Freely Given
In the vicious cycle of self-help, self-righteousness, and self-loathing, we become a slave to the pursuit of perfection. Through Christ’s own perfection, he has set us free. This is a podcast about the freedom that comes through dependence in Christ, and understanding the depth of his love.
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Be Perfect as Jesus is Perfect
11/15/2024
Be Perfect as Jesus is Perfect
What does Jesus mean that we should be perfect, as Jesus is perfect? Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin look at the context of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5 where this passage is found. Curiously, the command to be perfect comes right after the command to love your enemies. We often think that being righteousness as repelling sin, and repelling sinners, when the righteousness of Christ is goodness and holiness running toward sin and sinners to heal them. We also must define perfect correctly, as it means "complete" in this context. Another translation could be "be complete, as I am complete." This whole sermon is a paradigm shifting lecture on what it means to be righteous. It isn't about doing good enough, or trying our hardest. It's understanding the fullness of the law, and the fullness of our need for Christ, and the fullness of his redemption for us. And as we are full of his righteousness, not our own, we run toward our enemies with love, not away from it, as our self-righteousness prescribes. So how do we deal with our enemies? We get into that, and more. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Catching Up from Crazy
11/06/2024
Catching Up from Crazy
After a bit of a hiatus, Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin sit down and catchn up. They talk about the recent "Here We Still Stand" Conference out in California. The theme of the conference was "Long Live the Church." They talk about their highlights from the conference, and how this year went. They talk about running around everywhere, what's going on with our families, and what our families do when we are running everywhere. They talk about harvest time, waiting in the drive thru, grad school, and living through a season where you can't finish a thought. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Being Christlike
09/12/2024
Being Christlike
Katie Koplin and Gretchen Ronnevik talk about what it means to grow in Christlikeness. This can be taken a couple of different ways, of trying to do what Christ did, or walking in what Christ did. They also talk about what it means to stir one another up for good works. Looking at the full context of several verses, as well as giving word pictures, everything somehow keeps coming back to Christ. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Godly or Like-God
09/09/2024
Godly or Like-God
What does it mean to be Christ-like? Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin have been hearing various definitions from people on what it means to be Christ-like, and so they go through those definitions. Are we walking in the path made by Christ for us, in his death and resurrection, or are we trying to be like-Christ, in a way that we become the judge of what is right and wrong, and we become the one who keeps the law. It all comes down to control and independence. All stories seem to go back to Eden. We want to know what is right and wrong so we don't need to depend on God quite so much. What does it mean to walk humbly? How does that play into rest? They talk about Philippians 2, and what it means it means to "grasp equality with God" and how that helps our understanding of what it means to be Christ-like. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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"Vulnerable" with Raleigh Sadler
08/29/2024
"Vulnerable" with Raleigh Sadler
In this episode, Katie Koplin and Gretchen Ronnevik interview their friend Raleigh Sadler, who is the founder and executive director of "" which is a ministry that empowers churches to fight human trafficking, and reaching those most vulnerable. These guys have had a lot of laughter together at various conferences, and we start by talking about the weird humor that comes from working in such heavy, dark places. He wrote a book called "" and how everyday, regular church goers can reach their most vulnerable neighbors--not by being a superhero, but by tapping into their own vulnerablity. He gives the old youth group illustration of standing up on a chair, and trying to pull someone up, and how much easier it is for them to pull us down. He invites us instead to step off of our chair, and be vulnerable in the low places. It's an interesting conversation on righteousness, holiness, vulnerability, and what it means to love our vulnerable neighbors. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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"All Your Works Are Bad" and Other Hopeful Things
08/22/2024
"All Your Works Are Bad" and Other Hopeful Things
