Merry Christmas from the entire team at Dorkness to Light!

Podcast #026 - Feedback & Follow-ups

"Dorkness to Nightmare: The Nightmare is Over"

After the marathon of October mini-series, Em & Alan tackle the piles of feedback that those episodes generated. They also talk about all of the many, many things they forgot to mention during the mini-series.



Right-click to download the episode.


You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: Nathaniel Wayne's Council of Geeks YouTube Channel 
Link: Vera Wylde's book "Skirting Gender"
Link: Aaron Henley's novel "Fangs of Vengeance"
Link: Joe Golem, Occult Detective
Link: Hebrew Punk
Link: Reading in the Dark anthology
Link: "All The Way To The Bloodbank" video on YouTube

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast Suggestion: This is My Jam

I will admit that I have only listened to few episodes of this podcast (Episode 62, featuring Laura McElroy, and Episode 71, featuring Gaffer Project), but those were very good, and I love the concept of the show so much I thought it was worth promoting here.

The idea is that every episode, Jerry Myers talks to a different guest about important songs in their lives. The guest are usually (exclusively?) musicians, many of whom appeared at the recent Audiofeed Festival. During the conversation, the guest talks about the song, what it means to them, and why is is influential. It is a great idea, and in the episodes I've listened to, it's very well executed.

This link will take you to the intro / promo for the podcast.

Podcast #025 - Angels

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Angels"

On this final (not so mini) installment of this mini-series, Em & Alan talk about those scariest of all spiritual beings -- Angels. They discuss what these monsters say about humanity, faith, & God.

Topics discussed include, Lovecraftian monstrosities, 5-dimensional beings, Thing Theory, angelic visitations, flaming swords, and what we believe.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:



You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: "GLORIA" by Taylor Leong


We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #024 - Nephilim & Lillith

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Nephilim, Lilith & Old Testament Weirdness"

On this penultimate sixth mini-sode, Em & Alan talk about Lilith, unicorns, Nephilim, and other weird things that may (or may not) be in the Old Testament. They talk about what these stories say about humanity, and what they say about the Bible.

Topics discussed include Bible translation, myths and legends, the value of imagination to faith, and keeping Christianity weird.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: The Nephilim Wars comic book Kickstarter  
Link: Paeter Frandsen's "Spirit Blade" audio drama
Link: Dark Ark: the comic book
Link: The book "Lucifer, Leviathan, Lilith, and Other Mysterious Creatures of the Bible"

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or biblical monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #023 - The Faerie Realm

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Faeries and Sprites and Brownies and Werewolves"

On this fifth of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about spirits and cursed beings, like faeries and werewolves.

Topics discussed include Tolkien, Holly Black's novels,being nice to brownies, Werewolf by Night, and why garden gnomes have red hats.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.


Link: Author Holly Black's website
Link: Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" essay
Link: The Tolkien Professor's podcast episode about "On Fairy Stories."

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #022 - The Dead

"Dorkness to Nightmare: The Dead"

On this fourth of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about spooky dead things, like Zombies and ghosts and spirits. They discuss what these monsters say about humanity, and what may lie beyond the grave.

Topics discussed include ghosts, saints, World War Z, Wynonna Earp, wendigos, and a fair amount of speculative theology.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.


Link: The band Street Angel on discogs.com 
Link: The song "What's Following the Grave," by Christian metal legends Bloodgood.

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #021 - Vampires

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Vampires"

On this third mini-sode in their "Dorkness to Nightmare" miniseries, Em and Alan discuss the most blood-sucking of monsters ... Vampires!

Topics discussed include Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Twilight, Tom Cruise, and the X-Files.

Both Em and Alan also pitch ideas for vampire novels they'd like to write.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or the RSS Feed.

We would love to hear from you about this issue, the podcast episode, or the podcast in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on Twitter @DorknesstoLight and Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #020 - Djinn

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Genie & Djinn"

On this second of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about genies, djinn, and other ways to spell to that. They talk about what these occasionally monstrous beings have to teach us, other than "don't mess with them."

Topics discussed include linguistic branching, The Monkey's Paw, John Constantine, the X-Files, and (of course) Aladdin.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: The origin of the Genie in the Lamp, at Giant Glacier
Link: The Podcastle version of the short story "The Dybbuk in the Bottle."

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Podcast #019: Golems

"Dorkness to Nightmare: Golems & Frankenstein Monsters"

On this first of our mini-series of mini-sodes, Em & Alan talk about Frankenstein-style monsters, the Jewish legend at their roots, and the questions these monsters ask about humanity.

