OnScript: Recent Episodes
Matthew Bates, Matthew Lynch, Erin Heim, Dru Johnson, Amy Brown Hughes, & Chris Tilling
Bringing you engaging conversations on Bible and theology (hosted by biblical scholars and theologians).
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Cor Bennema about his new book, Imitation in Early Christianity: Mimesis and Religious-Ethical Formation (Eerdmans, 2023). What does it mean to say that early Christians imitated […]
The post Cor Bennema – Imitation in Early Christianity first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: With a biblical poem that shifts imagery (Ps 23), and another (Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays”) that provides perspective, Brent Strawn takes us into an “uber-famous” biblical poem-this “nightingale of […]
The post Brent Strawn – Shifting Imagery and Psalm 23 (In Parallel) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: At a live event at Wycliffe Hall, Erin once again sat down with Matthew Novenson to discuss his latest monograph: Paul and Judaism at the End of History (Cambridge University Press, 2024). […]
The post Matthew Novenson – Paul and Judaism at the End of History first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: For our sixth live event at Nashotah House, Wisconsin, Matt sat down with his teacher and friend, Gary Schnittjer, to discuss his fascinating new co-authored book, How To Study […]
The post Gary Schnittjer – How To Study the Bible’s Use of the Bible (Live) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Biblical World host Chris McKinny has been researching the Ark of the Covenant for years now. He discusses the hunt for the ark, its ancient Egyptian predecessors, its biblical significance, […]
The post Chris McKinny – Finding the Ark of the Covenant first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Gregory Lee talks with Amy Brown Hughes about one of the more well-known but little-understood books in theology, Augustine’s The City of God! This episode covers everything from political theology, […]
The post Gregory Lee – The Essential City of God first appeared on OnScript.
Join us for a live recording with Dr. Gary Schnittjer at Nashotah House Theological Seminary, WI. When? Thurs, July 24 (2025), 7:15-9:15pm CST (optional dinner at 6:30pm) Where? Nashotah House […]
The post Announcement! Upcoming Live Event with Gary Schnittjer first appeared on OnScript.
Episode:Kyle Keimer joins to add insights from archaeology to an earlier episode called Misunderstanding Sacrifice (listen HERE). Dru and Matt L talk about the incomplete pictures gained from archaeology AND […]
The post Kyle Keimer – Misunderstanding Sacrifice (part 2) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Kyle Keimer joins to add insights from archaeology to an earlier episode called Misunderstanding Sacrifice (listen HERE). Dru and Matt L talk about the incomplete pictures gained from archaeology AND the Bible, and how to grapple with both.
Guest/Co-Host: Kyle Keimer is know to listeners of our Biblical World podcast, and follow THIS link to get to know him more.
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Image Attribution: By illustrators of the 1890 Holman Bible - http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart/1890holmanbible/bw/altarofincensealtarofburnt-offeringlaver.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9424389
Episode: What is the Song of Deborah doing in the middle of the Judges narrative? Michelle Knight argues that the pom changes the way we read the story it fits within. Moreover, this potent poem address issues like sexual violence, gender dynamics, leadership cover-ups, power struggles, and the ways that military might does or doesn't cohere with God's view of the world. Listen and enjoy insights from Michelle's recent book, The Prophet's Anthem: The Song of Deborah and Barak in the Narrative of Judges (Baylor, 2024).
Guest: Michelle Knight is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She's s the author of The Prophet’s Anthem: The Song of Deborah and Barak in the Narrative of Judges (BUP, 2024). She also serves as Senior Reviewer for the Historical Books for the New Living Translation. Her current research interests include narrative criticism, theology of the Old Testament, the Former Prophets (esp. Joshua and Judges), and poetry in biblical narrative.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you would like to support OnScript’s work.
Episode: Malka Simkovich is back on the podcast to discuss her new book Letters from Home: The Creation of Diaspora in Jewish Antiquity (PSU Press/Eisenbrauns, 2024). We talk about how early Jewish communities in the land of Israel and those outside thought about each other, tried to keep connected, and how they thought about the relationship between being Jewish and being in the land.
Guest: Dr. Malka Simkovich is the Editor-in-Chief of The Jewish Publication Society and Visiting Professor at Yeshiva University’s Revel Graduate School for Jewish Studies. Before taking up the role at JPS, she was the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies at Catholic Theological Union from 2014–2024. She’s the author of The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria (Lexington, 2016), Discovering Second Temple Literature (JPS, 2018). Her most recent book is Letters From Home: The Creation of Diaspora in Jewish Antiquity (PSU Press/Eisenbrauns, 2024), the subject of the present episode. She's also the author of many scholarly and popular articles.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you would like to support OnScript’s work.
Episode: Back for what feels like the 100th time, Dr. Ervine Sheblazm!! You're in for a treat with this episode. Dr. Sheblazm unveils what some consider the most innovative economic approach since the advent of bartering. Sheblazm's work sent shockwaves through the stalls of Wall Street, and through the nervous system of every economic theorist battered by the prevailing winds of our culture's obsession with "getting money right." The good Dr. exposes the fatal flaws in our current system, and invites us to the economic table of 1 Tim, 1 Cor, and other New Testament giants. Listen, and then read The Cheerful Taker: A New Economics for Pauline Christians in a Changing World (Sheblazm Press, 2025).
Guest: Dr. Sheblazm is an accomplished scientist and theologian, and a long-time friend of the podcast. He's the author of many works, including Faultlines in the Horizon, Feathers on the Nose, Paul's Theology of Universalism, A Life Living (A Theological Memoir), Child Rearing with the Apostle Paul, and much more, including his newest work, The Cheerful Taker: A New Economics for Pauline Christians in a Changing World, published by Sheblazm Press, 2025. Of course Dr. Shblazm has doctorates from prestigious online universities, and runs the Centre for Excellence in the Lake District of England.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you would like to support OnScript’s work.
Episode: "What is love? (Baby, don't hurt me)." These song lyrics--juxtaposing love and hurt--remind us that 'love' is used so frequently and flexibily in our culture that it is in danger of losing all meaning. Enter Nijay Gupta and his new book The Affections of Christ Jesus! In this episode he helps rescue 'love' by deftly unpacking its biblical meanings and by correcting common misunderstandings. (For example, agape love is frequently misunderstood.) In so doing Gupta shows that love--surprisingly!-- may be the best center for Paul's theology. Since God's beautiful love changes us, his work exposing that love helps bolster our flagging affections. This love-fest is cohosted by Matt Bates.
The Book: Nijay Gupta, The Affections of Christ Jesus: Love at the Heart of Paul's Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2025). Pauline scholars have long debated the so-called center of Paul’s theology, focusing on themes like justification by faith, reconciliation, union with Christ, and the apocalyptic triumph of God in Christ. In this innovative study, Nijay Gupta offers a new perspective that emphasizes Paul’s understanding of love at the heart of the gospel he preached.
Through careful examination of the historical, cultural, and linguistic milieu in which Paul was working, Gupta identifies what is unique and important in Paul’s theology of love. In so doing, Gupta helps readers develop a deeper appreciation for the extent to which love permeates Paul’s understanding of the triune God, the gospel, the community, and the mission and lifestyle of God’s people.. (Publisher’s description).
Guest: Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham) is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary where he holds the Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament. He has written numerous books, including recent titles such as Tell Her Story (IVP Academic) and Galatians (The Story of God Commentary series by Zondervan Academic). He has been our guest on OnScript several times, most recently for Strange Religion (Brazos, 2024) and Paul and the Language of Faith (Eerdmans, 2020). Gupta has a substack called Engaging Scripture.
OnScript’s Review: “Love is an emotional knot. Nijay Gupta disentangles love by using Scripture and other resources to tease out its beautiful strands. When we discover the quality of love that is at the heart of the gospel, not only is Paul’s theology clarified, but our affections are changed. Disciples who yearn for a greater love for God and neighbor will rejoice over The Affections of Christ Jesus.”—Matthew W. Bates, author of Beyond the Salvation Wars; professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you would like to support OnScript’s work.
Episode: Timothy Brookins wants to challenge the scholarly consensus about the conflict behind the book of 1 Corinthians. Listen in as Brookins discusses with Chris Tilling the importance of Stoicism for understanding the rhetoric and message of this crucial Pauline letter!
Guest: Timothy Brookins is Professor of Early Christianity at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. In addition to the book featured in this episode, Rediscovering The Wisdom of the Corinthians: Paul, Stoicism, and Spiritual Hierarchy (Eerdmans, 2024), he's the author of Ancient Rhetoric and the Style of Paul's Letters (Cascade, 2022), First and Second Thessalonians (Baker, 2021); Reading 1 Corinthians (Smyth & Helwys, 2020); 1 Corinthians: A Handbook on the Greek Text. 2 Vols (Baylor, 2016), and Corinthian Wisdom, Stoic Philosophy, and the Ancient Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
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Episode: Artists and Christ followers walk a similar path, as those who discern the truth about the world. The artistic gift of intuitive discernment, of expressing reality with clarity and soul, relates to the Christian gospel. In this syndicated episode of the Blue Note Theology podcast, Mark explores a woven kinship between artists and Christ followers while playing the grand piano.
Guest Host: For more about Mark, his podcast, speaking, and writing, visit his site – https://www.markglanville.org.
Check out Blue Note Theology
Check out our episode with Makoto Fujimura
Episode: In this episode we welcome back Fr John Behr! Long-time listeners will be familiar with Fr John’s delightful live two-part episode on Origen of Alexandria (Part 1 & Part 2). […]
The post John Behr – Gregory of Nyssa: On the Human Image of God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We’re sharing another great podcast with you this week that we hope you’ll enjoy. Blue Note Theology is hosted by Mark Glanville (visit HERE). This may be the only podcast […]
The post Blue Note Theology – Mark Glanville first appeared on OnScript.
In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks with Daniela Augustine about her book The Spirit of the Common Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of God. Her work is a perfect […]
The post Daniela Augustine – The Spirit of the Common Good first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Jesus did not claim to be God. That is the verdict delivered by the preponderance of historical Jesus scholarship. Meanwhile many scholars of early Christianity–including luminaries such as Larry […]
The post Brant Pitre – Jesus and Divine Christology first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Chris Tilling interviews Crispin Fletcher-Louis about his new book, The Divine Heartset: Paul’s Philippians Christ Hymn, Metaphysical Affections, and Civic Virtues (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023). This work combines keen theological insight […]
The post Crispin Fletcher-Louis – The Divine Heartset first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dru and Shai have a wide-ranging conversation about the use of Jewish sages in theology, gratuitous suffering, Jesus’s interpretation of Torah, and more on love. Shai Held’s work innovatively explores […]
The post Shai Held – Judaism is About Love first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt and Dru go on a myth-busting spree of Josianic proportions. The topic? Sacrifice in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and several ways that modern readers “butcher” the subject. Enjoy the […]
The post Matt Lynch and Dru Johnson – Misunderstanding Sacrifice first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt and Dru go on a myth-busting spree of Josianic proportions. The topic? Sacrifice in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and several ways that modern readers "butcher" the subject. Enjoy the host-only back-and-forth discussion of sacrifice, decoding Leviticus, ritual, Girard, law, and more!
Hosts: Matthew Lynch (Ph.D., Emory University) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Regent College, and is a co-founder of OnScript. He’s the author of Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge, 2020), Monotheism and Institutions in the Book of Chronicles (Mohr Siebeck, 2014), First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods (Penn State University Press/Eisenbrauns, 2021) and Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God (IVP). Matt is particularly interested in helping students grasp the theological and literary contours of the Old Testament, wrestle through its ethical and historical challenges, and understand its ongoing significance. With Matt Bates, he’s the co-founder of OnScript.
Dru Johnson (Ph.D., University of St Andrews) is the Templeton Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, adjunct professor at Hope College, and the director of the Center for Hebraic Thought. His main area of research has focused on the philosophical and intellectual world of biblical literature. His recent books include What Hath Darwin to Do with Scripture? Comparing Conceptual Worlds of the Bible and Evolution (IVP Academic); Biblical Philosophy: A Hebraic Approach to the Old and New Testaments (Cambridge University Press); Human Rites: The Power of Rituals, Habits, andSacraments (Eerdmans); The Universal Story: Genesis 1–11 (Lexham); Epistemology and Biblical Theology: From the Pentateuch to Mark’s Gospel (Routledge); and Knowledge by Ritual: A Biblical Prolegomenon to Sacramental Theology (Eisenbrauns). More at his website: drujohnson.com. He is an editor for the Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biblical Criticism monograph series, so you can also send him proposals for monographs!