After chatting a bit about the names of their houses, and life in general, Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin jump back in to the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, and how it is such a great foundation for Biblical counseling. Thesis 2 of Luther's Heidelberg Disputation get into how your good works are hindering your ability to see your need for God. How do we define good works, and how does it get dangerously intertwined in our idenity? This impacts our response to others who come to us with complaints, and our relationship with others, when we realize that we can continually try to justify ourselves, or we can acknowledge that Christ justifies us. This impacts our ability to receive criticism from others, and reflect on what is true. Repentence is a turning, but not a turning from vice to virtue, as it's often described, but turning from depending on our works, to depending on Christ's works. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: Worthy Episode Mentioned:
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Wrestling Against Needing God
08/15/2024
Wrestling Against Needing God
Working through the book, "Making Christian Counseling More Christ-Centered," Katie Koplin and Gretchen Ronnevik discuss how the theology of the cross impacts how we view ourselves. Luther put the focus on idolatry rather than ethics or morality. This puts our works in the hot seat, as we need to ask the question: why are we doing what we are doing? What is our striving for? Do we need God because we are sinners, or do we need God because we are his creation? Did we need God before the fall? We did! We just called it good back then. Now we despise our neediness, and so often use our good works as a defense against his grace. The theology of the cross boils down to: you are not crazy, it is that hard and God is that good. It is a core theology that fights the gaslighting of ourselves that we "should be" doing better, if we could just get on top of the law. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Uncomfortable Work of the Law
08/05/2024
Uncomfortable Work of the Law
What does mental health have to do with the 95 thesis and the Heidelberg Disputations? Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin. This episode is very full with these two friends catching up, and hearing all about how sound theology impacts how we see ourselves and each other, and how disorienting it can be for the mind to have either of those distorted. Much of this episode is based off of the book: which brings Lutheran theology into Christian counseling, starting witht the Heidelberg Disputations. Gretchen and Katie talk about the work of the law, and their wrestling with this doctrine, in how things aren't always as they seem, which is important to know when learning how to call something what it is. This is a full episode full of lots of gospel and friendship. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Commitment to Reconciliation
07/25/2024
Commitment to Reconciliation
The rest of Gretchen Ronnevik's interview with Nathan and Joy Hoff had a handful of technical difficulties, but the conversation was so rich that none of it seems to matter. They talk about teaching young adults in their internship what it means to be hospitable, and how to serve your neighbors. She also asks them about the yearly "storm" that happens within community as the ideal fades into reality, and what happens when the commitment to reconcilation comes down to earth. They distinguish between forgiveness and reconcilation, and how the community defines that and attempts to live that out. They talk about the language of intention, and "real apology and real absolution." They talk about "where 2 or 3 are gathered together" is in the context of dealing with sin and reconcilation. They talk about the difference between discipleship and coersion, and how to infuse freedom into community. Paying attention and discernment, spiritual direction, and supporting one another--there's so many good things we talk about. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More from our Guests: https://www.trinitysanpedro.org/internship
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Freedom to Be Ordinary
07/15/2024
Freedom to Be Ordinary
As Gretchen Ronnevik was with her family at Mount Carmel Bible Camp, she ran into her friends, Nathan and Joy Hoff who run an internship program in California for young adults at their church. They talk about their church, which isn't huge, and the interns who come and live in a community at the church to serve and grow. Young adults come there either driven and exhausted, and looking to learn a sustainable pace of service, or undecided and drifting, wondering what God has for them in their life next. There is a rule of life to their community, as they learn to live with one another, serve alongside each other, with a commitment to reconciliation that we start to unpack. This is 1 of 3 episodes that will cover this enriching conversation that we're still thinking about. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More about the Internship Program at Trinity San Pedro: https://www.trinitysanpedro.org/internship
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Our Sin Nature
07/01/2024
Our Sin Nature
