Dec. 9, 2024

Pastors vs Podcast

Pastors vs Podcast

Pastoral authority In the age of podcast

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconRadioPublic podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconBreaker podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player icon

Pastoral authority In the age of podcast

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:06.040
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:12.759
the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. What is the

3
00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.760
very first thing that comes to your mind when you

4
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:25.079
hear the phrase pastoral authority or pastor authority, pastoral authority,

5
00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:28.199
the authority of a pastor. What is the very first

6
00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:30.359
thing that comes to your mind when you hear that phrase,

7
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.840
depending on how you want to say it, pastoral authority,

8
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:37.479
pastor authority, the authority of a pastor. What comes to

9
00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.640
your mind? I mean, honestly, what comes to your mind?

10
00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:43.719
Do you go, absolutely, I believe in the authority of

11
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.520
a pastor. I submit to the authority of a pastor.

12
00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:51.000
Pastors have more authority to do? What to interpret the Bible? Like,

13
00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.000
what does it mean to you? I really want you

14
00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:59.079
to think about that when it comes down to church authority.

15
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:00.960
What comes to your mind if you hear the phrase

16
00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:05.079
church authority or the authority of the church. Do you

17
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.680
believe the church has any authority? Do you really believe

18
00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.280
a pastor has any authority? Well, we're going to talk

19
00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:14.879
about that. We're going to talk about that in light

20
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:22.120
of kind of contrasting with this thing called podcast, because well,

21
00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.000
I'm a podcaster I do a podcast, and well, there

22
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.879
are these things in conflict and what does this ultimately

23
00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:32.760
does this lead back to the Protestant Reformation. We're going

24
00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:34.719
to talk about all of these things, and we're going

25
00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.359
to do that right after I say well, good afternoon everyone.

26
00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:43.079
It is Monday, December the ninth, twenty twenty four. It

27
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.719
is currently one twenty eight pm Central time, and I

28
00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:50.040
am coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio

29
00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:56.480
located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, my initial thought

30
00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:01.239
today was okay, if I do a broadcast, asked, well,

31
00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:02.799
I know, we need to kind of finish up the

32
00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.200
sermon's two point oh app sermon challenge. We need to

33
00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.280
keep moving forward because before we know it, December is

34
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.240
going to be over, and then this year's challenge is over,

35
00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:13.000
and then we'll figure out what to do next year.

36
00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.560
I also felt like, well, yesterday I only got to

37
00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.199
do one hour of teaching on Isaiah forty. We did

38
00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:25.800
finish our observational outline. There's still some things I could

39
00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.199
talk about. There's some things I could add to that

40
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:33.280
discussion that maybe I didn't get to. There's other things

41
00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.240
we need to work on, There's other things we need

42
00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.360
to finish up, just kind of trying to figure out.

43
00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:40.240
You know, I had lots of different ideas. I guess

44
00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.199
I can say that. But when I finally walked up

45
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:47.479
the steps to the studio and I sat down, all

46
00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.080
of a sudden, I found myself going, well, I think

47
00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:53.759
I know where we're going today. In fact, this maybe

48
00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.680
began a week long focus. I know that's going to

49
00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.599
take away from the sermon's two point oh app sermon challenge,

50
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.120
but this may become our focus for this week. I

51
00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:03.919
don't know, maybe it will not. Maybe we can cover

52
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.960
it all in one broadcast. But I let me explain

53
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.199
what happened. I opened my iPad and I had the

54
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:19.759
Gospel Coalition dot oorg open on the iPad. The Gospel

55
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.520
Coalition dot org. You can open that right now if

56
00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.599
you would like to follow along the Gospel Coalition dot org.

57
00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:37.159
And I see a headline pastoral pastoral authority, and I'm like, oh,

58
00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:40.599
pastoral authority, Okay, all right, now that's a topic that

59
00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.039
I have strong feelings about when it comes to this

60
00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:45.840
concept of pastoral authority. Let me just get it out

61
00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.520
of the way. I think the concept of pastoral authority

62
00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.479
is a fraud I think it's an illusion. I think

63
00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.080
people like to pretend that pastors have authority. They don't

64
00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:00.719
have any. It's a joke, it's a complete fraud, an illusion.

65
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.280
It's any of these, this concept pastoral authority. Look, I'm sorry,

66
00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.759
and the Protestant world, there is no pastoral authority. You

67
00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.000
can pretend all day. You can have the structure, you

68
00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:16.120
can have the hierarchy, you can do it, but when

69
00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:17.879
it comes down to it, you don't have any And

70
00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.560
that's that's I'm just gonna get that idea out of

71
00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:23.560
the way right now because I have strong feelings about it.

72
00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.680
So that caught my attention, pastoral authority. But then what

73
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.160
really caught my attention was pastoral authority. Let me read

74
00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:37.399
the rest of the headline, pastoral authority in the Age

75
00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:43.920
of Podcast, and I'm like, oh, you've you're speaking my

76
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.959
language all right, pastoral authority. I have strong feelings about it.

77
00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:54.120
Podcast Obviously, I have strong feelings about that because I'm

78
00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:59.879
a podcaster, So oh, let's talk about this and I

79
00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:02.439
and I don't know, I haven't even read all of

80
00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:04.680
the article yet. I haven't even read all of the article.

81
00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.720
I've just looked at it just a little bit. So

82
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.720
I'm going to have have certain assumptions, some predictions. I

83
00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:15.720
will say my prediction is it's going to be basically

84
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:21.560
an article that says, hey, podcast undermine pastoral authority. Those

85
00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:25.800
mean bad podcasts, they undermine pastoral authority. We need to

86
00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.480
be careful with these podcasts, because what I have seen

87
00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:38.199
is many church leaders, many pastors, are not so warm

88
00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.519
to podcasters. They don't like bloggers. They don't like podcasters

89
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:48.639
because sometimes bloggers and podcasters are in a sense outside

90
00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:55.240
of that church structure, offers criticism, offers critique. Maybe sometimes

91
00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.160
the podcasters can say things that say things that no

92
00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.319
one within the church structure can say, and the pastors

93
00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:03.399
don't like it. They don't like the criticism. They don't

94
00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.279
like it, so they get very upset all these podcasters

95
00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:10.680
out there saying this, these pody They almost whenever they

96
00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:17.160
talk about podcasters or bloggers, it's almost very derogatory. It's

97
00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.199
almost like those podcasters, those bloggers, as if if you're

98
00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:25.759
not a pastor, you have no right to offer a

99
00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:29.519
critique of the institutionalized church. But I think when it

100
00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.639
looks at the institutionalized church, I think there's some things

101
00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.800
that people can point out and going I have a

102
00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.120
problem with this. I have a problem with this, And

103
00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:41.639
I know that that kind of creates us versus them mentality,

104
00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:44.680
and I'm not saying that that's the way it should be,

105
00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.839
but there is Look, there's grounds to critique the church. Look,

106
00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.959
you can you can critique the church, just on a

107
00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:57.480
very pragmatic level, like on the most pragmatic level possible.

108
00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.800
I think there's grounds for critique. Critique. Some people don't

109
00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.600
like this because they say it's too fleshly. But if

110
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.839
we just get very practical, let me explain, and I

111
00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.240
say this all the time. If you go to church,

112
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:14.879
you typically have access to the monthlier yearly budget report,

113
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:17.199
and you can look or you can ask your pastor

114
00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:19.519
for a one, because on most all cases the church

115
00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.560
will provide someone who asks right, especially a member, and

116
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.399
it will show you the operating costs, how much it

117
00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:29.600
costs to operate the church, and it'll break that down.

118
00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.639
How much money goes to the building, how much money

119
00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.160
goes to the pastor, how much money goes to curriculum,

120
00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.839
how much money goes to activities, how much money goes

121
00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.160
to programs, and you can add it all up and

122
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.639
say Okay, it costs this much per year for my

123
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.680
church to operate. Anyone can figure that out. You don't

124
00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.800
even need all the specifics. Just what is the annual

125
00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.120
amount of money required to keep the church operating, just

126
00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:57.399
to keep it breaking even how much is required. Now

127
00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.199
you take that and then you look at exactly how

128
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:06.720
much teaching and preaching the church is actually producing for

129
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:11.480
that amount of money, and then look at the quality

130
00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.120
of that preaching and teaching for that amount of money.

131
00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:17.240
Sometimes from just a purely practical level, you're like, wait,

132
00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.720
it cost us almost a million dollars to operate per year,

133
00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.879
and this is what we get from it for it.

134
00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.759
It costs US five hundred thousand dollars a year and

135
00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.800
we're lucky to get three, you know, in depth sermons

136
00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:36.519
per week. Now, you can take that step back to

137
00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:40.240
anyone with a microphone and a computer, with a desire

138
00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.120
and a willingness and a love to teach and study

139
00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:48.360
the Bible. They can produce, in many cases, one hundred

140
00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.600
times the amount of content, sometimes far more in depth,

141
00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:58.519
for basically a fraction of the cost. Even if the

142
00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.240
podcaster was trying to make some honey and make a living,

143
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.840
if the people were actually able to support it. The

144
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.000
podcaster can make a living and be able to broadcast,

145
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:15.679
and I guarantee you provide deeper content more uh far more.

146
00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:17.799
They can far a great let me state it this way,

147
00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:24.200
a greater quality and a greater quantity. I stand by that,

148
00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:27.720
and we I mean, how many sermons do we have

149
00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.600
to review that? Sometimes you're just like, wait that that?

150
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.799
What was that? What was that? And it's not even

151
00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.639
about disagreement. It's not about what well they hold to

152
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.559
this illological position. It's just an I hold to a

153
00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:43.320
different philological position. Sometimes it's just like you didn't even

154
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.840
really deal with the text, or you so mishandled the

155
00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.519
text that it should be you know, malpractice suit Like

156
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:55.120
what was that? I mean, come on, now, that's just

157
00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:57.919
a Now I see, it's easy for the podcaster to

158
00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:59.960
say that we're inside the church. You can't say that

159
00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.559
because you gotta you gotta keep support, you gotta keep

160
00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.759
promoting the whole structure. We need people, we need money,

161
00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:08.799
and we gotta play it. Pay for this program and this,

162
00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.480
and we gotta pay for this building, and we gotta

163
00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:11.879
pay for this and this and this and this and

164
00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:16.279
this and this. You you can't be criticizing the structure.