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Image Attribution: By Illustrator of Henry Davenport Northrop's 'Treasures of the Bible', 1894 - http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures/Treasures%20of%20the%20Bible%20(Moses)/target20a.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6611903
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Jonny Rowlands about his new book, The Metaphysics of Historical Jesus Research. In many ways it builds on earlier discussions with Seth Heringer, Austine Stevenson, and others here on OnScript. We dive into his fascinating thesis and his take on some big questions in historical Jesus studies, challenging secular approaches that are often taken to shape the field. He argues that our worldview assumptions come first, shaping how we interpret history, and calls for a broader range of metaphysical perspectives in this kind of research. We get into Rowlands’s push for embracing faith-informed approaches and how that might change the way we think about Jesus’s life. He shares sharp insights on why objectivity in historiography is impossible and discusses how we could better assess historical events by considering different philosophical perspectives. Our conversation also touches on the various “quests” for the historical Jesus and the philosophies of history that shape the field. Overall, the episode invites listeners to rethink how theology, metaphysics and historical research connect and what that means for biblical scholarship today. Also, stay tuned to hear a song from our producer, Jason Stark (details below)!
Guest: Jonathan Rowlands is Graduate Tutor, Lecturer in Theology, and Lead Tutor for Assessment at St. Mellitus College. He is the author of The Metaphysics of Historical Jesus Research (London: Routledge, 2022) and his second monograph - Reading Holy Scripture: Rethinking Theological Interpretation of Christian Scripture – is forthcoming with T&T Clark. His research has appeared in Journal of Biblical Literature, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Novum Testamentum, Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, Modern Theology, Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Theological Interpretation, and Journal of Pentecostal Theology. He has also written for more accessible publications such as Church Times, Premier Christianity, and Seen & Unseen, and is a contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Pause for Thought programme.
Song: "Travel Light" by Jason Stark. Enjoy Jason's new song on various platforms. Links available HERE.
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Episode: We are culturally embedded and socially embodied, and this impacts how we interpret Scripture. Esau McCaulley and Amy Peeler, who form part of the editorial team for The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary, answer questions about the book's origins, scope, and unique features. They also anticipate possible objections to the project and speak of its power to transform the church. Listen, and discover how our monochromatic readings can receive an exciting technicolor adjustment. Cohosted by Matt Bates.
The Book: Esau McCaulley (Editor), Janette H. Ok (Co-editor), Osvaldo Padilla (Co-editor), Amy L. B. Peeler (Co-editor), The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary (IVP Academic, 2024). In a first-of-its-kind volume, The New Testament in Color offers biblical commentary that is:
- Multiethnic
- Diverse
- Contextual
- Informative
- Reflective
- Prophetic
- Inspiring
“I wish someone had handed The New Testament in Color to me twenty-five years ago, and I hope many will read it now.” ―Nijay Gupta, bestselling author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church.
Historically, Bible commentaries have focused on the particular concerns of a limited segment of the church, all too often missing fresh questions and perspectives that are fruitful for biblical interpretation. Listening to scholars from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities offers us an opportunity to explore the Bible from a wider angle, a better vantage point.
The New Testament in Color is a one-volume commentary on the New Testament written by a multiethnic team of scholars holding orthodox Christian beliefs. Each scholar brings exegetical expertise coupled with a unique interpretive lens to illuminate the ways social location and biblical interpretation work together. Theologically orthodox and multiethnically contextual, The New Testament in Color fills a gap in biblical understanding for both the academy and the church. Who we are and where God placed us―it's all useful for better understanding his Word. (Publisher’s description).
Guests:
Rev. and Dr. Esau McCaulley is the Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology and a contributing opinion writer on religion for the NYT. He has previously been our guest on OnScript for his book, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope (IVP Academic). He also penned a memoir, How Far to the Promised Land (Convergent Books). Dr. McCaulley holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of St. Andrews, 2017.
Rev. and Dr. Amy Peeler. Amy is the Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton, where she serves in the Graduate program. She holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. She has previously been our guest on OnScript for her book, Women and the Gender of God (Eerdmans). She also has a new commentary on Hebrews (Eerdmans) in the Commentaries for Christian Formation Series.
OnScript’s Review: The New Testament envisions the gathering of people from all tribes, tongues, and nations under the banner of King Jesus. The New Testament in Color provides a unique blend of theory and commentary from a multiethnic perspective. It exposes the guild's monochromatic biases, allowing us to reframe the New Testament in accordance with its multiculture aims. I'm eager to use it in the seminary classroom. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Why the Gospel?; professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you would like to support OnScript’s work.
Episode: In this episode, Dru Johnson explores Arthur Keefer’s comparative work between wisdom and philosophical traditions. The Book of Proverbs and Virtue Ethics (Cambridge University Press) examines Proverbs alongside later Greek virtue development […]
The post Arthur Keefer – Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and the Meaning of Life first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Michael Rhodes joins Matt L and Dru to discuss the Bible's justice-oriented discipleship and its significance for the church today. We explore the importance of Deuteronomy for understanding biblical concepts of justice, including the triennial tithe, 7th year release of debts and slaves, and formative feasting. Discussion also takes us into places like the books of Leviticus, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Qoheleth, and the Gospel of John. And, of course, we get a first-hand report from an American in New Zealand. Listen in and pick up a copy of Just Discipleship (IVP Academic).
Guest: Dr. Michael Rhodes is Lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in New Zealand. He's the author of Formative Feasting (Peter Lang), Practicing the King's Economy (Baker; co-authored with Robby Holt), and the book we're discussing today, Just Discipleship: Biblical Justice in an Unjust World (IVP Academic). He also co-edited a book called Reparations and the Theological Disciplines (Lexington) and has another book called Justice Unto Victory under contract with IVP. For more on Michael's writing and interests, see his faculty page.
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Episode: How did Paul understand time? Was it an adaptation of the “two ages” of Judaism? Is there really an “already-not-yet” in Paul’s letters? To the last two questions, Ann […]
The post Ann Jervis – Paul and Time first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Marty Folsom about his second volume in the series, Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone (Vol. 2 – The Doctrine of God) (Zondervan Academic). What […]
The post Marty Folsom – Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone (vol. 2) – Doctrine of God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: New Biblical World co-host Jason Staples speaks with Jodi Magness, Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill about her new book, Jerusalem Through the Ages: […]
The post Jodi Magness – Jerusalem Through the Ages first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, we delve into the rich and erudite book The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus by Austin Stevenson. This fine work tackles the intricate topics of epistemology, ontology, and […]
The post Austin Stevenson – The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, we delve into the rich and erudite book The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus by Austin Stevenson. This fine work tackles the intricate topics of epistemology, ontology, and their related historical and theological perspectives, drawing heavily on the ideas of Thomas Aquinas. In Part I of his book, Stevenson begins by emphasizing the necessity of a metaphysical framework to properly understand Jesus’s historical and divine nature. He critiques modern historical approaches that often overlook these complexities and proposes a more integrated method. In Part II, Stevenson addresses different types of knowledge, including divine, acquired, and prophetic knowledge, and explores how cognitive psychology and metaphysics relate to historical knowledge. He applies this to particular texts and offers an analysis of Mark 13:32 and the concept of the beatific vision to demonstrate his arguments concretely. His thesis is that understanding Jesus’s humanity requires integrating historical methods with theological insights. In do does he challenges both historians and theologians to reconsider their approaches. He interacts with contemporary scholars like Seth Heringer and Jonny Rowlands, carving an alternative path forward. For those interested in the intersection of history and theology in the study of Jesus, this book provides a fascinating and thought-provoking read.
Guest: Dr Austin Stevenson is assistant professor of theology at Palm Beach Atlantic University and co-host of the Faith at the Frontiers podcast. Before joining the faculty at PBA, Austin was a junior research fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. He holds an MA and ThM in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, BC), and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His research specializes in the ressourcement of classical Christian thought in conversation with an interdisciplinary range of topics, including theological hermeneutics, New Testament studies, public health, literature, and the natural sciences.
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Episode: Ready to get exegetical? We had so much fun discussing Jason Staples’s important new book, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, that we couldn’t resist a second episode. Episode […]
The post Jason Staples – Paul and the Resurrection of Israel (part II) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: When the Spirit blows over the bones, flesh forms, and they rattle back to life. But the bones are Israel, all twelve tribes. Did the partial return of several tribes from Babylon satisfy God's promises for all Israel? Or was a broader return expected? In his important and influential new book, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, Jason Staples shows that Paul believed God was raising the nation of Israel from the dead in an unexpected way. Cohosted by Matt Bates and Erin Heim.
The Book: Jason A. Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites (Cambridge University Press, 2024). The gospel promoted by Paul has for many generations stirred passionate debate. That gospel proclaimed equal salvific access to Jews and gentiles alike. But on what basis? In making sense of such a remarkable step forward in religious history, Jason Staples reexamines texts that have proven thoroughly resistant to easy comprehension. He traces Paul's inclusive theology to a hidden strand of thinking in the earlier story of Israel. Postexilic southern Judah, he argues, did not simply appropriate the identity of the fallen northern kingdom of Israel. Instead, Judah maintained a notion of 'Israel' as referring both to the north and the ongoing reality of a broad, pan-Israelite sensibility to which the descendants of both ancient kingdoms belonged. Paul's concomitant belief was that northern Israel's exile meant assimilation among the nations – effectively a people's death – and that its restoration paradoxically required gentile inclusion to resurrect a greater 'Israel' from the dead. (Publisher’s description).
Guest: Jason A. Staples (Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill) is an author, historian, speaker, journalist, voice actor, and former American football coach. He is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State University. In additon to Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, he is also the author of The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2021), as well as numerous journal articles. You can connect with him on X/Twitter (@JasonStaples).
OnScript’s Review: Enormously important and theologically productive. In Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, Jason Staples shows--again and again--how seemingly isolated puzzles in Paul's letters can be explained coherently within a Second Temple framework of restoration. As the Holy Spirit transforms individuals amid the nations, the twelve tribes of Israel are being raised from the dead. An astonishing contribution. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone; professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.
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Episode: What might Scripture have to contribute to contemporary discussions about criminal justice (esp. as practiced in the United States)? In this episode, Matt Lynch speaks with trial lawyer and author […]
The post Matthew Martens – Reforming Criminal Justice first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Has the quest for the historical Jesus been plagued by an anti-liturgical sentiment? Michael Barber joins OnScript to discuss the historical Jesus, best method, and Jesus’s mysterious engagement with […]
The post The Historical Jesus and the Temple – Michael Barber first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Fighting statues? Mystery cults? Roman religion was strange. Yet in many ways Christianity was even stranger. Nijay Gupta’s Strange Religion explores how Christianity was oddly attractive to Romans. If […]
The post Nijay K. Gupta – Strange Religion first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Strawn argues that keeping secrets makes us sick, and the Old Testament offers a way to speak honestly about the BIG things like sin, suffering, and violence. Guest: Brent Strawn […]
The post Brent Strawn – Honest to God Preaching first appeared on OnScript.
Episode:In final part of our three-part series (finally!), Chris and Kyle discuss the year’s top ten archaeological discoveries and stories related to the Bible, including in this one, a weird […]
The post Final Best Archaeological Finds of 2023 (pt 3) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Dru Johnson talks with Garrick Allen about how paratexts (i.e., all the things around and between the biblical texts) have shaped our notions of canon, Gospel, and our reading practices of the […]
The post Garrick Allen – Words Are Not Enough first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Back for the 7th time, Prof. Dr. Ervine Sheblazm is here to speak the hard truth about tuff questions. What happens when culture fails to address its own insidious […]
The post Ervine Sheblazm – Abraham’s Bosom, Paul, and the Decline of Postmodernism first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Beginning with Jesus’s kingship, Tom Wright and Michael Bird speak about the potentials and perils of contemporary politics. Discover a Christian vision for government not as an overbearing nanny […]
The post N. T. Wright and Michael Bird – Jesus and the Powers first appeared on OnScript.