Does believing in a sin nature, or that all our works have sin, lead to depression? Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin talk about how law and gospel aren’t always linear--it’s more circular, and it involves our whole life, as the entire Christian life is one of repentance. They joke Lutherans can sometimes come across as the “goth” of the Christian world, as we They talk about how a right understanding of our sin nature impacts our vocation in serving others. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Law and Gospel in Christian Counseling
06/25/2024
Law and Gospel in Christian Counseling
We've found Katie Koplin, in the midst of moving into an old church, and working on her training to become a Christian counselor. She talks about integrating faith and therapy, and how law and gospel theology plays into therapy. We talk about asking good questions, the difference between Christian and secular counselors, and the pros and cons of each. Also, what's the difference between a pastor and a counselor? Luther claims that the reason for the reformation was soul care. It wasn't simply an intellectual, or academic debate, as much as it was a pastoral issue on the care of souls, and how theology impacts our approach to handling oppresive shame. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Two Strong Wills
06/17/2024
Two Strong Wills
In part 3 of Gretchen Ronnevik's conversation with Amy Mantravadi, they discuss specifically the unusual marriage of Martin Luther and Katharaina Von Bora. There were many who did not like Katie, and didn't like the dynamic within their marriage. She was a very opinionated person, and many people did not consider her an ideal wife. Much of what we know about their marriage are from the "Table Talks" recorded by students and scholars who ate at Martin and Katie's dinner table. Each person who recorded these table talks had differing opinions on Katie, and they must have taken great pleasure in recording the spats and one liners that they slung at each other. She held a lot of sway with Luther, which made a lot of people uncomfortable. He would endlessly tease her, and she would tease him right back. When he fell into massive spells of depression and anxiety, unable to leave bed, she would lay next to him, and speak encouragements to him until he was able to get up again. They dealt with child death together, they had foster kids together. Their house was recorded as being chaotic, full of young boys and older widows staying with them. Luther's health and her ability to nurse the sick ended up being a huge part of their marriage as well. Amy reads one of Katie's letters after Luther's death, and we discuss the sad ending to her life and what we can consider that sadness. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Spiritual Anorexia
06/07/2024
Spiritual Anorexia
In this episode Gretchen Ronnevik talks with Amy Mantravadi about the monastic life, and in particular, the nunnery of Katharina Von Bora, before she escaped and married Martin Luther. They talk about the Cistercian nuns, their cloistered life, and the situation they were in that was ripe for abuse. With a calloric intake of about 1,000 calories a day, and a sleep deprived schedule, being thin and weak was a sign of spirituality. This was a silent order, so speaking to each other was forbidden, and they had to use sign language for utilitarian purposes only. 2 monks were the only ones who held the keys and guarded who went in and out of their home. We talk about Katharina's failed engagement, her rejection of a suitor, and how on earth she ended up with Martin Luther. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More from our guest:
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Reformation History with Amy Mantravadi
05/31/2024
Reformation History with Amy Mantravadi
While Katie finishes up some family stuff, Gretchen invites on Amy Mantravadi to talk about writing about the reformation. They talk about character studies of Luther, Erasmus, Melanchthon, and of course Katie Luther. Amy has written 2 novels about these characters, and has an obsession with church history. They talk about the bondage of the will, the broken bonds in relationships from the Reformation, and what was going on in the lives of the reformers that may have impact why they did what they did. Show Notes: Fundraiser! What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Gretchen Squared
05/02/2024
Gretchen Squared
Katie Koplin is busy with a big family move and finishing up this year of grad school, so Gretchen Ronnevik invited on one of the young women she mentors, Gretchen Larson, to talk about what it's like to be a young, single adult in the church, what they need from the church, and how to foster intergenerational relationships. Gretchen Larson is a chef at a Bible camp, finishing up her studies on the hospitality business, and was a missionary kid in Eastern Europe. She is involved in mentoring women younger than her as well, and has some great insight to the simplicity and difficulty of loving our neighbors. We talk about the freedom given in Christ, and walking through various expectations, and goal setting that gets put on young adults, and how they long for deep connection. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Homemaking and Vocation
04/18/2024
Homemaking and Vocation
