"The mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 7:4) This wisdom from Solomon is repeated by Paul in Romans 1:24, from the perspective of God, Who no longer restrains the desire of the fool: "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.." This initial "giving over" by God (there are 3) signals the obstinacy of a fool determined to pursue the lust of his heart, set as he is on the house of pleasure. God's gracious restraining influences are persistently ignored, for the fool will have his way, and not even a hundred blows of harsh correction will dissuade him. (Proverbs 17:10) The uncorrectable nature of fool is a prominent feature of fooldom, and God's response of abandoning fools to their folly points to how we should, in some cases, respond to a fool.
Christian Nationalism, a Demonic Stronghold
This final episode is largely framed by a passage in the Screwtape Letters, where demons attempt to supplant one's true Christian identity with a political one. Since the objective of Christian nationalists is by definition political, these worldly ends naturally corrupt pure devotion to Christ. And demons have a field day, for it provides ample leverage to turn the indiscriminate love of Christ poured out in every believer's heart into a partisan stronghold, where victory in the culture war is the objective, not evangelism or personal sanctification. Sadly, the mission field is strewn with casualties who obstinately reject Christ, partly because they only see the co-opted Christ of Christian nationalists. The episode also highlights the left's attempt to co-opt Jesus, turning Him into a social justice warrior primarily bent on destroying racism and oppression. Either way, the demonic modus operandi is the same: make political identity supreme at the expense of the Christian one. Evangelicals have substantially increased in political power since the 1980's, but this power has come at the expense of pure devotion to Christ, where "prayers, sacraments, and charity" mean less than political crusades. The unbelieving world has noticed this shift in which the operative identity of many evangelicals is defined by politics, partisanship and power. Is it any wonder that the steady rise of Christian nationalism roughly charts with decline in the Church's credibility? The Christian witness has been sacrificed for power. Is this not Satan's plan all along? He has seduced Christian nationalists with "the kingdoms of the world and their glory," but now few will receive their witness.
The Unknowable God of Islam
This episode unpacks the implications of Islamic agnosticism. Since Allah is wholly other, and even descriptions of His attributes in the Quran don't point to His essence (notwithstanding Sunni repackaging of Tahwid), Muslims are called to worship an unknowable god. Consequently the Quran is a guide for Muslims containing descriptions of what God does divorced from what He is. The 99 names of Allah, for instance, reveals sometimes contradictory attributes of God based on what He does, but this is not a problem since Allah's "wholly other" essence is not informed by His attributes. The episode also cites the Sufi mystical alternative, which seeks to get around the agnostic problem in Islam.
Don’t Settle for Forgiven
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode emphasizes the hard work of searching after God after receiving God's righteousness in Christ. Many believers today content themselves with the imputed righteousness of Christ, where God declares them positionally righteous because of the blood of Christ, but don't make their actual condition a priority. Hosea tells us that we need to seek the Lord "until He reigns righteousness" on us. The righteousness here spoken of is actual righteousness where believers reverse bad sowing and plant new seeds of righteousness. Much of the episode addresses hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mt 5:6), which is only satisfied when our condition matches our position in Christ. This craving for actual righteousness manifests in a life-long searching after God. The outcome of this search is transformation into the image of Christ AT THE SAME TIME we grow in the knowledge of God. We progressively know Christ, who is the Truth, and are made free. (John 8:32, John 14:6) It culminates in the beatific vision, where we are so radically transformed that we see God face to face. (1 John 3:2)