PODCAST · society
Into The Abyss
by Todd Decker
Todd enters into the Abyss of thought in conversations with friends on topics that interest them. Philosophy, religion, psychology, politics, ethics, and the arts.
Episodes
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Hebrew Binyanim and Genesis 1-2
An introduction to Hebrew binyanim and reading of Genesis chapters 1-2, with close attention to Hebrew grammar and vocabulary. These are some of the most memorable verses in scripture, with the creation of mankind, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the creation of man and woman.
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Hebrew Verbs and The First Day of Creation
An introduction to Hebrew verbs and a reading of the first day of Creation in Genesis 1:1-5.
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Hebrew Vowels
An overview of Hebrew vowels.
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The Hebrew Alphabet
A quick run through the Hebrew alphabet. For both adults and kids. I'm trying to teach my daughters some Hebrew and they helped me make the recording.
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Resources for Learning Biblical Hebrew
Getting back into publishing after a long hiatus. I've been doing a lot of sciencing so just for fun I'll do something completely different and talk about Hebrew. Here's a list of great resources that I've found very useful.
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How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
The question “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” is typically used as a mocking retort to questions that are thought to be of little usefulness. It’s especially used in reference to philosopher theologians of the Middle Ages like the Scholastics or to theology in general. It’s not a...
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Behavioral Science and Decision Science
Todd and Jared talk about behavioral science and decision science. We talk about Jared's interest and work in the field. We go through different approaches to decision science, including heuristics and biases, fast and frugal, and naturalistic decision making. Other topics include: what leads to...
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Sola Scriptura: Scripture and the Church
Todd and Tyler talk about sola scriptura and related ideas. Sola scriptura is the position that Scripture is the only "inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the Church" (Matthew Barrett, God's Word Alone). Another position is that "both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored...
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Free Will: It Depends
Todd and Tyler talk about free will. Do we have free will? One possible response is, "It depends," because free will can mean different things, from an absolute ability to have done otherwise to simply an ability to act in conformity with one's desires. We talk about Robert Sapolsky's recent…
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Spiritual Experiences
Todd and Tyler talk about spiritual experiences. Scriptural accounts of rushing mighty wind and hearts burning within. Surrendering control to the Spirit. The physical aspect of spiritual experiences, particularly in the brain. What we can know from spiritual experiences? Who we can know from...
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Holy Week
Todd and Tyler share personal reflections on Easter and Holy Week.
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Temples
Todd and Tyler discuss temples. The functions of temples in different cultures and the temples of Ancient Israel in particular. The various offerings and sacrifices. The concepts of holiness and separation. Christian theologies of the way temple worship carried over into the body of Christ in the...
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Catholicism and Latter-day Saints
Todd and Tyler talk about Catholicism and Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism), particularly as discussed in the writings of Stephen Webb (Catholic) and Alonzo Gaskill (LDS). Topics include authority, ecclesiology, general conference, catechism, canon, extra-canonical texts, and pseudepigrapha. We talk...
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The Book of Revelation, Part 4
Todd and Tyler conclude a four-part series on the Book of Revelation. Subjects discussed include eating the scroll, the woman clothed with the sun, the child, the dragon, the beasts from the sea and the earth, Babylon and its fall, the lament of the merchants of the earth, the testimony of Jesus…
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Two Powers in Heaven
Todd and Tyler talk about the Two Powers in Heaven thesis, the idea that in Second Temple Judaism and earlier there was understood to be a secondary divine figure alongside the primary God, YHWH. We discuss the Angel of the Lord, the Word of the Lord, and the Son of Man. We go into texts from the...
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The Book of Revelation, Part 3
Todd and Tyler continue in the Book of Revelation, with chapters 6 and 7. We cover the Seven Seals, the Four Horsemen, the 144,000 sealed of Israel, and the multitude from the great tribulation. Concluding with the opening of the seventh seal.
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The Book of Revelation, Part 2
Todd and Tyler return to the Book of Revelation, this time moving into the visions in chapters 4 and 5. The throne, the 24 elders, the 4 living creatures, the scroll with 7 seals, the Lion of Judah who is also a Lamb, and the new song. We also begin to look at the opening of the seals in chapter…
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The Book of Revelation, Part 1
Todd and Tyler talk about the Book of Revelation. Or is it Revelations? Revelationses perhaps? We talk about the genre of apocalyptic literature and the vivid imagery taken from Exodus, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The apocalyptic and supernatural worldview. The letters of John to the Seven...
