The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 2)

I just came across this three-part series of posts from Beyond the Box (beyondtheboxpodcast.com), entitled "Perfect Love Casts Out Fear." In these posts you can listen to an interview with Richard Beck on his blogposts "The Slavery of Death," which served as the foundation of what eventually became a book by that same name.

“The Slavery of Death” @ beyondtheboxpodcast.com
   • Part 1:  The Sting of Death Is Sin
   • Part 2:  The Denial of Death
   • Part 3:  Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 1)

I have been reading a recent book by Richard Beck, The Slavery of Death. Beck is a Professor of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. I came across is blog Experimental Theology about a year and a half ago, and I have found it very stimulating and useful. The following description does not do the book justice, but I have decided that if I took the time to write a post that did the book justice, then there might never be a post (owing to the fact that the book has a lot to commend it and I'm too much of a perfectionist. And so, this will simply have to be good enough).
     As a committed Christian, writer, and evolutionary psychologist, in The Slavery of Death, Beck blends Eastern Orthodox theology, modern psychology, the theologies of William Stringfellow and Walter Wink, and the interpretation of biblical texts to explore Hebrews 2:14-15.

"Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, [Jesus our Great High Priest] himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."

     Beck argues that our society as a whole operates out of a basic and a neurotic fear of death. And this neurotic fear of death gets manifested by individuals, groups, companies, and churches. We are unable to love fully because we are held captive to the fear of death. Because we live in this fear of death, we generally focus our time and energies on survival and self-preservation. This focus inhibits us from looking to the interests of others, let alone to loving them in self-sacrificial ways. What we see then is that fear is the opposite of love, yet according to 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. So in The Slavery of Death, Beck offers an integrated biblical, theological, and psychological perspective as to how the Gospel addresses this systemic problem and how we as individuals and as churches can begin to address this fear and begin to love.


Prelude: “The Sting of Death"

Part I:  “The Last Enemy”

Chapter 1:  Ancestral Sin
Chapter 2:  Christus Victor

Part II:  “Held in Slavery by Their Fear of Death”

Chapter 3:  The Denial of Death
Chapter 4:  The Principalities and Powers

Part III:  “There is No Fear in Love”

Chapter 5:  An Eccentric Identity
Chapter 6:  The Sign of the Cross

Interlude:  Timor Mortis

Chapter 7:  Practicing Resurrection
Chapter 8:  The Freedom of God

Name That Commandment

What's the best way to love God with all that we are,
all that we have, and all that we ever hope to be?

Sunday, October 26, A.D. 2014

RCL, Year A, Proper 25, Track 1

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

Download Sermon as a PDF

Watch on YouTube HERE

NAME THAT COMMANDMENT

Name That Tune

Two weeks ago, I began my sermon on Moses and the Golden Calf by talking about the game show, To Tell the Truth. This past week, I went back to the same well. And so, I shall begin today’s sermon by talking about another game show I remember watching as a kid, called The $100,000 Name That Tune. Does anybody remember it?

     Name That Tune was a syndicated game show that aired during the latter half of the 1970s. Each week, two contestants from the studio audience would be chosen to compete against one another in a series of challenges, where they had to name the title of songs. The challenge I remember most was called Bid-a-Note. During this segment of the show, the host, Tom Kennedy, would read a clue about a song, and the two contestants would take turns bidding against one another for the chance to identify the title of the song.

One contestant might begin, “I can name that tune in 6 notes.”
And the other might say, “I can name that tune in 5 notes.”
“I can name that tune in 3 notes.”
“Okay then. It’s yours. Name that tune.”

At that point, the first three notes of the song would be played on a piano, and the winning bidder would try to Name That Tune.

The Makers of Gods

What happens when human beings become fearful and forgetful?

Sunday, October 12, a.d. 2014

RCL • Year A • Proper 23 • Track 1

Exodus 16:2-15

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Download Sermon as a PDF

Watch on Youtube HERE

Delivered on Sunday, October 12th, a.d. 2014

at St. John's Episcopal Church (Wichita, Kansas)