Episode (Trigger Warning): David Tombs lays out his case for the crucifixion of Jesus as a form of state-sponsored sexual violence and considers the theological and pastoral implications of his […]
The post David Tombs – The Crucifixion of Jesus: Torture, Sexual Abuse, and the Scandal of the Cross first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Nathan MacDonald argues that four versions of the Tabernacle can be traced through ancient versions of the Old Testament. This episode explores those versions, the significance of Aaron’s garments, priestly […]
The post Nathan MacDonald – The Tabernacle and Priestly Power first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this three-part series – Chris and Kyle discuss the year’s top ten archaeological discoveries and stories related to the Bible. Part 1 discusses the most important finds related […]
The post Best Archaeological Finds of 2023 (pt 1) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Recorded live in San Antonio at the Little Rhein Prost Haus with Sandra Glahn, Dru and Erin discuss the cult of Artemis in Ephesus and the way it transforms our […]
The post Sandra Glahn – Nobody’s Mother (Live Event!) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Lynn Cohick speaks with Jason Staples about concepts of Israel, Judaism, and Jewishness that emerged in the Second Temple period, and their implications for understanding the early Judaism. Staples […]
The post Jason Staples – The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt speaks with Carmen about her latest book Being God’s Image, why “being” (not necessarily “bearing”) matters to this subject, what we often misunderstand about the Image of God, and […]
The post Carmen Imes – Being God’s Image first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What do we know about children in ancient Israel, about who they were, the lives they led, and the people in their lives? Kristine Garroway is at the forefront of […]
The post Kristine Garroway – Growing Up in Ancient Israel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What happens if you read Ruth and Judges together? What might Ruth say to the violence against women in Judges? Jenny Matheny discusses these questions and more (like how not […]
The post Jenny Matheny – The Violence of Judges and Ruth’s Response first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Lisa Powell discusses the Trinity and eschatological body through the lens of disability. The episode discusses insights from her book The Disabled God Revisited (T&T Clark). Guest: Lisa Powell is Professor […]
The post Lisa Powell – The Disabled God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes speaks with Erin Raffety about her ethnographic and practical theological research into what it looks like for congregations to move away from an “inclusion” model for people with […]
The post Erin Raffety – From Inclusion to Justice first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin sits down with Matthew Novenson for a lively conversation on the weirdness of Paul, theological and historical approaches, first-century Judaism, and a range of other topics covered in […]
The post Matthew Novenson – Paul, Then and Now first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Gruner’s work explores the lives of ordinary Jewish people who lived in Nazi Germany and resisted persecution. From defacing Nazi symbols to bold defiance Gruner explores the complex and fraught […]
The post Wolf Gruner – Jewish Resistance in Hitler’s Germany first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Chris Tilling talks with Matt Lynch about Old Testament violence. They take a deep dive into ... the flood story in Genesis then traverse the Promised Land to consider the plight of the Canaanites. Matt argues that the complex problem of violence needs to meet with a nuanced reading of the Old Testament, all while holding onto the Bible's central claims about divine mercy. The discussion relates to Matt's recent book Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God (IVP, 2023).
Guest: Matt Lynch is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Regent College, and a co-founder and host on OnScript! He's the author of First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods (Eisenbrauns), Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible: A Literary and Cultural Study (Cambridge, 2020), and Monotheism and Institutions in the Book of Chronicles: Temple, Priesthood, and Kingship in Post-Exilic Perspective (Mohr Siebeck, 2014). His most recent book is Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God (IVP, 2023).
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Episode: Who is this man? Questions about Jesus are fascinating and perennial. Stanley Porter and Bryan Dyer team up to explore how the New Testament deployed diverse traditions--Jesus as passover lamb, savior, prophet, last Adam, messiah, and many others--in order to answer foundational questions about Jesus. Discover how background studies can enhance Jesus and the New Testament rather than reduce them. Co-hosted by Matt Bates.
The Book: Stanley E. Porter and Bryan R. Dyer, Origins of New Testament Christology: An Introduction to the Traditions and Titles Applied to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023). The early followers of Jesus drew from Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions and titles to help them understand and articulate who Jesus was. This book opens a window into the Christology of the first century by helping readers understand the eleven most significant titles for Jesus in the New Testament: Lord, Son of Man, Messiah, Prophet, Suffering Servant, Son of God, Last Adam, Passover Lamb, Savior, Word, and High Priest. The authors trace the history of each title in the Old Testament, Second Temple literature, and Greco-Roman literature and look at the context in which the New Testament writers retrieved these traditions to communicate their understanding of Christ. The result is a robust portrait that is closely tied to the sacred traditions of Israel and beyond that took on new significance in light of Jesus Christ. This accessible and up-to-date exegetical study defends an early "high" Christology and argues that the titles of Jesus invariably point to an understanding of Jesus as God. In the process, it will help readers appreciate the biblical witness to the person of Jesus. (Publisher's description).
Stanley Porter has a number of different titles at McMaster Divinity College (Hamilton, Ontario). Stan is the President and Dean, Professor of New Testament, and Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview. He has written and edited many books. Some of his most well-known work pertains to linguistics with respect to NT Greek.
Bryan Dyer holds a PhD from McMaster Divinity College in New Testament and is acquisitions editor at Baker Academic. Bryan is also a part-time faculty member of religion at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the co-editor of numerous volumes and the author of a monograph on Hebrews, Suffering in the Face of Death (T&T Clark).
OnScript's Review: The Christology of the New Testament relates to its Jewish and Greco-Roman environment in complex ways. Some studies reduce Jesus in light of his background. Porter and Dyer have done the opposite. As they uncover each facet, an ever richer portrait of Jesus emerges. Students and scholars alike will appreciate its clarity, organization, up-to-date scholarship, and wisdom. -- Matthew W. Bates, author of The Birth of the Trinity; Professor of Theology, Quincy University
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Episode: "We're in the midst of an unraveling". So argues Ted Smith about the shift in the ways that people relate and the end of theological education as it's typically conceived. Smith traces the historical roots of this social shift and the ways that education, institutions, and church ministry are changing. This is not a time for despair, however, because God longs to be known. The unraveling can be revelatory.
Guest: Ted A. Smith is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Divinity and Associate Dean of Faculty at Emory University. He's the author of three books: The End of Theological Education (Eerdmans, 2023), Weird John Brown (Stanford, 2015), and The New Measures (Cambridge, 2007). Together these books try to think theologically about core American Protestant institutions, practices, values, and rhetoric in a time when they are unraveling. Smith has also edited books on sexuality and ordination, contemporary issues in preaching, and economic inequality, along with a series of books on theological education. Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.
Episode: Biblical World co-host Kyle Keimer discusses his research on King Hezekiah's preparations for the Assyrian attack in 701 BCE. How do archaeologists determine the nature and extent of Hezekiah's defensive network? Did the Judeans use fire signals? How did the king prepare for war (and pay for it)? Listen in for a fascinating discussion of Keimer's archaeological, biblical, and geographical thoughts on this crucial event in Judah's history. This episode is cross-listed with our Biblical World podcast.
Guest: Kyle Keimer is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University, where he was Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, History, and Language of Ancient Israel. He also lectures at Jerusalem University College. For over 20 years he has been excavating in Israel and Cyprus and was co-director of the Khirbet el-Rai excavations. He loves digging as much as he loves working with ancient texts, especially the books of 1-2 Samuel and Isaiah. His research currently focuses on the early Israelite monarchy in text and archaeology. He’s co-edited Registers and Modes of Communication in the Ancient Near East (Routledge) and The Ancient Israelite World (Routledge), and he's published articles in various journals. His UCLA Ph.D. dissertation was on "The Socioeconomic Impact of Hezekiah’s Preparations for Rebellion."
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Episode: Is it anachronistic to call Jesus a refugee? Does the story of Jesus' family fleeing persecution carry modern political relevance? Would the holy family receive protection in modern society? Listen in as Glenn Butner discusses his work on these questions with OnScript co-host Jules Martínez.
Guest: Dr. Glenn Butner is Assistant Professor of Theology & Christian Ministry at Sterling College. He specializes in theology and in social ethics, having experienced the need to connect both disciplines when after serving as a chaplain in a prison complex and as a board member for the Kefa Project, which uses sports ministry to reach homeless and at risk children in Rwanda. He has written three books. Trinitarian Dogmatics: Exploring the Grammar of the Christian Doctrine of God (Baker Academic, 2022), which won the Award of Merit in Academic Theology in Christianity Today's 2023 book awards. He has also written Jesus the Refugee: Modern Solidarity and Ancient Injustice (Fortress, 2023), the focus of our episode today, and The Son who Learned Obedience: A Theological Case Against the Eternal Submission of the Son (Pickwick, 2018). Glenn lives in Sterling with his wife Lydia and their three children, Elias, Ezra, and Sophia. (from the Sterling College website).
