Tales from Sacred Texts

A remake of Episode 104, which I first published on this podcast in 2019. Abim campaigns to become the authoritarian leader of his hometown, Shechem. What follows is a reign of terror. Just when things get really bad, a mysterious stranger named Gaal shows up to cause more trouble. Will anyone be able to put a stop to the constant cycle of brutality? We discuss how every single person, no matter their perceived weaknesses, is perfectly capable of landing a blow against evil.  CONTENT WARNINGS:  Violence: 4/5  Sexual Assault: 0/5 Consensual Sexual Content: 0/5  Discriminatory Themes: 3/5  THEME MUSIC CREDITS: "Elektronomia - Elektronomia - Collide" is free to use on YouTube with credits. Watch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/bWGhAfN9PAs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stream: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://spoti.fi/3nZ4A3y⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/QQXmUEuaVQg⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠

Deborah, a chieftain of Israel, is forced to confront Sisera, an invading general who views women as property, but to do so she must first confront the misogyny within her own society. She enlists Barak, a hesitant but well-meaning general, to help accomplish her goals. Meanwhile, a woman has to make a choice between her husband's wishes and what is right. Everyone teams up at the end to sing a really long song that would absolutely be considered punching down if the enemy wasn't just simply awful. We discuss the need for women in leadership and the importance of protecting women's rights, as well as the need for men and women to work together to reach their full potential. CONTENT WARNINGS:  Violence: 3.5/5  Sexual Assault: 4.5/5 Consensual Sexual Content: 0/5  Discriminatory Themes: 4/5  THEME MUSIC CREDITS: "Elektronomia - Elektronomia - Collide" is free to use on YouTube with credits. Watch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/bWGhAfN9PAs⁠⁠⁠⁠ Stream: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://spoti.fi/3nZ4A3y⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music promoted by BreakingCopyright

We tell the story of Ruth, a Bible book filled with so many foot references that it gets a little weird. Though the author really can't seem to get his eyes out of the gutter or anywhere past the shins, Ruth tells an inspiring tale of love and loyalty between family. Meanwhile, two people doing their best to be the difference in an uncompassionate society fall for each other, but run up against some uncomfortably foot-themed marriage laws that threaten to derail the wedding plans.  CONTENT WARNINGS:  Violence: 1/5  Sexual Assault: 2/5 Consensual Sexual Content: 3/5  Discriminatory Themes: 1/5  MUSIC CREDITS:  "Vlad Gluschenko - Where No Man Has Set Foot" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Terms of Use: https://vladgluschenkomusi.wixsite.co. Forest by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported  — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/forest-vlad-gluschenko Music promoted by Audio Libra

Jacob tries his best to make amends, but he's backed up into a corner and ends up getting jumped by a stranger in the middle of the night. As he fights, he realizes that his attacker is not an ordinary man, but God Himself. God gives Jacob a dramatic new name as his family derives a new cultural practice from comparing Jacob's body to a cut of meat. In light of Jacob's fistfight with God, we examine the idea that we need to "wrestle with God" in order for him to answer our requests. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 3/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: 0/5 Sexual Assault: 0/5 Discrimination: 1/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: "Elektronomia - Elektronomia - Collide" is free to use on YouTube with credits. Watch: ⁠⁠https://youtu.be/bWGhAfN9PAs⁠⁠ Stream: ⁠⁠https://spoti.fi/3nZ4A3y⁠⁠. Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: ⁠⁠https://youtu.be/QQXmUEuaVQg⁠. Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativec

Jacob finally arrives at his uncle's house, where he discovers that he has a crush--on his cousin. This is a problem, but for all the wrong reasons. Eventually, he gets his uncle's blessing. What follows is family drama that resembles bingeworthy TV. A family member with a disability is repeatedly trashed (TW) and we discuss what it's like to feel invisible, even among friends and family. We learn that those who are forgotten by humans are often given special attention by God. This episode also sets up the final confrontation between Jacob and God that will occur next time in the finale to this three-part series on Jacob. I'm aware that there are noticeable issues with the audio quality both in the last episode and this episode. It's the result of me trying a new method of audio editing. The next episode has been prerecorded and unfortunately will have similar issues, but going forward the problem has been fixed. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 1/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: 4/5 Sexual Assault:

We start the saga of the Biblical legendary hero, Jacob, a touted trickster who barely pulls off one deception thanks to incredible incompetence on the part of everyone else. The remainder of the time, he's offering very obviously bad deals and unfortunately people are gullible enough to bite. Nonetheless, he's a shady character, partially of his own volition and partially forced into it by his environment. The deception he does manage to pull off quickly catches up to him, and he finds himself running for his life through the desert, when he comes face to face with God. To be continued. In our discussion of the story, we discuss why God is more upset with Jacob's gullible brother than the deceptive Jacob, and why monasteries completely miss the point. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 1/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: 1/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) licen

We follow Job, who suffers a series of increasingly unfortunate events. When he turns to his religious friends for support, they tell him that he deserves to suffer. In desperation, Job begs God to show up in person and give him answers. A teenager named Elihu shows up and helps explain the problem of suffering--and then God makes an appearance to set everything right. We look for answers to the question of why, if God is so good, there is so much suffering. We also discuss how, as Christians, how seriously God takes using our faith to dismiss people's pain. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 2/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: 3.5/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. OTHER MUSIC CREDITS: "Aftertune - Co

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: bit.ly/rarc We start the story of why evil exists in the world at its source, Lucifer, an influential angel gone bad. The struggle for power and domination progresses through Lucifer's heart and then moves on to infect others, as he uses deceit to turn even divine beings against God. Sin migrates to our planet, and we set the stage for next week's episode, Job, where we will confront God with the age-old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  We also discuss why Eve being the first to sin does not mean that male headship makes sense.  CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 0/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: 1/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠⁠⁠⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. OTHER MU

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: bit.ly/rarc We discuss one of Jesus's most famous parables about opposing prejudice, and discuss how even the language used to describe the story misses the point. A self-righteous lawyer attempts to finagle an exception to "love thy neighbor." In response, Jesus tells a story of a Jewish traveler that leads even the lawyer to conclude that "love thy neighbor" is a command without exception. The lawyer is forced to confront the fact that the groups of people that disgust him the most don't quite live up to stereotypes. We discuss what that means for us today.  CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 4/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: 4/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Val

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc We see Hezekiah's son enter the world with seemingly no objective but to watch the world burn. When he is captured by his enemies, he must face himself and his own actions. When he dies, his grandson Josiah inherits the throne. Like a well-known fictional character, Josiah has to decide whether he'll look to his brutal grandfather as a role model or move beyond that legacy into a new way of living.  CONTENT WARNING: TW: Discussion of self-harm. Violence: 2/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: N/A THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠⁠⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. OTHER MUSIC CREDITS: "Hayden Folker - Cast Aside" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license.⁠http://creativ

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc High off the victory over Sennacherib, Hezekiah gets a crushing diagnosis from the prophet Isaiah. Yet all is not lost, and God plays with the laws of space and time to show the king that there's still hope for him. But when Hezekiah meets mysterious foreigners, he loses himself in a desperate attempt to impress them, and God is displeased. In a sudden turn of events, the king becomes surprisingly callous, and we discuss what it means to be insensitive to the plight of future generations. We also question whether we're really putting our best foot forward on our LinkedIn profiles.  CONTENT WARNING: Violence: N/A Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: 1/5 THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Trav

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc A man wakes up in the Greek underworld and tries to piece together the circumstances of his death. As he talks to the mysterious bartender, he gleefully describes how he ignored his own eyes and ears until the moment of his brutal stabbing. We start to despise him for his stupidity, but maybe we're equally guilty? CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 4/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: N/A Discrimination: N/A THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...⁠ ⁠https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic⁠. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. OTHER MUSIC CREDITS: Evoke Music "Johny Grimes - Affinity" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. ⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...⁠. Music: Vlad Gluschenko — On The Way. License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported: ⁠h

PLEASE MIGRATE TO @REDEMPTION ARC: https://bit.ly/rarc Hungry for opportunity, our main character nervously plants himself in the very region he's been warned is a haven for unspeakable evil. Years later, he's so desensitized that he can barely see the cruelty all around him. Two mysterious visitors show up on his doorstep, desperate to make him aware of the danger before it's too late. In our discussion of the story, we talk about why tolerating oppression is a major threat to our spiritual life. CONTENT WARNING: Violence: 3/5 Consensual Sexual Contact: N/A Sexual Assault: 5/5 Discrimination: 3/5 LINK AS PROMISED: http://tinyurl.com/k35c7x7x THEME MUSIC CREDITS: Intro Theme Music is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic. Closing Theme Music is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. OTHER MUSIC CREDITS: "Vadim Krakhmal - Runic Hills" is under