In the last episode, we talked about the tradwife movement. In this episode we move on to talk about what a homemaker actually is. Citing Edith Schaefer's book on the Hidden Art of Homemaking, we talk about the vocation of reminding people of their humanity, and their need for food and rest. We talk about all the various things that make us human. CS Lewis writes about how the easiest way to sin against someone is to start thinking of them as less than human. The world is constantly trying to do this. Homemaking is the vocation of reminding people of their humanity. Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin both share some of their stories of how easily it is to be drawn into the tradwife movement, as opposed to their experience as homemakers. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Tradwife Movement
04/11/2024
Tradwife Movement
What's the difference between a stay at home mom and a Tradwife? In this episode Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin, 2 women who have been stay at home moms, talk about the Tradwife movement, and all it contains. The easiest place to begin this conversation is from the male counterpart, or the Alpha Male mindset, to see the female counterpart to the joint movement. They talk about what this movement looks like for men, where "Beta Males" are viewed as trash, and then switch to the counterpart aspects of the equally dehumanizing aspects of this for the females. What starts out looking like a "good thing" turns "hardcore" as Christian values aren't hardcore enough in this movement to really take it as far as they'd like it to go. This movement elevates good things to gods, where our hope is placed in our own strength, and where the doctrine of vocation is replaced by roleplay. We look at examples of Tradwives, how they are often not Christian, but held up as a Christian standard, and historically how this movement came about. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Encouragement to Motherhood
04/04/2024
Encouragement to Motherhood
Co-host, Katie Koplin has curated a gospel central devotional for moms, and it's coming out this next Tuesday. We talk about how she chose the various contributors, and the themes that arose as the submissions started to come in. Learning our limitedness as mothers was one of the major themes, and how to hold hope and hard in the same room. We talk about the hard and good together, and how sometimes it feels like you get punished for doing the right thing. There's no avoiding the suffering, there's just learning to walk through it. We talk about dealing with fear as a mother, asking God for a guarentee that things will work out as we want, for a guarentee that they will be healthy and safe, and trusting God despite whatever could happen. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Default to Death with Sarah Crowder
03/22/2024
Default to Death with Sarah Crowder
We have back on our dear friend, Sarah Crowder, as she talks about her contribution to the upcoming devotional "Encouragent to Motherhood." In her writing, she shares about her kids one by one, being diganosed with type 1 diabetes, and mothering in hospital rooms, where death is near. She talks about the looming of the law when health issuses are life and death. As humans, we have what she calls a "default to death," which keeps bringing her back to baptism, and what Daniel Emery Price refers to as a "wet theology." We talk about the balm of baptism as we live in light of death. Come back to the water again and again. We talk about allowing yourself grief in motherhood, and recognizing the humanity of motherhood. We don't have hope that everything will turn out ideal, but we have hope that Christ will be with us. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Finding God in the Darkness with Brad Gray
03/08/2024
Finding God in the Darkness with Brad Gray
This week we are interviewing our friend, Pastor Brad Gray about his book He's one of the special Baptists who publish articles and books with 1517. We talk about preaching the gospel, free from manipulation, and the hope for those who are discouraged. We ask him big questions about his book: We talk about our faith in the midst of suffering, questioning God, and what's going on in our faith in the midst of depression. He talks about why he wrote this book, and how to comfort those who are in dark places. Freely Given: Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More from our guest: (Brad's 1517 Here We Still Stand video) Brad's book:
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Spirituality of the Cross BONUS Episode
02/29/2024
Spirituality of the Cross BONUS Episode
