Slaying the Dragon Within Us

Lecture 12 in the Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories series In this, the final lecture of the Summer 2017 12-part series The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories, we encounter, first, Hagar's banishment to the desert with Ishmael and then the demand made by God to Abraham for the sacrifice of Isaac. To sacrifice now is to gain later: perhaps the greatest of human discoveries. What, then, should best be sacrificed? And what might be the greatest gain? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7 Sep 20172h 41min

Lecture 11 in the Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories series. Often interpreted as an injunction against homosexuality (particularly by those simultaneously claiming identity as Christians and opposed to that orientation), the stories of the angels who visit Abraham, bless him, and then rain destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah are more truly a warning against mistreatment of the stranger and impulsive, dysregulated, sybaritic conduct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 Sep 20172h 39min

Lecture 10 in the Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories series. The Abrahamic adventures continue with this, the tenth lecture in my 12-part initial Biblical lecture series. Abraham's life is presented as a series of encapsulated narratives, punctuated by sacrifice, and the rekindling of his covenant with God. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

31 Aug 20172h 36min

Lecture 9 in my Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories series. In this lecture, I tell the story of Abraham, who heeds the call of God to leave what was familiar behind and to journey into unknown lands. The man portrayed in the Bible as the father of nations moves forward into the world. He encounters the worst of nature (famine), society (the tyranny of Egypt) and the envy of the powerful, who desire his wife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Aug 20172h 43min

Lecture 8 in the Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories series. In the next series of stories, the Biblical patriarch Abram (later: Abraham) enters into a covenant with God. The history of Israel proper begins with these stories. Abram heeds the call to adventure, journeys courageously away from his country and family into the foreign and unknown, encounters the disasters of nature and the tyranny of mankind and maintains his relationship with the God who has sent him forth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22 Aug 20173h 12min

Lecture 7 in the Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories Lecture Series. Life at the individual and the societal level is punctuated by crisis and catastrophe. This stark truth finds its narrative representation in the widely-distributed universal motif of the flood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19 Aug 20172h 38min

Lecture 6 in my Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories lecture series The story of Noah and the Ark is next in the Genesis sequence. This is a more elaborated tale than the initial creation account, or the story of Adam and Eve or Cain and Abel. However, it cannot be understood in its true depth without some investigation into what the motif of the flood means, psychologically, and an analysis of how that motif is informed by the order/chaos dichotomy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

19 Jul 20172h 44min

Lecture 5 in my Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories lecture series The account of Cain and Abel is remarkable for its unique combination of brevity and depth. In a few short sentences, it outlines two diametrically opposed modes of being -- both responses to the emergence of self-consciousness and the knowledge of good and evil detailed in story of Adam and Eve. Cain's mode of being -- resentful, arrogant and murderous -- arises because his sacrifices are rejected by God. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 Jul 20172h 38min