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Episode: In this episode, Erin sits down with David Moffitt and a live audience at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford to talk about David's latest book on the atonement. This was a wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation on atonement, sacrifice, ascension, resurrection, and why, according to Moffitt, the death of Jesus is not enough, themes featured in his recent book Rethinking the Atonement (Baker).Guest: David Moffitt is Reader in New Testament at the University of St. Andrews, where he has been since 2013, having taught previously at Duke Divinity School and Campbell University Divinity School. Much of his scholarship has been on atonement in the book of Hebrews, including a very influential monograph entitled Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Brill, 2011), for which he won the Manfred T. Lautenschläger prize in 2013. He's also the author of Rethinking the Atonement (Baker Academic) and the co-author of New Testament Basics (Fortress).Book (from the publisher's website): Traditional views on the atonement tend to be reductive, focusing solely on Jesus's death on the cross. In his 2011 groundbreaking book Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews, David Moffitt challenged that paradigm, showing how the atonement is a fuller process. It involves not only Jesus's death but also his resurrection, ascension, offering, and exaltation. In the succeeding years, Moffitt has continued to expand and clarify his thinking on this issue. This book offers a more fulsome articulation of his work on the atonement that reflects his recent thinking on the topic. Moffitt continues to challenge reductive views of the atonement, primarily from the book of Hebrews, but he engages other New Testament passages as well. He offers fresh insights on sacrifice and atonement, the importance of resurrection and ascension, Jesus's role as priest, and a new perspective on Hebrews. This important book brings Moffitt's award-winning and influential scholarship to a broader audience.Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Jonathan Lyonhart about his new book, MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One […]
The post Jonathan Lyonhart – Monothreeism (Trinity at the Pub) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Brent Strawn is back for the 4th time, to discuss his new book The Incomparable God. This book is rich, rangey, and full of biblical-theological insight. The discussion is also rangey, […]
The post Brent Strawn – The Incomparable God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode covers a wide swathe of the Torah’s terrain, including reading the Torah as a story (even Leviticus), reading laws that come into conflict with each other, The Cat […]
The post Gary Schnittjer – Torah Story first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This wide-ranging conversation follows this wide-ranging book, covering topics such as the “is God the same as Allah” question to Filipino views of reciprocity to Thai philosophical views informing aniconism. From the publisher: “Christianity is […]
The post Jerry Hwang – Contextualization and the Old Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode is the final installment in the 3-part archaeology of Passion Week discussion. Chris and Kyle take a detailed look at how archaeological finds in Jerusalem can help […]
The post Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer – The Archaeology of Passion Week (Pt 3) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode is part two of the three-part series on the archaeology of Passion Week. Chris and Kyle take a detailed look at how archaeological finds in Jerusalem can […]
The post Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer – The Archaeology of Passion Week (Pt 2) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode is the first of a three-part series on the archaeology of the Passion week. Chris and Kyle take a detailed look at how archaeological finds in Jerusalem […]
The post Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer – The Archaeology of Passion Week (Pt 1) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What is a life living theologically? Prof. Dr. Ervine Sheblazm has walked through life with theology on his mind for over 25 years. Hear him unload a ton of theological […]
The post Ervine Sheblazm – A Life Living (a theological memoir) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Father Isaac Morales about his book, The Bible and Baptism: The Fountain of Salvation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic 2022), published as part of […]
The post Isaac Morales – The Bible and Baptism first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, we discuss the god Moses. Yes, you heard that right! It’s there in Exod 7:1. But what does this mean? How can we make sense of the […]
The post Amy Balogh – Moses among the Idols first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Michael Bird turns the well-rehearsed scholarly tale about how Jesus came to be described as divine on its head. Jesus didn’t become God through the application of Greek metaphysical […]
The post Michael Bird – Jesus Among the Gods first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Here’s the full version of the convo with Collin Cornell, where we discuss Elephantine, divine aggression (beginning at 34:18), and more, including his work on divine look-alikes. If you’ve already […]
The post Collin Cornell – Divine Aggression (and other Old Testament matters) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The book we’re talking about today is Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church with IVP Academic. In this episode, we explore the data about women […]
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Episode: Elephantine continues to fascinate scholars of Second Temple Judaism, in part, because it shows that there wasn’t just one Jewish temple after the return from exile. In this episode, which is […]
The post Elephantine – Collin Cornell first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Steven Nemes about his forthcoming book, Theological Authority in the Church (Eugene, Or.: Cascade, forthcoming [2023]). This new book by Steven Nemes argues, […]
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Episode: Erin speaks with Caryn Reeder about the Samaritan Woman, the reception history of John 4, and its impact on the experiences of women in the church today, which Caryn treats […]
The post Caryn Reeder – The Samaritan Woman’s Story after #ChurchToo first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich takes us on an exciting tour of Second Temple Literature, giving us a sense of the stories, personalities, and history that shaped this […]
The post Malka Z. Simkovich – Discovering Second Temple Literature first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks with Han-Iuen Kantzer Komline about all things Augustine! We covered it all! Just kidding, we barely scratched the surface of everyone’s favorite […]
The post Han-luen Kantzer Komline – Augustine and Turning Points in Christian History first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin speaks with Rev. Dr. Andy Byers about John’s Gospel, Jewish Relations, and the “sectarian hermeneutic” that dominates Johannine studies. Andy’s newest book on John’s Gospel, John and the Others, […]
The post Andrew Byers – John and the Others first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: How can the way of the kingdom be the way of the dove? How can the way of subversion come through submission? How can the way of the lion […]
The post Patrick Schreiner – Political Gospel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: (Republish) Has the Chalcedonian Definition stood the test of time and theological challenge? Ian McFarland thinks so and advocates for a “Chalcedonianism without reserve” in his newest book, The […]
The post Ian McFarland – The Word Made Flesh first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Is God more male than female? Most theologians have hastened to say ‘no’, but still many theologians have urged that the male analogy is more suitable in speaking about […]
The post Amy Peeler – Women and the Gender of God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode takes you to the wilds of Alaska and Florida’s byways to talk about our denial of death as a species. Guest: Dr. Timothy Beal is Distinguished University Professor […]
The post Timothy Beal – When Time (for humanity) is Short first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin speaks with Dr. Katie Marcar about metaphors of divine regeneration in 1 Peter, metaphors of generation in other Jewish texts from the Second Temple period, seed metaphors, breastmilk metaphors, […]
The post Katie Marcar – Divine Regeneration and Ethnic Mapping in 1 Peter first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin Heim speaks with Dr. Angela Parker about White Christianity’s tendency to conflate biblical authority with inerrancy and infallibility, gaslighting and women in the Gospels, the Galatians’ experience, and Tobe […]
The post Angela Parker – If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I? first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Marty Folsom about his new book, Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone (Zondervan Academic). What is it about Barth’s Church Dogmatics that is […]
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Episode: In this episode, Dru Johnson talks with Australian scholar Christopher Seglenieks about why Greco-Roman devotion practices must be included in discussions about “faith” and “belief” in the Johannine corpus. […]
The post Chris Seglenieks – Johannine Belief and Graeco-Roman Devotion first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What was the sacrifice of Jesus for the NT Jewish authors? A barbaric execution? A violent bloodletting of a scapegoat? Christian Eberhart claims that the NT authors did not conceive […]
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Episode: Richard Middleton thinks that Abraham should’ve talked back to God when he asked him to sacrifice his son. Today we discuss lament, the example of Job, and Abraham as a […]
The post J. Richard Middleton – Abraham’s Silence first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Leviticus might be the only book in the Bible that many Christians will openly and casually admit that they do not like (or, it’s their “least favorite). Dru Johnson […]
The post Mark Scarlata – The World of Leviticus first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Paul Spilsbury knew Josephus personally … or at least he’s spent so much time with him that it’s almost as if he did. In this episode we talk about Josephus’ writings, […]
The post Paul Spilsbury – Understanding Josephus first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: If you’ve appreciated John Barclay’s monumental work on grace, Paul and the Gift, then you’ll be delighted to see how Enoch Okode’s work presses beyond Barclay into new territory. […]
The post Enoch Okode – Christ the Gift and the Giver first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt discusses Aaron’s whopping huge Romans commentary, discussing the book’s rhetorical aims and literary flow, the troubling “hardening” of Israel in Rom 9-11, and why the real deal is in […]
The post Aaron Sherwood – Romans first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: These are times of deep division and disruption. Saying so is almost as obvious as saying, “The sky is blue.” But finding a way to dialogue through division and disruption […]
The post Bill Brown – Psalms in Dialogue amidst Disruption first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What happens to us as we read violent stories in the Bible? How do violent stories form us ethically? Amy Cottrill discusses everything from overly violent stories, to places where […]
The post Amy Cottrill – Uncovering Violence in Biblical Stories first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dru and Erin chat with Lisa Bowens about her groundbreaking work on African American reception of the Pauline epistles from the early 18th to the mid-20th century. In her book, […]
The post Lisa Bowens – African American Readings of Paul first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Michael Gorman, renowned Pauline scholar, has now penned a commentary on Romans. The commentary is for a diverse audience, including pastors and students. So OnScript co-host Matthew Bates, who is […]
The post Michael Gorman – Romans in Pastoral and Theological Perspectives first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt talks with Reed Carlson about conceptions of the person in the Old Testament and Second Temple literature, and specifically, the significance of the spirit/Spirit when thinking about the […]
The post Reed Carlson – Possession and the Spirit in the Hebrew Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks with Karen O‘Donnell about her new book, The Dark Womb: Reconceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss. There are books that re-evaluate or re-imagine or re-invigorate theology, and then […]
The post Karen O’Donnell – The Dark Womb: Reconceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks with Karen O'Donnell about her new book, The Dark Womb: Reconceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss. There are books that re-evaluate or re-imagine or re-invigorate theology, and then there are books that reveal theology’s silence, presumption, and lack and faces those problems head on. This book falls in the latter category - breaking the theological, liturgical, and pastoral around miscarriage, challenging certain articulations of doctrine of providence, and honestly appraising our practice of petitionary prayer.
Guest: Karen O’Donnell leads the research and teaching in Christian Spirituality at Sarum College, Salisbury, UK. She is a feminist, practical theologian with particular interest in the intersections of body and theology, especially around the issue of trauma. Her first monograph was Broken Bodies: The Eucharist, Mary and the Body in Trauma Theology (SCM Press, 2018) which explored the relationship between the body and trauma in theology. Her second monograph is The Dark Womb: Re-Conceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss (SCM Press, 2022) which seeks to construct a fresh approach to theology using the experience of miscarriage as a starting point. Karen has published widely on trauma theology, Mariology, feminist theology, and digital theology.
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Episode: In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Justus Geilhufe about his book, the Gnade als trinitarisches Sein: Bruce McCormacks Theologie in ihrer Entwicklung aus analytischer und konstruktiver Barthrezeption. Yes, I think this is our first interview about a German language book, but Geilhufe is up to the job and waxes lyrical in conversation with prose many English-only speakers would envy. In this rich episode, we explore Geilhufe’s original account of the development and driving themes of Bruce McCormack’s work, from Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology (1995), through “Grace and Being”, and the resultant controversies, to McCormack’s most recent work. It was a lot of fun to hear Geilhufe’s insights first-hand, and all we need now is someone who will commit to translating his book into English …
Guest: Rev. Dr. Justus Geilhufe, special student between 2012 and 2013, serves as an associate pastor at the Freiberg Cathedral in the Lutheran Church of Saxony. He was born in 1990 in Dresden. After graduating the Lutheran Kreuzschule he worked for one year at L’Arche in France. To pursue his call to being a pastor, he studied theology at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Princeton Theological Seminary, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Universität Leipzig. Next to his diploma in theology, he also holds a BA in philosophy and a certificate in leadership from the Jesuit Munich School of Philosophy. While serving as an ordinand of the Lutheran Church of Saxony, he earned a doctorate in systematic theology from the Georg-August-University Göttingen with a dissertation on the theology of Princeton’s Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology, Bruce McCormack. Justus is married and has two sons.
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In this episode Chris Tilling interviews Justus Geilhufe about his book, the Gnade als trinitarisches Sein: Bruce McCormacks Theologie in ihrer Entwicklung aus analytischer und konstruktiver Barthrezeption. Yes, I think this is our first interview about a German language book, but Geilhufe is up to the job and waxes lyrical in conversation with prose many English-only speakers would envy. In this rich episode, we explore Geilhufe’s original account of the development and driving themes of Bruce McCormack’s work, from Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology (1995), through “Grace and Being”, and the resultant controversies, to McCormack’s most recent work. It was a lot of fun to hear Geilhufe’s insights first-hand, and all we need now is someone who will commit to translating his book into English …
The post Justus Geilhufe – Gnade als trinitarisches Sein first appeared on OnScript.
This episode involves a rich discussion with Brittany Kim and Charlie Trimm about three book's they've written. We first discuss their co-authored book about the discipline of Old Testament theology, including the challenges of relating the two testaments and descriptive vs. normative theology. Then we discuss Brittany's book on Isaiah's familial and servant metaphors, including gendered language for God as well as the way that metaphors can help us wrestle with challenging prophetic texts. Finally, we talk about Charlie's recent work on approaches to violence in the Canaanite conquest, which maps some of the benefits and drawbacks to various proposals for mitigating the challenges of violence in Joshua. And there's much more here!
The post Old Testament Theology, Isaiah’s Metaphors, and Canaanite Genocide: A Conversation with Brittany Kim and Charlie Trimm first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode involves a rich discussion with Brittany Kim and Charlie Trimm about three book's they've written. We first discuss their co-authored book about the discipline of Old Testament theology, including the challenges of relating the two testaments and descriptive vs. normative theology. Then we discuss Brittany's book on Isaiah's familial and servant metaphors, including gendered language for God as well as the way that metaphors can help us wrestle with challenging prophetic texts. Finally, we talk about Charlie's recent work on approaches to violence in the Canaanite conquest, which maps some of the benefits and drawbacks to various proposals for mitigating the challenges of violence in Joshua. And there's much more here!
Guests: Dr. Brittany Kim is an Old Testament scholar, adjunct professor of Old Testament at North Park Theological Seminary and Northeastern Seminary, and she’s a spiritual director. She’s a co-director of Every Voice, an initiative for diversity in theological education. In addition to co-authoring the book Understanding Old Testament Theology: Mapping the Terrain of Recent Approaches (Zondervan, 2020) with Charlie Trimm, she’s the author of Lengthen Your Tent-Cords: The Metaphorical World of Israel’s Household in the Book of Isaiah (Eisenbrauns/PSU Press, 2018).
Dr. Charlie Trimm is Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University. In addition to co-authoring the book Understanding Old Testament Theology: Mapping the Terrain of Recent Approaches (Zondervan, 2020) with Brittany Kim, he's the author of The Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation (Eerdmans, 2022), Fighting for the King and the Gods: A Survey of Warfare in the Ancient Near East (SBL, 2017), and “YHWH Fights for Them!” The Divine Warrior in the Exodus Narrative (Gorgias: Piscataway, 2014). He’s also a co-director of Every Voice.
Every Voice - To access the bibliographies compiled by Every Voice, please click HERE.
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If you enjoyed this episode … listen in an earlier episode with Christian Hofreiter about his book Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide.
