Forging Ploughshares

Paul Axton preaches - The book of Philemon is a worked example of the implication of the gospel in that the slave/master relationship is displaced in the church by the koinonia of brothers and sisters. Yet this obvious implication of the gospel, worked out in Philemon, is rejected as is indicated in the reception of the book and the continuation of slavery among Christians. This may be because the implication of the gospel is a complete overturning of the city, the law, and the economy of the the city of man. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

In part 2 of our interview with Jordan Wood, Jordan soars to amazing heights.  Jordan explains to Matt and Paul, Maximus' formula "creation is incarnation" and the time and space bending implications of Jesus Christ as being at the beginning of all things. We also discuss how it is the fall occurs with the beginning with creation ex-nihilo. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Paul Axton preaches - Paul’s depiction of the armor of God in Ephesians is a summary of his gospel with the focus on taking it up and doing it.  This is not simply an allegory or illustration, but the very center of Paul's gospel as presented in Ephesians. It is the power of the Constantinian shift which will tend to spiritualize and trivialize this depiction, and it is precisely against a Constantinian Christianity and this sort of insidious power that this armor protects. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.  

Jordan Daniel Wood, an expert in Maximus the Confessor and a theologian, discusses his journey and introduces Maximus as the theologian for this age. Topics include: artificial intelligence, hospice chaplaincy, challenges in finding a professor job, interest in Orthodoxy and Pentecostalism, Maximus' influence on Origin, and the cosmic vision of Maximus in relation to expanding knowledge.

Paul Axton preaches - Imitation of Christ is the very substance of salvation. Apart from imitating his life there is no gospel, no tradition and no faith, yet this crucial motif supporting the language of discipleship, being in Christ, walking as Christ walked, is obscured by "faith alone" and theories of atonement focused on payment.  Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Paul Axton preaches - The power of coercion, the power of command and control, or power over other people is the power of death and violence that is universally recognized. Resurrection power redefines the meaning of power, linking it with the love and unity of being joined to Christ.  Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Jim, David, Austin, Drew, Brian, and Paul discuss Luther's approach to faith and reason as building upon a nominalist understanding which leads to his focus on forensics and his notion of a necessary and continuing dialectic between law and grace. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Paul Axton preaches - The blindness of sacrificial religion, of idolatry, of cultural hostility, creates a fabricated reality described as a process of externalization, objectivation, and internalization in which the origins of human culture create a necessary blindness or mystery which Christ exposes and displaces.  Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Paul Axton preaches - Creation ex-nihilo poses the possibility of evil as a return or defeat of the fulness of creation in redemption and participation in the divine. Thus we are co-participants in our own creation, willing the fulness of our completion in Christ through our echoing the "Yes" of Christ the the Father and the Spirit. Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.

Brad, Brian, Matthew, Drew, Jim, Austin, Matt, and Paul conclude their discussion of Maximus the Confessor and his notion of theosis and take up possible problems and implications.  Become a Patron! If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider donating to support our work.