Topics discussed include The Golem of Prague, Mary Shelley, RUR, Warehouse 13, the X-Files and artificial intelligence.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts or the RSS Feed.

Link: The Golem, at the Jewish Virtual Library
Link: The Golem Legend, from San Jose State University
Link: The Golem in comic books

We would love to hear from you about this topic, the podcast episode, or monsters in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Coming Soon ...

For these Halloween Times, we will be doing a mini-series of mini-sodes we are calling "Dorkness to Nightmare!"

Over the course of the month, we will be releasing podcast episodes about various Monsters, and what they have to say about humanity. Vampires, Zombies, Demons ... and MORE!

Coming soon!

Bible Study, via Batman

In the recent DC Comics issue of Batman 38, the Caped Crusader stumbles across this note, while investigating a crime. 

 

There are some interesting things to note in this flier. Both the first and last paragraphs are reasonably solid theologically, and could have come from a number of legitimate Christian organizations. But it's the middle paragraph this is the problem.

Keen-eyed readers, especially those with a bit of Sunday School in their background, will note that there is no book in the Bible that abbreviates to "NED." And the words that Jesus is quoted as saying in NED 4:1 ... not even close.

To give Batman credit, he knows that as well, and quickly recognizes that entire paragraphis an elaborate clue. And ... spoilers ... Batman uses that information to save the day.

Comic Book Theology: Omega

I do not remember exactly what comic book contained this panel, but I thought it was interesting.

The second definition that the woman gives for "Omega" is an accurate quotation from three different spots in the book of Revelation --  1:8, 21:6, & 22:13. And whether those verses refer to the Father or to Jesus, the woman's identification of the speaker of those words -- as God -- is accurate.

Dead Theologians Society: St John Chrysostom

An early church father who was later declared a Doctor of the Church, John was born in 349. Ordained a deacon in 381, he became known as a compelling and insightful public speaker, earning the nickname "Golden Mouth" (Chrystotom). He became the Archbishop of Constantinople in 397, and died a decade later.

Many of his teachings and sermons survive, and many of these writing are worth revisiting. This is a quote from him, about how to best deal with sinner.

"For Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force...it is necessary to make a man better not by force but by persuasion. We neither have authority granted us by law to restrain sinners, nor, if it were, should we know how to use it, since God gives the crown to those who are kept from evil, not by force, but by choice."

Comic Book Theology: Hellblazer

A recent issue of the DC Comics title The Hellblazer contained this panel, which contained an interesting take on afterlife theology. Or at least John Constantine's understanding of theology. 

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The statement "the great faiths will tell you the dirty flesh is just a vessel ... " is an inaccurate (although common) description of what orthodox historical Christianity teaches. As a matter of fact, this dualistic approach ("spirit is good, flesh is bad") is much more closer to Gnosticism, as heresy that was dealt with in the very early days of church, and dismissed as not having a plae in Christianity. 

Despite the anti-gnostic statements that fill the book of 1 John, there are places in the modern church where the heresy of gnosticism rears its ugly head.

All of that is to say this: Don't look to comic books for your theology. And most of all, don't look to John Constantine for your theology.

"The Art of Gentle Protest"

As discussed on our most recent podcast episode (#18), the Nomad Podcast recently hosted author and activist Sarah Corbett on their show. On Nomad episode 174, the podcast discussed her work as a craftivist and her belief that "gentle protest" has the greatest potential to bring about important social change.

Her book, How to be a Craftivist: The Art of Gentle Protest, can be purchased here.

Podcast #018: Feedback, Updates & Discussion

Emptying Out The Mailbag

On this eighteenth episode, Em & Alan reply to all the listener feedback they've received since the last time they went over listener feedback, which was at least 3 episodes ago. This gives them a chance to revisit Marah in the Mainsail, The Prince of Egypt, and Audiofeed.

They also talk about the value of community, and reiterate the fact that ALL ARE WELCOME in the Dorkness to Light community.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or the RSS Feed.

Link: Faith and Fandom
Link: The Redeemed Otaku Podcast
Link: The Nomad Podcast

We would love to hear from you about this podcast episode, or the podcast in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

New York's Floating Churches

This article discusses a fascinating bit of American church history with which I was unfamiliar. In the early 1800s, a number of churches and Christian organizations in New York organized floating churches, to provide spiritual and material support to seamen. The last such church existed until 1910.