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Garak: Especially the Lies, Part 1
Todd and Rick talk about Garak, one of the most fascinating characters from Stark Trek: Deep Space Nine. At the end of the occupation of Bajor all Cardassians abandon their former station Terok Nor, now Deep Space Nine. Almost all. One Cardassian remains, a gregarious and mysterious tailor named...
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Song of Songs
Todd and Tyler talk about the Song of Songs. The unusual presence of love poetry in Bible. The history of allegorical interpretation with examples from Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Bernard of Clairvaux. How passion can be enflamed for God.
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The Dead
Todd and Tyler talk about the Dead. What happens to people who died without knowing Christ? Do sinners get any more opportunity to repent after they die? Christian practices and doctrines like prayer for the dead and Purgatory. Latter-day Saint practices of baptism for the dead and other…
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The Trinity
Todd and Tyler talk about the Trinity. The doctrine as taught in traditional Christianity and the Nicene Creed. Differences and similarities with the understanding of Latter-day Saints. Some history and Saint Nicholas (allegedly) slapping Arius.
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Epistle to the Hebrews
Todd and Tyler talk about the Epistle to the Hebrews, a magnificent section of sacred scripture. The exalted status of Jesus Christ. His role as high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The way that doctrinal meat builds upon the foundations of doctrinal milk.
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Targum, Mishnah, Talmud, and More
Todd and Tyler talk about some significant ancient texts: Targum Onkelos, Targum Jonathan, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Tosefta, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, and other Second Temple texts.
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The Emotionally Most Complete Cosmology
Christian culture is not always subdued or ascetic. It is often polychromatic, extravagant, and excessive. Saints and sinners mingle in a culture of piety and transgression, a culture that believes in forgiveness because it knows how much it needs it. Seasons of Lenten fasting cycle with seasons…
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More Septuagint
Todd and Tyler continue their discussion about the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Important Septuagint passages that show up in the New Testament like “a virgin shall conceive” (Isaiah 7:14) and “recovering of sight to the blind” (Isaiah 61:1). Paul’s deep roots in...
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The Septuagint
Todd and Tyler talk about the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Hellenistic character of Diaspora Judaism and early Christianity. The importance of the Septuagint to our understanding of the development of the Hebrew Bible texts. The ways that the Septuagint was…
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Bible Translations
Todd and Tyler talk about Bible translations. Translation approaches ranging from word-for-word to thought-for-thought. How different translations handle idioms. The vast number of Bible translations. And the different preferences that people and groups have.
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First Corinthians
Todd and Tyler talk about Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. Among other things. "Is Christ divided?" Diversity of spiritual gifts. Ecumenism. Modern equivalents to eating meat sacrificed to idols. Heretical lawlessness (antinomianism) that presumes to transcend morality. The nature of...
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The Existence of God and the Principle of Sufficient Reason
On arguments for the existence of God from the principle of sufficient reason. The principle of sufficient reason is the principle that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground. This principle has been applied to argue for the existence of God as the ultimate reason behind all things.
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Human Language and Artificial Neural Networks
The recent developments in AI are quite impressive. If someone had told me a couple years ago about the capabilities of something like ChatGPT I wouldn't have believed them. AI certainly has enormous practical benefit. But since artificial neural networks were inspired by biological neural…
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The AI Revolution
Jared, Mike, and Todd talk about ChatGPT and the AI revolution, particularly the remarkable developments of the last year and 6 months (2022-2023). We talk briefly about how neural networks and large language models work. Then we get into the possible social, economic, aesthetic, and even...
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The Practice of Prayer
There is a condition of looking for something without knowing what we are looking for, or even that we are looking for anything at all. Augustine called it restlessness. Jesus described it as a thing that we would ask for if we knew to ask for it. It is a thirst for living water that will quench...
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A Brief History of Secular Thought
A brief history of secular thought from the Enlightenment to the present, looking at how it has been shaped by culture and events. We start in the Enlightenment with Voltaire, Edward Gibbon, David Hume, and Thomas Paine. Moving into the nineteenth century we look at literary influences like Percy...
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The World Comes From Reason and This Reason Is a Person
A reflection on the idea that “The world comes from reason, and this reason is a Person.” (Joseph Ratzinger). The intelligibility of the world and the personal nature of the Logos.
