Listening Religiously

Illustration by James Tissot (1836-1902).Religionforbreakfast video on Melchizedek:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEruf1XhdpADISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler et al, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan et al, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESDan McClellan on the Tower of Babel:https://youtube.com/shorts/zz4a5aVD9x4?si=XK0tiJsqKI191lxqThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler et al, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan et al, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler et al, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan et al, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and to exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler et al, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan et al, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler et al, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan et al, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and to exercise critical thought at all times.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEChristine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version.John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER IThis podcast is for anyone and everyone interested in honestly and critically engaging with the texts of the Hebrew Bible.Our primary goal will be to understand the texts in their original context, as much as can be reconstructed by historical-critical methods. However, personal reflections on the text, its interpretation, and reception history are also welcome.DISCLAIMER IIWe are not biblical scholars. Listeners are encouraged to double check our research, seek out reputable academic sources, and to exercise critical thought at all times.DISCLAIMER IIIJeff’s nieces and nephews are not allowed to listen to this podcast until they turn 18.FREE RESOURCESThe NRSVUE translation at Bible Gateway:https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NRSVUEReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) video on Bible translations:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApTF7nwae24Christine Hayes’s YaleCourses series, Introduction to the Old Testament:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWiReligionForBreakfast (Andrew Henry) on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfastDan McClellan on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@maklelanRECOMMENDED BOOKSAdele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible.Michael D. Coogan, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version. John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.Christine Hayes, Introduction to the Bible.Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, The Bible With and Without Jesus.Dan McClellan, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues.Society of Biblical Literature, The SBL Study Bible.*******Subscribe to our Substack at:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SUBSTACK FOR UPDATES ABOUT SEASON 2 AND THE BOOK!listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Texas Ten Commandments Bill S.B. 10:https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/SB00010I.pdfTexas Faith Leaders’ Open Letter Against Bill S.B. 10:https://bjconline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Texas-faith-leaders-10C-Letter.pdfRead: The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.https://a.co/d/dWcfyTNCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Quotes to consider:“The failure to treat religion ‘as religion’–that is, the refusal to ratify its claim of transcendent nature and sacrosanct status–may be regarded as heresy and sacrilege by those who construct themselves as religious, but it is the starting point for those who construct themselves as historians.”—Bruce Lincoln (born 1948)“The basic error of fundamentalism is that it overlooks the contribution of the receptive side in the revelatory situation and consequently identifies one individual and conditioned form of receiving the divine with the divine itself. But there are other forms.“Even in the Bible we find differences between the priestly and prophetic writings, between early and late traditions in the Four Gospels. We find them, too, in the classics of church history and in the denominational interpretations of the Bible today. Revelation cannot be separated from them.“…But there is no pure revelation. Wherever the divine is manifest, it is manifest in ‘flesh,’ that is, in a concrete, physical, and historical reality, as in the religious receptivity of the biblical writers.”—Paul Tillich (1886-1965)“Four themes are essential to the prophetic-liberating tradition of Biblical faith: (1) God's defense and vindication of the oppressed; (2) the critique of the dominant systems of power and their powerholders; (3) the vision of a new age to come in which the present system of injustice is overcome and God's intended reign of peace and justice is installed in history; and (4) finally, the critique of ideology, or of religion, since ideology in this context is primarily religious. “Prophetic faith denounces religious ideologies and systems that function to justify and sanctify the dominant, unjust social order. These traditions are central to the Prophets and to the mission of Jesus. Hence the critical-liberating tradition is the axis around which the prophetic-messianic line of Biblical faith revolves as a foundation for Christianity.”—Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936-2022)Read: The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.https://a.co/d/dWcfyTNCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

DISCLAIMER:We will not be saying anything positive about religion in this episode. If you'd like to hear us say something positive about religion, you will have to wait another week.Read: The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.https://a.co/d/dWcfyTNCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

