Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/28/25.

Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/28/25.

Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/21/25.

Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/14/25.

Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/14/25.

Book list:
The Generosity Project
To Love As God Loves: Conversations with the Early Church, by Roberta C. Bondi
Fully Alive, by Elizabeth Oldfield
Commentary on First, Second, and Third John, by Judith Lieu, from the New Testament Library

Originally recorded on Sunday 9/7/25.

Originally recorded on Sunday, 9/7/25.

Questions fall into two main categories:

I. General quesiotns about reading Bible and what it is

II. Questions about the Old Testament specifically

I. General questions about the Bible

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Q1: On Canonization: We believe that the Word of God is true, but we struggle sometimes with who decided which 66 books are the Word of God. Why and how do we trust the people who canonized (or decided which books should be in the Bible), and why do we say that these books are true but the other books not included in the Bible are not?

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Q2: Why is the Bible so difficult to understand?

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Q3: On Translation: If none of the Bible is written in English, but our Bibles are English Bibles, how can we know that what we’re reading in English isn’t missing something really significant in translation, or that our inability to read the original texts means we aren’t accessing the Bible in its purest form?

II. Questions about the Old Testament 

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Q4: How do you explain the difference between the violent, vengeful God of the Old Testament and the loving, accepting, and healing Jesus (and therefore God) of the New Testament?

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Q5: Why Deuteronomy?

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Q6: Is the story of Jonah literal in the way it’s told, or is it a fantastical comedy of a more realistic story about Jonah avoiding God’s to Ninevah? 

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Q7: Was there a creation before Genesis 1 opens up? The Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters, but it describes the layout of the creation of the earth, animals, etc.

Final General Questions

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Q8: Why can’t we all somewhat agree to a *few* interpretations of the Bible?

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Q9: If you’ve never read the Bible all the way through, where is the best place to start?

**NOTE on the Audio Quality: We apologize for the poor quality during the first half of the recording. It took our AV team until the 8:30 marker to get it right. (You can hear them in the background trying to figure it out.) Gotta love live events!

What is the Way of Christ curriculum? Where have we been? Where are we going?

Watch previous classes: https://incarnation.org/resources/class-videos/

Interested in a growth group: https://forms.fellowshipone.com/?formId=322ab024-6549-48b3-afe0-1c4659dc9058

Or email Fr. Rossi (mrossi@incarnation.org)

SCRIPTURE 

Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” - Genesis 1:26-28

[Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  - Colossians 1:15-18

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” - Genesis 2:18

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:1-2

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun sexual immorality! Every sin that a person commits  is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

- 1 Corinthians 6:15-20

Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven. - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49

 QUOTES

No one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he “lives and moves” (Acts 17:28). For, quite clearly, the mighty gifts with which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God…Man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.  - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I.1.1-2

Those who have come to believe and are convinced that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:17) and that Christ is the truth, according to his own statement “I am the truth” (Jn. 14:6), derive the knowledge that God calls human beings to live a good and blessed life from no other source than the very words and teaching of Christ. - Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles, Pr. 1

Human beings, after all, are not the sort of things that, once made and left to themselves by the one who made them, could do anything well all by themselves. No, the sum total of their good activity is to turn to him by whom they were made, and by him always to be made just, godfearing, wise, and blessed; not to be made so and leave, like being cured of some bodily ailment by a physician and going away…but in such a way that they may always be made so by him. In they very fact of their not taking their leave of him they are being justified and enlightened and blessed by his presence with them, by God ‘working and guarding’ them as the lord and master of obedient subordinates.

- Augustine of Hippo, Literal Commentary on Genesis, VIII.25

The human being is a kind of second world, great in smallness, placed on the earth, another angel, a composite worshiper, a beholder of the visible creation, and initiate into the intelligible, king of things on earth, subject to what is above, earthly and heavenly, transitory and immortal, visible and intelligible, a mean between greatness and lowliness. He is at once spirit and flesh, spirit on account of grace, flesh on account of pride, the one that he might remain and glorify his Benefactor, the other that he might suffer and in suffering remember and be corrected if he has ambition for greatness. He is a living creature trained here and transferred elsewhere, and, to complete the mystery, deified through inclination toward God. For the light and the truth present in measure here bear me toward this end, to see and experience the radiance of God, which is worthy of the one who has bound me [to flesh] and will release me and hereafter bind me in a higher manner.  

- Gregory of Nazianus, Oration 38.11

Virtue is a good quality of the mind by which we live rightly and which no one uses badly, which God works in us apart from us.

- Augustine of Hippo, On Free Will, 2.19

Anyone who through fixed habit participates in virtue, unquestionably participates in God, who is the substance of the virtues…for to the beautiful nature inherent in the fact that he is God's image, he freely chooses to add the likeness to God by means of the virtues, in a natural movement of ascent through which he grows in conformity to his own beginning. - Maximus Confessor, Ambiguum 7

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and

straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is

Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 12:3

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new

heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of

flesh. 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28 Then you shall live in

the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. - Ezekiel 36:25-28

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you

forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he

abides with you, and he will be in you…26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you

everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. - John 14:15-17, 26

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of

a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue

rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

- Acts 2:1-4

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit

desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18 But if you are led by the

Spirit, you are not subject to the law…22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23

gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its

passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one

another, envying one another. - Galatians 5:16-18, 22-26

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you

have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and

is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the person of God may be proficient,

equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Additional Scriptures:

On the Spirit, see also:
Gen. 1:1-2; 2:7; Joel 2:28-32; John 3:3-8,; John 14-16; Acts 2; Romans 5:5, 8:1-27; 1 Cor. 12:-31; 2 Cor. 3:1-18

