Conspicuous in His Absence
Studies in the Song of Songs and Esther
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Conspicuous in His Absence
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Narrated by:
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Pam Ward
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By:
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Chloe T. Sun
About this listen
In the biblical canon, two books lack any explicit reference to the name of God: Song of Songs and Esther. God's peculiar absence in these texts is unsettling, both for theological discourse and for believers considering implications for their own lived experience. Chloe T. Sun takes on the challenges of God's absence by exploring the often overlooked theological connections between these two Old Testament books.
In Conspicuous in His Absence, Sun examines and reflects on the Song of Songs and Esther using theological interpretation. She addresses three main questions: What is the nature of God as revealed in texts that don't use his name? How do we think of God when he is perceived to be absent? What should we do when God is silent or hidden? The experience of God's absence or silence is an important part of the human condition. By exploring the distinct themes and perspectives of Song of Songs and Esther, as well as how they've been received in Jewish and Christian history, Sun demonstrates how both books serve as counter texts to the depiction of God and his work in the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus both contribute to a fuller picture of who God is and what it means to know him.
©2020 Chloe Tse Sun (P)2021 eChristianListeners also enjoyed...
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-
Story5 out of 5 stars 363
Most Christians are familiar with the Apostle Paul's teaching that Christ is the "Bridegroom" and the Church is the "Bride." But what does this really mean? And what would ever possess Paul to compare the death of Christ to the love of a husband for his wife? If you would have been at the Crucifixion, with Jesus hanging there dying, is that how you would have described it? How could a first-century Jew like Paul, who knew how brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to a wedding?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Accessible yet Profound
- By William J. Wilson on 12-09-15
By: Brant Pitre
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The Lost Gospel
- Decoding the Ancient Text That Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary the Magdalene
- By: Simcha Jacobovici, Barrie Wilson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 449
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 386
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 385
Waiting to be rediscovered in the British Library is an ancient manuscript of the early Church, copied by an anonymous monk. The manuscript is at least 1,450 years old, possibly dating to the first century, Jesus' lifetime. And now, The Lost Gospel provides the first-ever translation from Syriac into English of this unique document that tells the inside story of Jesus' social, family, and political life. The Lost Gospel takes listeners on an unparalleled historical adventure through a paradigm-shifting manuscript.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very well-crafted but uses lot of sketchy material
- By Leifen on 01-09-18
By: Simcha Jacobovici, and others
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After Jesus, Before Christianity
- A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements
- By: Erin Vearncombe, Brandon Scott, Hal Taussig, and others
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
From the creative minds of the scholarly group behind the groundbreaking Jesus Seminar comes this provocative and eye-opening look at the roots of Christianity that offers a thoughtful reconsideration of the first two centuries of the Jesus movement, transforming our understanding of the religion and its early dissemination.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent and informative
- By Claire Z. on 04-17-22
By: Erin Vearncombe, and others
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Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy
- A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel
- By: John Shelby Spong
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
A man who has consciously and deliberately walked the path of Christ, John Shelby Spong has lived his entire life inside the Christian Church. In this profound and considered work, he offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today as he shows just how deeply Jewish the Christian Gospels are and how much they reflect the Jewish scriptures, history, and patterns of worship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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understanding the jewish thoughts in the Gospels
- By John on 08-30-18
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God
- A Biography
- By: Jack Miles
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
What sort of "person" is God? Is it possible to approach him not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book--as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and abiguities of a Hamlet? In this "brilliant, audacious book" ( Chicago Tribune), a former Jesuit marshalls a vast array of learning and knowledge of the Hebrew Bible to illuminate God--and man--with a sense of discovery and wonder.