“Fire and Ice” by Robert FrostSome say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice.“The Second Coming” by W. B. YeatsTurning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at hand;Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus MundiTroubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleepWere vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?Read: The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.https://a.co/d/dWcfyTNCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Read: The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine Faris King.https://a.co/d/dWcfyTNCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube Music powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Quote from Jeffrey J. Kripal:“[T]he future hinges largely on how future generations, including (and especially) your generation, critically compare across cultural, religious, and social divisions.”The “Two Gods” poem of Kabir Das (15th CE)Translated by Linda Hess and Shukdeo Singh:Brother, where did your two gods come from?Tell me, who made you mad?Ram, Allah, Keshav, Karim, Hari, Hazrat—so many names.So many ornaments, all one gold,it has no double nature.For conversation we make two—this namaz, that puja, this Mahadev, that Muhammed,this Brahma, that Adam, this a Hindu, that a Turk,but all belong to earth.Vedas, Korans, all those books, those Mullas and those Brahmins—so many names, so many names,but the pots are all one clay.Kabir says, nobody can find Ram,both sides are lost in schisms.One slaughters goats, one slaughters cows,they squander their birth in isms.Recommended text:Kripal, Jeffrey J. Comparing Religions: The Study of Us that Changes Us. Wiley-Blackwell, 2024.Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

[Update: So I totally said “resurrection” instead of “insurrection.” Whoops.]The “Kill Them Wherever You Find Them” Verse (Qur’an 2:190-191)“Fight in God’s cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep the limits. God does not love those who overstep the limits. Kill them wherever you encounter them, and drive them out from wherever they drove you out, for persecution [fitna; ‘insurrection’] is more serious than killing. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there. If they do fight you, kill them—this is what such disbelievers deserve—but if they stop, then God is most forgiving and merciful.”The “No Compulsion in Religion” Verse (Qur’an 2:256):“There is no compulsion in religion: true guidance has become distinct from error, so whoever rejects false gods and believes in God has grasped the firmest hand-hold, one that will never break…As for the disbelievers, their allies are false gods who take them from the light into the depths of darkness, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, and there they will remain.”Recommended texts: Haleem, M. A. S. Abdel. The Qur’an. Oxford University Press, 2008.Haleem, M. A. S. Abdel. Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style. I.B. Tauris, 2010.Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Image: Muhammad’s name on the door of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.Clarification: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani” is, in fact, Aramaic.Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgMusic powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Summary of the Four Noble Truths:* Disease: Life is suffering (dukkha).* Cause: Suffering is caused by craving* Cure: Suffering can have an end (Nirvana).* Medicine: There is a path which leads to the end of suffering (The Noble Eightfold Path).Three Marks of Existence:* Duhkha/dukkha (suffering/anxiety/stress)* Anitya/aniccha (impermanence)* Anatman/anatta (soulessness/non-self)Three Poisons:1. Rāga (Passion)/Lobha (Greed)2. Dvesha (Hatred)3. Moha (Delusion)Three Virtues:* Dāna (Generosity)* Mettā/Maitrī (Kindness)* Prajñā (Wisdom)Five Aggregates:1. Form (rūpa)2. Feeling (vedanā)3. Perception (saṃjñā)4. Mental formations/volition (saṃskāra)5. Consciousness (vijñāna)The Noble Eightfold Path:* Right view* Right resolve* Right speech* Right action* Right livelihood* Right effort* Right mindfulness* Right concentrationCheck out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Pictured: The Bhavachakra, or “Wheel of Becoming.”The Six Realms: Devas, Asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell-beings.The Three Poisons: Greed, hatred, and delusion.Check out BGMania: A Videogame Music Podcasthttps://bgmania.podbean.com/Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Recommended reading:Miller, Barbara Stoler. The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War. New York: Bantam Books, 1986. Follow us on:listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at:[email protected] song of the Mahabharat television serial (1988). Vocals by Mahendra Kapoor, lyrics by Pandit Narendra Sharma.Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

