FBT – Primordial Biblical Foundations

March 29, 2008

Way back in September of 2006 we posted a preview of "The Foundations of Biblical Thinking." This study of Torah has remained one of our most downloaded episodes, so by popular demand here it is in its entirety! So crucial to the Christian life, we will enter into Pentateuch’s time-tested wisdom and find that the more we understand these first five books of the Bible, the more rest will come to our souls (cf. Jer 6:16).

Let us remember what Christ said "For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments [referring to Torah] and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:19-20). In addition, one cannot grasp Christ without a firm knowledge of the Old Testament.

Only by feeding upon Christ in Word as well as Sacrament will He transform us into Himself. These sacred texts are inspired by the Holy Spirit, without error and are ordained by God to be the means of solid instruction for His people. As the Old Testament is filled with riddles, however, one must dig deeply and prayerfully enter into them in order to it in order to adequately enrich ourselves – we bring folly upon ourselves when we ignore it.

The Old Testament offers four key gifts to Christians: (1) it points to Christ as the messiah and the savior of Israel; (2) it deepens our understanding of Christ by enabling us to read the New Testament in the light of the Old, and vice versa; (3) it provides a type of spiritual road-map for life, describing a saga which we are all fated to relive; and (4) it reformats our thinking to focus more on God, opening the doors into the infinite recesses of the Divine Heart and His sublime mysteries. What bountiful treasures await those who proceed in faith!

Far more than a myth, the Book of Genesis begins with the verse, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (1:1). In the distant beginnings of the human race, this verse establishes the most important things. Genesis is a book of origins and generations that follows the Hebrew logic that we understand the things of God by understanding His beginning.

If we humbly follow the Word to God on His terms instead of our own, He will increase our faith and will preserve us from doubting the veracity of these books. We simply must take these texts more seriously than we would children’s stories; but the fact that some consider Genesis to be a series of mere fables highlights our need to interpret Torah correctly. By an earnest study of Torah throughout these fourteen episodes, we will gain a firm foundation to study the entire Bible, equipping ourselves to spread God’s Word to the nations.

Remember that this series and all our other material is available on our webstore, siministries.org/Store. Thanks to Adam the Catholic for leaving us a review on iTunes – if you enjoy these podcasts please take a couple of minutes to leave us a short review there, as that will help us reach new listeners. Finally, this episode marks our first foray into music, and your feedback on that (and anything else, for that matter!) would be greatly appreciated: podcast@siministries.org.

Music: The Symphony No. 9, opus 95, "From the New World" by Antonin Dvorak from musopen.com.

  • /
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.

Download MP3 (38:12; 21 MB)

Acts Lecture 40 – The Affliction in Asia, Part II

February 1, 2022

Acts Lecture 39 – The Affliction in Asia, Part I

January 25, 2022

Acts Lecture 38 – The Philippian Jailer

January 18, 2022

Acts Lecture 37 – Mission to the Galatians

January 11, 2022

Acts Lecture 36 – The Second Missionary Journey

January 4, 2022

Acts Lecture 35 – The Prohibition of Blood

December 28, 2021

Acts Lecture 34 – The Council of Jerusalem, Part II

December 21, 2021

Acts Lecture 33 – The Council of Jerusalem, Part I

December 14, 2021

Acts Lecture 32 – A Drama of Ideas, Part III

November 30, 2021

Acts Lecture 31 – A Drama of Ideas, Part II

November 23, 2021

Acts Lecture 30 – A Drama of Ideas, Part I

November 16, 2021

Acts Lecture 29 – Paul and Barnabas

November 2, 2021

Acts Lecture 28 – Rejection

October 26, 2021

Acts Lecture 27 – Paul’s Speech

October 19, 2021

Acts Lecture 26 – Bar-Jesus

October 12, 2021

Acts Lecture 25 – The Holy Spirit Speaks

October 5, 2021

Acts Lecture 24 – Barnabas in Antioch

September 28, 2021

Acts Lecture 23 – Herod Agrippa

September 21, 2021

Acts Lecture 22 – Communion of Churches

September 14, 2021

Acts Lecture 21 – Peter and the Gentiles

September 7, 2021

Acts Lecture 20 – Cornelius the God-fearer, Part II

August 31, 2021

Acts Lecture 19 – Cornelius the God-fearer, Part I

August 24, 2021

Acts Lecture 18 – The Christians Disperse

August 17, 2021

Acts Lecture 17 – Paul in Damascus

August 10, 2021

Acts Lecture 16 – The Good Pharisee

August 3, 2021

Acts Lecture 15 – The Ethiopian Eunuch

July 20, 2021

Acts Lecture 14 – The First Heretic

July 13, 2021

Acts Lecture 13 – Saul of Tarsus

July 6, 2021