New Spiritual Podcast Series | The Life Wisdom Project
Jerry wonders what we are to God and asks- is Jesus above irritation; did God suffer giving up His only son? Like Jerry, you may be surprised by the answers and wonder whether the answers make suffering any better.
In next week's Life Wisdom Project episode, meet Dr. Christopher Denny, Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint John's University, for a memorable discussion of episode five, which we revisit today- I Ask God What We Are To Him.
-Share your story or experience with God-
LISTEN TO RELEVANT EPISODES- [The Life Wisdom Project] The Encounter With Novelty And Living Truthfully | Situational Attention
Life Wisdom Project explores lessons and insight from each chapter of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher. From Jerry's conversations with God, the Life Wisdom Project will look at the takeaways from God and the book for everyday living. How can we live better, healthier, happier, and wiser lives?
God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher, is written by Dr. Jerry L. Martin, an agnostic philosopher who heard the voice of God and recorded their conversations. The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:
- Life Wisdom Project-How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.
- Two Philosophers Wrestle With God- sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.
- What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series episodes
- What's On Your Mind- What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?
READ- God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher
WATCH- Does God Really Love Us?
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Scott Langdon [00:00:17] This is God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. A dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin. He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered- in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions, and God had a lot to tell him. Episode 118.
Scott Langdon [00:01:07] Hello and welcome to God: An Autobiography, The podcast. I'm Scott Langdon. Next week we'll bring you the fifth edition of our series The Life Wisdom Project, where Jerry will be in conversation with Dr. Christopher Denny, Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint John's University, about themes found in episode five of our podcast titled I Ask God What We Are to Him. So this week we bring you episode five in preparation for next week's The Life Wisdom Project. In episode five, I speak the voice of Jerry and Dr. Jerry L Martin, who heard the voice, speaks the voice of God. Remember, you can always find the complete audio adaptation of the book for free by beginning with episode one of this podcast and listening through episode 44. So here is episode five: I Ask God What We Are To Him. I hope you enjoy the episode. Episode five.
Jerry Martin Voiced By Scott Langdon [00:02:05] "It may happen in contemplation that we have a strange experience. We may have been reflecting on God in faith alone. Suddenly, God is present...a wall which was there before is there no more." —Romano Guardini. This spoke directly to my situation. In "The Art of Praying: The Principles and Methods of Christian Prayer," Monsignor Guardini says there follows a period of divided reactions. "Our intuition tells us this is God or at any rate connected with Him. The intimation may frighten us (‘Yes,' I thought). We do not know whether we dare presume that intuition is true, and we are uncertain what to do (‘Yes, exactly’). However, the intuition becomes a certainty, even an absolute certainty which leaves no room for doubt (‘That is true also.’)” However, Guardini says, doubts may return "when we discover that other people have no knowledge of these things." Yes, the problem of what other people will think. This, he says, can lead to total unbelief. "It may also happen that one doubts whether the whole experience had not merely been a delusion or temptation." Well, I never went that far. But, all is not lost. "In the face of these difficulties and doubts one should remain calm and trust in God. One should submit to his will and pray for enlightenment. Thus, faith is fortified and love becomes pure." Reading the New Testament, I came to the story of an angry Jesus driving the money lenders from the Temple (Mark 11:15-17): "And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves." Lord, what am I to make of Jesus' temper?
The Voice of God Voiced By Dr. Jerry L. Martin [00:04:39] People often irritated him.
Jerry Martin Voiced By Scott Langdon [00:04:42] Irritated him? If he is God, wouldn't he be above that sort of feeling?
The Voice of God Voiced By Dr. Jerry L. Martin [00:04:48] Yes and no. You don't understand. Jesus is a human being, though he is also part of me. He is subject to limitations as well as benefits that result from that. He has feelings and emotions. That is why he can save the world so effectively. He is a model of how a finite creature, with all the pushes and pulls of emotions can nevertheless give boundless love.
Jerry Martin Voiced By Scott Langdon [00:05:23] Okay. That makes sense to me. Like others before me, I wondered how a Supreme Being could possibly care about us human beings. Job asks (7:17-18) "What is man that you make much of him, that you fix your attention upon him--inspect him every morning, examine him every minute?" Lord, what are we to you?
The Voice of God Voiced By Dr. Jerry L. Martin [00:06:05] You are my face onto the world. And onto each other--you, whom I love. I want you to love each other. Christ's two commandments are right--"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." They are rooted in the Old Testament. It is hard for me to love people directly--hard on them, that is. I need people to do it for me.
Jerry Martin Voiced By Scott Langdon [00:06:58] It seems that we open the world to God. He experiences the world through us. I remembered French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty's argument that, since perception is essentially perspectival--from a vantage point--there is literally no God's-eye point of view. We are His eyes and ears. Lord, I have read that our grace or salvation had to be "purchased at a price," namely God's giving up his only son. I don't really understand this. Did you really suffer from giving up your only son?
The Voice of God Voiced By Dr. Jerry L. Martin [00:07:39] It is more complex than that. God as Son takes on the suffering of mankind, takes it on quite literally, and co-suffers with mankind. I co-suffer with mankind. Otherwise, I would have put creatures in a fallen (limited) world and watched them suffer from a distance. Moreover, my growth requires that I suffer. Suffering is the law of growth in the universe. There is even a form of suffering for sub-atomic particles--the constant disequilibrium and disruption of particles. Like muscles, things grow by being torn apart and healing.
Jerry Martin Voiced By Scott Langdon [00:08:36] Okay, so we suffer, Jesus suffers, and God suffers, but the question remains: How does the fact that suffering is divinely shared make anything better?
Scott Langdon [00:09:03] Thank you for listening to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. Subscribe for free today wherever you listen to your podcasts and hear a new episode every week. You can hear the complete dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L Martin by beginning with episode one of our podcast and listening through its conclusion with Episode 44. You can read the original true story in the book from which this podcast is adapted God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher available now at amazon.com and always at godanautobiography.com. Pick up your own copy today. If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please email us at questions@godanautobiography.com and experience the world from God's perspective, as it was told to a philosopher. This is Scott Langdon. I'll see you next time.