Prayer As a Weapon
A rather recent news article about an unnamed school in the eastern US prompted this episode.  Ray and Steve discuss the use of prayer as a weapon in public (not Christian-specific) settings, and whether or not prayer should ever be used in that form of making one’s point. As often happens in the discussions on this podcast, there are some rabbit trails, but by and large, the questions and dicussion revolve around questions related to how we demonstrate our faith in public.  Should Christians use public prayer as an evangelistic tool?  Or should prayer be reserved for more personal settings (or at best settings which are denoted as Christian-specific)? Forgive the

Atonement, Pt 4: Summary and Conclusion
After three episodes outlining various views of atonement theory, Ray and Steve conclude the series by wrapping up their thoughts on the subject and summarizing the views discussed. We hope you enjoyed this series, and that it has sparked some thinking about the atonement and why it can be very important in our view of the Father.

Atonement, Pt. 3: Additional Theories
After devoting entire episodes to both of the two most widely-held theories, Ray and Steve present a potpourri of other theories in one episode.  Four different views are presented in this discussion, including the third of the “top three” views of the atonement. Far from being a dry topic, Ray and Steve infuse their own brand of humor into the discussion as much as possible, including the introduction of the first ever Beyond the Box drinking game! Join us next week for a wrap-up discussion of the entire subject and the conclusion of this 4-par

Atonement, Part 2: Christus Victor
Continuing on in the series on views of the atonement, Ray and Steve turn their focus to what has been referred to as the “classic view”, allegedly held as the predominant view of the atonement for the first 1,000 years of western Christianity, and still widely held in the Eastern churches.  This view, commonly called “Christus Victor” (after the title of Gustaf Aulén’s book first published in 1931), or “Christ, the victorious one”, views the life and death of Jesus as a package deal which redeemed mankind and, in fact, all of creation, from the curse of sin. Despite the dry sound of the titles of this series, Ray and Steve spend some ti

Atonement, Part 1: Penal Substitution
Beginning first with a response to a listener question regarding the deity of Jesus, Ray and Steve then move into the first segment in what will be a multi-part series.  In this series, they take a look at different theories of the atonement. While that may sound less than exciting for many people, Ray and Steve try to present it in a way that is interesting and informative.  The different theories of the atonement (what does it mean that “Jesus died for our sins”?) have pros and cons, including the way that they cause us to view our Father. In this first segment of the series, Ray and Steve look at the widely-held view among evangelicals, the Penal Substituti