12 Things to Do in Varanasi (Grrrltraveler, Christine Kaaloa)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taJUNhdTec0A Hindu Shrine (Oxford Digital Media)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyw5EJRKEXUSign up for the newsletter at: listeningreligiously.substack.comOr shoot us an email at: [email protected] Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright:https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Map by Carrie Osgood: https://carrieosgood.com/world-religionsBased on: World Religions Database; United Nations Population Fund; 2010 data.Quote to consider:“There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.”—Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

[Sorry about the audio quality on my end. It's much better in Episode 3, I swear.]Recommended Podcasts and YouTube Channels for the Academic Study of Religion:* YaleCourses:* Introduction to the Old Testament With Christine Hayes.* New Testament History and Literature with Dale Martin.* Religion For Breakfast (Dr. Andrew Henry): https://www.youtube.com/@ReligionForBreakfast* Bart D. Ehrman: https://www.youtube.com/@bartdehrman* Eat Pray Anime: https://www.youtube.com/@EatPrayAnime* Bedroth’s Pick: Data Over Dogma (Dr. Dan McClellan):https://www.youtube.com/@dataoverdogmaBedroth’s Other Podcast (highly recommended; not available on Spotify): BGMania: A Videogame Music PodcastBedroth’s Five-Minute Definition of Religion:“[Religion is] an organized set of ideas based on shared ideals and practices with both theological and ethical implications.”Prof-Jeff’s Five-Minute Definition of Religion:“Religion is a sphere of culture that often gathers together intertwining myths, rituals, traditions, and texts with some connection to otherworldly or sacred powers.“Alternatively, ‘religion’ refers to cultural institutions historically seen as in competition with Christianity—with ‘religion’ being the name of the category that encompasses both Christianity and its competitors.”Ninian Smart’s Seven Dimensions of Religion:* Ritual* Narrative and Mythic* Experiential and Emotional* Social and Institutional* Ethical and Legal* Doctrinal and Philosophical* MaterialThe Oxford English Dictionary’s Definition of Religion:“Belief in or acknowledgement of some superhuman power or powers (esp. a god or gods) which is typically manifested in obedience, reverence, and worship; such a belief as part of a system defining a code of living, esp. as a means of achieving spiritual or material improvement.”Wikipedia’s Definition of Religion:“Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.”Paul Tillich on Religions and Quasi-Religions:“Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern…[which] contains the answer to the question of the meaning of our life….“The predominant religious name for the content of such concern is God—a god or gods. In nontheistic religions divine qualities are ascribed to a sacred object or an all-pervading power or a highest principle such as the Brahma[n] or the One. In secular quasi-religions the ultimate concern is directed towards objects like nation, science, a particular form or stage of society, or a highest ideal of humanity, which are then considered divine.”Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com

Disclaimer:This podcast is intended for anyone and everyone interested in honestly and critically engaging with different religious perspectives, irreligious perspectives, criticisms, and analyses of religion in general. Two quotes to consider:“The failure to treat religion ‘as religion’–that is, the refusal to ratify its claim of transcendent nature and sacrosanct status–may be regarded as heresy and sacrilege by those who construct themselves as religious, but it is the starting point for those who construct themselves as historians.”—Bruce Lincoln (born 1948)“Even in the Bible we find differences between the priestly and prophetic writings, between early and late traditions in the Four Gospels. We find them, too, in the classics of church history and in the denominational interpretations of the Bible today. Revelation cannot be separated from them.“…But there is no pure revelation. Wherever the divine is manifest, it is manifest in ‘flesh,’ that is, in a concrete, physical, and historical reality, as in the religious receptivity of the biblical writers.”—Paul Tillich (1886-1965)Theme Song: Bedtime After A CoffeeComposer: Barradeen (Argentina)Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfTggY6U7d6XVre774B1_qgLicense: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-freeMusic powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit listeningreligiously.substack.com