Source: This story was tweeted out by Fr Seraphim Beshoner, host of the excellent church history podcast, Catholic Under the Hood.

The Search For Black American Saints

This is a terrific article about the lack of black American saints, and the Catholic University that is trying to change that.

There are nearly a dozen Americans who have been canonized, and it is actually a fairly diverse group. Women are well-represented, a number were immigrants, and one was a Native American. But a group at Xavier University of Louisiana have identified 5 potential black candidates for canonization, including Pierre Toussaint (pictured above), Julia Greeley & Augustus Tolton.

Audiofeed Pics: More Bands

More bands that we saw at Audiofeed 2018, most of whom we talked about on our podcast episode covering the event, include the Mexican heavy metal band Deborah:

 And Insomniac Folklore:

And Laura McElroy:

And Mikayla Powers:

 And the ska-tastic stylings of Must Build Jacuzzi:

 

And Staghorn:

And there were Ninja Pirates, too!

Audiofeed Pics: The Prettybads!

Our recent podcast episode about Audiofeed 2018 included a discussion with pink-punk band The Prettybads. At the fest, we also took a few pictures of them. One from the stage:

And one from the merch table:

Audiofeed Pics: Harry Gore!

Our great and long-time friend Harry Gore played a number of sets at the recent Audiofeed Festival. The first night, he played a set of Christmas songs:

And then later in the fest, he was joined by Audiofeed (and before that, Cornerstone) legend Glenn Kaiser for a session of busking. Harry has busked at the two fests for decades.

And there was a selfie.

Audiofeed Pics: Podcast Promotion!

As we discussed in Podcast Episode 17, the Audiofeed Music and Arts Festival has continued the Cornerstone tradition of bands posting flyers on porta-potties, and any other flat surface they could find. But mostly porta-potties.

So when we printed up flyers to hand out at the fest, we knew where a few of them just had to go.

Podcast #17 - Audiofeed 2018

The Audiofeed Music & Arts Festival

2018 Audiofeed Music & Arts Festival.
n this seventeenth episode, Em & Alan talk about their recent attendance at the Audiofeed Festival.

They talk about the bands they saw play, the seminars they attended, and the merch they bought. Included are interviews with a number of bands and vendors.

Audiofeed is the most unique Christian festival around. The music is eclectic, the seminars are interesting, and the ideas discussed are varied and diverse.

Click on the player below to listen to the episode:




You may also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or the RSS Feed.

Link: The Prettybads on Bandcamp
Link: Staghorn
Link: Insomniac Folklore
Link: Destroy Nate Allen 
Link: Must Build Jacuzzi on Bandcamp
Link: Laura McElroy on Bandcamp

Link: Black Sheep Collective
Link: Chicago Tiny House


We would love to hear from you about this podcast episode, or the podcast in general. Send e-mail feedback to dorknesstolight@gmail.com 

You can follow the network on twitter @DorknessToLight or Alan @ProfessorAlan

Audiofeed Review: Black Sheep Collective

One of the vendors we met at the recent Audiofeed Festival was a fashion and lifestyle brand, Black Sheep Collective.

They are a faith-based company whose designs are based on Scripture, and speak to the individuality of each person made in God's image. We met the owners, and admire their approach, and really guy a lot of their work.

A few of our favorite designs (which we may have purchased on shirts) include:

Audiofeed Review: Chicago Tiny House

One of the organizations that we ran across at the recent Audiofeed Music & Arts Festival was a non-profit called Chicago Tiny House.

Their mission is "to create tiny house communities throughout Chicago that will provide homeless Chicagoans with safe and cost-effective housing and integrated supportive services."

This is a really cool idea. 

Audiofeed Preview: The Prettybads

In preparation for the upcoming Audiofeed Festival, I investigated a few of the bands that I was not familiar with. And I discovered an awesome female-led punkish ban, The Prettybads.

Their debut album has a bunch of great songs on it, including a theme song. It's hard to bead a band that has a theme song. Looking forward to seeing these guys play live at the fest.

Audiofeed Preview: Jericho Harlot

In preparation for the upcoming Audiofeed Festival, I investigated a few of the bands that I was not familiar with. And I discovered one I really dig, The Jericho Harlot, a post-punk band out of the Midwest. 

Their album "Salt & Light" has a number of good songs on it, including one of the title songs, "Salt." Looking forward to seeing these guys play live at the fest.