165
00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:19.559
You gotta keep you gotta keep supporting it and bringing

166
00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:25.240
in the money to prop it up. So sometimes the criticism,

167
00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.320
people don't like the criticism, but sometimes it needs to

168
00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.240
be made. I'm not saying that that. I'm not saying

169
00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:33.200
that that proves one thing or another. I'm saying from

170
00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:38.399
a purely pragmatic perspective, podcasters may say this, where pastors

171
00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:41.399
are gonna be like, no, no, no, no, keep coming, keep giving.

172
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.480
We need more money, give more money. We need a

173
00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.120
stewardship month, we need a stewardship week. We need a

174
00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.600
giving this, we need a giving that. We need this,

175
00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.559
we need a we need a love offering. We need this,

176
00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.759
we need this, we need this, we need a building fund.

177
00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.440
We need it because you gotta keep the whole, you know,

178
00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:05.639
industrial complex operating. So that immediately right there you can

179
00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:10.080
just see that there can be some criticism. So I'm

180
00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:12.759
assuming this article is going to kind of go after

181
00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:15.480
that concept. But they're going after it not from they're

182
00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.759
going after from the perspective of on one side, or

183
00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.480
at least this is the way it looks like. Again

184
00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:23.399
I'm being predictive here. I could be very wrong. They're

185
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:27.240
looking at it from pastoral authority on one side and

186
00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:32.960
those pesky podcasters on the others. We would have gotten

187
00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.840
away with it it wasn't for these pesky kids, right,

188
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.200
and that how Scooby Doo used to how all at

189
00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:41.120
the end whenever they capture the bad guy. I would

190
00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.320
have gotten away from this if wouldn't for your pesky

191
00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.679
kids and that ridiculous dog. Okay, well, I think in

192
00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.639
many times pastors will like pastoral authority would be great

193
00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.120
if it wouldn't for these pesky podcasters causing all of

194
00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:59.159
these problems. That's the way I think this is going

195
00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:02.960
to go. I could be very wrong now I'm trying.

196
00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:05.360
The reason I've spent twelve minutes saying a lot of

197
00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.440
these things is I want to be very transparent with

198
00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:12.399
my feelings and thoughts. And the reason I want to

199
00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:16.759
be is because then you're going to I'm obviously going

200
00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.480
to come at this and you're gonna hear some of

201
00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:22.200
those feelings. So I want to be transparent, meaning I

202
00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:25.960
could be somewhat biased here, So I'm gonna try to

203
00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:29.159
recognize that I could have a bias here and try

204
00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.200
to be fair. I'm going to try to be so

205
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.879
are you ready? Here we go? This was published on

206
00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:39.200
December the ninth, twenty twenty four, so it's published today.

207
00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.960
Hot off the I mean paper, Hot off the presses. Okay,

208
00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.639
here we go, Hot off the presses, Hot off the presses.

209
00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:53.879
I'm not actually reading an article on paper, but I

210
00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:55.759
can't do anything with the iPad. I could just go

211
00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:01.200
just slap. That doesn't so I just keep this paper

212
00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:04.600
here just so I can do this. I just printed this,

213
00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.639
all right, but I didn't print it. I didn't and

214
00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.879
I don't know all the printers at the bottom of

215
00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.559
the steps and hasn't been hooked up in thirty five years. Okay,

216
00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:13.639
all right, but all right, that's a little hyperbole. But yeah,

217
00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:15.600
it's at the bottom of the steps. I don't even

218
00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.279
know why we have a printer. Okay, but are you ready?

219
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:26.759
Here we go? Published today Pastoral Authority and the Age

220
00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.159
of Podcasts. Now, I'm predicting that the article is going

221
00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:35.000
to be like podcast undermine pastoral Authority's that's the direction

222
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:36.679
I think I'm going to go. I could be wrong.

223
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:48.080
Let's find out. First paragraph. Have you noticed the subtle

224
00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:56.720
shift and how congregations seek spiritual guidance? Where where consurgations? Okay, yeah, well,

225
00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:01.240
let's talk about how podcasters can't correctly. Let me try

226
00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:04.879
this again. Have you noticed a subtle shift in how

227
00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:11.879
congregations seek spiritual guidance? Where congregants once began with My

228
00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:17.679
grandmother always said they now regularly began with I was

229
00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:23.720
listening to this podcast or I saw on YouTube. All right,

230
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.600
I gotta stop right here. This is I don't even

231
00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.639
know what this person is talking about. When when did

232
00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:37.360
congregations ever begin? My grandmother always said, did I miss that? Like,

233
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.799
where's maybe there's some congregants who said my grandmother always said,

234
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:46.039
I never said that, because I don't think. I don't

235
00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.360
even I don't even know. I didn't know any of

236
00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.840
my relatives, so I would have never said that. And

237
00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.559
even if they were, if I ever would have spoken

238
00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.519
to them, I doubt they would have ever given me

239
00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.240
any spiritual advice. So I don't even know what that means.

240
00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:03.960
Well from my experience, and I came into the church

241
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.960
as a teenager, so way before podcasts ever existed, way

242
00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.559
before the internet, way before people had cell phones, I

243
00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.240
still never heard people in the congregation said, Well, my

244
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:21.559
grandmother always said, no, I would hear did you hear

245
00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:25.759
on Christian radio? This? Did you hear on Christian radio? This?

246
00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:29.879
Did I read in this commentary? This I read in

247
00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:35.159
this Christian book? This? So how is that any different

248
00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:38.000
than when people today say I was listening to a

249
00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:43.720
podcast or I saw on YouTube. I so this is

250
00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.919
already creating Like back in the olden days, people would

251
00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:53.759
just begin with my grandmother always said two oh, no,

252
00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:56.799
Now things have gotten really bad because now they say

253
00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:01.080
podcasts and YouTube. I don't understand what the difference. People

254
00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:06.519
have always listened and gathered spiritual information, knowledge and perspectives

255
00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.679
from a wide range of sources that were available to them.

256
00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:13.519
I guess we could go back to where they maybe

257
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.480
didn't have all these other sources available to them. But

258
00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:21.559
I mean, come on, I mean, so, I don't know

259
00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:26.159
has there been a subtle shift, But just think about it.

260
00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:29.480
Whether the congregants are saying my grandmother always said, or

261
00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.639
whether the congregation is saying, I was listening to a

262
00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.679
podcast or YouTube, let's just go ahead and get this

263
00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:38.879
out of the way. Neither one of the No matter

264
00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.919
whether you go podcast, YouTube, or grandmother, none of that

265
00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:46.240
is my pastor always said, nobody is quoting pastoral authority.

266
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:50.080
They're always quote. They're all are quoting outside the church

267
00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:56.799
authorities or church voices. Let's see what the next paragraph reads.

268
00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:03.600
As pastors, we increasingly need to address not just scriptures teaching,

269
00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:09.880
but an expanding universe of digital voices shaping our congregants

270
00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:15.359
understanding of faith and an error where every sermon point

271
00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.720
can be instantly fact checked and every piece of council

272
00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:23.839
compared against countless online sources. We must reconsider how pastoral

273
00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:30.519
authority functions effectively. All right, So he's saying that the

274
00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:35.359
church needs to relook at how pastoral authority functions effectively. Again,

275
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.640
I'm going to say, you don't have any authority. Any

276
00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:42.200
authority you think you have, it's in your own mind.

277
00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:45.559
It's a figment of your imagination. You have not had

278
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:51.200
any pastoral authority since the Protestant Reformation. The entire Protestant

279
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:59.759
system says no to church authority, yes to individual authority.

280
00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.359
What So we gotta figure out now it is true

281
00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:08.079
that now anything in a sermon can be instantaneously fact

282
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:15.000
checked about time. Maybe they wouldn't have to be fact

283
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.200
checked if we didn't have you know, hundreds of years

284
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:23.440
of pastors saying absolutely ridiculous and fraudulent and crazy things

285
00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:27.599
from the pulpit that just are just was never true.

286
00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.039
I'm sorry that you don't like being fact checked, but

287
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:32.920
maybe we wouldn't have to fact check you if the

288
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:38.279
pulpit was a place that wasn't so full of absolute fraud.

289
00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:41.880
I mean, I've done plenty of sermon reviews where you're like,

290
00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.599
that's not true, that's not true, that's not true, that's

291
00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:49.359
not true. Okay, and guess what, There's been times I've

292
00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.799
said things that are probably not accurate as well, and

293
00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:55.920
there's no excuse no matter who's doing it. Now. We

294
00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.359
may not like that we're gonna be fact checked in

295
00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:04.920
an instant, but that's just the way it works. And

296
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.960
it is true that in modern times, any council given

297
00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:13.319
from the pulpit can immediately be compared to counsel anywhere else.

298
00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:16.119
But let me make it very clear. This all started

299
00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:19.440
way before the internet. People will use it looking at

300
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:23.759
their study bibles and going well, MacArthur doesn't say that

301
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.880
people were looking at commentaries. People were comparing what was

302
00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:30.839
said to other pastors on radio or television. So this

303
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:33.920
stuff has been going on forever. So I don't think

304
00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:37.240
it's I don't think it's really changed much. I think

305
00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:42.240
it's just maybe the speed we can get to other information.

306
00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:47.000
But everyone's already always had access, at least in modern day,

307
00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:53.599
to something else. Christian radio, books, commentaries, study Bibles. They've

308
00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:58.119
had other things to compare to anyway. So I again,

309
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.839
I'm not seeing this. Oh oh, back in the olden

310
00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.519
days where nobody could fact check us, back in the

311
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.079
olden days, where nobody had any other access to any

312
00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.839
other information. Oh, I'm not saying this is what the

313
00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:14.319
author is doing, but I don't think it was ever

314
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:19.839
this cutting this black and white. Let's go to the

315
00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:27.039
third paragraph. The challenge extends beyond mere technological change or

316
00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:36.559
increased skepticism. It reflects a fundamental transformation and how people discover, evaluate,

317
00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:45.359
and accept truth claims. Today's pastoral council no longer competes

318
00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:51.119
simply with contrary opinions. It competes with an entire ecosystem

319
00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:56.720
ecosystem of digital influences, each offering its interpretation of faith,

320
00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.279
life and truth. Understanding this shift is a sin for

321
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.559
fulfilling our calling in the digital age. Well, I do

322
00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:09.920
agree that pastors and churches now need to acknowledge there's

323
00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:13.720
an entire ecosystem out there. There's an entire system out

324
00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:18.079
there offering thoughts and opinions and providing teaching and biblical

325
00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:23.359
counsel and perspectives and doctrine and everything else. The church

326
00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.440
does have to come to an understanding a you're not

327
00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:28.759
the only game in town. Now. You haven't been the

328
00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.400
only game in town really in a very very, very

329
00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:34.720
very long time. But now it's even quicker for people

330
00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:39.039
to get that other information again. I mean, just think

331
00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:44.119
about it, Just think about it. You have your church, right,

332
00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:47.599
how many church Just think just we're at the end

333
00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.039
of the year. Should be easy for you to calculate

334
00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:55.079
how many sermons has your church produced in calendar year

335
00:21:55.160 --> 00:22:02.400
twenty twenty four? How many sermons? All right, you got

336
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.240
the number right now? How many sermons are available on

337
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:16.599
the sermons two point oh app you're talking millions versus

338
00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:23.240
maybe fifty forty nine, forty eight, forty seven, not that

339
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:28.720
many sermons from your millions. How many Christian podcasts are

340
00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:32.079
there out there, and how many episodes have been produced

341
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:38.079
justin calendar year twenty twenty four? Millions? Have millions and

342
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:46.160
millions of sermons, millions and millions of podcasts, like, I

343
00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.000
don't know if the church is ever gonna go Well,

344
00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:51.359
what are we gonna do? I mean, what do you?

