Best Paul Seungoh Chung Podcasts (2024)

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S4E7: Why God strikes every firstborn of Egypt - Plague and the Lamb 1 45:23

2d ago45:23

45:23

Send us a text We’re back again for another episode! This is a kind of milestone for the series, as we cover a key narrative in Exodus—that of the final tenth plague, which connects to the Gospel account of Jesus Christ. And the question we must first wrestle with is: why does God strike down every firstborn in Egypt? The plague horrifies with us w…

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S4E6: Divine Intervention or Natural Events? What the Plagues Meant 40:06

3M ago40:06

40:06

Send us a text Were the plagues that struck Egypt in Exodus Divine intervention or natural events? This is a question that is raised by those who present natural explanation for these plagues. But, things that follow laws of nature are God speaking, just as things that do not seem to. The real question is: what distinguishes these events in Exodus …

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S4E5: Why God hardened Pharaoh's heart and then punished him for it 45:00

5M ago45:00

45:00

Send us a text One of the more perplexing and disturbing part of the Exodus account is when God hardens Pharaoh's heart so that he does not listen to Moses and let the people of Israel go. But then, God punishes him it by unfolding disasters--the plagues--upon Egypt. But, this seems profoundly unjust! What is the idea that the Bible is presenting a…

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S4E4: How Moses learns God is speaking with him step-by-step 40:50

6M ago40:50

40:50

Send us a text God that spoke to Moses is "Yahweh," unfolding everything around him. But, the question was: will reality unfold what this voice spoke to him? What if things go wrong? What if Moses was deluded, or mistaken, or deceived? How Moses, and people who hear God speak to them, find out whether what they hear is true--whether God really is s…

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S4E3: What does the name "YHWH" mean, and why it matters 45:10

7M ago45:10

45:10

Send us a text Consider what it means for things to have names. Names point to things, and at least to some extent, tells us what they are. But, what could possibly be the name of God? After all, it would need to "point to" all of reality as a whole. According to the Bible, the name of God spoken to Moses is "I am that I am," which in turn is prese…

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S4E2: Why Moses heard God from a burning bush 40:05

8M ago40:05

40:05

Send us a text It is an iconic scene in the Bible: God calls Moses from the burning bush. But, why the burning bush? After all, God can speak through an immeasurable number of things. It is because the bush that does not burn up, and the flame that blazes, yet will not burn itself out, means something to Moses--and to us--which connects us to how G…

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S4E1: Who were they before they were "Israel"? 40:33

9M ago40:33

40:33

Send us a text The fourth Season opens to explore the question of the people of Israel described in Exodus. Who were they? What is the significance of their story, regarding their oppression and slavery? What remnants or echoes, if any, remain of their story in the records and memory of ancient history, and what are their significance? And where ar…

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S4 Prologue: They were born in the desert 3:15

9M ago3:15

3:15

Send us a text Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! To celebrate(?), here is the trailer for Season 4 of "What do you mean, God speaks?" God awaits in the desert The prologue, "They were born in the desert" Music : "Exodus" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ---------------------------------------- Support the show -----------…

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S3Post4: What I believe, and the stories we didn't cover 39:00

9M ago39:00

39:00

Send us a text The final 3rd Season’s post-season episode returns to some issues to wrap up before we move on to Season 4. First, part of this Season wrestled with the question that historians today has raised regarding the historicity of the life-stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their family—as they are recounted in the book of Genesis. But, …

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S3Post3: Vote for a person, not a party (some Biblical reasons why) 30:00

10M ago30:00

30:00

Send us a text There’s this adage that says, “Don’t talk about religion or politics unless you want to get in trouble.” Well, this series is all about religion, so we might as well go the rest of the way this episode, and talk about politics! Now, politics is not what we usually explore in this series. But, it might be good to listen to me thinking…

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S3Post2: Renounce racism, but overcome prejudice 37:35

10M ago37:35

37:35

Send us a text It seems, at least from popular conversations in the News, opinion articles, or the constant postings on SNS, we are labeling more or more things or people as racist. Now, racism does remain a significant problem even in countries and societies that have made significant progress against it, and strands of it do seem to have been wov…

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S3Post1: What do I mean, "Thank you for Listening?" My experiences with this series 39:09

10M ago39:09

39:09

Send us a text Thank you for listening and following this series! But, what does it mean for me to tell you this? These simple words mean much more than you may know. It has to do with what I've experienced, the fears I've faced and the encouragements I received in doing this series. To a very important extent, it has to do with, like the rest of t…

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S3Finale: Frozen between faith and fear - How our Journey continues 41:30

12M ago41:30

41:30

Send us a text We have finally arrived at the final main episode of the third season. Here, we will survey what it means to believe in God, formed and expanded through the journeys of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then Joseph. However, this account reveals that there will be times when those who are on this journey, become suspended between belief and …

