Diving into Genesis stories again, in this episode, Liam offers us a different view of the so-called Fall story found in Genesis 3. Reading the encounter between Eve and the serpent in a new way, and drawing on Rashi and his commentary on the story, Liam invites us to see the story as a trauma story, first, and then poses the question of who really sinned, Eve or the Serpent.
As often happens, Don and Liam raise more questions through the conversation. Still, they invite us to look deeply at our relationship to creation, our relationships with one another, and how we respond to those among us who have suffered the fracturing of trust.
Then, as is the Bible Bash custom, Don closes with another text. This time, he shares thoughts from a wise Quaker elder, Dorothy H. Hutchinson.
A Painful Discrepancy
The basis of Friends’ social concerns is the same as the basis of Quakerism as a whole – the belief of the within-ness of God. This is not original with Friends. Many other groups have believe that God is within, as well as above and beyond us. However, the emphasis on the within-ness of God in all human beings, in the capacity of the individual to communicate directly with God, to experience the spirit of Christ and express it in every aspect of life has led us to adopt patterns of behavior which may be considered distinctively Quaker.
This is the spiritual basis of the Friends’ distinctive form of meeting for worship – waiting in the Light for direct revelation of God’s will for us. It is the basis for the distinctive for of meeting for business – seeking unity in the Spirit. And it is the basis for all the social testimonies. For centuries Friends have been exploring the application of this belief in the within-ness of God in all of us to the problems of human relations and the end is certainly not yet.
A Quaker social concern seems characteristically to arise in a sensitive individual or very small group – often decades before it grips the Society of Friends as a whole and as much as a century or more before it appeals to the secular world…
The concern arises as a revelation to an individual that there is a painful discrepancy between existing social conditions and what God wills for society and that this discrepancy is not being adequately dealt with. The next step is the determination of the individual to do something about it – not because they are particularly well fitted to tackle the problem, but simply because no one else seems to be doing it.
Dorothy H. Hutchinson: The spiritual basis of Quaker social concerns, 1961, pp. 1-2.
Friends General Conference
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note–religious or secular–that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
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