345
00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:53.519
I don't even know what you do with that. I mean,

346
00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:56.039
it's a reality. I'm not trying. I know some people

347
00:22:56.039 --> 00:22:57.839
are gonna get mad at me. I'm just pointing out

348
00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:05.559
a reality. But I agree. Pastoral council no longer competes

349
00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.559
simply with ordinate contrary opinions. It competes with an entire

350
00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:13.240
ecosystem of digital influences, each offering its interpretation of faith,

351
00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:16.640
life and truth. Understanding this shift is essential for fulfilling

352
00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:21.160
our calling in this digital age. Well, I do believe

353
00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:24.000
the under you need to understand the shift. But again,

354
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.599
I think that's still minimizing that the shift has already

355
00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:33.720
been in place for a very long time. Historically, Western

356
00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:39.200
society recognize religious leaders as a primary source of truth.

357
00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:51.279
Let me stop right there. Historically Western society has recognized

358
00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:59.160
religious leaders as primary sources. It's plural, I said it,

359
00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:09.480
just a source, but primary sources of truth? Ah? Now

360
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:14.759
maybe historically all right, So let's consider this. I will argue,

361
00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:23.920
prior to the Protestant Reformation. Maybe one could argue that

362
00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:27.160
it was seen that religious leaders were a primary source

363
00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:33.839
or primary sources of truth. After the Reformation, I will

364
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.039
argue that that was no longer the case, whether intended

365
00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:41.960
or unintended, because basically, Luther said, the Church is no

366
00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:45.519
longer the primary source of truth because the Church is wrong.

367
00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:47.720
The church is wrong on this point. The church is

368
00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:49.960
wrong on this point. The Church is wrong on this point.

369
00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:52.559
The Church is wrong on this point, and I am

370
00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.119
not going to listen to the church because the Bible

371
00:24:56.200 --> 00:25:01.079
is the source of truth, not the Church. Now, I

372
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:03.359
know he may not have stated it in such an

373
00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:08.119
emphatic way, but that's clearly the implication. The Church is wrong.

374
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.559
The Church can be wrong. The Church is wrong, can

375
00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:15.640
be wrong. So the Church has to be checked with

376
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.880
something else. Now it's the Bible. So guess what After

377
00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.319
the Protestant Reformation, the source of truth is not the Church,

378
00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:25.480
it's the Bible. And now me as an individual must

379
00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:28.519
study the Bible so that I can check the church

380
00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.079
to see whether it's being what is being preached is

381
00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:34.000
true or false. So the Church now is just the

382
00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:38.680
institution that I must correct, that I must challenge as

383
00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.680
an individual. That's what the Protestant Reformation gave us, whether

384
00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:43.559
people like to admit that or not. And you may

385
00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:45.440
hear me repeat that a number of times over the

386
00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:52.559
next thirty minutes. But that's a very important point. The

387
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.559
article goes on to say, these leaders served as what

388
00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:03.039
philosophers called epistemic authorities. So there was a time that

389
00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:06.119
the religious leaders with the epistemic authorities, they were the

390
00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:11.640
trusted experts, granted the power to make authoritative claims about

391
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:20.680
what's true and real within their domain of expertise. But

392
00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:24.240
at the Protestant Reformation blew this all up again. I'm

393
00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:29.920
not seeing Luther. This was his intended, his intended, you know, thought,

394
00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:32.240
this is what he was attending to do. This was

395
00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:38.599
his intention, was this, But the all the unintended consequence

396
00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:41.279
of this was Hey, no, no, no, the church is

397
00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.680
not the trusted expert. The pastor is not the trusted expert.

398
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.839
The priests are not the trusted expert. They don't have

399
00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.960
power to make authoritative claims. The Bible has the power

400
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.119
to make authoritative claims. My job now, as an individual,

401
00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.920
it's any authoritative claim that the Church says, I'm supposed

402
00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:01.319
to now interpret the Bible, and then I determine if

403
00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:04.440
their authoritative claim is true or false. So then who's

404
00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.920
the authority. Is it the one making the claim or

405
00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:08.960
the one judging the claim to be whether it's true

406
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:13.440
or false. Well, it's the one judging. They become the authority.

407
00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:18.759
And are pastors seen as having some domain of expertise,

408
00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:21.799
You know they're not. Look, you can post any article

409
00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.799
on the Christian Post about something a pastor says. Within seconds,

410
00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:28.559
the comment section will be like, he's wrong, he's wrong,

411
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:32.000
he's wrong, he's wrong. They don't say, well, he's an expert.

412
00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:35.400
Pastors have no expertise in the eyes of the people

413
00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.480
sitting in the pew unless they agree with the pastor.

414
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.079
Then the pastor is an expert. He's a genius, he's amazing,

415
00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:53.480
until they disagree with him. Pastors were included among those

416
00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:58.680
trusted to provide reliable knowledge about reality, meaning about reality,

417
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:02.039
about knowledge about reality, and about meaning. So there was

418
00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:05.240
a time pastors were included among those trusted to provide

419
00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:08.759
reliable knowledge about reality, meaning, and proper conduct. Again, I

420
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:12.400
say that is that that blew up? It may not

421
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:15.519
have it may not have shown up in a practical way,

422
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:21.279
but the unintended consequences that in theory this became just

423
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.000
not true. Pastors now were people who gave their thoughts

424
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:31.680
about knowledge, about reality, and about meaning, and about proper conduct.

425
00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:34.839
But the people would then go to the Bible and say, sorry,

426
00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:39.119
you're you're wrong about your knowledge, You're wrong about reality,

427
00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:47.160
you're wrong about meaning, you're wrong about conduct. They quote,

428
00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:51.680
as Arnold Kling notes, between the time of Christ and

429
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.839
about fifteen hundred, the Western world's epistemic authorities were religious leaders. Now,

430
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.279
I please note that between the time of Christ and

431
00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:06.440
about fifteen hundred, see we get into the fifteen hundreds,

432
00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:11.680
we get to the Reformation. The Reformation utterly annihilated that system.

433
00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:18.240
The Enlightenment. Now they blame the Enlightenment undermine their epistemic

434
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:26.559
authority and the authority of science arose or scientists. So

435
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:29.680
they're saying, when it came to the Enlightenment, the Enlightenment

436
00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:33.839
undermined the authority. Now some will argue it was the

437
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:39.640
Enlightenment that led to the Reformation. The Enlightenment began to

438
00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:42.359
call in to question the authority of religious leaders and

439
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.559
the authority of the church. And then Luther just really

440
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:49.079
kicked the door down and said the church is wrong,

441
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:53.119
and everybody's like, yes, the church is wrong. Down with

442
00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:58.640
the church. And while Luther was saying down with the church,

443
00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:02.119
exalt the scripture, everyone was like, down with the church,

444
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:06.279
exalt me, because now I'll take the scriptures and I'll

445
00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:09.319
determine what's right and wrong. And then I'll say down

446
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:12.359
with Luther. And then it was down with Calvin, and

447
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:14.519
then it was down with Wingley, and then it was

448
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:18.880
you just nay. No matter which group arose, someone would

449
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:21.240
then take their Bible and say that group is wrong,

450
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.119
and then someone would take a Bible and say that

451
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.039
group is wrong. And then someone else would take a

452
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.079
Bible and say that group is wrong. And then someone

453
00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:29.119
else would take a Bible and say, but you're wrong.

454
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:37.880
Before the fifteen hundreds, yes, the pastors were the experts.

455
00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:44.720
They gave authoritative interpretation, authoritative explanation, authoritative doctrine. And then

456
00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:48.359
in the fifteen hundred it was like no scientists. Within

457
00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:54.119
the general public, scientists became the authority. Pastors lost their authority,

458
00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:59.559
and within Christian dumb the church lost its authority. Even

459
00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.799
though it was supposed to be an exaltation of scripture.

460
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:07.680
In an actual practice. It became the authority of the individual.

461
00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:18.559
The Enlightenment dramatically altered the authoritative or the authority landscape.

462
00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:23.680
Scientific rationalism rose to prominence, and religious authority was increasingly

463
00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:28.920
regulated to matters of private faith rather than public truth.

464
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:33.319
But another profound shift has occurred in recent decades. Now

465
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.240
here's what's so weird. It looks at the Enlightenment, but

466
00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:43.680
it ignores the Reformation. Within society, the church lost its

467
00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:48.200
power and science rose to the authoritative level. But what

468
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:51.319
was going on. That's the Enlightenment going on outside of

469
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:55.440
the church. Inside the church, it was to down take

470
00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:57.680
down the authority of the church, and take down the

471
00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:02.359
authority of the pastor and elevate the authority supposedly of scripture,

472
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:05.799
which ultimately led to the rising of the authority of

473
00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:10.160
the individual. The article completely ignores the Reformation. Here it

474
00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:13.240
goes from the Enlightenment to modern times. You can't skip

475
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:18.000
the Reformation. Everything that happened in Christiandom that leads us

476
00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:27.079
to this issue of today started in the Reformation. The

477
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:31.000
article jumps from the Enlightenment to while another profound shift

478
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:35.000
has occurred in recent decades, as basically, you now have

479
00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:39.119
information that's kind of become you know, it's no longer

480
00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:44.119
controlled by one source. The information has become spread to

481
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:49.599
anyone and everyone, and this has happened through digital technology

482
00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:55.839
has basically this has largely displaced traditional experts, both religious

483
00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:00.000
and scientific, as societies trusted truth sources. So what is

484
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:03.839
happened is religious leaders are no longer seen as truth sources,

485
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.599
scientists are no longer seeing as truth sources, and the

486
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:11.240
individual has well. So you can take the Enlightenment, that's

487
00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:14.559
what leads to where we are today in society. You

488
00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.440
can take the Reformation, and that's where we ended up

489
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:21.279
today in the church, and it's the exact same place.