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S3E17.17: So, what -is- God's part in a famine or whatever else? 41:43

1y ago41:43

41:43

Send us a text What began as a supplemental episode has become a rather long and hefty discussion about the question of suffering or evil in a world spoken forth by God. This is far from a complete answer. What this episode is doing is to outline a larger framework, along with a set of prior questions and considerations in order to really understan…

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S3E17: Is God the 'Author' of our suffering? Yes... and No (Joseph Pt. 3) 41:55

1y ago41:55

41:55

Send us a text The series is back again, as it nears (steadily and slowly) the completion of Season 3! Thank you everyone for waiting! This episode will explore, as we conclude the life of Joseph, this perplexing question. If everything that happens is what God speaks forth, could God not have spoken something else? Could God not have brought about…

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S3E16: Who God forms you into in the pit (Joseph) 39:33

1+ y ago39:33

39:33

Send us a text We are often faced with the question of ambiguity in our wrestling with God. That was the question Joseph faced alone in prison. What was God speaking to him? Had God ever really spoken to him? God spoke to him insights into dreams and wisdom to lead people. Yet, he was in prison, seemingly forsaken and forgotten by God. However, God…

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S3E15: When listening to God throws you into a pit (Joseph) 36:33

1+ y ago36:33

36:33

Send us a text We’ve now started the final set of episodes of the 3rd season, as we explore the life-story of Joseph, and the question he confronted: what happens when what God has spoken to you, seems to have been proven false? What do you do when listening to God seems to have thrown you into a pit? How does your journey with God continue from th…

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S3E14: Questioning the Bible (Wrestling with God today Pt.2) 45:30

1+ y ago45:30

45:30

Send us a text Full title: "Questioning the Bible, and Risking Belief for Faith" Thank you for the loooong wait! We continue from the previous episode, which followed the trail of questions that begin when I thought to myself years ago, “Maybe there is no God.” In the previous episode, we followed how I wrestled with the questions about what we rea…

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S3E13: Maybe there is no God (Wrestling with God today Pt.1) 37:00

1+ y ago37:00

37:00

Send us a text We’re back for 2023. This is the first part of a two-part episode, which explores how today, in our modern, secular society, we wrestle with our belief in God. These two episodes will detail how I’ve thought through the questions and issues years ago when I seriously asked myself, “Maybe there is no God.” Because of that, these two e…

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S3Extra3: Update - Search for Publishers, Book Proposals, & the Upcoming Season 38:23

1+ y ago38:23

38:23

Send us a text I'm back for 2023, and here is an extra episode to update what is being worked on. Next episode, "Risking belief to keep your faith" will air around mid-February. In the meanwhile, you can listen to this unscripted episode--if are so inclined--as I bemoan my troubles, trying to figure out which publisher would be appropriate for my b…

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S3E12: People of God are those who wrestle with God 44:11

1+ y ago44:11

44:11

Send us a text Many people are surprised that the name of the people of God, "Israel," means to "wrestle with God". But, that was the name God gives to Jacob, who is a character full of faults and failures, and that became the name of everyone who are called God's people in the Bible ( Christians are called "new Israel" in the New Testament). So, i…

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S3E11: Who does God bless? (Jacob and Esau) 36:14

2y ago36:14

36:14

Send us a text We're back with part 1 of the two-episode exploration of Jacob's life. What does it mean to be blessed by God? What is it about Jacob and his life that Genesis identifies him as the spiritual ancestor and representative of the people that God personally speaks with--people who journeys with God? After all, Jacob is an unlikely figure…

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S3E10: Why Isaac's life seems so (um) uneventful 33:33

2y ago33:33

33:33

Send us a text Isaac is the promised child of Abraham and Sarah. Yet, his life as described in Genesis seems, well, uninteresting. But, there is a very interesting idea behind what happens--or rather, what doesn't happen--in Isaac's life, and it has to do with to how humanity's relation to God develops through multiple generations, according to the…

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S3Extra2: Examples from my personal experience 55:45

2y ago55:45

55:45

Send us a text A bonus, unscripted(!) episode. We'll see how this episode turns out. So, we've been exploring "ideas, insights, and stories in Christianity." But, where am I in all this? Have I ever experienced some of the things I describe in this series, especially in the third season--God speaking personally to people, making promises, and unfol…

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S3E9: Why God called Abraham to sacrifice his son 35:33

2y ago35:33

35:33

Send us a text Why did God call Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering? The story of the "Binding of Isaac," is not simply about a story of a man obeying God to the point that he will sacrifice his own son. It is about a call that everyone who speaks with God eventually hears. And we hear this call because all of humanity has been wag…

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S3E8: Faith in Ambiguity - Miracles, Promise, and Time 35:53