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The Existence of God: Argument from Eternal Truths
I think that there are certain ideas – like in mathematics and logic – that are necessarily true in a way that is separate from space, time, and material things. Such ideas must exist in a way that is very different from material things. We could suppose that these ideas are products of our…
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Systematic Theology: Ethics
The statutes and judgments given to Israel were a mark of their special wisdom and understanding: “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6) Such wisdom and understanding are valuable to us not only for understanding the way things are but also for knowing…
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The Trinity
The doctrine of the Trinity is very important in Christianity. But people who are not Trinitarians, even non-Trinitarians who believe in the Bible and in Jesus, might wonder, what’s the reason for believing in the Trinity? Is the idea of the Trinity motivated from Biblical texts or was it…
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How to Use Entropy
Entropy is an important property in science but it can be somewhat challenging. It is commonly understood as "disorder", which is fine as an analogy but there are better ways to think about it. As with many concepts, especially complex ones, better understanding comes with repeated use and...
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The Unintelligible Remainder
Could anything truly exist in such a fashion that it could never be either perceived or thought of, even if only in principle? How would such a reality be distinct from absolute nothingness? A look into the philosophical issues of being and knowing with John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Martin…
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Classical Theism
A brief introduction to classical theism. Classical theism is a systematic understanding of God shared among many Christian, Jewish, Pagan, Muslim, and Hindu thinkers throughout history. It is primarily philosophical rather than scriptural in origin, but it also opens up an intellectual space for...
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Star Trek: Rapture
Rick and Todd discuss the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Rapture" in which Captain Sisko, Emissary to the Bajoran Prophets, receives a series of dramatic visions. We discuss the interpretive frameworks of spiritual and secular worldviews, the high costs of prophecy, the reliability or...
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Evolutionary Biology With Molecular Precision
Evolutionary biology benefits from a non-reductionist focus on real biological systems at the macroscopic level of their natural and historical contexts. This high-level approach makes sense since selection pressures operate at the level of phenotypes, the observed physical traits of organisms....
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Christ and the Uncanny
When Jesus taught that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood many of his disciples walked with him no more. Many of his teachings and actions were strange and unsettling. In a word, uncanny. Rudolf Otto similarly described the Holy as a numinous mysterium tremendum et fascinans. Something...
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Ontological Pluralism
Jared and Todd talk about ontological pluralism: What exists? How do we categorize what exists? Are those categories intrinsic or man-made? A related idea is perspectival realism. We discuss the ideas of William Wimsatt and Scott Page, among others. Is reality monistic, dualist, pluralistic? Is…
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The Apostles’ Creed
I love the Apostles’ Creed. If you ask me for a one-paragraph statement of what I believe, most fundamentally, this is it. Not just what I believe about religion, but what I believe most fundamentally about everything; about life, existence, and all of reality.
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First Contacts in Star Trek
Rick and Todd discuss first contacts in Star Trek. The first contact of Vulcans coming to Earth and first contacts of Federation humans with other species in the galaxy. We discuss the Prime Directive and other Federation policies. We discuss contacts with the Malcorians, the Prophets of the...
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Point-of-View Invariance and Noether’s Theorem
Noether's theorem is an important theorem that relates invariance of space-time transformations to the laws of conservation: space-translation invariance to the conservation of linear momentum, space-rotation invariance to the conservation of angular momentum, and time-translation invariance to…
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Unknowns and Knowing God
Christianity has many unknowns, which makes possible many differing beliefs. This can be discouraging. There are limits in the extent of our reasoning, something Immanuel Kant explored in his theory of antinomies. And there are limits in the answers resolvable in scripture, in response to which...
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Mark 4: The Seed and the Soil
"There went out a sower to sow." In his parable of the sower Jesus gives various active and passive roles: sower, seed, good soil, soil among thorns, stony ground, and waysides. This meditation on Mark 4 considers the seed as the word and the Word Christ, our receptivity to Christ, how he can...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Todd enters into the Abyss of thought in conversations with friends on topics that interest them. Philosophy, religion, psychology, politics, ethics, and the arts.
HOSTED BY
Todd Decker
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Into The Abyss have?
Into The Abyss currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Into The Abyss about?
Todd enters into the Abyss of thought in conversations with friends on topics that interest them. Philosophy, religion, psychology, politics, ethics, and the arts.
How often does Into The Abyss release new episodes?
Into The Abyss has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Into The Abyss on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Into The Abyss?
Into The Abyss is created and hosted by Todd Decker.
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