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Broken Planet with Sharon Dirckx

Dr. Sharon Dirckx

Broken Planet is the title of a new book by Sharon Dirckx (PhD, Cambridge) with InterVarsity Press (2023). The subtitle describes the question she hopes to address: If There’s a God, Then Why Are There Natural Disasters and Diseases?  She joins David Capes on The Stone Chapel Podcast to talk about her most recent book.

To hear the podcast (approx 20 minutes) click here.

Who is Sharon Dirckx, author of Broken Planet?

Sharon Dirckx is a freelance speaker and author who occasionally teaches courses for OCCA, The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics.  She has been with us before on this podcast and has lectured at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston in November 2022. Links to those episodes and to her other books are below.

While her PhD from Cambridge is in brain imaging, Dr. Dirckx has turned her attention to our broken planet. She and her husband live in Oxford, UK.

Are we living on a Broken Planet? 

A great deal of suffering is caused by natural disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pandemics, and other catastrophes. How do we account for such disasters if there is a God who is all powerful?  Is our planet broken or is this the best of all possible worlds as some regard it?

It is one thing to make a case for the origin and impact of moral evil or “man’s inhumanity to man.”  But it’s quite another to talk about the planet itself as being our home and our nemesis.

Dirckx mixes her own style of apologetic argument with stories of people who suffered and survived to create a compelling book. This podcast captures a bit of her book and aims to help readers deal with those tragedies not caused by humans.

Click here to watch Sharon Dirckx’s lecture at the Lanier Theological library, on her second book, Am I Just My Brain.

Watch a short video here of Sharon discussing the topic, Can you be a credible scientist and believe in God.

For Sharon’s Podcast’s on her book, Am I Just My Brain, click here.

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The Akedah and Job with John Walton

The Akedah refers to the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22). How does Gen. 22:12 in its context of God’s promises to Abraham answer the question of why God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Hint: There are parallels with Job. Dr. John Walton, Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton Graduate School, is a frequent contributor to this podcast. His many publications concentrate especially in the backgrounds, language, and thought of the Old Testament world.

To hear the podcast (9 min.) click here.

“Exegetically Speaking” is a weekly podcast of the friends and faculty of Wheaton College, IL and The Lanier Theological Library. Hosted by Dr. David Capes, it features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—and show how reading the Bible in the original languages “pays off.” Each podcast lasts between seven and eleven minutes and covers a different topic for those who want to read the Bible for all it is worth.

If you’re interested in going deeper, learn more about Wheaton’s undergraduate degree in Classical Languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) and our MA in Biblical Exegesis. 

You can hear Exegetically Speaking on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at exegetically.speaking@wheaton.edu. And keep listening. 

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Adam and Eve as Temple with Ingrid Faro

Dr. Ingrid Faro, Northern Seminary

Congratulations to everyone on the team in Wheaton. This is the 200th episode, and it is a great one. Thanks, Ingrid. Now on to the next 100!!!!

Hints of the identity of the man and woman together as God’s sacred space have been latent but unrecognized in the Hebrew language of Gen. 2:21-22. In this, our 200th episode, Dr. Ingrid Faro uncovers what the language has to tell us. She is the Coordinator of the MA in Old Testament Program at Northern Seminary in Lisle, IL, where she teaches the Hebrew Bible. Among other things, she is the author of  Evil in Genesis: A Contextual Analysis of Hebrew Lexemes for Evil in the Book of Genesis. She recently lectured at the Lanier Theological Library on “Deconstructing Evil,” and her forthcoming book is Demystifying Evil: A Biblical and Personal Exploration (IVP).

To hear the podcast (10 minutes) click here.

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Hebrew Prepositions and God’s Image with Carmen Imes

The Hebrew preposition usually translated as “in” in the phrase “in God’s image” repays a closer look. It has to do with our identity, what and who we are. Dr. Carmen Imes (Ph.D., Wheaton College) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. She has published several works including Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, and hosts her own YouTube channel where she releases weekly “Torah Tuesday” videos. Her next book will be Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters (2023).

To hear the podcast (10 minutes) click here.