2y ago35:53

35:53

Send us a text What is faith? What is a miracle? And how are the themes of promise, time, and ambiguity related to all of that? Has God truly been speaking with us? Is Reality personal? Christians believe God speaks to them and walks with them, but what we’ve explored so far still remains open to the question on whether this is merely one possible …

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S3E7: Why do moral views change in the Bible? 35:53

2y ago35:53

35:53

Send us a text Moral teachings in the Bible, especially in the Hebrew portion (the Christian Old Testament) pose a problem. There are rules and regulations that do not seem very important to us, while there are practices, such as slavery, God either seems to ignore, or even condone. And we're not even getting to the laws that God commands that seem…

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S3E6: Why would you think that God is good? 37:00

2y ago37:00

37:00

Send us a text Is God good? And if God is good, why are moral laws and commands in the Bible, sometimes not so good? And of course, why do bad things happen, if God is good? But, before we can ask those questions, we should've asked this more basic question: Why would you think that God is good? What does it mean to say that God is "good"? We will …

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S3E5: Let's start thinking about the personality of God 34:34

2y ago34:34

34:34

Send us a text For ages, people have ascribed personality to their deities. What was their reasoning? And what would be the personality of God that speaks forth all things? How should we start thinking about this? And what about Abram, Sarai, and their family? What was the personality of God that spoke to them? How did they begin to learn Who God w…

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S3Extra1: Where this series is headed, and what it's been doing 41:14

2+ y ago41:14

41:14

Send us a text The first extra episode for Season 3; the next main episode (S3E5) will go live early July. (update: there were more delays, so I couldn't complete the new episode by the end of June as I had originally planned. I apologize for the delay!) This episode addresses the more "meta" question about this series that I wanted to go over befo…

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S3E4: How Abram learned Who was speaking to him 34:43

2+ y ago34:43

34:43

Send us a text To hear God speak to you, is to be presented with truth; they are the same thing. And God speaking to you often begins with uncertainty, because we don't know whether what is being presented to us really is true. Abram and Sarai hears God speak to them in how they are moved, or inspired, to follow an inner call. "Something" guides th…

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S3E3: Why Genesis won't say -how- Abram heard God 33:17

2+ y ago33:17

33:17

Send us a text The Genesis account of Abraham, Sarah, and their children, invites its readers to follow in their path, and continue their journey toward God. There's one, big problem: it doesn't tell us how to start. Their journey begins with God speaking to Abraham (Abram), but Genesis does not describe how God first spoke to Abram, and how Abram …

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S3E2: Is Abraham a "historical" figure? No... and Yes. 33:33

2+ y ago33:33

33:33

Send us a text Abraham, Sarah, and their family--are they "historical" figures? The simple answer? No... and Yes. (Ok, so it's not a simple answer) Another answer is the actual title of this episode: "Historical in/significance of Abraham's story" This odd title can refer to four things. 1) The "insignificance" of Abraham as a "historical figure" f…

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S3E1: (re) What do you mean, "There's no God"? 35:17

2+ y ago35:17

35:17

Send us a text What does it mean to say, “There’s no God?” What it means for us today, to say, “there’s no God,” is quite different from what it meant for people living just several centuries ago, to say, “there’s no God.” That's because people back then did not merely believe that God exists. They perceived God in their world. Then, some time ago,…

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S3 Prologue: What is faith? 4:04

2+ y ago4:04

4:04

Send us a text A short prologue to the 3rd Season of What do you mean God speaks? - "Those who wrestle with God. 1st main episode of Season 3 is scheduled to go live next week. Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ---------------------------------------- Support the show -------------------------------------…

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S3 Trailer: "Those who wrestle with God" - A Monologue 4:04

2+ y ago4:04

4:04

Send us a text Trailer for the upcoming Season 3 of "What do you mean God speaks?" Those who wrestle with God. The trailer : "Monologue of the children of Abraham" Music : "True Genesis" by Tenacious Orchestra - Licensed from PremiumBeat.com ---------------------------------------- Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram…

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S2Extra: What was left out of Season 2, and my thoughts 40:10

2+ y ago40:10

40:10

Send us a text Post-season bonus episode; here I just go over some things I thought of while writing this second season, or other things I could have put into the episodes (or thought was interesting), but didn't. I also talk about new listeners, trouble with writing for people I can't see, and stuff like that. Also: at the end of the episode, I pl…

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S2Finale: Why Babel is not a punishment and our Utopia falls 33:00

2+ y ago33:00

33:00

Send us a text The finale of Season 2: Genesis. Please join me for the third Season! We think the story of Babel is about God punishing people for building a tower that reaches the sky; that is why God makes them speak in different languages. But, what if it’s much more than that? What if the Tower is not really God’s primary concern, and the goal …

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S2E12: Why the Flood won't destroy our world 31:50