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4 out of 5 stars
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God of flaws - Less human due to his humanity
- By Jacobus on 01-27-15
By: Jack Miles
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The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
- A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East
- By: John M. Allegro
- Narrated by: Martyn Swain
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 229
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 194
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Story4 out of 5 stars 194
Where did God come from? What do the bible stories really tell us? Who or what was Jesus Christ? This audiobook challenges everything we think we know about the nature of religion.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Hated it,
- By Troy Sunde on 12-22-22
By: John M. Allegro
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The Great Shift
- Encountering God in Biblical Times
- By: James L. Kugel
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Why does the Bible depict a world in which humans, with surprising regularity, encounter the divine - wrestling an angel, addressing a burning bush, issuing forth prophecy without any choice in the matter? These stories spoke very differently to their original audience than they do to us, and they reflect a radically distinct understanding of reality and the human mind. Yet over the course of the thousand-year biblical era, encounters with God changed dramatically.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Changing Conceptions of God and the Self
- By DJ on 10-27-22
By: James L. Kugel
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Hidden But Now Revealed
- A Biblical Theology of Mystery
- By: G. K. Beale, Benjamin L. Gladd
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
This audiobook explores the biblical conception of mystery as an initial, partially hidden revelation that is subsequently more fully revealed, shedding light not only on the richness of the concept itself, but also on the broader relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Exploring all the occurrences of the term mystery in the New Testament and the topics found in conjunction with them, this work unpacks how the New Testament writers understood the issue of continuity and discontinuity.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing!
- By Paul F. Evans on 11-14-15
By: G. K. Beale, and others
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Understanding the Koran
- A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book
- By: Mateen Elass
- Narrated by: Don Reed
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 78
A quick non-technical introduction to the Koran designed to help Christians understand a hidden book revered by 1.3 billion Muslims, covering the background on its writing, a summary of its contents, a perspective on how it’s used and viewed by Muslims, a comparison of differences and similarities to the Bible, and some suggestions on how it should and should not be used in conversations with Muslims.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Favors Christianity
- By Dianne on 12-18-15
By: Mateen Elass
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The Lost World of Adam and Eve
- Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate
- By: John H. Walton, N.T. Wright
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 293
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 287
For centuries, the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature, and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. Author John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not For Me
- By Ax on 09-20-18
By: John H. Walton, and others
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The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
- Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail
- By: Margaret Starbird
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Margaret Starbird's theological beliefs were profoundly shaken when she read Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a book that dared to suggest that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalen and that their descendants carried on his holy bloodline in Western Europe. Shocked by such heresy, this Roman Catholic scholar set out to refute it but instead found new and compelling evidence for the existence of the bride of Jesus - the same enigmatic woman who anointed him with precious unguent from her "alabaster jar".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Irritating sing-songy narration that
- By Reader on 02-07-21
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Eucharist
- By: Robert Barron
- Narrated by: Robert Barron
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 411
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 359
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Story5 out of 5 stars 355
A master theologian offers inspiring insights into the mystery of Christ's presence in our lives. As festive as the film Babette's Feast and as profound as the work of Ronald Knox, this fresh look at the Eucharist brings to light the spiritual meaning of meal, sacrifice, and real presence in our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Orthodox teaching, beautifully presented
- By Echo Juliet on 12-29-11
By: Robert Barron
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Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
- The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.
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1 out of 5 stars
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first thing he did was deny Christ's deity.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-15-19
By: Marcus J. Borg
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Primitive Mythology
- The Masks of God Series, Volume I
- By: Joseph Campbell, David Kudler - editor
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
The author of such acclaimed books as The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth discusses the primitive roots of mythology, examining them in light of the most recent discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Epic speculation into the origins of our mythic consciousness
- By BGZ on 01-10-19
By: Joseph Campbell, and others
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Mary as the Early Christians Knew Her
- The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts
- By: Frederica Mathewes-Green
- Narrated by: Frederica Mathewes-Green
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 98
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 88
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Story5 out of 5 stars 88
Mary is the flower of femininity to some, a woman of power to others. She has been seen as a paragon of obedience as well as an instrument of liberation. Some have piled her status so high that it rivals that of her Son. Other do their best to ignore her. Behind all of those images is a girl who grew up to be the mother of Christ.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it
- By Gee on 02-08-18
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Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15