In this fifth episode, we will explore ancient and modern conceptions of divine sovereignty, asking questions like:

- What does it mean (or has it meant) to say that “God is in control”?

- Is the very concept of divine sovereignty antithetical to the idea of human freedom? And from such a question, we may wish to ask, what is freedom?

- Alternatively, a la Marx, in what way are conceptions of divine sovereignty actually just the human being’s use of God as an excuse to quetionable action which in turn alienates both themselves and others out of realizing the importance of their own concrete action (or perhaps, their own “divinity” as Marx would say). In other words, such a person might say, ”if God has it all figured out in advance, all I need to do is figure out what God’s will is and then make it happen!”

- Does the Christian God, epecially as exemplified in Jesus, depict a God of manipulation and control, or is Jesus an example of a different kind of sovereignty? (This is what I am exploring in the title in reference to Weakness)

- Beyond divine sovereignty, what do we think it means to talk about sovereignty in the context of states, and governements. Furthermore, how have the conceptions of state sovereignty either influenced or been influenced by conceptions of divine sovereignty?

- Why does any of this matter for living “the good life” or the ethical life?

Please feel free to preempt our show with comments and debates on our forum! We look forward to it!

Show Notes:

Rube GoldBerg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg

This episode is 58 min long.

Play this episode:

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