2+ y ago31:50

31:50

Send us a text What does the Flood that God speaks forth mean for those of us today? What is God speaking and promising when Noah and his family emerge from the Ark to a new world? What does it mean for God to make a covenant that the world will never unravel completely from the Flood? This is the conclusion of the second arc of this season, which …

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S2E11: ...what will save you from the Flood (Noah's Ark) 32:20

2+ y ago32:20

32:20

Send us a text When everything unravels into the Flood, what will save you from it? Make sure you've listened to "S2E10: ...so that Everything unravels into the Flood" before this episode. What does it mean for God to bring the Flood, while speaking to Noah to build the Ark? The Ark is more than just a means to escape destruction--God is, in a sens…

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S2E10: ...so that Everything unravels into the Flood 31:13

2+ y ago31:13

31:13

Send us a text What does it mean for God to bring the Flood? Why does God bring the Flood? What is the Flood that brings an end to our world? (Genesis 4 ~ 6) Is our world unraveling into a flood? 2:16 Did the Great Flood happen? 9:53 What humanity makes of the world after Cain 16:38 How evil unravels our world into the Flood 27:05 Genesis introduce…

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S2E9: ...and Death becomes your Response (Cain to Lamech) 28:00

3y ago28:00

28:00

Send us a text What would it be like to be Cain? To rage at how your life is unfolding, then somehow, in some way hear God speak to you, and recognize those words as God speaking? And then, go against it? What was going on with him? What would lead him to do this? And how would this change the world afterward? Yourself, and your descendants? When C…

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S2E8: When Life becomes your Enemy (The Fall to Cain) 29:50

3y ago29:50

29:50

Send us a text From the Fall, Exile from Eden, to the first Murder What "death" did the Fall bring upon humanity? One way to answer is, "how do we live forever?" I'm not asking how do we avoid dying forever; rather, if we don't die, how do we live? Because after the Fall, Life has become our enemy. And Cain murders his brother because of it. (Genes…

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S2E7: Why does God smite people? And is Genesis mythical? 26:48

3y ago26:48

26:48

Send us a text Several times in Genesis, God pronounces judgement and punishment on humanity, and some of those punishments seem rather strange, and some of them seem to outweigh the wrongs that were done. What's going on when God judges people? And are the accounts in Genesis 1 ~ 11 mythical? The two questions are kind of related. (Genesis 1 ~ 11)…

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S2E6: Why did humanity Fall by eating from a Tree? 26:26

3y ago26:26

26:26

Send us a text Hostile Partings - the Fall of Man What made humanity fall? What severed our relationship with God, with each other, and everything, and eventually led us into destruction? Genesis has a surprising answer; it was eating from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. But, why would something so seemingly trivial have such dire consequen…

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S2E5: Why was Adam placed among the Trees in Eden? 24:25

3y ago24:25

24:25

Send us a text What would it have been like to be humanity before the Fall? What is the Garden of Eden, and what did it mean for the first humans to tend to this garden and eat its fruits? (Genesis 2 ~ 3) 1:50 Our God-given capabilities and responsibilities 6:52 Eden and its primordial Trees 12:28 Humanity is to tend to the Trees 17:47 Life in Eden…

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S2E4: Why Adam is not a Homo Sapiens 29:56

3y ago29:56

29:56

Send us a text What is the significance of humanity, according to Genesis? How Genesis describes humanity, or “Adam,” and our significance, is different from how we have sought to define our uniqueness. (Genesis 1 ~ 2) 2:12 The universe was not created for our sake 9:07 Our uniqueness is not in our origin 16:58 Human existence according to Genesis …

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S2E3.1: Coffee, Creation, Vegans, Myths, Beliefs about the Bible 28:28

3y ago28:28

28:28

Send us a text An extra episode, to cover the various topics that I wasn't able to in the main episodes in season two so far. Also: an announcement for the funding for this series. ----------------------------------------- Support the show ---------------------------------------- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatdoyoumeangodspeaks/ Twitter:…

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S2E3: Creation - What is the Purpose of it All? 27:27

3y ago27:27

27:27

Send us a text What is the meaning of it all? Why did God create the universe? Did God create the universe, so that humanity could exist? What does the Genesis creation narrative say about the purpose of everything? Its answer may surprise us. (Genesis 1) - 01:40 - A recurring problem: our idea of God is too small . 08:40 - Is the Universe designed…

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S2E2: Creation - Why it is true for the ancients, us, and the E.T.s 27:27

3y ago27:27

27:27

Send us a text The Creation narrative in Genesis, according to biblical scholars, is based on the ancient Middle Eastern cosmology held by the Hebrews when it was written. Then, how is Genesis true for us living in the modern age? In this first part of exploring the opening creation narrative of Genesis, we will consider how Genesis presents signif…

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