490
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.599
The individual is God, the individual is the Pope, the

491
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:30.000
individual is the magisterium, the individual is the scientists, the

492
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:45.599
individual is everything. Today's epistemic authority increasingly resides not with

493
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:52.160
pastors or scientists and institutional settings, but with influential voices

494
00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:01.200
on social media, popular podcasters, and online content creator. People

495
00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:03.960
are more likely to trust someone they feel they know

496
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:10.280
through regular online consumption than traditional authorities they encounter only

497
00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:17.559
formally or institutionally. This shift presents unique challenges for pastoral ministry.

498
00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:22.800
Hey now see now the problem is this information just

499
00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:26.960
get anybody everybody. So so now there's challenges for us

500
00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:29.679
in ministry. How are pastors going to respond to this?

501
00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:42.360
It goes on to offer an example, consider, for example,

502
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:46.960
counseling for a couple struggling in their marriage. And previous decades,

503
00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:49.400
they might have primarily sought guidance from their pastor and

504
00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:52.000
perhaps a few trusted books on Christian marriage. Now it

505
00:34:52.039 --> 00:34:54.320
does acknowledge, See, they still would have been looking for

506
00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:59.480
outside sources. Okay, but all right, today that couple likely

507
00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:03.480
arrives having already consumed hours of relationship advice from social

508
00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:08.360
media influencers, relationship coaches on Instagram, and popular psychology podcasts.

509
00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:12.039
They may reference concepts from these sources more readily than scripture,

510
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:15.000
and they might evaluate their pastor's counsel against these other

511
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:19.239
voices rather than the other way around. Okay, that may

512
00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:26.519
be true, all right, what is he gonna take with this?

513
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.480
He says, this new reality fundamentally transforms how we provide

514
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:35.920
pastoral care. Our authority again, you don't have any authority,

515
00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.079
all right, but okay, continue to pretend like you do.

516
00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:43.280
Oh drives me crazy. Our authority now stems not from

517
00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:45.920
the position alone, but from our ability to help our

518
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.039
flock navigate different sources of knowledge while staying anchored in

519
00:35:49.079 --> 00:35:52.800
Scripture's truth. You don't have any authority. You never had

520
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:56.039
any authority. It's an illusion. It's made up. You have

521
00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:59.559
authority until the person's like you're wrong. Then you no

522
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.119
longer have authority. They can just walk out of your door.

523
00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:04.480
They can go to another church. They can start another

524
00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:06.719
church that can seek to get you fired. They can

525
00:36:06.760 --> 00:36:11.760
split the church, split the denomination. Nobody has any stinking authority.

526
00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:24.960
Stop pretending to understand the contemporary challenge and opportunity for

527
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.679
pastoral authority, we must first grasp the concept of meta

528
00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:35.159
epistemic authority, a term that describes individuals or institutions trusted

529
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:38.880
to identify and interpret reliable sources of truth for others.

530
00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:44.239
While an epistemic authority directly provides knowledge, a meta epistemic

531
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:49.920
authority helps people determine which sources of knowledge they should trust. Now, oh,

532
00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:54.880
my goodness, gracious, there's nothing new. This has nothing to

533
00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.280
do with technology. This goes way back to the day

534
00:36:58.360 --> 00:37:02.400
when pastors would say, don't read that book, don't listen

535
00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:06.480
to that Christian broadcaster, don't go to that conference, don't.

536
00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:10.280
The church has always tried to serve as this meta

537
00:37:10.360 --> 00:37:14.199
epistemic authority, telling you which things are, which sources are good,

538
00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:16.599
and which sources are bad. And some people would buy

539
00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:18.400
into that. Then we go to a pastor going tell

540
00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:21.239
me which commentary to get, tell me which book I

541
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:23.559
should read. Well, they're only going to give you book

542
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:26.800
and commentaries that agree with him. So then when you

543
00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:29.079
look at the outside source, you're going to have now

544
00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:32.519
reinforcement that the pastor is right. The pastor is not

545
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:34.039
going to say, well, go look at this, and go

546
00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:35.840
look at this, and go look at this, because those

547
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:38.039
things are going to say that he is wrong. So no, no, no,

548
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:40.039
the pastor is only going to tell you to read

549
00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:44.559
well what already agrees with him, which reinforces him being right.

550
00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:46.559
I mean, how do you not fall for that? I

551
00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:53.119
mean I don't get it. So I guess now pastors

552
00:37:53.119 --> 00:37:56.079
should like, don't listen to that podcast, don't watch that

553
00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:59.920
YouTube channel, don't watch this, don't read the only watch

554
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:03.800
and read what I tell you to. Come on now.

555
00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:10.800
As Klings explains, a meta epistemic authority is someone who

556
00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:14.119
is trusted to tell you who the epistemic authorities are

557
00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:17.039
and who and what they are saying. He uses the

558
00:38:17.079 --> 00:38:21.440
example of The New York Times as a meta epistemic

559
00:38:21.519 --> 00:38:24.880
authority that tells you to believe Anthony Falci, former director

560
00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:28.679
of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the

561
00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:33.199
epistemic authority. Most pastors, particularly in the modern area, have

562
00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:36.519
implicitly understood their role this way. As servants we point

563
00:38:36.519 --> 00:38:39.079
people to scripture rather than as direct sources of truth,

564
00:38:39.480 --> 00:38:43.400
as direct sources of truth themselves. When Paul describes pastors

565
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:45.840
as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God,

566
00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:50.440
he's describing precisely this kind of derivative authority. However, this

567
00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:53.400
distinction often remains unclear to church members who may have

568
00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:59.039
a muddled view of pastoral authority. Understanding pastoral authority through

569
00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:02.880
meta epistemic lenses offers a compelling way forward. And our

570
00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:07.280
digital age, church members will inevitably encounter numerous spiritual influences online,

571
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:11.440
and this position pastors to help them discern more wisely,

572
00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:14.400
you know what this is saying, Hey, pastors get to

573
00:39:14.440 --> 00:39:18.360
determine what you should and shouldn't listen to. Oh yeah,

574
00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:22.519
and there's possibly no, no conflict of interest here, because

575
00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:24.199
pastors are going to tell you to listen to the

576
00:39:24.199 --> 00:39:27.960
people he agrees with, so that you're going to hear

577
00:39:28.159 --> 00:39:31.599
that which agrees with what he says. He's not going

578
00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:33.719
to say, go listen to someone who disagrees with him,

579
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:38.679
of course not so. So does that mean now wait aute,

580
00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:41.480
and this just just just blows up the whole Protestant

581
00:39:41.639 --> 00:39:52.119
system anyway. Now I'm going to go back to I'm

582
00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:54.079
going to go to the bottom paragraph. It gives the

583
00:39:54.199 --> 00:39:59.079
steps that churches are supposed to take. I just have

584
00:39:59.199 --> 00:40:02.199
issues with all of it. Let's go to the end

585
00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:08.039
of this. The digital revolution has diminished pastoral ministry. Instead,

586
00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:11.800
it has forced us to clarify and refine our essential role.

587
00:40:12.119 --> 00:40:16.400
Our calling remains unchanged even as the context evolves. We

588
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:19.440
will shepherd God's people towards truth and wisdom, but now

589
00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:23.360
we do so by helping them navigate an increasingly complex

590
00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:28.960
information landscape. As we as we fulfilled this role faithfully,

591
00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:33.079
we demonstrate that pastoral authority doesn't rest an institutional position,

592
00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:38.440
but in the persistent, patient, personal, and persistent work of

593
00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:42.280
guiding people towards biblical wisdom. So basically, the pastor's role

594
00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:44.639
now is to help people say, you shouldn't listen to this,

595
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:47.280
don't listen to this, don't listen to this, listen to

596
00:40:47.320 --> 00:41:00.559
these things. I look, I don't. I h I have

597
00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:02.280
so many issues with all of this. All right, So

598
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:05.360
there's the article. Now you can go read everything they

599
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:08.559
have to say. But I had I had some issues

600
00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:11.920
with this. I had some issues with this. Right. So

601
00:41:14.559 --> 00:41:20.000
the writer's analysis seems to reflect a concern that the

602
00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:27.559
readily availability of philological content through digital platform seems to

603
00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:31.480
dilute the influence of local church leader leadership. If I

604
00:41:31.559 --> 00:41:34.079
can speak correctly, I think that that's I think that's

605
00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:37.280
a fair analysis, right. The article seems to reflect a

606
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:42.800
concern that the availability of philological content on all of

607
00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:47.159
these different digital platforms can dilute the influence of local

608
00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:52.079
church leadership. The author seems to emphasize the importance of

609
00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:55.679
personal pastoral care and the unique role of pastors and

610
00:41:55.719 --> 00:42:01.000
guiding their congregation, a role that supposedly cannot be replicated

611
00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:06.679
by distant or in personal online content. Hey, the pastor

612
00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.400
can do. The pastor is present, the pastor is there,

613
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:15.199
So I guess that makes it all right. So I

614
00:42:15.239 --> 00:42:18.360
did ask AI to critique the article. I said, hey, hey, Ai,

615
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:22.480
here's this article. Critique it Ai gave me this critique.

616
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:28.239
While the while, the while the article offers and raises

617
00:42:28.360 --> 00:42:33.239
valid concerns about the potential undermining a pastoral authority, the

618
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:38.599
perspective may underappreciate the positive aspects of digital media. Podcasts

619
00:42:38.599 --> 00:42:42.119
and online sermons can supplement local teaching, provide access to

620
00:42:42.199 --> 00:42:47.519
diverse viewpoints. Now please note offer access to diverse viewpoints.

621
00:42:47.719 --> 00:42:49.960
It sounds like the article is saying the pastor's job

622
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:53.039
is to stop people from getting to these diverse viewpoints

623
00:42:53.199 --> 00:42:56.239
and get to a more unified only listen to these

624
00:42:56.800 --> 00:43:01.599
and so yeah, the pastors don't want them, those diverse points.

