The 𝐼𝑠-𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 of God: What it Means to be 𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 Itself with JD Lyonhart

“And to this the voice bellowed: ‘I AM WHO I AM.’” . . . “At first, I thought maybe this was just God’s way of saying, ‘Hey, I exist. I AM real. Notice me!’ Or maybe it was God’s way of avoiding the question. I ask, ‘Who are you?’ and he says, ‘I AM WHAT I AM.’ In other words, it’s none of your business who I am, Moses. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more the whole ‘I AM’ thing has begun to strike a chord. You see, I keep asking which one of the gods ‘is’ real. But that question already assumes I know what the meaning of ‘is’ is. What is is-ness? What does it mean to exist - to be something that is rather than isn’t? . . . If the gods are just other beings that exist, then they must derive their existence from something else, and that source would be the true God, wouldn’t it?” - Zeus Was An Atheist, pg. 11I’m on a mission to make learning the Bible, and talking about God, fun. And to show that we can do so in a worshipful, honoring, reverent way. When I first met author and professor J.D. Lyonhart last year to talk about his book The Journey of God, I knew I met a fellow compatriot in this mission. His books are incredibly fun and funny, while wrestling with deep philosophical, Biblical issues. His latest book is called Zeus was an Atheist: An Odd Retelling of the Moses Story. Even the title elicits a chuckle. The book puts you in the mind of Moses, not from a “this is surely what he was thinking” standpoint, but, yes, an odd retelling standpoint. We walk with Moses through all of the Exodus events you know, but listen as Moses wrestles with, meditates on, and acknowledges who God is - Being, Beauty, Goodness, Truth, Justice. J.D. Lyonhart is Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the University of Jamestown a Fellow at the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism at Cambridge University, and cohost of the Spiritually Incorrect Podcast.  This conversation today, much like the book itself we’re talking about, is both fun and thought-provoking and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland.Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doable-discipleship/id1240966935) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuwQZOLadbFCZCmZ1V)Resources Related to This Episode: https://www.amazon.com/Zeus-Was-Atheist-Retelling-Moses/dp/1666758957Intro Music: Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.comTrack: Escape From The Town by SHANTIhttps://tunetank.com/track/267-escape-from-the-town/Outro Music: Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.comTrack: Peace by VictorWaynehttps://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/