This month's bonus episode we discuss the book "The Spirituality of the Cross" by Gene Veith. This is a great book to read during Lent, as is looks at the centrality of the cross in our spiritual life. Katie Koplin and Gretchen Ronnevik focus their discussion on the beginning of the book, where he talks about morality based spirituality, speculative based spirituality, and mysical spirituality, and how the spirituality of the cross differs from those other 3 approaches. While morals, intellectual speculation, and spiritual experiences are all good, centering our spirituality on them can lead to exploitive and manipulative practices. We talk about how the definition of terms in this book is strongly from a Lutheran perspective, which is important because some of the words like "Evangelical" can have a multitude of definitions. From a historic perspective, at the time of the Reformation, Lutherans weren't called Lutherans, they were called Evangelical, as opposed to the Reformed who followed the teachings of John Calvin. Veith talks about how the term "Evangelical" is also used in many churches in Europe that hold a Lutheran theology and liturgy, which can be confusing to tourists visiting. Add to that, and the American definition of Evangelical has been seeping into Europe through missionaries. We talk about how law and gospel distinctions play into our spiritual life Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: Books Discussed/Mentioned: "Free to Be" by James Nestigan
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Story and Theology
02/29/2024
Story and Theology
In this episode, Gretchen Ronnevik and Katie Koplin talk about the impact of story on our theological understanding, and the use of story in the life of Christians. Using the starting point of Psalm 107:2, we discuss how God works through story, and the baseline of him expressing himself through The Word, and ponder how deep that concept goes. The work of story connects the abstract to the concrete and this is shown through the sacraments, as God connects the spiritual through the physical. We talk about the impact of story on our souls, how giving our testimony can impact, and the use of story in understanding theology. We talk about how stories build our identity and our history, and is a restful way--and more effective of processing deep truths. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Grace in Limitations with Jane Grizzle
02/23/2024
Grace in Limitations with Jane Grizzle
Jane Grizzle is one of the contributors to the upcoming devotional edited by Katie Koplin: "" Jane wrote about motherhood in the context of having a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She is also currently working on her doctorate in ministry. Her contribution to the devotional talks about what it is to parent through limitedness. We talk about the reality of anxiety, making judgment calls in parenting, and parenting from a place of being limited--which we all are. This was an encouraging conversation. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Historic Valentine with Dr. Dan van Voorhis
02/19/2024
Historic Valentine with Dr. Dan van Voorhis
Is Valentine's Day a Hallmark Holiday? We sit down with Dr. Dan van Voorhis from "Christian History Almanac" and ask him about the history of St. Valentine's Day from a church history perspective. He shares with us 3 different historic people named "Valentine" in the 200s, when Christianity was illegal in Rome. He shares how the first valentine letter on the record was one of condolances, not romantic love, and how these stories were tied into the martyrdom of the early church. We talk about the facinating Georgian vs Julian calendar, and how that effects our perception of the season of Valentine's Day on the church calendar--as it used to be in the peak of spring, and how it started overlapping with fertility holidays. Throughout history, Christians used saints days to keep their calendar, to avoid using pagan gods' names in their calendar, and further down the line, Puritans didn't use either, and used only numbers in their calendar "15th day of the 10th month..." We go down a fun rabbit trail discussing the struggle of the historian to figure out which calendar each reformational character used in their letters, and calendars were often determined by Catholic or anti-Catholic loyalties. So if you want to be historically accurate, you'd celebrate Valentine's Day on February 27th, and send out a bunch of condolance cards. :) Just kidding. It was a just for fun conversation full of fun facts and Dan always brings the encouragment from a historical perspective that there is nothing new under the sun, and that the rumors of grace are true, and everything will be ok. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More from our guest:
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Biblical Reconciliation
02/10/2024
Biblical Reconciliation
This is part 2 of our conversation on no-contact relationships, and looking at how various relationships of Jacob's are reconciled, and the spectrum of what that looks like. Regardless of how reconciliation happens, it never goes back to the way it used to be. A new relationship with new boundaries are formed. We share the episode of "The Office" when Michael hits Meredith with his car, brings everyone to the hospital and while she's in pain, demands that she forgives him in front of everyone. When we injure someone, and demand instant forgiveness while they are still healing is actually reinjuring them over and over as you consistently put your needs above theirs--preventing any wound from closing. Another example is in divorce, when someone breaks the marriage contract, and there can be forgiveness for the other person, and at the same time, the marriage contract is over. We talk about reconciliation in eternity being our hope, and how restoration doesn't always happen here on earth as we live in broken bodies with broken minds. Freely Given: Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Going No Contact
