     In the last episode I suggested what was the real message and spirituality of the book of Revelation.  It is NOT telling us to be passive, waiting for God to intervene in history as all kinds of horrible things happen to the earth.  The author of Revelation copied heavily from the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament.  Both Daniel and Revelation were written to religious groups who were being persecuted and oppressed.  Both books allegedly predict all kinds of terrible things that will occcur.  What actually happened in history after both books were written?  We will find that history supports the real meaning of Revelation that I suggested last time.      Next time we will look at what might be the biggest threat facing us in the 21st century.   For more information on my book Why Are We Here? on which this series is based, go to my website at http://www.craigowen.net

Is it really Love? Spiritual Way of the Six Loves

Eps 66 Book of Revelation: Endtimes or Something Else? pt 9

Finally, we are at the point of finding the answers to our question 'what is the spirituality of the Book of Revelation?'  As I have commented in previous episodes, what the Book of Revelation is about is answering questions about the problem of evil.  If God is all powerful, how can God let the community of faithful believers be persecuted, killed and tortured?  [Once again I am drawing upon Dr. Craig Koester's book Revelation and the End of All Things for much of these insights]. We find several answers to this question in the Book of Revelation.  What Revelation actually says is not what many people believe.  Listen and find the surprising answers, and in doing so, we will find what is the spirituality of the Book of Revelation and what it might be saying to us today.   For more information on this series, go to my website http://www.craigowen.net           

Eps 65 Book of Revelation: Endtimes or Something Else? pt 8

    Last time we looked at the story of the prophet Jeremiah and king Zedekiah.  In this episode we will look at that story more closely and answer the following questions: 1) Does a prophet make prophecies about the distant future or mostly to the people and times in which they live? 2) Do we have free will in what a prophet predicts? 3) When a prophet makes predictions, are they set in stone and unchangeable, and are we powerless to do anything about it?      In the next episode, we will look at what does the book of Revelation say about the problem of evil.      To learn more about this series, go to my website atcraigowen.net      

Eps 64 Book of Revelation: Endtimes or Something Else? pt 7

     What is the role of a prophet?  Are the predictions of prophets totally accurate?  Can predicitons be changed or are they fixed and there is nothing we can do?  Do we have free will?  These were the questions we left off with last time.  In this episode, we look at a story of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah.  The story takes place in the year 587 BCE when Jerusalem was completley surrounded by the huge army of Babylon.  We will find answers to these questions in this story.  In this episode we go over the story and its details.      In the next episode we will look at what answers to our questions this story gives us and what insight they give us into the message of the Book of Revelation.        To learn more about this series, go to my website at craigowen.net

Eps 63 Book of Revelation: Endtimes or Something Else? pt 6

     What do we make of all the scary and gory events portrayed in the Book of Revelation?  For example, in chapters 8 & 9, it talks about the seven angels and the events the set in motion such as a third of humanity is killed, a third of the oceans are destroyed, a third of the vegetation is wiped out.  Are these things predictions about events in the future we can do nothing to stop, or is it someting else? In wrestling with this questions, we come to the three questions at the heart of our study: 1) What is the role of a prophet? Make predictions about things far in the future or speak to their own day? 2) Are these images of destruction and widespread death events that cannot be stopped? 3) Do we have free will about these things?  How we answer these questions will determine what is the spirituality of Revelation, the topic we will look at next time.     To learn more about thi series, go to my website at craigowen.net

Eps 62 Book of Revelation: Endtimes or Something Else? pt 5

    We look at some of the specific symbolism of Revelation and try to figure out the message of the author.  The cycles repeat- seven seals,seven angels and all kinds of bad and scary plagues and disasters.  Part of what the author is doing is trying to is scare us into making a choice.  We explore what that choice is and what it means for us today.       In the next episode we will look at all of the terrible events that these cycles portray a nd hat they might mean.      To learn more about this series go to my website at craigowen.net

Eps 61 Book of Revelation: End Times or Something Else? pt 4

Many people believe that the book of Revelation is a roadmap of the End Times, explaining what will happen and when. For this to be true, it is assumed that Revelation reads like a modern story, with a straight line plot containing a clear beginning, middle and end. But is this really the case?  This is the issue we will look at in this episode.      I will be drawing upon the insights of Rev. Dr. Craig Koester, a scholar and Professor of New Testament who specializes in the Book of Revelation.  His very readable book can be linked by clicking on the title: Revelation and the End of All Things.       In the next episode we will start looking at what the author of Revelation may be trying to say through some of the strange imagery foind in the book.   For more information on my series and previous podcasts, go to my website at: craigowen.net

Eps 60 Book of Revelation: End Times or Something Else? pt 3

   In this episode we look at when, where and why the Book of Revelation was written.  This will give us a clue about what the message of the book may be.  The author of Revelation copies a lot of his style from the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible.  The circumstances in which both of these books were written are very similar and will reveal a lot about the authors' intentions.      In the next episode we will look at the structure of the book of Revelation whcch will tell us something about how it should be read.        To leanr more about this podcast series go to my website at craigowen.net.

