The Wonder and The Mystery of Being

How did the Bible come to be? That is a massive question that couldn't possibly be unraveled in a single episode. So over the coming months, I plan on doing several episodes tackling different aspects of this question.

We'll start with the first books of the Bible - the Torah, also called the Pentateuch. In this episode I speak with Dr Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University, about the documentary hypothesis of Torah authorship. The Torah is traditionally attributed to Moses, but there appear to be some very good reasons why that might not be the case, and some incredible implications if not.

Join Dr Baden and I as we begin to lay the groundwork of how best to understand what the Bible is, how best to read it, and how we can gain a richer understanding of its ancient roots by learning from the Jewish perspective.

Check out Dr Baden's books here:
https://www.amazon.com/Joel-S.-Baden/e/B004R86924%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Dr Baden's twitter account (where he's breaking down the Torah verse by verse daily):
https://twitter.com/joelbaden

Dr Baden's Talk at the Nantucket Project (I mentioned it in the episode):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS7LgbMr1m4

Kyle and Neesha share their experience departing the Mormon faith tradition. While sharing a lot of elements with other Christian streams, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) is a particularly tight knit community with many unique dynamics. I was curious how much their own journey might sound familiar to me, and how much it might be entirely different. The conversation was deeply fascinating and moving.

I am approaching this topic as a student, and as I'm not connected to this particular faith tradition, I am not here to criticize the LDS church. I simply wanted to learn about the faith and Kyle and Neesha's experience, both inside it, and outside it, where they find themselves today.

Follow Kyle and Neesha on Tik Tok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@challenge.faith?lang=en

A Link to "A Letter For My Wife" (referenced in this episode)
https://www.letterformywife.com/the-letter

In this episode I speak with Derek Minor about Christian music. Specifically, I wanted to ask him if he felt welcomed into the community the way I did. We touched on some areas in which our experiences were similar, and some area in which they couldn't be more different.

As always, Derek speaks from the heart, with conviction and courage. I hope you learn as much from this chat as I did.

Learn more about Derek Minor at:
http://www.derekminor.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thederekminor/
https://twitter.com/thederekminor

And support his organization:
http://www.weownnow.com

This episode is all about the Bible. I spend a few minutes unpacking some of the things I've learned about the gospels, and then I have a conversation with Will Thorpe, aka Heretical Theology, as he's known on instagram, discussing his journey from Christian apologist to outspoken atheist.

To learn more about Will, check him out on instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/heretical_theology

This week's nonprofit is the American Humanist Association.
http://www.americanhumanist.org

Welcome to the very first episode of The Wonder and The Mystery of Being. In this introductory episode, we talk about the purpose of this podcast and show, and also begin to build a framework within which we will be able to think and talk about God, Christianity, spirituality, atheism, sexuality, politics, philosophy, theology, and so much more.