Audiofeed Preview: At The Wayside

In preparation for the upcoming Audiofeed Festival, I investigated a few of the bands that I was not familiar with. And I discovered a cool one, At the Wayside, a energetic post-punk band out of the Upper Midwest. 

Here is a video of their song "Drown Us Out." Looking forward to seeing these guys play live at the fest.

Audiofeed 2018: Preview

As we do every other year, we are again this year heading to the excellent Audiofeed Festival. This is the "successor" to the defunct Cornerstone Festival, but with the great advantage of being hours closer to us!

This year's festival has a number of regular acts that we are looking forward to hearing again, including Must Build Jacuzzi, Marah in the Mainsail (we talked about their album "Thaumatrope" on episode 15 of the podcast), Comrades, and Insomniac Folklore. But there are new bands (or at least new to us) we're looking forward to seeing as well, such as The Prettybads, At the Wayside and Dezorah.

Audiofeed is not just about the bands, of course. There are speakers, worship, The Asylum goth tent, and the book and movie discussions at the Imaginoplis, And of course, Harry Gore busking by the food court.

Really looking forward.

Podcast Suggestion: The Antidote

Where has this podcast been my whole life? Despite having over 300 episodes, this show has only recently come to my attention.I have found a handful of decent Christian music shows over the years, but few have lasted this long, or are still producing new content.

The point of this show is that yes, most Christian music sucks, but this podcast serves as ... the antidote for all of that. Maybe the fact that it is based out of Canada keeps the show from being "infected" the industry. The show focuses on hard rock, metal and punk, although some alternative and singer-songwriter artists have been featured, as well.

The antidote comes out weekly, and can be streamed at the show's website, or listened to after the fact via any podcast player.

Recent episodes include discussions with bands such as Must Build Jacuzzi, Remedy Drive, Church Tongue and Chasing Victory. It is a great show, and the only good thing about just recently discovering it, is that I have hundreds of episodes to catch up on.

We Have a Twitter!

There is not a lot there yet ... but we have joined the Twitterverse.

Follow us @DorknessToLight

Over time, more stuff will appear on that feed.

Graphic Novel Review

The Illustrated Gospel - Searching for Truth, by Tim Chaffey, with art by  Colin Dyer.

The premise is of the comic is simple: A group of college students discuss the content of their religious studies class. The students come from different religious backgrounds, and the discussions are adequately realistic.

The book does break away from this narrative on occasion for discussions of inerrancy and prophetic fulfillment, but these serve as brief and informative breaks.

One of the characters faces a serious trauma, which brings them to a point of crisis. This is a standard of Evangelical storytelling, and this book adds nothing new to this trope. But it does a reasonably good job at taking that typical story point and doing something interesting with it.

Like many similar stories in the genre, the primary point of this is not to tell a compelling dramatic story. The point is to present the Gospel message, and it does that well. The story is fine, albeit predictable.

Despite being published by Answers in Genesis (our copy was purchased at the Creation Museum, fyi), the book is surprisingly free of Young Earth or overly fundamentalist concepts. The evangelical "altar call" in the story is blunt and clear, but the book does avoid some of the thornier theological issues. Which is a good thing.

The book can be purchased here, through Amazon.

Podcast Suggestion: Two Geek Soup

Another show has joined the More Than One Lesson family of podcasts, which promotes "movie talk for the discerning Christian."

Two Geek Soup, hosted by John Viinalass and a revolving crew of co-hosts, has spent it first 20 episodes looking at all of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So far, they have delivered an entertaining and thought-provoking look at these popular, popcorn flicks, finding illuminating and insightful things to say about each one.

I am looking forward to what films or franchises the podcast will take on next.

Happy 500th Podcast, Paeter!

We wanted to congratulate the recent 500th episode of Spirit Blade Underground, one of the first Christian geek podcasts we discovered back in the day, and the only one of those that is still producing content. Paeter Frandsen has done an excellent job in consistently producing high-quality podcasts.

On that epiosde, Paeter announced that the podcast would be re-branding itself as "Christian Geek Central" with episode 501, to continue to tie in to other branding changes that he has made.

To hear more about the development of Spirit Blade podcasts and audio dramas, listen to episode 6 of our show, Dorkness to Light, where we spoke with Paeter Frandsen.

What is Arminianism?

We have mentioned that we identify with the theological system of Arminianism, and have recommended the Remonstrance podcast as a place that explores that theological system in depth.

On episode 5 of the podcast, they discussed in depth the question "What does it mean to be an Arminian?" It is a good discussion of what the term means, and more importantly, what it does not mean.