625
00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:06.280
They don't want that. Podcasts may reach individuals who might

626
00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:09.360
not attend church on a regular basis. The challenge lies

627
00:43:09.400 --> 00:43:14.519
in integrating integrating these resources in a way that compliments,

628
00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:18.920
rather than competes with local pastoral leadership. Moreover, the article

629
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:23.239
could delve deeper into practical strategies for pastors engage with

630
00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:27.760
digital media, constructively, encouraging pastors to develop their own online

631
00:43:27.800 --> 00:43:32.440
presence or to curate recommend resources. Further, congregation could bridge

632
00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:35.760
the gap between traditional pastoral roles and the digital age.

633
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:39.719
But so the pastor is going to become the curator. Hey,

634
00:43:39.760 --> 00:43:43.960
I put together, I put together this week's playlist, listen

635
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:48.440
to these sermons, listen to these podcasts. I guess now

636
00:43:48.440 --> 00:43:50.280
the pastor could do that, So try to keep the

637
00:43:50.280 --> 00:43:55.000
people away from anything that may disagree. But I don't know.

638
00:43:57.840 --> 00:44:01.440
But I then said, Okay, as you've already heard me

639
00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:05.280
offer my criticism. First, I think the article just completely

640
00:44:05.559 --> 00:44:09.199
forgets how it's always been. There's always been these outside sources.

641
00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:12.880
There's always been people weren't talking about what grandmother said.

642
00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:15.880
They were talking about this or this or this or

643
00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:18.679
this or this or this, this person said, this person said.

644
00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:21.320
On Christian radio, and some areas you have three four

645
00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:26.519
Christian radio stations. When I was in Omaha, Nebraska, I

646
00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:29.679
think there was like I think maybe two or three

647
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:33.840
FM Christian radio stations, maybe two. There probably was like

648
00:44:33.880 --> 00:44:36.960
almost five or six Christian radio stations just in the

649
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:41.320
Omaha area. And then Family Radio was broadcasting from Iowa

650
00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:46.199
and which people in Omaha could pick up. I mean,

651
00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:48.880
you had plenty. And I can't remember how many times

652
00:44:48.960 --> 00:44:50.519
in church people be like, well did you hear what

653
00:44:50.559 --> 00:44:52.079
so and so said? Did you hear what so? I

654
00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:54.960
didn't know they were doing this on KGBI that was

655
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:58.079
the station from Grace University. Or Harold Camping said this

656
00:44:58.280 --> 00:45:02.360
or this, and they were always talking about outside sor

657
00:45:02.599 --> 00:45:04.320
or I read this in a Christian book, and that

658
00:45:04.360 --> 00:45:07.719
pastor was constantly getting frustrated. Don't listen to him. Don't

659
00:45:07.719 --> 00:45:10.599
listen to him, don't listen to him, don't read his story. Yeah,

660
00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:12.760
only listen to you. I got it. I got it

661
00:45:12.800 --> 00:45:17.960
because you are the pope. Oh wait, you're not. So.

662
00:45:18.519 --> 00:45:21.159
The article seems to forget the way it's always been.

663
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:24.480
But to me, what bothered me most about the article

664
00:45:24.760 --> 00:45:28.519
is it mentions the Enlightenment and it leaves out the

665
00:45:28.760 --> 00:45:38.760
entire Protestant Reformation. I will argue that fragmentation and philological

666
00:45:38.920 --> 00:45:46.119
division has been the whole mark feature of the Protestant Reformation.

667
00:45:48.079 --> 00:45:55.760
This fragmented everyone believes something different, this philological division. If

668
00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:58.559
you say, what is the what is the fruit of

669
00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:04.079
the Protestant Reformation, It's been a fragmentation and philological division.

670
00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:07.840
I know people don't want to hear that, but it's true.

671
00:46:08.639 --> 00:46:13.079
The Reformation, which began in the sixteenth century challenged the

672
00:46:13.119 --> 00:46:18.960
centralized authority of the Roman Catholic Church. It emphasized this

673
00:46:19.079 --> 00:46:24.440
is key to remember in the Protestant Reformation. It emphasized

674
00:46:25.079 --> 00:46:32.039
the priesthood of all believers. It emphasized that we are

675
00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:41.679
all priests, all of us, and Scripture is the authority.

676
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:46.880
And so basically, you are a priest. Scripture is the authority,

677
00:46:47.159 --> 00:46:51.760
and you need to consider your individual conscience, what you feel,

678
00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:57.639
and what you think. Now, this opened the door for

679
00:46:57.880 --> 00:47:03.760
significant philological some may say renewal, but it also opened

680
00:47:03.760 --> 00:47:09.880
the door for very much theological diversity, and it led

681
00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:16.719
to inevitable divisions as this person interpreted the scriptures one

682
00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:20.519
way and this person interpreted the scriptures the other way. Well,

683
00:47:20.559 --> 00:47:24.360
why could they offer an interpretation, Well, because scripture. They've

684
00:47:24.360 --> 00:47:26.840
got access to the scriptures. Oh, and they are a priest.

685
00:47:28.960 --> 00:47:31.639
They the priesthood of all believers. They are a priest.

686
00:47:31.719 --> 00:47:35.599
They have the spiritual authority to read, study, and interpret.

687
00:47:35.800 --> 00:47:38.119
So they would interpret it one way, this group would

688
00:47:38.159 --> 00:47:41.679
interpret it another way, and then well, the damn burst,

689
00:47:41.840 --> 00:47:44.440
it was over. There was nothing holding it back. The

690
00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:52.079
church no longer had the authority. The individuals had the authority.

691
00:47:52.800 --> 00:47:58.639
When we consider the Protestant Reformation and philological fragmentation. We

692
00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:06.840
could consider some specific points the multiplicity of interpretations. One

693
00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:12.360
of the primary outcomes of the Reformation was the rejection

694
00:48:12.480 --> 00:48:20.559
of a single centralized authority, the Pope in favor of

695
00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:27.719
that became the scripture, supposedly being the ultimate authority. However,

696
00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:40.679
this meant that individuals could and did interpret those scriptures.

697
00:48:41.639 --> 00:48:44.079
So it wasn't no longer the Pope, wasn't no longer

698
00:48:44.119 --> 00:48:47.119
the Church, wasn't no longer the magisterium. Now it was

699
00:48:47.159 --> 00:48:50.320
the Bible in the individual. The individual could interpret that

700
00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:53.039
scripture and guess what this led to. This led to

701
00:48:53.119 --> 00:48:57.679
a creation of numerous denominations and different groups and different

702
00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:01.960
thiological streams. This individual could interpret it this way, this

703
00:49:02.039 --> 00:49:04.719
individual could interpret another way. This individual would say that

704
00:49:04.719 --> 00:49:08.159
individual is wrong, and they would create denominations and create churches,

705
00:49:08.199 --> 00:49:12.639
and create groups and create systematic theologies that would reflect

706
00:49:12.840 --> 00:49:21.599
their interpretation, which would say that interpretation is wrong. So

707
00:49:21.880 --> 00:49:24.960
what came out of the Protestant Reformation and multiplicity of

708
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.440
interpretations A multiplicity of voices no different than in the

709
00:49:29.480 --> 00:49:34.599
podcast age, but these state remained institutionalized. You had the

710
00:49:34.639 --> 00:49:38.079
multiplicity of interpretations. But everybody would then take that interpretation

711
00:49:38.239 --> 00:49:40.159
and make their own group and their own church. They

712
00:49:40.159 --> 00:49:45.199
would institutionalize it. The podcasting world can deinstitutionalize it. Now

713
00:49:45.239 --> 00:49:47.440
the voice may not be connected to a church, but

714
00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:53.679
it's the same concept. So the fragmentation or the Reformation

715
00:49:53.800 --> 00:49:57.320
led to theological fragmentation. The first idea is the multiplicity

716
00:49:57.320 --> 00:50:01.880
of interpretations. No one can deny that, and second denomination splits. Initially,

717
00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:06.400
the Protestant movement was marked by key streams such as Lutheranism, Calvinism,

718
00:50:06.599 --> 00:50:10.320
and Anglicanism, if I could speak correctly. But guess what.

719
00:50:10.440 --> 00:50:15.039
Over time, these major branches fragmented further into hundreds and

720
00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:20.000
even thousands of denominations and independent churches, each with distinct

721
00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:24.239
theological emphasis. See the Reformation happened, and they were like, well,

722
00:50:24.280 --> 00:50:26.480
we got this stream, you got the Anglicans, you got

723
00:50:26.480 --> 00:50:30.000
the Lutherans, You've got you got the Calvinists. Okay, you

724
00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:32.440
got these, you got kind of specific groups. Oh don't

725
00:50:32.440 --> 00:50:34.320
forget the Anabaptist is still thrown in there and all

726
00:50:34.320 --> 00:50:36.840
of this. Okay, So you already had these these different streams,

727
00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:39.920
these different and then it just broke down. Hundreds thousands

728
00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:48.400
just split, split, split, split, split split. So you had

729
00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:51.559
a multiplicity of interpretations, you had denominational splits, and then

730
00:50:51.559 --> 00:50:55.559
you end up with theological pluralism. Well, the Roman Catholic

731
00:50:55.679 --> 00:51:00.559
Church maintained relatively some form of doctrinal uniformity, not all perfect,

732
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:05.199
but at least some. Protestantism became marked by its diversity.

733
00:51:05.800 --> 00:51:14.239
Debates over baptism, communion, predestination, ecclesiology, eschatology created theological pluralism,

734
00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:24.199
often leading to division not unity. So how does all

735
00:51:24.199 --> 00:51:28.519
of that relate to Well, the digital age. Those podcasters

736
00:51:28.519 --> 00:51:30.920
that seem to undermine pastoral authority, I want you to

737
00:51:30.960 --> 00:51:34.360
note all of that other stuff underminded pastoral authority because

738
00:51:34.400 --> 00:51:36.719
a pastor would have authority until the people disagreed with him.