Have you ever longed for a biblically-rooted theology of child-rearing but didn't know where to turn? Prof. Ervine Sheblazm understands the pain that parents feel as they try to rear their offspring in a complex and troubling postmodernistic society. He wrote this book for Dave, his colleague, but Dave isn't the only one who will benefit. Sheblazm's biblically nuanced, scientifically-based approach will give parents, caregivers, grandparents, aunties, uncles, and others some practical, envliating, and spirtographal ways to care for our unruly ones. Sheblazm draws from the deep wells of scholarship and observational science to bring you what he calls "nuggets of truth." Even those without children will see the Bible and world in a new way.
Guest: Prof. Ervine Sheblazm feels like Einstein, Aristotle,
The post Ervine Sheblazm – Child Rearing with the Apostle Paul and the Book of Revelation first appeared on OnScript.
Pour yourself a wee dram of whisky and tune in as Matt and Dru talk with Iain Provan about the perils and benefits of literal(istic) interpretation of Scripture and his new book The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture (Baylor, 2017). In addition to some great convo, in this episode you'll witness the special guest appearance of an Eastern European thought leader, and a new edition of 'How Scottish Are You?' This is a republished episode.
The post Iain Provan – On Reading the Bible Literally first appeared on OnScript.
In this episode, Chris Tilling interviews David Artman, author of Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism (Wipf and Stock). Rich in exegetical claims, Artman boldly proposes that Christian Universalism isn’t simply a possible option, but a necessity to adequately account for the goodness of God. Artman is not defending – to quote Brad Jersak in his foreword – a “sloppy pop-universalism that fails to proclaim Christ alone, the necessity of a faith response, or the reality of judgement”. Instead, today’s guest aims to present something that is biblically compelling and theological orthodox. To teases out the claims, Chris Tilling walks through Artman’s chapters on the bible, judgment, grace, hell, Revelation and more besides.
The post David Artman – Grace Saves All: The Necessity of Christian Universalism first appeared on OnScript.
In this episode we go back to theological basics. What is a creed? What is a creed for? Co-host Amy Hughes talks with Ben Myers about his book on the Apostles' Creed and it's companion children's book. We discuss what it was like to write theology for an adult audience and for children. This episode also features a short interview with the illustrator, Natasha Kennedy.
The post The Apostle’s Creed – Ben Myers and Natasha Kennedy first appeared on OnScript.
We're digging back into the archives to the very beginning to bring you this inaugural OnScript episode from 2016, which features Dr. Munther Isaac of Bethlehem Bible College in Bethlehem, Palestine. He discusses his book From Land to Lands, From Eden to the Renewed Earth: A Christ-Centered Biblical Theology of the Promised Land (Langham Monographs, 2015). I (Matt Lynch) met Munther in Bethlehem back in 2011, when we met to discuss the relationship between land in the Bible and the current strife over land in Israel/Palestine.
The post Munther Isaac – A Biblical and Palestinian Theology of the Land first appeared on OnScript.
What lies beneath Jerusalem? Join Kyle and Chris as they interview Andrew Lawler about his excellent and exciting new book Under Jerusalem: the Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City (also available via Audible.com as an audio book). In this interview, we discuss a variety of issues that Lawler covers in his book - he also gives some personal reflections on the writing and research involved with a book on Jerusalem’s complicated history (and present).
The post Andrew Lawler – Beneath Jerusalem first appeared on OnScript.
Andy Abernethy talks about finding new ways of reading Isaiah, his new book Discovering Isaiah, as well as life in the academy, his dad's career in the NBA, influential figures in his life, and much more.
The post Andy Abernethy – Discovering Isaiah first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Andy Abernethy talks about finding new ways of reading Isaiah, his new book Discovering Isaiah, as well as life in the academy, his dad's career in the NBA, influential figures in his life, and much more.
Guest: Dr. Andy Abernethy is Associate professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He’s the author of Eating in Isaiah (Brill, 2014); The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom (IVP, 2016); God’s Messiah in the Old Testament (Baker, 2020) Discovering Isaiah (Eerdmans/SPCK, 2021), and has a forthcoming book called Savoring Scripture: A Six-Step Guide to Studying the Bible with IVP. He also edited Isaiah and Imperial context: The Book of Isaiah in Times of Empire (Wipf & Stock, 2013) and Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically: Essays in Honor of Willem A. VanGemeren (Zondervan, 2018).
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New Podcast! Have you seen our new podcast, In Parallel? Check it out HERE.
In this episode, Chris Tilling chats with Prof. Douglas Harink about his new book, Resurrecting Justice: Reading Romans for the Life of the World (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020). The book presents a complete reading of Romans in light of the justice revealed in the gospel. So Harink’s book covers a lot of hotly debated ground relating to definitions of the “good news”, the Holy Trinity, justification, politics, the role of law, the nature of faith and much more besides. This discussion was particularly rich, then, and only begins to skim the surface of the issues discussed in the book.
The post Douglas Harink – Resurrecting Justice first appeared on OnScript.
A meditation on Song of Song 8:6-7, a poem about love and death, written and narrated by Brent Strawn. This is from our podcast In Parallel. For future episodes, please subscribe wherever you listen (Apple Podcasts, Spotify). In Parallel is a new podcast that explores biblical and contemporary poetry.
The post A Poem about Love and Death (Song 8:6-7) – Brent Strawn first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We’re thrilled to introduce our first episode of In Parallel, a new podcast that explores biblical and contemporary poetry. Our first episode is a poetic reflection on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 […]
The post Introducing In Parallel with Brent Strawn – Ecclesiastes 3 first appeared on OnScript.
What role does art play in the forming of our theological imagination about Christ? What does it mean to respond to the cross as witness instead of spectator? In this interview, Chris Green joins co-host Amy Hughes to talk about his new book on art, beauty, and Christology. The topics range widely from the role of story, art, and liturgy in formation to quite the discussion about Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
The post Chris Green – All Things Beautiful: An Aesthetic Christology first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Charles Halton joins to discuss divine embodiment and its theological implications. We discuss the role of tensions and diversity in Scripture, Old Testament antecedents to the incarnation, theological method, and […]
The post Charles Halton – A Human-Shaped God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Biblical World hosts Chris and Kyle talk about the archaeology and historical context of Christmas. They try not to be Grinches. This is part 1 of a two part […]
The post Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer – The History and Archaeology of Christmas (Part 1) first appeared on OnScript.
Erin and Matt join Vince Bantu for a live recording in San Antonio. At this IVP Academic event, we cover all things early Christianity as it took root and developed in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. We talk about the (often) untold stories of early Christianity, the weaponization of doctrine, Miaphysite and Diaphysite controversies, Vince's Old Nubian studies, and much more!
The post Vince Bantu – A Multitude of All Peoples (Live in San Antonio) first appeared on OnScript.
Carol Newsom returns to OnScript to discuss her wide-ranging interests in anthropology, cognitive science, early Judaism, and the Old Testament. The discussion focuses on her recent research on developing conceptions of the person, including self and moral agency, in ancient Israel and early Judaism. We also go off script to discuss recent books of interest, the inferiority complex in academia, and much more. Our conversation relates to her recent book The Spirit Within Me (Yale University Press).
The post Carol Newsom – The Spirit Within Me first appeared on OnScript.
If you like conversations that sit on the awkward fence between systematic theology and biblical studies, this episode is for you. Tom McCall's wide-ranging expertise clarifies the limits of an apocalyptic reading of Galatians 2:20 ("I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live..."), the pistis Christou debate, social trinitarianism, and discussions in scholarship sparked by Karl Barth pertaining to the incarnation. Co-hosted by Matt Bates and Chris Tilling.
The post Thomas McCall – Analytic Christology and the Theological Interpretation of the New Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Join us in San Antonio for a live event with Dr. Vince Bantu in San Antonio, sponsored by IVP! When? Nov 22nd (2021), 8pm. Where? Little Rhein Prost Haus –https://www.littlerheinprosthaus.com/ What? Live recording with […]
The post Two Updates first appeared on OnScript.
Matt Lynch speaks with his former professor and friend Gary Schnittjer about his massive new book on the Old Testament's use of the Old Testament. They talk about exegetical updates to earlier texts, the rich networks of quotation and re-use that cluster around certain texts, and the ways that Gary's work on the OT use of the OT shapes his understanding of what the New Testament is doing.
The post Gary Schnittjer – Old Testament Use of the Old Testament first appeared on OnScript.
In this special Halloween OnCrypt Biblical World episode Chris and Kyle speak with Matt Suriano about Israelite mortuary belief along with Matt’s work on the Jerusalem necropolis in Silwan (east, southeast of the Old City). Matt discusses elite and royal burial customs in ancient Israel as he articulates why ancestors were important and what this means in biblical literature. This is cross-published from our other podcast, Biblical World.
The post Halloween OnCrypt Special! Death in Ancient Israel with Matt Suriano first appeared on OnScript.
Tired of gurus that have all the answers? Or those so zealous for deconstruction that the have none? We need a recalibrated theological imagination that can fuel faithful loyalty. In this wide-ranging interview featuring his new book Perhaps, Joshua McNall shows us that when Scripture and great literature are allowed to resonate, we are able to move beyond rigid dogmatism and endless doubt. Co-hosted by Matt Bates.
The post Between Doubt and Dogmatism – Joshua McNall first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The prospect of stoning a rebellious son or adulterer, or turning over an unorthodox brother or sister for execution is revolting. But how should a Jewish or Christian believer […]
The post Caryn Reeder – Family Violence in the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Kevin Grasso and Nick Messmer have pioneered a unique online platform for learning biblical languages, namely Biblingo. It incorporates methods and tools from second-language application theory, pedagogy and more besides. In this episode, Chris Tilling chats with Kevin, who has been on OnScript before to talk about his essay on the so-called πίστις Χριστοῦ debate. Among other things we discuss biblical language acquisition, the helpful influence of contemporary linguistics, what Biblingo offers, various pedagogical issues, and how Biblingo compares with related course.
The post Navigating Biblical Languages – Kevin Grasso first appeared on OnScript.
Dru Johnson discusses Matt's recent book Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible. Matt discusses ways that the Old Testament depicts the problem of violence, some of the surprising ways that biblical writers portray violence, and ways that the Old Testament challenges modern ideas about violence. Also listen to Matt fail miserably in the speed round.
The post Matthew Lynch – Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible first appeared on OnScript.
OnScript is launching a new podcast! Welcome to On Verse, a podcast that explores the intersections of biblical and contemporary poetry. This podcast is hosted by Brent Strawn of Duke Divinity School, and is produced by Keith Willis. Season 1 launches soon!
The post Special Announcement! On Verse first appeared on OnScript.
Scot McKnight and Hans Boersma have a spirited exchange in their Five Things books--and it becomes even more lively as they extend the conversation for OnScript. After a drink or two, where would the theologian Boersma still want to press the biblical scholar McKnight? A wide-ranging dialogue on the proper interfacing of Scripture, tradition, and philosophical framework, co-hosted by Matthew Bates and Erin Heim - that is, when they could get a word in edgewise.
The post Scot McKnight and Hans Boersma – Things I Wish You Knew first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Kicking off National Hispanic Heritage month (in the U.S.), Jules sits down with Robert Chao Romero to discuss his unique approach to history, the influence of Lauryn Hill, the […]
The post Robert Chao Romero – The Brown Church first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Willie James Jennings joins Erin for a challenging conversation on theological education. Jennings brings a wealth of experience to the topic, drawing from his expertise as a theologian and the […]
The post Willie James Jennings –– After Whiteness first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: For this episode Mary Buck is joined by Dr. Leonard Greenspoon, the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University. Dr. Greenspoon discusses his recently published book, “Jewish Bible […]
The post Jewish Bible Translations – Leonard Greenspoon with Mary Buck first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Erin interviews Beverly Roberts Gaventa on Pauline theology, her thoughts on pedagogy, and on why Matt Bates is wrong about Karl Barth. This is a republished […]
The post Beverly Gaventa – Pauline Theology first appeared on OnScript.
We're back with our 5th annual "Live at Nashotah House" episode! Hosts Matt Lynch and Dru Johnson discussed Dru's book Biblical Philosophy: A Hebraic Approach to the Old and New Testaments (Cambridge, 2021). Topics covered include the distinctiveness of biblical thought, Sukkot, the Gospel of Mark's emphasis on knowing, the importance of ritual and embodiment, and much more. We even have a surprise (and first-ever-on-this-podcast) display of Dru's musical talent!
The post Dru Johnson – Biblical Philosophy first appeared on OnScript.
