I’ve recently gotten out of school and finally have more time to get back into the faith. I’ve noticed that I cannot readily find many of the resources I had enjoyed before when I had experienced more questions (since my faith was more heavily being contemplated and thus remembered than now). What resources (movies, websites, apps, even videos) do you use to help you grow your faith?
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One thing that I try to do now is not worry so much about what people believe but find a larger range of beliefs. So what u mean is that instead of just looking for things similar to me, white American men who mostly come from Protestant backgrounds I instead try to find podcasts and books, often on apps free to use if you’re in America like Libby and Hoopla Digital, that are different from me. So I’ll find stuff by Catholics, I’ll find stuff by people in denominations I normally ignore , such as Mormons, and by women, people of color in America and outside of it.
For example look at how the segregationist weaponized the Bible and how the abolitionist used it to help give hope to people. Look at how black pastors active in the civil rights used it and how people from hate groups like the KKK used it.
Get a book on how a capitalist uses the Bible and a socialist.
Look up an Asian biblical scholar , a black biblical scholar, someone who affirms the LGBT and look at world from Indigenous people.
It will help you see how proof texting can really shape what you accept and ignore.
Pick a subject like Hell and get books by those supporting eternal conscious torment, those pushing conditional immortality and those who preach universalism.
Look at the different views on original sin, and at those who reject it.
Think of something foundation to you faith.
Take “did Christ come to earth to die for us?”
Look up atonement and substitutionary beliefs and those who refuse it.
With that said my favorite podcasts are “the Bible for normal people” by Pete Enns and Jared Byas and “the Bible project” by Tim Mackie.
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Calvin Miller’s “Singer Trilogy.”
It’s the story of Jesus. It’s poetry and fantasy. But not hard.
They are sone of the very few books I have from my youth.
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I have that too! Parts still come back to me. Thanks.
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Bible Project has a ton of really good resources based on real scholarship. There are podcasts, videos, Bible studies.
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The Bible. A good study version might help. I prefer the last edition of the New Jermome Biblical commentary. The newest is a solid resource but it went a bit less critical than the last one which was fully immersed in NT scholarship. I actually think the shift is needed but the older one had verse by verse on the whole Bible all from an informed critical perspective.
But I’m guilty of spending more time reading about the Bible than actually dialoging with my sacred scripture at times. I don’t think these are necessarily mutually exclusive, but I guess my advice is don’t neglect inspired scripture for uninspired books about scripture. The same goes for internet resources like podcasts or videos. One think I like about the Catholic Church is we simply read a large swathe of scripture each week and we basically try to get through the whole Bible over time and not just whatever the current leader feels moved to teach over and over again.
The Bible project is great for a primer to reading a book of the Bible, especially the OT as it gives most people the context they lack going in. I think they are usually solid but keep in mind they are offering an interpretation of scripture and they approach is from a certain direction. And while I enjoy them, I find logic and reasoning easier to follow (and find flaws in) when it’s a text. For example, I want statements justified with footnotes I can check. Hard to do that in an oral video. For me, all videos and podcasts are intellectually inferior to printed text. It’s basically the minor leagues.
Many of us use a wide array of resources. Can you be more specific as to the topic? Theological, historical, philosophical, scientific? Even these limited four categories can be subdivided into further specialized areas.
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Sounds great, BuffaloMax17!! When I was in school I recall speakers telling us that “never again in your life will you have as much free time as now” —the message being that now was the time to “get back into faith” because you will soon be working, raising a family, and have no time!
But your question is essentially “what do I do now?” And while there is no one-size-fits-all answer, I would not let “just one” of the resources you mentioned ( apps, videos, or etc) be your sole source. You will get a range of ideas —some really great, some not – by perusing a range of sources. Some of them, or maybe many, you may just let slide as time goes on. To “have faith” you ultimately have to have a source for that faith and find it trustworthy. Since you are asking – it seems – if there are any “good resources to get back into the Bible” – I would suggest start reading it and finding sources (commentaries, histories, various studies, even anyone giving lectures on it) and using these sources to “flesh out” the meaning of what you are reading. OK this was a general answer but hope it helps a bit.
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All too common a malady, especially when you have a bunch of intelligent people recommending good books!
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All resources are good to engage but nothing works better for me than to read the Bible which is the source of the Christian faith and ask this question. “What does the scripture say and what is it saying to me?”
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I agree with @leesouthard ; a recent speaker (Kyle Idleman) struck me when he said that the point is to get into the Bible, not to necessarily finish it fast. Even if we read and mull over just a verse at a time, every day or so, that’s progress; sometimes it’s better that way. Thanks.
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