739
00:51:36.719 --> 00:51:38.599
They would either get rid of him or just go

740
00:51:38.639 --> 00:51:44.159
start another group. Now, when it comes to the proliferation

741
00:51:44.679 --> 00:51:49.760
of podcasts, online sermons, and theological resources, if you really

742
00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:55.400
think about it, it's just a modern extension of the

743
00:51:55.440 --> 00:52:02.519
Reformation's individualistic approach to faith and theology. If you want to,

744
00:52:02.719 --> 00:52:06.440
if you want to complain about podcasts undermining pastoral authority,

745
00:52:06.719 --> 00:52:12.119
I'm sorry. Podcast is the fruit of the Reformation. The

746
00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:16.199
Reformation basically said, you are a priest, you have conscience,

747
00:52:16.400 --> 00:52:22.039
you have the word of God. Figure it out. Individualistic. Well, now,

748
00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:33.000
podcast is just the fruit of that individualistic approach. In

749
00:52:33.039 --> 00:52:37.880
the Reformation time, they didn't have podcasts, but they had

750
00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:41.760
something else, started with a p They didn't have podcasts,

751
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:46.719
but they had the printing press, and that printing press

752
00:52:46.840 --> 00:52:52.639
was used to facilitate the spread of diverse theological ideas

753
00:52:52.920 --> 00:52:56.039
during the Reformation. Oh, let's put out a catechism, let's

754
00:52:56.039 --> 00:52:58.280
put out this, let's put out a pamphlet, let's put

755
00:52:58.280 --> 00:53:01.360
out there, and then more people got into hands these

756
00:53:01.400 --> 00:53:04.239
divers days. It was just the podcast of its day.

757
00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:08.440
The printing press, which was instrumental to the Reformation, was

758
00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:11.960
the podcast of its day. Don't criticize podcasts. It has

759
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:17.599
been going on since the Reformation. Now the information or

760
00:53:17.639 --> 00:53:21.239
now the information today may be spread quicker and maybe

761
00:53:21.440 --> 00:53:28.679
more of it, but it's just the fruit of the Reformation. Now.

762
00:53:28.719 --> 00:53:32.800
This may raise questions about how pastoral authority and church

763
00:53:32.880 --> 00:53:35.880
unity can coexist with the accessibility in the variety of

764
00:53:35.880 --> 00:53:39.320
digital resources. But I will argue the printing press raised

765
00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:42.599
questions about how pastoral authority and church unity can coexist

766
00:53:42.679 --> 00:53:48.960
with the accessibility of printed resources now again. At that time, though,

767
00:53:49.119 --> 00:53:51.760
people were much more likely to take their new found

768
00:53:52.039 --> 00:53:57.559
theology and institutionalize it, create a church, create a denomination.

769
00:53:57.880 --> 00:54:01.039
So there was much more of a desire to take

770
00:54:01.079 --> 00:54:04.880
your ideas into an institution, where maybe in twenty twenty

771
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:07.039
four it's more I'm going to take my ideas and

772
00:54:07.199 --> 00:54:14.239
leave the institution. That may be the only difference. The

773
00:54:14.280 --> 00:54:18.760
fragmentation of theological understanding may be critiqued, but it has

774
00:54:18.840 --> 00:54:22.719
been it. But it also it has also been defended

775
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:26.679
as a natural consequence of the quest for theological integrity

776
00:54:26.800 --> 00:54:29.840
and a refusal to compromise on matters of conscience. This

777
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:34.039
tension between unity and diversity has always been present in Christianity,

778
00:54:34.199 --> 00:54:39.639
with the Reformation merely intensifying this dynamic. I will see

779
00:54:39.679 --> 00:54:45.679
the Reformation blow it up. So I asked Ai about

780
00:54:45.719 --> 00:54:49.159
all of this. AI gave me a reflection. AI said

781
00:54:49.199 --> 00:54:52.360
that my observations that I've shared some of them with

782
00:54:52.440 --> 00:54:55.360
you and gave them to AI, ties into our broader

783
00:54:55.360 --> 00:54:59.360
conversation about the tension between authority and individualism and the

784
00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:04.440
Protestant tradition. If philological fragmentation and division are intrinsic to

785
00:55:04.519 --> 00:55:08.679
Protestantism's DNA. The current digital age might not be a

786
00:55:08.719 --> 00:55:13.360
wholly new challenge, but rather a continuation of the historical trajectory.

787
00:55:14.119 --> 00:55:17.239
The key question is how local pastors and congregations adapt

788
00:55:17.320 --> 00:55:21.760
to these realities without losing the essence of community and accountability.

789
00:55:22.320 --> 00:55:25.440
So Ai agrees with me that this is just a

790
00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:29.440
trajectory of where Protestantism has been headed since the beginning.

791
00:55:30.159 --> 00:55:32.800
It was using the printing press, now uses the internet.

792
00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:36.599
It's still individualism run amok. It's still every individual with

793
00:55:36.679 --> 00:55:39.519
the Bible, making their own interpretation, determining what is true

794
00:55:39.599 --> 00:55:47.280
or false. So I asked Ai, well, does the article

795
00:55:48.360 --> 00:55:52.039
ignore the historical reality? And it says the article's critique

796
00:55:52.039 --> 00:55:55.039
of podcast appears to overlook the historical realities and the

797
00:55:55.039 --> 00:56:00.519
philological consensus of the Reformation. The Protestant Reformation champions like

798
00:56:00.519 --> 00:56:03.679
Sola Scriptorrah and the priesthood of all believers, which inherently

799
00:56:03.760 --> 00:56:09.400
encouraged individual engagement with scripture and diversillological interpretations. These principles

800
00:56:09.480 --> 00:56:14.519
laid the groundwork for the decentralization of ecclesiastical authority and

801
00:56:14.599 --> 00:56:18.880
the proliferation of theological voices precisely the dynamic the article

802
00:56:18.920 --> 00:56:22.320
critiques and the age of podcasts. Yeah, the article completely

803
00:56:22.599 --> 00:56:28.880
ignored the history the Reformation. So AI goes on and

804
00:56:28.920 --> 00:56:31.599
gives me pages of things here to look at, and

805
00:56:32.039 --> 00:56:33.960
I'm just gonna skip all of it. But then I

806
00:56:34.119 --> 00:56:38.559
asked Ai this question. I'm like, okay, Ai, because I

807
00:56:38.719 --> 00:56:40.760
like to bounce off my ideas to Ai to see

808
00:56:40.760 --> 00:56:43.360
if it agrees or disagrees. But AI seems to think

809
00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:48.440
my historical analysis here is accurate, because I don't think.

810
00:56:48.480 --> 00:56:51.000
I don't think there's any way to debate my historical analysis.

811
00:56:51.039 --> 00:56:54.400
The Protestant Reformation blew this all all to pieces, and

812
00:56:54.400 --> 00:56:57.039
there's no way to put it back together. Right, the

813
00:56:57.159 --> 00:56:59.960
Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, broke into a million pieces,

814
00:57:00.119 --> 00:57:04.719
and we're never putting it back together never ever. Okay,

815
00:57:04.920 --> 00:57:09.960
it's done. So then I asked Ai, but isn't it

816
00:57:10.039 --> 00:57:14.559
true that within the Protestant tradition, the pastor doesn't have

817
00:57:14.639 --> 00:57:18.960
any real meaningful authority since each individual is called to study,

818
00:57:19.280 --> 00:57:22.000
interpret the Bible and decide if what a pastor is

819
00:57:22.039 --> 00:57:24.920
preaching or what a church is teaching is true or not.

820
00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:31.159
So AI said, you are correct. I'm like well, thank you.

821
00:57:31.239 --> 00:57:35.159
That's it. That concludes this podcast. AI said, I am correct.

822
00:57:35.679 --> 00:57:39.960
That's it. We're done. Okay, Ai has spoken, this is

823
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:42.360
the way, all right, all right, okay, okay. Maybe I'm

824
00:57:42.440 --> 00:57:46.280
being a little dramatic there, but AI acknowledges yeah. Within

825
00:57:46.320 --> 00:57:51.400
the Protestant Reformation, the pastor has no real meaningful authority.

826
00:57:51.599 --> 00:57:56.039
We can all pretend he can stand behind the curtain

827
00:57:56.039 --> 00:57:59.679
and say I'm the mighty Wizard of Oz, but someone's

828
00:57:59.679 --> 00:58:01.559
gonna go back to curtain and go, no, you're not.

829
00:58:01.599 --> 00:58:05.079
You're just a little guy pulling levers. All right, you

830
00:58:05.400 --> 00:58:11.800
don't have any authority pastoral. Now, Ai tries to be

831
00:58:11.880 --> 00:58:17.119
more diplomatic and politically correct. Pastoral authority is often limited

832
00:58:17.880 --> 00:58:21.039
by the principle that each individual believer has a right

833
00:58:21.519 --> 00:58:25.079
and a responsibility to study and interpret the scriptures for themselves.

834
00:58:26.039 --> 00:58:31.880
This belief flows directly from key Reformation doctrines such as

835
00:58:32.679 --> 00:58:37.480
Sola scriptorra the priesthood of all believers with the emphasis

836
00:58:38.519 --> 00:58:42.320
which emphasizes the sufficiency of scripture and the believers direct

837
00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:46.559
access to God without needing clerical mediation. So you don't

838
00:58:46.559 --> 00:58:48.960
need to go to a period priest, you can go

839
00:58:49.039 --> 00:58:52.039
directly to God. You got the Bible. It is sufficient

840
00:58:52.119 --> 00:58:55.039
for everything, and you have the right and the authority

841
00:58:55.079 --> 00:58:58.679
to interpret it. I mean all that flows from the Reformation,

842
00:58:58.920 --> 00:59:02.280
because it was a move away from church ecclesiastical authority

843
00:59:02.400 --> 00:59:09.760
to individual authority. So consequently, what happens while a pastor's

844
00:59:09.800 --> 00:59:15.440
authority is not intrinsic, it is conditional. It derives from

845
00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:19.960
the pastor's ability to faithfully teach scripture. But this is

846
00:59:20.119 --> 00:59:23.480
judged by whom who gets to say if the pastor

847
00:59:23.519 --> 00:59:29.000
is faithfully teaching scripture the individual yes to see. The

848
00:59:29.039 --> 00:59:33.440
pastor can say I'm faithfully teaching scripture, and the person

849
00:59:33.480 --> 00:59:36.039
in the pew can be like, no, you are not.

850
00:59:36.519 --> 00:59:39.320
I stand on the word of God. I can do

851
00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:42.760
no other. My mind and my will is captured by

852
00:59:42.760 --> 00:59:45.039
the word of God. My conscience is captured by the

853
00:59:45.039 --> 00:59:47.599
word of God. All I can do is stand and

854
00:59:47.679 --> 00:59:51.440
you are wrong, pastor. This church is wrong. You're all wrong,

855
00:59:51.639 --> 00:59:54.440
and I'm right because I get to interpret the Bible.

