365 Honest Questions: Recent Episodes
dante stack
Matthew's account of Jesus' death has a detail no other account has. What's up with that?
"Fun with the Apocrypha” and “Solve the World: Part One” are now for sale!
Does the appearance of the first truly red heifer in 2000 years signify the end of days is nigh?
“Fun with the Apocrypha” by Dante Stack now available as an ebook (or paperback). Order your copy today!
Dante gets himself twisted into a pretzel knot trying to deconstruct Paul's train of thought in Romans 7.
Before delving back into Biblical questions, Dante reflects on 10 takeaways from his year in Russia.
Jesus lived in a certain time and place... does his behavior as a 1st century Galilean show us how to live in every possible human situation?
Dante's concluding thoughts on Biblical henotheism.
Do any of these wacky theories affect us at all? Does it change the way we interact with the Gospel? With Jesus? With the whole big shebang???
If Yahweh has been playing a delicate game of chess with the other Elohim, what game plan has the opposition had?
An obscure reference in Daniel to "the watchers" sparks a mesopotamian search for the truth behind the myth.
Using extra-biblical writings, Dante leaps into the unknown, connecting dots from Nephilim to the Greek pantheon.
Who are the Elohim that God speaks to in Psalm 82? What part do they have to play in God's plan?
Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. We call him the Son of God. What do these terms mean, and what implications do they bear?
Push aside your angel mythology and preconceptions. The Old Testament gives a different definition to the word 'angel' than we may have suspected. The implications may be vast.
Dante invokes aboriginal monkeys in order to convince guest Pastor Clint Wright that universalism sure seems nice. Why can't we all embrace it?
Dante walks through a 60 hour panic attack he had over the apparent contradiction in Exodus 6.
Psalm 82 has God standing in the midst of the "the gods". What does that mean? The answers lead Dante to insanity, more or less.
Should we read the Bible with the assumption that we're getting a SUFFICIENT history of the world? Or, is that not the point? And if that's not the point, what stories remain just below the surface?
Jesus says whoever wants to gain his life must lose it, so should we seek to lose our lives... literally?
If we're no better than Ananias & Sapphira, is there any reason that we shouldn't receive the same fate?
The gospel is translated as "good news". What exactly makes it good, if it condemns over half the population to hell?
Is it really true that God is waiting for the Gospel to preached to every tribe on Earth before he returns?
Guest host John Martindale invades the 2 Kings story of bald Elisha and the she-bears that ripped to shreds the boys that mocked his baldy-baldy-baldiness!
Dante discusses with Jonathan Benedetti, John Martindale, Mike Hazeltine, and Caleb Rackley about how to avoid the arrows of the Bible and get closer to God.
Hebrews 6 paints a certain picture. There's only 2 ways to interpret it and neither of them are pretty.
2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles disagrees about which giant Elhanan killed... it's kinda a big deal.
In his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul seemingly makes an absolute statement about people from the island of Crete. Is that okay?
Dante, never the practical thinker, tries to actually outline 4 approaches to living out his faith in the modern world.
The Gibeonite people demanded to hang seven sons of Saul. David gave the men to them, and God seemed to bless the arrangement. What's really going on here?
The word Lilith appears in the Bible just once, but the cult of strangeness surrounding the name is a tale as old as time.
Is it okay the Bible borrows the title "King of Kings" from other Ancient Near East cultures?
Looking over the first 50 episodes of the show, Dante's learned 4 whole new things to fear!
From the beginning of time, the traditions we associate with Christmas have been on display.
Examining the differences between Matthew and Luke's versions of the birth of Jesus, Dante draws some new(ish) conclusions.
Dante parses Jesus' statement, "Give to Caesar's what is Caesar's," and uses that as a means to examine the current political climate.
Dante draws as many parallels as possible to link the wait for the return of Jesus to the original centuries long wait for a Messiah.
If Christians are new creations, seen as spotless in the eyes of God, then why do I feel like a crook?
Dante is frustrated when the definition of faith proves to be the very thing he didn't want it to be.
Jesus said that if you even have faith the size of a mustard seed, then you can move mountains. Levitated any hills with your faith lately?
Dante invites his brother-in-law on the show to wrestle over the apparent differences between the violent God of the Old Testament and the pacifistic Jesus of the New Testament.
Dante tries to summon up some real fear by imagining three scenarios that are existentially terrifying.
Just a quick promo for a new blog post about doubt infused with horror on dantestack.com
Reeling from the last episode on the book of Judges, Dante examines what it is that holds him to Christianity.
The Old Testament book of Judges chronicles a series of very unfortunate events. Why is this panoply of miserable stories in the Bible? Dante tries to reconcile himself with the book by examining the genre of it, and thus, our lens of interpretation.
A young ruler came up to Jesus calling him a "good teacher". Jesus responded by saying no one is good but God... so why do you deep down think you're a pretty good person?
How far can we go in applying interpretations of Jesus' parables to modern events and situations? Dante throws out three examples... you decide if they fall flat or not.
Is their forgiveness for the Judas among us? If you are tortured and buckle under the pain, recanting everything you believe in, will God let you past heaven's gates?
Is it possible to fully believe two contradictory beliefs? Dante will test your might and try to convince you of two completely opposite positions to the old idea that the only unforgiveable sin is to blaspheme the Spirit by renouncing your faith. Bam! Come get it!!!
