop-saying-we-broke-gods-law/Visit: https://passagesisrael.org/⁣⁣Follow: https://www.instagram.com/passagesisrael⁣⁣Like: https://www.facebook.com/passagesisrael