Eps 59 Book of Revelation: End Times or Something Else? pt 2

     The Book of Revelation is at the end of the Christian New Testament.  Many people believe that this book is a road map or story of how the world will end.  Revelation has exerted a strong influence way beyond Christianity.  In this first episode, I want to begin a study of some of the themes and imagery in the Book of Revelation.  Is it really about the end of the world?  Or is it about something else? How should this little book affect our spirituality?  If it is really about the end of the world, are we powerless about it? if it is not about the end of the world, what is its message and how does it affect our spirituality, what ever our specific religious beliefs might be?  These are the questions we will consider in the next few episodes.   To learn more about this series, see my website at craigowen.net

Eps 58 The Book of Revelation: End of the World or Something Else? pt 1

In the last episode I closed with a proposed definition of what is the Kingdom of God.  In this episode, we will look at this definition closely to see if common ground can be found between different religious traditions.  Some of the values this definition suggest are humility and mercy.  Mercy is perhaps the most important value suggested by the proposed definition of the Kingdom of God.  I do not think very many people would argue that there is too much mercy in the world.      In the next episode we will begin another topic.      Check out my website at craigowen.net    

Eps 57 What is the Kingdom of God? pt 5

In this episode, we will look at another possible understanding of the kingdom of God, that it is an invisible community of people who believe in God.  It is very simple, and avoids limiting the kingdom to an earthly institution or pushing the kingdom into the afterlife.  The problem is that this is very vague.   How do you know you are in the kingdom?  I take a couple of suggestions from my own religious tradition to fill out in more detail what is the kingdom of God as an invisible community.  Perhaps this invisible community is a bit more focused on spiritual transformation than simply having faith.  How this approach might apply to world religions will be discussed in the next episode.   Chexk out my website at craigown.net

Eps 56 What is the Kingdom of God? pt 4

Last time we looked at the idea of the Kingdom of God as being a country or an institution to which people can belong.  In this episode we will consider the Kingdom of God as heaven or the afterlife.  When we die, only the good people get into the kingdom and will spend eternal life there.   The kingdom as being heaven in the afterlife is the opposite, even a rejection, of the kingdom as an earthly institution.  People who take this approach often point to the politics and corruption of earthly institutions, saying that any human organization eventually falls into these problems.  How could the true kingdom suffer such things?  So the kingdom must be found only in the afterlife, not in earthly life.      Each of these two approaches has a very different understadning of salvation, this earthly life and God's relation to this world.  We explore the differences between these two understandings of the kingdom.  Is there some middle position between these two views?  We will look at that in the next episode.      To see more about books I have written on this and other topics, go to craigowen.net

Eps 55 What is the Kingdom of God? pt 3

     In this episode we will look at a very old idea of what is the Kingdom of God.  It is the belief that the kingdom is a specific geographic location such as a specific tribal or political region.  What ever is the religion of the king or queen of the land, that becomes the relgion of all the people.  If you live within the borders of this area, you are in the Kingdom of God.  If you are outside the borders, you are not in the true Kingdom of God.  In later centuries, this understanding grew into the belief that the Kingdom of God was a particular institution rather than a specific location.  For example, within Christianity some believe that the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church would be the true kingdom of God.      Each of these approaches to the Kingdom, whether location or institution, has strengths and weaknesses.  On the plus side, it is very concrete, and shows the need for some sort of boundaries so people can know if they truly belong to a specific religious tradition.  On the negative side, viewing outsiders as less worthy than true believers can lead to religious violence against outsiders.      In the next episode we will look an another understanding of the Kingdom of God, where the Kingdom is not of this world.         Visit my website to learn more about my books and music at craigowen.net  

Eps 54 What is the Kingdom of God? Pt 2

What is the Kingdom of God?  This is a central concept in the monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  What you may believe about the Kingdom of God will affect other religious beliefs we hold.  For example, how do we think of God, as aloof or present in our daily lives? How do we understand salvation? Is it mainly about the life to come or is it more about our l ife in this world? What is the nature of faith?  All of these are interconnected and affected by our beliefs about the Kingdom of God.      We will look at several possible meanings of the phrase 'Kingdom of God' in tne next few epoisode.  Utimately, we will see if this basic idea can offer some common ground between the various religions traditions. For more information about my books, go to www.craigowen.net. 

Eps 53 What is the Kingdom of God? Pt 1

     Last time we looked at the emotional hole that each of us is carrying around inside and how we chase fears and anxieties about things that do not exist in an effort to fill up this hole.  In this episode, we will look at how do we take apart this emotional hole?  The key is understanding how the different virtues counteract their opposite vices- how generosity counters greed, self control counters gluttony and self confidence counters sloth or spiritual sadness.  The delusional thinking that underlies these and other vices comes from this emotional hole we have within us. In learning to practice the virtues we free up emotional energy that has been wasted on the delusional thinking behind the vices.  And we will not fall victime so easily to the fear mongers and hate mongers who try to manipulate us thorugh our emotional holes.      In the next episode we will start in a new direction on a different topic. 

Eps 52 What is Healthy Spirituality? Pt 13

Is it really love? This is episode two in an ongoing series on the six different loves. In this episode I discuss how to determine if you have an i nstnace of love as I have defined it. In later episodes I will talk about the six diferent loves