In a new article in The Atlantic, David Brooks asks how America became so mean. He says moral formation used to be a key part of social, religious, and educational structures in the country, but after World War II communal virtues were abandoned for an individualistic and therapeutic model. Simply put, we stopped teaching people how to be good. But what’s missing from Brooks’ solution? A popular preacher says he won’t watch The Chosen because it violates the Second Commandment prohibiting any images of God. Is he right? Then, Dr. John Walton is back to discuss his new book, “Wisdom for Faithful Reading.” He explains why relying on the Holy Spirit isn’t enough when engaging the Bible, and why he believes the American church isn’t facing a crisis of biblical illiteracy but a crisis of biblical interpretation. Also this week—snakes are falling from the sky in Texas.
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0:00 - Intro
2:11 - Show Starts
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6:35 - Animal News
18:07 - The Chosen and the 2nd commandment
30:29 - How America Got Mean
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56:18 - Interview Intro
John Walton
59:10 - Faithfully reading Scripture
1:05:39 - Hermeneutical literacy
1:14:43 - Difference between referencing and affirming
1:31:08 - End Credits
Links mentioned in news segment:
A Woman Was Attacked by a Snake That Fell From the Sky. Then a Hawk Dived In
Author, preacher Voddie Baucham says he won't watch 'The Chosen,' cites Second Commandment
HOW AMERICA GOT MEAN
Other resources:
Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation by John Walton
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I think Kaitlyn really hit on something about moral language. I think the main problem we have with morality is that we conflate moral objective and moral strategy. The moral objective is pretty simple, universal and unchanging “love your neighbour as you love yourself”; almost all cultures believe this in some respect. The idea is that we should seek everyone’s well-being as we seek ours. The disagreements we often have are over two issues:
(1) “Who is my neighbour?” Various strains of tribalism (ethnocentrism, nationalism etc) often shrink this circle down to “countrymen” or “fellow believers”, but Jesus’ answer through the Good Samaritan parable prescribes the largest circle possible: everyone. (2) “How do we love our neighbour?” A moral…
Still time for you to interview George Yancey. He’s a good guy. Read his article below.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/perspective-better-way-racial-tension-030000488.html?_guc_consent_skip=1692720086
With due respect (and understanding that it’s really hard to boil down a book on biblical interpretation into a quick 30-minute interview), I ended up feeling a bit…confused…by the John Walton interview. I felt like it started out by saying that we should shy away from “emotional” or “me-centered” interpretations and appeals to “the Holy Spirit” as a source of biblical understanding, but by the end, we were told that the story of Samuel should be encouraging to us (as individuals?) when we feel like we cannot be used by God, since God uses imperfect/unlikely people to accomplish his plans. I felt like that conclusion highlighted the fact that the line between a “self-centered” and “God-centered” interpretation isn’t as distinct…
Looks like no one noted this part yet- Kaitlyn made one brief note about it, but otherwise, nearly the entire convo around "moral formation" in America's history took David Brooks' premise as granted.
Phil - your viral video on Race in America is enough to show how horribly incorrect that is, so I was surprised to hear you just accept it this way.
"how good it used to be" is almost always a lie (and the same lie that "MAGA" appeals to) - in the 1940's, the civil rights movement hadn't even really started. Japanese internment was part of WWII, among other horrors.
And by the way, I've found *incredible* collectivism in progressive spaces. I was always told it'd be…
When I was in high school in the early 80s, my mom suddenly decided stuffed animals, knick-knacks, etc we’re graven images and one day, while we were in school, she got rid of all of them. The timing roughly correspond to Gothard’s claim that Cabbage Patch Dolls all came with a demon and the whole Satanic Panic. She later chilled out a bit but still doesn’t approve of nativity scenes, pictures of Jesus, and stained glass windows with depictions of Jesus. We were nondenominational Charismatic -lite; she was raised Lutheran.