In this wide-ranging episode Amy Brown Hughes talks with Sameer Yadav about the 'promiscuous' nature of theology, his book The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God: Toward a Theological Empiricism, his recent work on apophaticism in the Christian mystical tradition, and race in the philosophy of religion. Enjoy this re-released episode!
The post Sameer Yadav – Theology, Race, and the Mystical Tradition first appeared on OnScript.
This episode is designed to help Evangelicals, especially North American Evangelicals, to get out of their own heads. Bruce Hindmarsh traces the contours of early Evangelicalism as it emerged in Britain and America, and discusses how that historical perspective on Evangelicalism's "spirit" can help shape our interpretation of this present moment.
The post Bruce Hindmarsh – The Spirit of Evangelicalism first appeared on OnScript.
Philip Ziegler joins Erin Heim to discuss apocalyptic theology, Pauline literature, and the implications of both for Christian discipleship. They discuss Ziegler's new book, Militant Grace, which constitutes a serious theological engagement and response to the apocalyptic turn in Pauline studies. Along the way, Professor Ziegler shares with us the influence friends and mentors like J. Louis Martyn have had on him both personally and professionally. This is a rebroadcast of an episode originally published in Oct 2019.
The post Philip Ziegler – Militant Grace first appeared on OnScript.
For some of us the descriptor "systematic theology" evokes a sense of overwhelm or perhaps even carries negative connotations. Friends, it doesn't have to be this way! In this episode co-host Amy Hughes talks with Beth Felker Jones, professor of theology at Northern Seminary in Illinois about her book Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically (Baker Academic, 2014) and gets a sneak peek at her upcoming work on a theology of conversion.
The post Beth Felker Jones – Practicing Christian Doctrine first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Brent Strawn is back for the 3rd time to discuss his new book on mistruths about the Old Testament. Discussion covers everything from divine violence and wrath, to the […]
The post Lies My Preacher Told Me – Brent Strawn first appeared on OnScript.
Does God have a body? Did the New Testament writers think that God has a body? Brittany Wilson says, Yes! Her study of Luke-Acts challenges assumptions that God is inherently invisible and incorporeal, and draws multiple lines of connection between images of an embodied God from the Old Testament and similar images in the New Testament. This wide-ranging and engaging conversation draws from Wilson's groundbreaking new book The Embodied God (OUP, 2021).
The post Brittany Wilson – The Embodied God first appeared on OnScript.
How has the church's understanding of salvation grown and shifted over time? What are common misunderstandings that Catholics and Protestants have about salvation? How has this impacted the church? And what is the future of justification as that connects to ecumenical efforts? Eminent church historian Alister McGrath (University of Oxford) has been research and writing about the history of salvation in the church for over 40 years. In light of his freshly revised monograph, Iustitia Dei, McGrath leads us on a tour of the history of the Christian doctrine. Co-hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
The post Alister McGrath – Doctrine of Justification first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode we talk with Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. He is the Werner R.H. and Elizabeth R. Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, […]
The post Leopoldo Sánchez – Sculptor Spirit first appeared on OnScript.
OnScript is pleased to announce that we have a new theology co-host. Please welcome Jules Martínez-Olivieri to the podcast!
The post Special Announcement! first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Proverbs is one of the most misunderstood books in the Old Testament. It’s often treated as a self-help guide or as a collection of promises. Dominick Hernández challenges us […]
The post Dominick Hernández – Pathways to Wisdom first appeared on OnScript.
Beth Allison Barr is on the show to talk about her new book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood.
The post Beth Allison Barr – The Making of Biblical Womanhood first appeared on OnScript.
Walter Brueggemann is on the show to talk about his life as a biblical scholar, as well as his recent book Delivered Out of Empire - Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus (WJK Press, 2021).
The post Walter Brueggemann – Exodus and Liberation first appeared on OnScript.
After being forgotten for over 3000 years, the ancient city of Ugarit was rediscovered by archaeologists in 1929. Perhaps the greatest find from the site was the stash of over 2500 texts written in the ancient language of Ugaritic, texts which illuminated the history of the ancient world and the life of the local inhabitants. Join hosts Mary Buck and Chris McKinny as they discuss the ancient site of Ugarit which ruled over the Northern Levant from 1800 BCE to 1200 BCE.
The post (Biblical World) Mary Buck – Ugarit and the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode discusses whether it’s possible to recover scenes from the Israel/Merneptah Stele, as well as cutting edge technology at Karnak, Egypt. Hosts: Chris McKinny (Gesher Media) and Mark Janzen […]
The post (Biblical World) Karnak and Egyptology – Mark Janzen first appeared on OnScript.
This inaugural Biblical World episode takes a deep dive into the archaeological background of King Hezekiah’s religious reform (2 Kgs 18:4).
The post (Biblical World) Archaeology in the Time of Kings: Hezekiah’s Reform first appeared on OnScript.
Announcement! OnScript is launching a new podcast focused on the history, archaeology, culture, and geography of the Bible. Hosted by Chris McKinny, Lynn Cohick, Oliver Hersey, Kyle Keimer, Mary Buck, […]
The post Biblical World Podcast – Coming Soon! first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Though Peter was the rock of the early church, why has Paul dominated New Testament scholarship? Part of the answer lies in the controversies surrounding the Gospels’ portrayals of […]
The post Gene Green – Peter, The Lost Theologian first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown… I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil, to see if it could […]
The post M. Daniel Carroll Rodas – The Bible and Borders first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Christians in the West go to great lengths to avoid direct contact with death, and as a result of this death avoidance, we avoid the hope and fullness of […]
The post J. Todd Billings – The End of the Christian Life first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Trees are people too! While this claim may come as a surprise to many listeners, it’s familiar territory for biblical authors. Trees, mountains, skies, plants … all of these bear […]
The post Mari Joerstad – The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Generativity over usefulness and efficiency. Making versus fixing. The “new newness” of Redemption and New Creation. In this episode artist, writer, and speaker Makoto Fujimura joins co-host Amy Hughes to discuss his […]
The post Makoto Fujimura – Art + Faith: A Theology of Making first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Paul’s missionary travels stopped in Rome, but is that where they should end? Dr. Ervine Sheblatzm is back on the show to give a firm “Nein!” Listen to a fascinating […]
The post Ervine Sheblatzm – Paul’s Theology of Universalism first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What happens when Dallas Willard, Wendell Berry, and James K. A. Smith walk into a bar to discuss Paul and the Good Life? Join Julien C. H. Smith and […]
The post Julien C. H. Smith – Paul and the Good Life first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dru Johnson talks with Clinton Bailey about how he ended up living with Bedouins in the Negev, their law, gender practices, and poetry. His most recent book, Bedouin Culture […]
The post Clinton Bailey – Bedouin Culture in the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Was there death and violence before the Fall? Was there cancer before? Did lions go after gazelles before the Fall? Bethany Sollereder says yes, yes, and yes. So what, […]
The post Bethany Sollereder – God, Evolution, and Animal Suffering first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Returning to the theme of interviewing young and upcoming scholars, the cutting edge of the cutting edge, in this episode Chris Tilling talks with Andrew Rillera, a PhD candidate […]
The post Andrew Rillera – Quotations, Atonement, and Wrath in Paul first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode covers Paul, m/f, hermeneutics, theology, and all the things. Lucy Peppiatt helps us think through the challenging issues at play in 1 Corinthians 11, territory we covered […]
The post Lucy Peppiatt – Paul on Women’s Subordination (1 Cor 11) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Was Jesus opposed to the purity system? Was he a revolutionary who challenged religious anxieties over uncleanness? Matthew Thiessen joins us to discuss these questions, and to help us rethink […]
The post Matthew Thiessen – Jesus and the Forces of Death first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Jason A. Myers and Ben Witherington III will help orient you to some of the major perspectives on Paul within contemporary New Testament scholarship. Tune in for […]
The post Ben Witherington III & Jason Myers – Views on Paul first appeared on OnScript.
What is salvation? What does it mean that Christ frees us? What is liberation theology? Why is there such a fuss about liberation theology anyway? In this episode, Dr. Jules Martinez-Olivieri joins co-host Amy Hughes to talk about his work on Christology and liberation and participation.
The post Jules Martinez-Olivieri – Christology, Liberation, Participation first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Mark and Luke Glanville bring their unique areas of expertise in biblical studies and international relations to bear on the pressing global refugee crisis. This episode covers everything from […]
The post Mark and Luke Glanville – Refuge Reimagined first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: While there is nothing new drama over the Trinity, there has been quite the kerfuffle in evangelical circles about the subordination of the Son in recent years. In this […]
The post Mike Bird & Scott Harrower – Trinity Without Hierarchy first appeared on OnScript.
There are 111 named women in the Old Testament. But they're often unknown and ignored. In this episode Wil Gafney reintroduces us to women we thought we knew and introduces those we never knew. We discuss the sanctified imagination, Midrashic interpretation, womanist approaches to scripture, Queen mothers, army chaplaincy, and much more from her book Womanist Midrash (WJK Press).
The post Wil Gafney – Womanist Midrash first appeared on OnScript.
Live from Nashotah House, WI (3rd year running), here's part 2 of our interview with Fr John Behr. Amy Brown Hughes talks with Fr John Behr about Origen and all things Patristic. In addition to more of the interview, we've got some Q&A in this episode. If you missed Part 1, visit HERE. This is a re-broadcast from 2019.
The post John Behr – Origen and the Early Church, Pt 2 first appeared on OnScript.
Live from Nashotah House, WI (3rd year running), we've got a two-part interview. Amy Brown Hughes talks with Fr John Behr about Origen and all things Patristic. This episode requires theological safety gear, helmet, orange cones, ... everything. This is a rebroadcast from 2019.
The post John Behr – Origen and the Early Church, Pt 1 first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dru Johnson talks with Garrick Allen about his ongoing research project to investigate the paratexts of biblical manuscripts, how these help us to understand reception and biblical theologies, and […]
The post Garrick Allen – Manuscripts and All that other Stuff on the Page (Paratexts) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode Erin hosts Jemar Tisby, who is the founder and CEO of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective (thewitnessbcc.com) and author of the New York Times bestseller […]
The post Jemar Tisby – The Color of Compromise first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Biblical Samson offered a powerful way of focusing and communicating the struggle, opportunities, and challenge of life for African Americans throughout U.S. history. From the prophesies of his parents […]
The post Jeremy Schipper – Black Samson first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The upstart theological movement called open theism is coming of age. It’s time to reassess its possibilities, promises, and perils. One of the founders of open theism, Richard Rice, […]
The post Richard Rice – The Future of Open Theism first appeared on OnScript.
The debate as to whether the phrase πίστiς Χριστοῦ should be translated as "faith in Christ" (objective genitive) or the faithfulness of the Christ (subjective genitive) seems interminable. In an important new journal article, Kevin Grasso claims to have entirely disproven the viability of the objective genitive as traditionally understood. Meanwhile, he claims that a third-way solution ("Christ-faith" is better evidenced grammatically, while it also makes good theological sense of aspects of the subjective interpretation.
The post Kevin Grasso – Christ-Faith in Paul’s Letters first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Conversations on sanctification can often leave Christians feeling spiritually inadequate and discouraged about their lack of spiritual growth and maturity, but Don J. Payne insists that this arises from […]
The post Don J. Payne – Already Sanctified first appeared on OnScript.
Dru's discussion with Dr. Esau McCaulley spans across matters of biblical theology, NT interpretation, the hermeneutics of the Black Church in America, and how his own biography has played into his scholarship. Reading While Black is a forceful and encouraging message to the Black Church that McCaulley has written so that non-Black readers can listen in and learn. Sho Baraka's blurb captures this book well for the OnScript audience:
“Esau McCaulley is untying the Gordian knot that has kept Black Christians bound to theological ultimatums. This is a book for theologians who hope to play outside the trite sandboxes of their seminaries and for the practitioners who find themselves in need of a Black lexicon."
The post Esau McCaulley – Reading While Black first appeared on OnScript.
"Our Father, who is in heaven..." These words and the rest of the Lord's Prayer are so familiar. They remind us to seek God, draw us into communal prayer with the church, and bring comfort. However, while we repeat words we cherish, sometimes this familiarity becomes distance. In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks with Dr. Justo González about his new book Teach Us To Pray: The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church and Today (Eerdmans, 2020). Let us come to the Lord's Prayer anew, without fear and with new understanding.