02/01/2024
Going No Contact
Is it okay for Christians to cut off contact with someone? Is it okay to cut off contact with family members? What about forgiveness? In this episode Gretchen and Katie talk about the new term "no contact" that is replacing the traditional term of estrangement, and looking at various ways healing looks, and forgiveness playing out in person to person relationships.This continues on our series on prosperity gospel in the family, which is the belief that if we just do everything right, everything will turn out right. We push back against formulas, and look to the cross, and how personally and particularly God works out healing. In this episode we take a look at the life of Jacob in Genesis, and consider various ways that relationships in his life played out. This is part 1 of 2. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Dare to Lead BONUS Episode
02/01/2024
Dare to Lead BONUS Episode
In this month's extra book club episode, we are discussing Brené Brown's book: "Dare to Lead." We talk about mixing secular and Biblical sources and the right and wrong way to do that. We talk about her definitions of vulnerability, and when and where it's appropriate to be vulnerable. When she presented this information in as she presented it to various armed forces, she explains how any act of courage embraces vulnerability. This book isn't about leadership as much as it's about working in group settings, working through hard things with those in your community, all of which apply to parenting, committees, teams, or wherever there are people working toward a common goal. There's some great tips in here on how to build trust with others. There's also some great information on healthy boundaries: what they are and what they aren't. It's also a logical look at feelings and what to do with them, and how to view them. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts:
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Transfiguration Part 2
01/27/2024
Transfiguration Part 2
We are back with author Sarah Hinlicky Wilson to talk about her on the Transfiguration. We talk about the parallel of Jesus' baptism, and the transfiguration, and how God the Father speaks in both situations. We talk on the play on words with the Greek of booths/tents/tabernacle, and what Jesus was also showing them about himself during this Transfiguration. The line is drawn between the Transfiguration and the Crucifixion, and how the transfigured Jesus is different than the accounts of the resurrected Jesus. There was a kindness shown during the Transfiguration, even though they were afraid, and Jesus picks them up. This is a story reminding us that there are some stories that are about God alone. This is a story for us, but not a story about us. Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More from our guest:
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Looking at the Transfiguration
01/19/2024
Looking at the Transfiguration
We are having author Sarah Hinlicky Wilson on this episode about her new book "7 Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration." She is also the author of the fiction book we read for our book club, "A-Tumblin' Down." She talks about theories of the Transfiguration, and why people think Moses and Elijah were on top of that mountain with Jesus. The talks about different accounts of the Transfiguration of Christ in the different gospel accounts. She talks about the interesting position of the celebration of the transfiguration in the church liturgical calendar from a church history standpoint, and it's connections with the crusades, and how that changed in the Reformation, and why it now comes just before Lent in the current liturgical calendar. Moses and Elijah are the only prophets who climb Mt. Sinai (called Horab in some passages), and the significance of meeting God at a mountaintop. Though the transfiguration did not happen on Mt. Sinai, but theres a reaching from the New Testament into the Old Testament in these accounts. It's very important to look at the story progression in regard to the transfiguration (what story comes right before, and what story comes right after) to interpret this passage correctly. While we often look at these passages in segments, this story is part of a bigger story progression in the gospels. It's connection to the Feast of Booths from the Old Testament puts it in context of the Israelites "liturgical calendar" of feasts, connected to the traditional agrarian calendar, and what it meant that Jesus brought them into the Feast of Booths that comes just before the Passover, which was a hard thing to understand just after Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ. Sarah does such a great job of explaining the significance of the Transfiguration, and layering the various calendars of the feasts, harvest time, and Jesus showing them that the passover has to happen still, and you can't skip the sacrifice of the Lamb. to bring this event into focus. Freely Given: Show Notes: What’s New from 1517: More from the hosts: More on our guest:
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