On Scripture, see also:
2 Kings 22-23; Luke 24:13-35; 2 Peter 1:16-21

QUOTES

If [the Holy Spirit] did not exist from the beginning, he has the same rank as I have, though with a slight priority—we are both separated from

God by time. If he has the same rank as I have, how can he make me God, how can he link me with deity? - Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 31.4

Until our minds become intent upon the Spirit, Christ, so to speak, lies idle because we coldly contemplate him as outside ourselves—indeed,

far from us…But he unites himself to us by the Spirit alone. By the grace and power of the same Spirit we are made his members, to keep us

under himself and in turn to possess him. - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.1.3

Therefore the love which is of God and which is God is specifically the Holy Spirit; by him God’s love is diffused in our hearts, and by this love

the whole Trinity indwells us. - Augustine, De Trin 15.32

And in reading of God’s word he most profiteth not always that is most ready in turning of the book, or in saying of it without the book; but

he that is most turned into it, that is most inspired by the Holy Ghost, most in his heart and life altered and changed into that thing which he

readeth; he that is daily less and less proud, less wrathful, less covetous, and less desirous of worldly and vain pleasures; he that daily, forsaking his old vicious life, increaseth in virtue more and more. And, to be short, there is nothing that more maintaineth godliness of the mind, and driveth away ungodliness, than doth the continual reading or hearing of God’s word, if it be joined with a godly mind and a good affection to know and follow God’s will. - Thomas Cranmer, “A Fruitful Exhortation to the Reading of Holy Scripture”

Oh Book! infinite sweetness! let my heart

Suck ev'ry letter, and a honey gain,

Precious for any grief in any part;

To clear the breast, to mollify all pain.

Thou art all health, health thriving, till it make

A full eternity: thou art a mass

Of strange delights, where we may wish and take.

Ladies, look here; this is the thankfull glass,

That mends the looker's eyes: this is the well

That washes what it shows. Who can endear

Thy praise too much? thou art heav'n's Lidger here,

Working against the states of death and hell.

Thou art joy's handsel: heav'n lies flat in thee,

Subject to ev'ry mounter's bended knee.

     - George Herbert, “The Holy Scriptures I”

SYNOPSIS
We’re going to life in God, but in a world full of obstacles, both within our own hearts and all around us, how do we get there? This week we discuss the Christian teaching about Jesus, the Son of God who takes on our humanity to make a way to God for us, and to show us the way to be truly human. Check the website for a lecture handout!

SCRIPTURE

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. - Hebrews 1:1-4

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are being destroyed.

7 But we speak God’s wisdom, a hidden mystery, which God decreed before the ages for our glory 8 and which none of the rulers of this age understood, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. - 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. - 1 Corinthians 8:6

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:15-20

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it…14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. - John 1:1-5, 14-18

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.- Philippians 2:5-1

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
That is why, since we are meant to enjoy the truth which is unchangeably alive, and since it is in its light that God the Trinity, author and maker of the universe, provides for all the things he has made, our minds have to be purified, to enable them to perceive that light, and to cling to it once perceived. We should think of this purification process as being a kind of walk, a kind of voyage toward our home country…Of this we would be quite incapable, unless Wisdom herself had seen fit to adapt herself even to infirmity such as ours, and had given us an example of how to live, in no other mode than the human one, because we too are human…So since she herself is our home, she also made herself for us into the way home.”   - St. Augustine, On Christian Teaching, I.10-11 

“Man and God blended. They became a single whole, the stronger side predominating, in order that I might be made God to the same extent that he was made man. He was begotten—yet he was already begotten—of a woman…He was wrapped in swaddling bands, but at the Resurrection he unloosed the swaddling bands of the grave…He was laid in a manger, but was extolled by angels, disclosed by a star and adored by the Mag…As man he was baptized, but he absolved sins as God…As man he was put to the test, but as God he came through victorious—he Hungered—yet he fed thousands. He is indeed “living, heavenly bread.” He thirsted—yet he exclaimed: “Whosoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”...He was tired—yet he is the “rest” of the weary and the burdened…He pays tax—yet he uses a fish to do it; indeed he is emperor over those who demand the tax…He is stoned, yet not hit; he prays, yet he hears prayer. He weeps, yet he puts an end to weeping…” He is sold…yet he buys back the world at the mighty cost of his own blood. A sheep, he is led to the slaughter—yet he shepherds Israel and now the whole world as well…He is weakened and wounded—yet he cures every disease and every weakness. He is brought up to the tree and nailed to it—yet by the tree of life he restores us…He surrenders his life, yet he has the power to take it again. He dies, but he vivifies and by death destroys death. If the first set of expressions starts you going astray, the second set takes your errors away.”  

- St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 29.19-20 

If it cannot be said that God died for us, but only a man, we are lost; but if God’s death and a dead God lie in the balance, his side goes down and our side goes up like a light and empty scale. Yet he can also readily go up again, or leap out of the scale! But he could not sit on the scale unless he had become a man like us, so that he could be called God’s dying, God’s martyrdom, God’s blood, and God’s death. For God in his own nature cannot die, but now that God and man are united in one person, it is called God’s death when the man dies who is one substance or one person with God.” - Martin Luther, “On the Councils and the Church” in Luther’s Works, Volume 41 

“Christology is the touchstone of all knowledge of God in the Christian sense, the touchstone of all theology. ‘Tell me how it stands with your Christology, and I shall tell you who you are.’”  - Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline 

“God is so great as to be able to humble himself to the point of a human death for our salvation, and the unity of God with our fallen condition not only does not contradict or threaten God, but it is precisely in God’s character to do this.”  - Christopher Beeley, Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God 

You temper your justice with mercy. In mercy you cleansed us in the blood; in mercy you...

KEY SCRIPTURES:
John 13-17
Revelation 20-22
Psalm 126
Isaiah 2:2-4
Romans 8:1
1 Corinthians 15