The post Justo González – Prayer in the Early Church and Today first appeared on OnScript.
Chris Green is on the show to talk about how God is not saving us from interpretation, but through it - a process that can be "soul harrowing and purgative." Chris talks about problematic and more helpful models of Scripture and its interpretation, his appreciation for George MacDonald, approaches to troublesome texts, and we even have a brief poetry reading from the poetry collection Bigly. All these things and more await you in this one jam-packed episode on the second edition of his Sanctifying Interpretation.
The post Chris Green – Sanctifying Interpretation first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin Heim and Dru Johnson discuss part II of Erin’s paper “Resurrection and the #MeToo Movement,” which is part of a larger project that Erin is working on as […]
The post Erin Heim – Resurrection and the #metoo movement (part II) first appeared on OnScript.
How is memory made and maintained in a community? Moreover, how can a community remember something they never witnessed? A. J. Culp walks us through recent turns in memory theory to explore how Deuteronomy, as a piece of literature, instantiates and reifies memory in Israel. We address misconceptions of memory as individualistic, how literature can form memory, and the use of memory for social identity. For Christians and Jews, the implications for their tradition's rituals and sacraments are manifest.
The post A.J. Culp – Memoir of Moses first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Unusually for OnScript, we held a debate. Or perhaps it is better called a friendly chat between two scholars who disagree. On what? On the question of divine simplicity […]
The post R. T. Mullins & Steven Nemes Debate Divine Simplicity first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We're back with our fourth annual live-recorded podcast episode at Nashotah House Theological Seminary! Dr. Jeannine Brown joined us this year to discuss her book The Gospels as Stories(Baker Academic, 2020). Tune in for conversation about the importance of narrative thinking, intertextuality, and women among the disciples, and for a very special speed round.
The post Jeannine Brown – The Gospels as Stories first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: When you read a passage in Scripture or hear about someone’s experience with the supernatural (be it angelic, demonic, etc), what is your instinct? Explain it using specific hermeneutical tools? How? Do […]
The post Esther Acolatse – Powers, Principalities, and the Spirit first appeared on OnScript.
Was baptism spiritual, political, or both? And to what degree was baptism seen as saving in the New Testament and early Christianity? Why? In his provocative and important new book Caesar and the Sacrament, R. Alan Streett shows that baptism was a politically subversive action that involved swearing an oath of allegiance to a new king. Co-hosted by Matt Bates.
The post R. Alan Streett – Caesar and the Sacrament first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: How does Jesus’s death rescue not only humanity from its shame, but save God’s face? The honor-shame framework changes how we think about the gospel, faith, sin, and glory. […]
The post Jackson W. – Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In a previous episode Chris Tilling and Matt Bates interviewed two of the co-authors (Barber and Pitre) of the book, Paul, A New Covenant Jew. The third co-author of this book, John Kincaid, […]
The post John Kincaid – Justification and Divine Sonship in Paul first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Carmen Imes has been on a podcast tour, and we’re thrilled that she joined us for this episode to discuss her book Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters. We […]
The post Carmen Imes – Why Sinai Still Matters first appeared on OnScript.
How should we read the Old Testament? Is there only one valid interpretation or a plurality of interpretations? If the latter, then how do we maintain intellectual humility and find valid methods for addressing the texts of Scripture? For a first-ever joint episode with the Center for Hebraic Thought, Dru talks to Dr. Jaco Gericke of North-West University, South Africa about his journey to philosophical theology, and some of his current research, particularly his recent book, A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament: A historical, experimental, comparative and analytic perspective. Along the way, they discuss atheism, the necessity of bringing a philosophical perspective to biblical studies, developing reliable methods for reading Scripture, and even some terrible jokes.
The post Jaco Gericke – A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Who was Paul? How might we understand him as a Jew? What type of Jew was he? How do our answers impact our interpretation of Paul’s theology of justification, Christology, the death of Christ, and more besides? In this episode, Matthew Bates and Chris Tilling talk to two of the co-authors of the new book, Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology, by Brant Pitre, Michael P. Barber and John A. Kincaid (Eerdmans, 2019). After presenting a case for thinking about Paul as a new covenant Jew, the authors discuss Paul and apocalyptic, Pauline Christology, the cross and atonement theology, justification through divine sonship and the Lord’s Supper. Sparkling with fresh insights, this book contributes to numerous debates in exciting ways. This is, as one reviewer put it, “Paul the pop-up book”!
The post Brant Pitre & Michael Barber – Paul, a New Covenant Jew first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What am I? Why am I here? Why do I exist? In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes talks to Joshua R. Farris about the existential crisis-inducing subject of theological anthropology. Farris has written […]
The post Joshua Farris – Theological Anthropology first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin Heim and Dru Johnson discuss Erin’s paper “Resurrection and the #MeToo Movement,” which is part of a larger project that Erin is working on as she wrestles theologically […]
The post Erin Heim with Dru Johnson – Resurrection and the #MeToo Movement (Part 1) first appeared on OnScript.
Christopher B. Hays sits down with Matt Lynch to discuss one of the most important and hotly contested sections of Isaiah. Among the only Old Testament texts to mention resurrection from the dead, Isaiah 24-27 have long perplexed and intrigued biblical scholars. In this episode, we talk all things Isaiah, corn whisky, colonizing Mars, and other important subjects related to Chris' recent book "The Origins of Isaiah 24-27."
The post Christopher Hays – Isaiah and Assyria first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode we discuss Lincoln Harvey’s thrilling guide to the work of Robert W. Jenson (1930-2017). Jenson, arguably America’s most important theologian, is so because he thinks Jesus of Nazareth is always and for ever one of the Trinity. “Mary’s boy and Pilate’s victim” is the Father’s eternal Son, so there has never been an unfleshed Word. It follows from this that the God of the Gospel is much stranger than we imagine. Harvey’s book presents an astonishingly lucid and penetrating guide into Jenson’s remarkable proposal. Demonstrating Jenson’s signature moves, as well as his fundamental re-working of the dogmatic tradition, Harvey shows how only an evangelized metaphysics can make sense of the identity of Jesus Christ. Our discussion in this episode thus plunges into strange territory, raising odd questions and answers to such weighty matters as the nature of time, space, God’s act of creation, the centrality of Jesus, substance metaphysics and much more.
Guest: Dr Lincoln Harvey is Assistant Dean and Lecturer in Systematic Theology at St Mellitus College, UK. He has a PhD from King’s College, London, and is author of Jesus in the Trinity: A Beginner’s Guide to the Theology of Robert Jenson (2020) and A Brief Theology of Sport (2014). Lincoln has also edited two collections of essays, The Theology of Colin Gunton (2010) and Essays on the Trinity (2018).
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Episode: In this episode we discuss Lincoln Harvey’s thrilling guide to the work of Robert W. Jenson (1930-2017). Jenson, arguably America’s most important theologian, is so because he thinks Jesus of Nazareth is always and for ever one of the Trinity. “Mary’s boy and Pilate’s victim” is the Father’s eternal Son, so there has never been an unfleshed Word. It follows from this that the God of the Gospel is much stranger than we imagine. Harvey’s book presents an astonishingly lucid and penetrating guide into Jenson’s remarkable proposal. Demonstrating Jenson’s signature moves, as well as his fundamental re-working of the dogmatic tradition, Harvey shows how only an evangelized metaphysics can make sense of the identity of Jesus Christ. Our discussion in this episode thus plunges into strange territory, raising odd questions and answers to such weighty matters as the nature of time, space, God’s act of creation, the centrality of Jesus, substance metaphysics and much more.
The post Lincoln Harvey – Theology of Robert Jenson first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Environmental lawyer Gus Speth said, “I used to think that the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science […]
The post Sandra Richter – Stewards of Eden first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Environmental lawyer Gus Speth said, "I used to think that the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don't know how to do that" (qtd Richter, 106). In this episode Matt L speaks with Prof Sandra Richter about the ways that Scripture lays the foundations for the kind of cultural and spiritual transformation that Speth identifies. She shows how the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, commends environmental stewardship, and challenges many contemporary practices, from food production and acquisition to Mountain Top Removal for coal mining, and military practices. This episode will provoke and challenge listeners to heed and take action to address the long environmental emergency that we currently face, and to see in Scripture a word of Edenic hope. Our discussion is rooted in her recent book Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says about the Environment and Why it Matters (IVP, 2020).
Guest: Professor Richter is The Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in California. She has a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and is the author of several books, including The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (IVP, 2010), The Deuteronomistic History and the Name Theology (de Gruyter, 2002). Her most recent book is Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says about the Environment and Why it Matters (IVP, 2020). She is writing commentaries on Deuteronomy and Isaiah, and has also written a series of Bible studies, with accompanying DVD's) for church groups with Seedbed.
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Episode: Nyasha Junior is back on the show to discuss her new book Reimagining Hagar: Blackness and the Bible. Matt Lynch hosts a discussion on race, ethnicity, and color in biblical interpretation. Taking the character of Hagar, Junior traces a fascinating and at times disturbing history of biblical interpretation on these themes, and helps readers (and listeners) untangle what is often confused. We also cover growing up with implicit segregation in Florida, the history of mosquitoes, book and music recommendations (like Stony the Road), and much more!
Guest: Nyasha Junior has a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is Associate Professor of Religion at Temple University, Philadelphia. She will be visiting faculty at Harvard University in the 2020-2021 academic year. She is the author of Womanist Biblical Interpretation (WJK Press) and Reimagining Hagar: Blackness and Bible (OUP), discussed in this episode. She has a new book coming out this year, co-authored with Jeremy Schipper, called Black Samson: The Untold Story of an American Icon (OUP). Her public facing scholarship has been featured in The Washington Post, Inside Higher Ed, Religion and Politics, and other media outlets. To learn more about Nyasha, check out her website.
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
Episode: Nyasha Junior is back on the show to discuss her new book Reimagining Hagar: Blackness and the Bible. Matt Lynch hosts a discussion on race, ethnicity, and color in biblical […]
The post Nyasha Junior – Reimagining Hagar: Blackness and the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this re-run of a 2018 episode, Matt Lynch interviews Christian Hofreiter (RZIM) on one of the most vexed issues in biblical studies … genocide in the Old Testament. […]
The post Christian Hofreiter – Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this re-run of a 2018 episode, Matt Lynch interviews Christian Hofreiter (RZIM) on one of the most vexed issues in biblical studies ... genocide in the Old Testament. Christian Hofreiter has been pondering this question for a long time, and has written a groundbreaking work on the subject - Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Guest: (from the RZIM site) The Revd Dr Christian Hofreiter is Director of RZIM Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the Zacharias Institut für Wissenschaft, Kultur und Glaube, a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and, most recently, the author of Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018). A native of Austria, he has studied, lived and worked in Innsbruck, Brussels, London, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Oxford, and now lives with his family in Vienna, Austria.
From 2008-2012, Christian served with the Oxford Pastorate as a chaplain to the graduate student body at Oxford University, working closely with senior academics, leaders of various churches, and a broad variety of students. An ordained Anglican minister, he was also a member of the leadership team at St Aldates Church, Oxford.
In addition, Christian studied theology at Oxford University, earning three degrees (MA, MSt, DPhil), winning several prizes and scholarships, and gaining the top first class award in 2008. His doctoral research focused on the Christian interpretation of “genocide texts” in the Old Testament.
Before arriving in Oxford, Christian worked in a government relations firm in Washington, DC, which represented the interests of foreign governments and other clients to the United States Congress and Administration, and also served as deacon at the Church of the Resurrection on Capitol Hill.