856
00:59:54.599 --> 01:00:02.239
That's exactly what the Protestant Reformation led to. I know this.

857
01:00:03.760 --> 01:00:06.639
I can't be much more. It doesn't I Look, there

858
01:00:06.679 --> 01:00:08.199
was a time in my christianof I thought, well, if

859
01:00:08.239 --> 01:00:10.760
I go to this school and I get an associate's degree.

860
01:00:10.800 --> 01:00:12.800
Then I'll get a bachelor's degree. Then I'll get a

861
01:00:12.840 --> 01:00:15.760
master's degree. I want another associate's degree. Wait, I want

862
01:00:15.800 --> 01:00:18.320
another bachelor's degree. I want another I'm gonna go back

863
01:00:18.320 --> 01:00:20.599
and get another bachelor's degree. And I kept getting this

864
01:00:20.800 --> 01:00:22.639
diploma and this degree and go from this school to

865
01:00:22.679 --> 01:00:24.440
this school. And you know what it matters. In the end,

866
01:00:24.800 --> 01:00:26.800
I can sit here and say whatever, and someone will

867
01:00:26.840 --> 01:00:31.599
be like, you're wrong, You're wrong, you're wrong. Okay, Well

868
01:00:31.599 --> 01:00:36.760
then so my education doesn't matter, position doesn't matter. The

869
01:00:36.840 --> 01:00:40.360
individual gets to say you're wrong, you're wrong. I haven't

870
01:00:40.400 --> 01:00:42.840
studied it, I haven't gone to school for it, but

871
01:00:42.880 --> 01:00:50.760
you're wrong. It's just a facade. It's not a podcast issue.

872
01:00:50.800 --> 01:00:58.760
This is a reformation issue. The authority. This is what

873
01:00:58.800 --> 01:01:02.239
AI says about pastoral authority. The authority is only meaningful

874
01:01:02.320 --> 01:01:04.719
in so far as congregants agree with the that the

875
01:01:04.840 --> 01:01:08.039
teaching alliance with scripture. If a congregation believes a pastor's

876
01:01:08.039 --> 01:01:12.119
interpretation is incorrect, they're free, according to Protestant principles, to

877
01:01:12.199 --> 01:01:17.159
disagree or even leave the church, or drive out the

878
01:01:17.159 --> 01:01:21.159
pastor remove the pastor and it doesn't matter if it's

879
01:01:21.199 --> 01:01:23.960
elder elders can try to. I've seen I've seen the

880
01:01:24.000 --> 01:01:28.239
splits happen in every kind of congregational led, pastoral led

881
01:01:28.559 --> 01:01:35.280
elder led The things fall apart. There's infighting, backbiting, gossip, slander, division,

882
01:01:35.679 --> 01:01:40.760
because everyone is the authority, even though we try to pretend. No, no,

883
01:01:40.760 --> 01:01:49.880
now the past who see authority until you disagree. The

884
01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:52.960
Reformation principle asserts that the idea of the priesthood of

885
01:01:52.960 --> 01:01:56.280
all believers. This Reformation principle asserts that every Christian has

886
01:01:56.320 --> 01:01:59.639
the right and ability to interpret scripture. It basically takes

887
01:01:59.639 --> 01:02:07.320
still logical understanding. It says anyone can have it. It

888
01:02:07.360 --> 01:02:11.519
breaks it up. It democratizes. If we want to use

889
01:02:11.920 --> 01:02:16.280
the word AI uses, it democratizes. Theyllo logical understanding, placing

890
01:02:16.360 --> 01:02:19.320
ultimate authority in the Bible itself rather than a pastor

891
01:02:19.440 --> 01:02:23.960
or ecclesiastical structure. Hey, the Bible is the authority. Now

892
01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:26.000
you have the authority to interpret it. And once you

893
01:02:26.039 --> 01:02:29.559
interpret the authority then of the Bible, then you by

894
01:02:29.639 --> 01:02:32.559
the authority given to you because you're a priest. Because

895
01:02:32.599 --> 01:02:34.719
of the priest of all believers, you can now judge

896
01:02:34.719 --> 01:02:42.960
the ecclesiastical structure, just as Luther did. In practice, this

897
01:02:43.079 --> 01:02:46.199
means the congregants are expected to evaluate whether a pastor's

898
01:02:46.199 --> 01:02:50.360
teaching is biblically sound, effectively limiting the pastor's ability to

899
01:02:50.400 --> 01:02:54.519
assert unquestioned authority. The people are supposed to listen and

900
01:02:54.599 --> 01:03:01.480
determine right or wrong. Protestants are often encouraged to follow

901
01:03:01.519 --> 01:03:07.119
passages like Acts seventeen eleven, which commends the Bahreans for

902
01:03:07.239 --> 01:03:09.800
examining the scriptures to see if Paul's teachings was true.

903
01:03:10.239 --> 01:03:14.719
This mindset reinforces the idea that individuals, not pastors, have

904
01:03:14.800 --> 01:03:20.480
the final responsibility for discerning truth. This dynamic often creates

905
01:03:20.559 --> 01:03:25.079
a basically a relationship between pastors and congregants where pastors guide,

906
01:03:25.320 --> 01:03:29.039
but individuals remain the ultimate authority over their own beliefs.

907
01:03:29.119 --> 01:03:32.400
Who's the ultimate authority the people in the church, not

908
01:03:32.639 --> 01:03:38.079
the pastor. So pastoral authority is a figment of everyone's imagination.

909
01:03:38.960 --> 01:03:42.880
Podcasts are not undermining it. It was undermined in the

910
01:03:42.920 --> 01:03:46.440
Protestant Reformation when Luther looked at the Catholic Church and

911
01:03:46.480 --> 01:03:48.840
said you're wrong. That gave everyone else the right to

912
01:03:48.840 --> 01:03:51.199
look to Luther and say you're wrong. And that it

913
01:03:51.280 --> 01:03:53.440
gave everyone else the right to tell those people who

914
01:03:53.480 --> 01:03:55.440
told Luther wrong that they were wrong, and then the

915
01:03:55.480 --> 01:03:57.519
people after them could tell them that they were wrong,

916
01:03:57.679 --> 01:03:59.599
and you're wrong, and you're wrong, and you're wrong, and

917
01:03:59.599 --> 01:04:03.639
you're wrong, and everyone's wrong but me. Oh wait, I'm

918
01:04:03.639 --> 01:04:05.320
going to find a couple of people who agree with me.

919
01:04:05.519 --> 01:04:07.519
But now we'll make a church. We are right and

920
01:04:07.559 --> 01:04:17.320
everyone else is wrong. So if you take all of

921
01:04:17.440 --> 01:04:24.280
that and now apply it to the article, if pastors

922
01:04:24.320 --> 01:04:28.559
do not have inherent authority but derive it from their

923
01:04:28.960 --> 01:04:33.400
biblical teaching, then podcasts and other digital resources merely extend

924
01:04:33.480 --> 01:04:36.280
the range of voices believers are evaluating. This is not

925
01:04:36.360 --> 01:04:39.679
a new challenge, but a modern manifestation of the Protestant

926
01:04:39.679 --> 01:04:47.519
emphasis on individual discernment. So you don't have any inherent authority,

927
01:04:47.760 --> 01:04:50.840
So the whole article just is missing the entire point.

928
01:04:51.280 --> 01:04:55.159
Congregants have always been free to compare their pastor's teachings

929
01:04:55.400 --> 01:04:59.840
with those of others, whether through books, conferences, and now podcasts.

930
01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:04.719
The podcast is just the fruit of what started. The

931
01:05:04.760 --> 01:05:08.559
digital age intensifies the plurality of voices available, but it

932
01:05:08.599 --> 01:05:12.559
doesn't fundamentally change the Protestant approach to authority. Believers are

933
01:05:12.599 --> 01:05:16.199
already accustomed to weighing and deciding between competing theological views.

934
01:05:16.519 --> 01:05:23.920
Podcasts simply make this process more accessible and varied. And

935
01:05:23.960 --> 01:05:27.400
the Protestant tradition, pastors have never had absolute authority and

936
01:05:27.440 --> 01:05:31.159
said their authority is contingent on their ability to teach

937
01:05:31.159 --> 01:05:37.079
scripture in a way that congregants find convincing. The proliferation

938
01:05:37.199 --> 01:05:40.880
of podcasts does not undermine this system. It simply provides

939
01:05:40.920 --> 01:05:44.239
more voices for believers to consider, which is consistent with

940
01:05:44.360 --> 01:05:49.400
Protestant emphasis on individual discernment. While pastors can and maybe

941
01:05:49.440 --> 01:05:53.360
even should, play a vital role and their congregants spiritual lives,

942
01:05:53.480 --> 01:05:57.000
their authority is always subject to the believer's ultimate responsibility

943
01:05:57.159 --> 01:06:01.119
to study and interpret the scriptures for themselves elves. So

944
01:06:01.159 --> 01:06:05.159
the bottom line is podcasts don't undermine pastoral authority because

945
01:06:05.199 --> 01:06:09.079
pastors never really had any authority, because the Protestant Reformation

946
01:06:09.159 --> 01:06:15.400
destroyed that entire concept. And in a Protestant system where

947
01:06:15.440 --> 01:06:18.599
the individual is supposed to not only has the right

948
01:06:18.679 --> 01:06:21.679
and the authority to do so, but has the responsibility

949
01:06:21.840 --> 01:06:25.039
to read, study, and then judge whether what is preached

950
01:06:25.119 --> 01:06:28.280
is true, or false. Then the authority rest with the individual,

951
01:06:28.519 --> 01:06:30.679
not with the church, not with the pastor, and we

952
01:06:30.719 --> 01:06:35.199
should just stop playing games and just admit what it

953
01:06:35.320 --> 01:06:39.079
is and what is the hallmark? What is the fruit

954
01:06:39.320 --> 01:06:49.760
of the Protestant Reformation? Division, disagreement, division, that's the fruit

955
01:06:49.800 --> 01:06:53.519
of it. You say, are you against the Protestant Reformation.

956
01:06:53.599 --> 01:06:57.480
I'm not saying that. I'm being honest about what happened. See,

957
01:06:57.519 --> 01:06:59.679
you're not allowed to be honest about it because people think, oh,

958
01:06:59.719 --> 01:07:01.800
you're you want us to go back to the Catholic Church.