My new podcast, Redemption Arc, will be streaming starting January 19, and then every other Friday until the end of the season. You can find the show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HJB7Sm9JKWkLlo5f2Tjah https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redemption-arc/id1719030416 MUSIC CREDITS: Opening theme is "Carnival" by Roa. "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusic Closing theme is "Joy of Travel" by Zakhar Valaha. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support

Tales From Sacred Texts will be rebooted as a new podcast, Redemption Arc, in lieu of a Season 4. It's a bittersweet announcement for me and I explain my reasoning in this short audio bite. Please find the trailer for Redemption Arc here: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HJB7Sm9JKWkLlo5f2Tjah?si=80165d9dd6814797 APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redemption-arc/id1719030416 AUDIO CREDITS: Intro music by Caleb Howard. Closing music is by Evoke Music. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support

In the season 3 finale, we finally wrap up the story of David and Bathsheba as God steps in to wake King David out of his stupor. As he realizes the enormity of what he's done, David becomes overwhelmed and deeply repentant. Unfortunately, through his actions, he's already set a chain of events in motion that will lead to suffering and tragedy. We discuss how we as Christians have a duty to oppose those who, like David, use their power to hurt others. CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence: 2.5/5 Sexuality: 2/5 (including some mentions of sexual assault) Discriminatory themes: 2/5 MUSIC CREDITS: Vlad Gluschenko - Travelling - Folk Saxophone Beat - Instrumental [ FREE NO COPYRIGHT MUSIC ] License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support

Episode #50! David returns, but maybe we wish he hadn't. This story forever mars our unblemished view of the former shepherd boy, as David shows he will not stop at anything—including intrigue, sexual assault, and murder—to get what he wants. Through a ruthless series of events, David destroys hearts and lives in his maddened pursuit for pleasure. We examine the concept of heroes and how to face ourselves when we find that the people we look up to aren't the people we thought they were. CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence: 3.5/5 Sexuality: 4.5/5 (including a sexual assault) Discriminatory Themes: 4/5 MUSIC CREDITS: "The Piano Says - Icicles" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://danirosenoer.wixsite.com/offi...Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/Rh3q2AfPfCA --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support

Things get really bad for Diabolical and the people of Mansoul when God gets word of the demonic invasion. The result is a war of misinformation and fake news as Diabolical and his lackey, Will, struggle to keep the city under control. There are revolts within the city, heavenly armies battering on the gates from without, and people switching sides back and forth out of a desire for self-preservation. Meanwhile, God has a plan to win, not just the brick and mortar of Mansoul, but the hearts of the people within. CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence: 3/5 Sexuality: 0/5 Discriminatory Themes: 0/5 MUSIC CREDITS: "Roa - Carnival" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... https://youtube.com/c/RoaMusicMusic promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/KDDEpQgzF20 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support

A demon troupe takes their first stab at doing evil when they attempt to trick the residents of the glorious city of Mansoul. They have nefarious plans for the city—and for God. Each of the city's three most influential men react to the invasion in their own way, but we focus our story on Will, a young man who decides that he will do absolutely anything to keep the demon overlords happy. This episode begins our multi-part series on John Bunyan's lesser-known allegory, The Holy War.  CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence: 2/5 Sexuality: 3/5 Discriminatory Themes: 1/5 MUSIC CREDITS: "Alexander Nakarada - The World's Most Epic Sea Shanty" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://youtube.com/c/SerpentSoundStu... Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/cp5etbOGkqY "SilentCrafter - Activation" is is under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://youtube.com/channel/UCuwFIeJU...Music powered by Breaking

Ever had co-worker trouble? Well, Daniel and his friends have co-workers that are constantly trying to get them tortured to death for just minding their business and worshiping their own God. Before they can even go online and give 0/5 stars for firm culture, Daniel and his friends are thrown right into the thick of some very bad situations—to put it mildly. It will take a miracle for them to make it out alive. We discuss God's power to save people from harm in the context of Christianity and a foodie holiday from 2000 B.C.  CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence: 4/5 Sexuality: 0/5 Discriminatory Themes: 1/5 MUSIC CREDITS: "Aries Beats - Halloween Pipe Organ" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... https://www.youtube.com/c/ariesbeatsMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/sLlyOXK5pRo Roa - Innocence - License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesfromsacredtexts/support