What if there are rules that God has chosen to follow and enforce that we don't exactly know about? Dante wrestles with blasphemous thoughts as he serenades himself with clapping for tinkerbell to help make sense out of three persnickety Biblical passages.
Still scratching his head over the bizarre 2 Kings chapter 3 passage, Dante takes 10 different approaches in order to figure out how demons interact with humanity. Warning: this episode is like a Jackson Pollock of podcasts.
Do the gods of the nations surrounding Israel have any power? Are they merely wooden and stone idols, or is there something else behind them? The answer isn't as apparent as it may seem.
If God made Solomon the wisest man who ever lived, then why did he act like such an idiot? Dante tries to reconcile the wisdom of Solomon with the Kings insane paganism.
What exactly does the Bible define as gossip; talking behind someone's back? One might come to that conclusion looking at Jesus' life and ministry, but the apostle Paul knows this guy... a guy he likes to call Alexander the coppersmith...
Do differences in the personalities of the New Testament writers echo a fundamental difference in theology? Dante loses his mind and starts looking for reasons to insult Calvinism. Fun times for all!
Recent movements in the Christian church in the West have emphasized social justice, perhaps even at the expense of preaching and teaching. Does the Bible support such a view? Dante finds evidence for both positions this week and has fun with Biblical translations in the meantime.
Sometimes a dissonance arises between what we say we believe and what it actually turns out we truly hold as true. This week, Dante goes through a self-reckoning in dealing with his doubts about prayer.
When the Israelites were scouting out Jericho, the prostitute Rahab hid them and lied to keep them safe. God blessed her for doing this... so does that give us license to lie sometimes?
All theologies fail Dante's sniff test as he hems and haws over which framework leads to the most honest reading of Scripture. The dichotomy is on full display in the predicted consequences of eating the forbidden fruit according to God and the Serpent.
Dybbuks are wandering ghosts/dead souls stuck on this plane of existence according to the Kabbalah and certain Jewish traditions. But is there Biblical evidence for these creepers?
Friend of the show Jonathan Benedetti and Dante dialogue about the possible interpretations of passages in the Bible wherein God appears to experience remorse. How can an infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful God have any regrets? The discussion takes us from Stephen King to cool new words such as "anthropopathism"!
In the most rambling episode yet, Dante wonders if religion is just an extension of societal evolution. He trucks over pharaohs, rainbows, and Sigmund Freud in his vain attempt to articulate his doubt.
A listener question unravels into a strange analogy involving Jurassic World and the power and place of names.
In this special crossover episode with the podcast "1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries", Dante examines the Biblical aspects of the vanishing of the Ark of the Covenant. Meanwhile, on the 1001 podcast, Dante looks at the disappearance from a strictly historical lens.
A strange passage in 1 Kings tells the story of God commanding a spirit to go spread a lie. Yet, God consistently says he cannot tell a lie. Did he send that spirit to go do his dirtywork, or is there more to the story than meets the eye?
Numbers 31 tells the story of God calling Moses and the Israelites to annihilate the Midianites. Is the God of all love calling for a wholesale genocide of an entire nation? How do we feel about that?
Using Abraham and Isaac as a litmus test, Dante wonders whether one's love of God and obedience to him is unconditional, or are there some strings attached?
The first words of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount start with a blessing on the 'poor in spirit'. Dante wonders how he can perpetually live in a state of spiritual poverty.
So God performs a miracle... but how? Really. How do miracles work? Dante wonders about the physics and mechanics of miraculously calming the storm.
Dante points everyone over to his website where a new "playlist" is listed, as well as talks about some other great podcasts worthy of a listen.
In Dante's apparent attempt to make every episode more controversial than the last, he pokes his stick at the foundations (and separation) of Judaism and Islam. Fun is had by all!!
During Pontius Pilate's interrogation of Jesus, Pilate seemingly off-handedly asks, "What is truth?" Why did he ask that? Dante digs into it.
Is it possible that the fabled Atlantis is real? Is it possible the Bible attests to its existence? You'll have to listen to all 32 minutes of this episode to judge for yourself.
Why don't we sinners cut off all of our unholy, sinful parts? Dante visits Jesus' sermon on the mount wherein Jesus references self-amputation as a means of avoiding hellfire. Dante wonders how literal Jesus wanted to be taken.
Lock away your children, in this gross out episode, Dante examines the historical relevance of male castration and seeks to find an answer to Jesus' words on the matter.
A passage in Revelation speaks of the Seven Spirits of God. Could God be more than a trinity? Could He be a septinity? Is that even a word?
Moses' staff turned into a snake, then the Egyptians' staff did the same thing. Moses turns water into blood, and so do the Egyptians. If God is for us, who's against us? Could the answer be different than we think?
Dante ponders on God's use of metaphor in the book of Exodus. If God uses a metaphor, does that make it the best metaphor in the world? Should every metaphor be about eagles?
Everything's thrown at the wall, from Dante's disappointment with Abraham Lincoln to his uneasiness with some of God's laws for the Israelites. It's all emotion and no logic this week, folks.
Three little verses in Exodus chapter four give us a weird story wherein it appears God tried to kill Moses. What on Earth was going on?
Is there a distinction between the literal place we call hell, and the Greek word 'Hades'? Greek myth and Bible narrative are about to collide.
Dante realizes that he's been assuming he's known what John 1:1's "Word" has meant his whole life. Now he grapples with the oddity of the word, word, and ponders why John uses these strange accumulation of letters to open his Gospel.