959
01:07:01.920 --> 01:07:05.840
I'm just saying that the result of the Reformation, that's

960
01:07:05.880 --> 01:07:18.000
the fruit of it. Division, disagreement, dispute, debate, And you

961
01:07:18.039 --> 01:07:21.360
can have pastors and and everybody can like, oh, pastoral authority.

962
01:07:21.480 --> 01:07:24.440
I'm going to submit to my pastor until you don't

963
01:07:24.920 --> 01:07:28.440
like what they say, or until and then what you'll

964
01:07:28.440 --> 01:07:32.519
say is this is what the game church members play.

965
01:07:32.880 --> 01:07:35.159
It's not that I don't like what the pastor says.

966
01:07:35.360 --> 01:07:37.840
I just have concluded that what the pastor is saying

967
01:07:38.079 --> 01:07:42.440
is not biblical because of my extensive study of scripture.

968
01:07:42.639 --> 01:07:45.760
Oh you have determined the pastor is wrong? Yeah, your

969
01:07:45.920 --> 01:07:49.000
extensive study of scripture. I bet you really spent a

970
01:07:49.039 --> 01:07:50.840
lot of time. All you got to say is I

971
01:07:50.880 --> 01:07:53.480
don't believe the Bible. The pastor is right with according

972
01:07:53.519 --> 01:07:55.440
to scripture, and then you can just say I don't

973
01:07:55.440 --> 01:07:56.679
have to agree with the pastor, and you can go

974
01:07:56.960 --> 01:07:59.119
to another church, start another church, or do whatever you want,

975
01:08:00.400 --> 01:08:03.199
because you're ultimately the authority. And any game you played,

976
01:08:03.239 --> 01:08:06.320
you just played a game. Man. You just allowed the

977
01:08:06.360 --> 01:08:08.679
wizard to be the Wizard of Oz until you got tired,

978
01:08:08.679 --> 01:08:11.159
and then you pulled the curtain back, going, ah, you're nothing,

979
01:08:14.320 --> 01:08:20.800
because ultimately you're in charge in the first place. And

980
01:08:20.840 --> 01:08:22.880
who are you going to listen to online? The people

981
01:08:22.880 --> 01:08:25.800
who agree with you? That's what you kind of do.

982
01:08:26.039 --> 01:08:27.800
What are the books you're gonna read? The ones that

983
01:08:27.840 --> 01:08:30.479
agree with you? All you're gonna do is just find out,

984
01:08:30.560 --> 01:08:33.239
whether it's a church or whether it's online. You're just

985
01:08:33.279 --> 01:08:35.720
going to surround yourself with stuff that you agree with,

986
01:08:35.840 --> 01:08:39.079
and then everyone thinks that they're right, and nothing's supposed

987
01:08:39.119 --> 01:08:41.960
to ever enter into that echo chamber to say, guys,

988
01:08:42.039 --> 01:08:45.600
maybe you're all wrong. Sh silence him away with him,

989
01:08:45.800 --> 01:08:50.720
how heretic we are right. We are the ones who

990
01:08:50.760 --> 01:08:58.880
have the truth. I know that's a pessimistic and very

991
01:08:59.319 --> 01:09:03.760
cynical view. But the article is just completely misrepresent It's

992
01:09:03.760 --> 01:09:08.199
not dealing with history. The Enlightenment was the problem. The Enlightenment,

993
01:09:08.520 --> 01:09:10.800
some would argue, led to the Reformation. Some would say

994
01:09:10.840 --> 01:09:15.039
without the Enlightenment, you don't get the Reformation. Some will

995
01:09:15.079 --> 01:09:17.800
say without the rights of humanism, you don't really get

996
01:09:17.800 --> 01:09:22.359
the right because humanism was like, hey, the individual, not

997
01:09:22.520 --> 01:09:25.279
the institution. The Enlightenment, all of those states, all of

998
01:09:25.279 --> 01:09:29.079
those philosophies came together to give us the Protestant Reformation.

999
01:09:29.199 --> 01:09:32.159
It's not so simple as we always want to make it, like, oh,

1000
01:09:32.439 --> 01:09:38.159
one man stood against the heretics, one man the righteous one. Yeah,

1001
01:09:38.239 --> 01:09:41.600
until then everyone else then said, oh he's wrong. Becau.

1002
01:09:41.600 --> 01:09:43.359
I mean, not all of us are Lutherans, so we

1003
01:09:43.439 --> 01:09:45.560
all obviously, if you're not a Lutheran, you think the

1004
01:09:45.600 --> 01:09:53.039
Lutherans are wrong, and then you thuck the And if

1005
01:09:53.039 --> 01:09:54.720
you're not a Calvinist, you think the calvin Is is wrong.

1006
01:09:54.720 --> 01:09:56.239
But if you're a Calvinist, you think the other people

1007
01:09:56.279 --> 01:09:58.720
are wrong. I mean, goes on. If you're not a Presbyterian,

1008
01:09:58.800 --> 01:10:01.399
you think the Presbyterians are wrong. If you're just say

1009
01:10:01.399 --> 01:10:07.520
everyone thinks they're stinking right. Everyone does. Truth is whatever

1010
01:10:07.520 --> 01:10:09.960
the individual says. It is, like people like, no, it's

1011
01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:14.399
the Bible. It's your interpretation of the Bible. Because the

1012
01:10:14.439 --> 01:10:17.319
person sitting next to you, using the exact same Bible

1013
01:10:17.399 --> 01:10:20.680
you're using, says that you're wrong. And you say, well,

1014
01:10:20.720 --> 01:10:22.199
they don't know how to read. And they'll say you

1015
01:10:22.199 --> 01:10:23.479
don't know how to read. You say, well, they don't

1016
01:10:23.479 --> 01:10:25.560
know how to interpret. You don't know how to interpret. Well,

1017
01:10:25.600 --> 01:10:28.600
because we don't even agree on what the hermeneutical principles

1018
01:10:28.680 --> 01:10:30.920
are and how to I'll just forget it all, just

1019
01:10:31.159 --> 01:10:33.439
call it a day, and this all be done with it.

1020
01:10:35.520 --> 01:10:39.960
Just the article just blew my mind that, oh, those

1021
01:10:40.000 --> 01:10:44.319
podcasters are undermining our authority. Give me a break. It's

1022
01:10:44.359 --> 01:10:48.720
been going on forever. It's not podcasters, it's not bloggers.

1023
01:10:50.720 --> 01:10:58.000
It's been books, it's been pamphlets, it's been everything. Now

1024
01:10:58.039 --> 01:11:00.600
some people say, well, what do we do? I've only

1025
01:11:00.600 --> 01:11:03.079
said it about a million times. The only thing we

1026
01:11:03.079 --> 01:11:07.039
can really do is first acknowledge the reality. And nobody

1027
01:11:07.079 --> 01:11:09.760
wants to acknowledge that reality because it's very uncomfortable. It

1028
01:11:09.800 --> 01:11:12.399
really is, and it can lead you to want to

1029
01:11:12.439 --> 01:11:14.119
just throw your hands up and say I got better

1030
01:11:14.119 --> 01:11:16.560
things to do. I'm just going to go sell everything

1031
01:11:16.600 --> 01:11:18.560
I have and go live on a beach somewhere until

1032
01:11:18.560 --> 01:11:21.319
I die and just watch the sun rises and sunsets

1033
01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:23.600
come up over the water and wait till my life

1034
01:11:23.640 --> 01:11:25.319
to end. Because there's no point in all of this.

1035
01:11:25.880 --> 01:11:28.159
I understand that. That's, you know, but we got to

1036
01:11:28.199 --> 01:11:30.159
acknowledge it. I'm not saying we should go sell everything

1037
01:11:30.159 --> 01:11:32.079
and sit on a beach, but okay, you can go

1038
01:11:32.119 --> 01:11:34.560
sit on the beach. I'll probably go to Salem or somewhere. Okay,

1039
01:11:34.560 --> 01:11:38.199
but you get the idea. But the second thing we

1040
01:11:38.279 --> 01:11:43.560
can do is we can at least try say, hmm,

1041
01:11:44.960 --> 01:11:47.960
maybe we just get back to the Bible, try to

1042
01:11:47.960 --> 01:11:51.119
set aside all of our theological presuppositions and try to

1043
01:11:51.199 --> 01:11:55.680
learn and read and handle the Bible and it's historical context.

1044
01:11:55.720 --> 01:11:58.479
Now everyone says that, but as we've seen over and

1045
01:11:58.479 --> 01:12:01.039
over and over, I know if we ever really just

1046
01:12:01.079 --> 01:12:09.039
get to the scriptures, because we have great difficulty in

1047
01:12:09.119 --> 01:12:12.039
letting the scriptures say what they say we want. We

1048
01:12:12.079 --> 01:12:15.600
all have these things we oh, it's just very difficult.

1049
01:12:18.800 --> 01:12:21.000
And you hear how many sermon reviews we do, and

1050
01:12:21.039 --> 01:12:24.119
I'm like, oh my goodness, once again, we've just left

1051
01:12:24.159 --> 01:12:26.720
what the scriptures actually say. We're reading into the scripture,

1052
01:12:26.760 --> 01:12:30.000
we're adding to the scripture. That's the whole reason we're

1053
01:12:30.000 --> 01:12:32.439
doing the Isaiah forty through fifty five thing. It's because

1054
01:12:32.439 --> 01:12:34.880
I got tired of how Isaiah forty, forty one, forty two,

1055
01:12:34.880 --> 01:12:37.840
and forty three is being utilized in sermons. That's why

1056
01:12:37.920 --> 01:12:40.760
we did the whole First Samuel twenty sixth thing, the

1057
01:12:40.840 --> 01:12:43.239
James one nineteen to twenty seventh thing. And it's not

1058
01:12:43.279 --> 01:12:47.319
because it's my theology versus their theology. It's because I'm

1059
01:12:47.359 --> 01:12:50.760
just saying what does the text actually say based on

1060
01:12:50.800 --> 01:12:57.920
the context on which it's found, and not worry whether

1061
01:12:57.960 --> 01:13:09.199
it agrees with any philological team. The article raises an issue,

1062
01:13:10.359 --> 01:13:15.359
but it raises an issue by ignoring the real issue,

1063
01:13:15.840 --> 01:13:21.199
which is the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation. They

1064
01:13:21.199 --> 01:13:26.800
are clear, they are evident, and they have been severe.

1065
01:13:32.039 --> 01:13:34.359
Thanks for listening, God bless