No this isn’t about the Bob Dylan song! There’s a YouTube channel that I have been following for a few months at the time of writing. It’s called Ring them bells.
This channel seeks to explore the unseen realm by interviewing Biblical Scholars. They exist to help you rediscover the supernatural focus of the Bible. Hear more about it and the guy behind it from a different podcast.
The most recent episode I listened to is about Job and Justin Bostow the presesenter is interviewing Dr Eric Ortlund theologian and sci-fi author. The episode is entitled Ancient Enemy Exposed and focusses on the book of Job. In the interview he refers to a 9 page article The flaw of the excluded middle by a missionary Paul Hiebert. This article seeks to address how we as Christians view aspects of society and culture that relate to luck, magic and the everyday occurrences of unusual events that cannot easily be explained. Maybe a connection also to superstition.
Because the Western world no longer provides explanations for questions on the middle level, it is not surprising that many Western missionaries have no answers within their Christian world view. What is a Christian theology of ancestors, of animals and plants, of local spirits and spirit possession, and of “principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ep 6:12)? What does one say when new tribal converts want to know how the Christian God tells them where and when to hunt, whether they should marry this daughter to that young man, or where they can find the lost money? Given no answer, they return to the diviner who gave them definite answers, for these are the problems that loom large in their everyday life.
The flaw of the excluded middle by Paul Hiebert
Here is a helpful diagram which explains how to consider theology that helps explain what happens in situations as questioned in the above quote.
For a fuller explanation of the diagram read Paul’s article.