Book: Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018) takes an historical look at how Christians through the centuries have addressed, wrestled with, and re-interpreted the 'herem' passages in the Old Testament. Herem is the practice of devoting people or objects to destruction (or removing them from use) at the behest of a deity. Hofreiter provides a critically rich and illuminating tour of the history of Christian engagement with these challenging biblical passages. For a 30% discount on the book, use the promo code AAFLYG6 on the global website (oup.com)
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Episode: In this episode, Erin hosts Fleming Rutledge for a fireside chat before a live audience at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford. Listen as Fleming shares pearls of wisdom from her […]
The post Fleming Rutledge – A Fireside Chat on The Crucifixion, Advent, and Preaching first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Triple-crown episode!! Sheblatzm is back for the 3rd time, and he’s not holding back. This episode will revolutionalize the way you think about theology, science, and yourself. But it’s not […]
The post Ervine Sheblatzm – Feathers on the Nose: Paul’s Radical Pastoral Theology for the Non-Anthropic World first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Has the Chalcedonian Definition stood the test of time and theological challenge? Ian McFarland thinks so and advocates for a “Chalcedonianism without reserve” in his newest book, The Word Made […]
The post (Theology) Ian McFarland – The Word Made Flesh first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode takes you on a wild ride through the land of the Bible, the world of Josephus, into the ER after crashed planes, by the Dead Sea, and includes encounters with Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and a fire-breathing dragon. Brace yourself!
Guest: Dr. Wave Nunnally is Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins at Evangel University in Springfiled, MO. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Book of Acts and Knowing Your Bible. He leads regular study trips to Israel, which include training materials (see The Bible Unplugged) on-site teaching, and follow-up coaching. More of Wave's material can be found at http://centralfaithbuilders.com/.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
This episode takes you on a wild ride through the land of the Bible, the world of Josephus, into the ER after crashed planes, by the Dead Sea, and includes encounters with Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and a fire-breathing dragon. Brace yourself!
The post Wave Nunnally – Israel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Dead Sea Scrolls first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this third episode of a mini-series on "faith" (pistis), Jeanette Hagen Pifer brings a different method to bear on pistis, looking at what we might glean from wider conceptual categories related to "faith," like persuasion and boasting. And she was a missionary in the former Soviet Union before becoming a professor! Join her and OnScript co-host Matthew W. Bates, as they discuss Jeanette's new book, Faith as Participation.
Guest: Jeanette Hagen Pifer is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Biola University She has served in a variety of ministry capacities including evangelistic and humanitarian work with orphans in the former Soviet Union, helping to facilitate for theological and ministry training around the world, and serving in a church plant in Whittier, Calif. She completed her Ph.D., studying under Professor John Barclay at Durham University. Her research focused on the Pauline concept of faith. Hagen has presented academic papers at a number of conferences in the U.S. and in Europe. She also contributed to the Lightfoot Legacy, a three volume set of previously unpublished commentaries by this foremost English NT scholar of the 19th century. Prior to coming to Biola, Hagen taught at Cranmer Hall in Durham England, a theological college focused on training individuals called to full-time Christian service.
The Book: Jeanette Hagen Pifer, Faith as Participation: An Exegetical Study of Some Key Pauline Texts (WUNT 486; Mohr Siebeck, 2019). Jeanette Hagen Pifer contends that several of the apparent conundrums in recent Pauline scholarship turn out to derive from an inadequate understanding of what Paul means by faith. By first exploring the question of what Paul means by faith outside of the classic justification passages in Romans and Galatians, she reveals faith as an active and productive mode of human existence. Yet this existence is not a form of human self-achievement. On the contrary, faith is precisely the denial of self-effort and a dependence upon the prior gracious work of Christ. In this way, faith is self-negating and self-involving participation in the Christ-event. (Publisher’s description, abridged).
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: In this third episode of a mini-series on "faith" (pistis), Jeanette Hagen Pifer brings a different method to bear on pistis, looking at what we might glean from wider conceptual categories related to "faith," like persuasion and boasting. And she was a missionary in the former Soviet Union before becoming a professor! Join her and OnScript co-host Matthew W. Bates, as they discuss Jeanette's new book, Faith as Participation.
The post Jeanette Hagen Pifer – Faith as Participation first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: After years of relative silence, conversations about “faith” (pistis) in the New Testament and early Christianity are suddenly blossoming. Pistis is essential. But because it’s multifaceted and can be […]
The post Nijay Gupta – Paul and the Language of Faith first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: After years of relative silence, conversations about "faith" (pistis) in the New Testament and early Christianity are suddenly blossoming. Pistis is essential. But because it's multifaceted and can be used in so many contexts, Nijay Gupta compares it to a Swiss Army knife. OnScript co-host Matthew Bates welcomes guest Nijay Gupta to speak about Nijay's exciting new book, Paul and the Language of Faith.
Guests: Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham) teaches New Testament at Portland Seminary (Portland, OR). He has written academic articles and books, most recently Paul and the Language of Faith (Eerdmans, 2020). He is also co-editor of The State of New Testament Studies (Baker Academic, 2019) and co-editor of the planned second edition of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (IVP Academic, ~2022). Watch out for his soon-to-appear A Beginner's Guide to the New Testament (Baker Academic, 2020). Gupta blogs at www.cruxsolablog.com. When he is not working, he likes to cook Asian food, watch superhero movies, drink good coffee, go to a Portland Timbers soccer game, and hang out with his wife Amy and his three kids.
The Book: Nijay Gupta, Paul and the Language of Faith (Eerdmans, 2020). A dynamic reading of Paul’s faith language, outlining its subtle nuances as belief, trust, and faithfulness. Faith language permeates the letters of Paul. Yet, its exact meaning is not always clear. Many today, reflecting centuries of interpretation, consider belief in Jesus to be a passive act. In this important book, Nijay Gupta challenges common assumptions in the interpretation of Paul and calls for a reexamination of Paul’s faith language. Gupta argues that Paul’s faith language resonates with a Jewish understanding of covenant involving goodwill, trust, and expectation. Paul’s understanding of faith involves the transformation of one’s perception of God and the world through Christ, relational dependence on Christ, as well as active loyalty to Christ. Pastors and scholars alike will benefit from this close examination of Paul’s understanding and use of faith language. For Gupta, Paul’s understanding involves a divine-human relationship centered on Christ that believes, trusts, and obeys. (Publisher’s description, unabridged).
The OnScript Quip (our review): This book should excite scholars and pastors. Gupta reveals the full spectrum of "faith" language in early Christianity. It is an exciting exposition of how faith language interfaces with loyalty, covenant, cognition—and much more. Our understanding of early Christian theology has been enriched. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Gospel Allegiance, OnScript
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: Dru Johnson talks with Jim Diamond about his long term project of thinking theologically with the biblical authors. Through close readings of key biblical texts and Jewish sages, Diamond […]
The post James Diamond – Jewish Theology Unbound first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dru Johnson speaks with James Diamond about why Jewish theology matters, and how he understands themes like love, death, freedom, names of God, angels, the philosophical quest, and Zionism in light of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish Rabbinic, philosophical, and mystical traditions. This episode focuses on his book Jewish Theology Unbound (OUP).
Guest: Professor James A. Diamond is the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and Medieval Jewish Thought from the University of Toronto, and an LL.M. from New York University’s Law School. He is also a Herzl Institute/Templeton Foundation Fellow. Dr. Diamond is the author of Maimonides and the Hermeneutics of Concealment (SUNY, 2002) which was awarded the Canadian Jewish Book Award and Converts, Heretics and Lepers: Maimonides and the Outsider (University of Notre Dame, 2008), awarded Notable Selection-Jordan Schnitzer Book Award in the Category of Philosophy and Jewish Thought for best book in 4 years (2008). His book Maimonides and the Shaping of the Jewish Canon (Cambridge, 2014) was a recipient of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and his most recent book is JewishTheology Unbound (OUP).
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: In this episode Matt Lynch sits down with Dan Pioske to talk about the way we know about ancient Israel. Most scholars have been so text-based in their assumptions about […]
The post Daniel Pioske – How Did Biblical Writers Access The Past? first appeared on OnScript.
Podcast interview of David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga by Matthew W. Bates and Erin Heim.
The post David Downs & Benjamin Lappenga – The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Jesus was faithful to us in dying on the cross. But how does this inform faith? And does Jesus' faithfulness stop at the cross, or does it extend into his on-going life as the resurrected and exalted one? What might all of this say about the disputed pistis Christou phrase? And did you know that in addition to coauthoring a book, David Downs and Benjamin Lappenga have run a marathon? Or that Lappenga fronted a Seattle rock band? OnScript co-hosts Matthew Bates and Erin Heim welcome guests David Downs and Benjamin Lappenga to speak about their new book, The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ.
Guests: Dr. David J. Downs is Clarendon-Laing Associate Professor in New Testament Studies at Oxford University’s Keble College. Previously he was a professor of Biblical Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He holds degrees from Clemson, Fuller, and Princeton, having served as a teaching fellow at Princeton and a visiting professor at Holy Cross. In addition to the book we are discussing today, The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ (Baylor University Press, 2019), David has also published Alms (Baylor University Press, 2016) and The Offering of the Gentiles (Mohr Siebeck, 2008; repr. Eerdmans, 2016), as well as numerous journal articles.
Dr. Benjamin Lappenga holds a PhD. From Fuller Seminary in theology (New Testament). He was previously Associate Professor of Theology and Department Chair at Dordt College near Sioux City, Iowa. He is also the author of Paul’s Language of Ζῆλος: Monosemy and the Rhetoric of Identity and Practice (Leiden: Brill, 2016).
The Book: David J. Downs and Benjamin J. Lappenga, The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ: Pistis and the Exalted Lord in the Pauline Letters (Baylor University Press, 2019). The pistis Christou construction in Paul’s letters has ignited heated debates among Pauline scholars and theologians. On the one side, some claim that the phrase denotes human faith placed in Christ. Others, however, contend that pistis Christou in Paul alludes to the faithfulness of Christ himself, with Christ’s pistis chiefly demonstrated in his willingness to suffer and die upon the cross. Yet both sides of this debate overlook Paul’s emphasis on the faithfulness and continuing work of the risen and exalted Christ. Downs and Lappenga effectively reframe any future consideration of the pistis Christou construction for both New Testament scholars and theologians by showing that the story of Jesus in the letters of Paul extends to the faithfulness of the exalted Christ Jesus, who will remain faithful to those justified through union with Christ. (Publisher’s description, abridged).
The OnScript Quip (our review): Downs and Lappenga open the shutters and remove the blinds. Once we see the that "the faith of Christ" includes the faithfulness of the risen and exalted Christ, Paul's letters will never look the same. The Faithfulness of the Risen Christ is an enlightening and energetic contribution that is sure to reshape academic and pastoral conversations about how "faith" and "faithfulness" interface in salvation. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
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Episode: We’re going back to the dirt in this episode with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott. We talk about bee hives, the Daniel diet, Ezekiel bread, gender & archaeology, and why Cynthia is willing […]
The post Cynthia Shafer-Elliott – Digging Up Israel’s Past first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this week’s episode co-host Dru Johnson interviews co-host Matt Lynch, and there’s a surprise mystery guest! Guest: Matt Lynch is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Old Testament at Westminster Theological […]
The post Dru Johnson interviews Matt Lynch first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Willie James Jennings joins host Amy Hughes to talk about his The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race ten years after its publication. This compelling work […]
The post Willie Jennings – Race and Christian Theology first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Willie James Jennings joins host Amy Hughes to talk about his The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race ten years after its publication. This compelling work is indispensable for current theological and cultural conversations about race, colonization, Scripture, supersessionism, and the relationship between humans and land.
Guest: The Reverend Dr. Willie James Jennings is currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University Divinity School.
Dr. Jennings was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Jennings received his B.A. in Religion and Theological Studies from Calvin College (1984), his M.Div. (Master of Divinity degree) from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California, and his Ph.D. degree from Duke University. Dr. Jennings who is a systematic theologian teaches in the areas of theology, black church and Africana studies, as well as post-colonial and race theory. Dr. Jennings is the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race published by Yale University Press. It is one of the most important books in theology written in the last 25 years and is now a standard text read in colleges, seminaries, and universities. Dr. Jennings is also the recipient of the 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his groundbreaking work on race and Christianity. Dr. Jennings recently authored commentary on the Book of Acts has won the Reference Book of the Year Award, from The Academy of Parish Clergy. His book on theological education entitled, After Whiteness: Cultivating Erotic Souls, will be published in the fall of 2020. And now Dr. Jennings is hard at work on a book on the doctrine of creation, tentatively entitled, “Reframing the World.”
In addition to being a frequent lecturer at colleges, universities, and seminaries, Dr. Jennings is also a regular workshop leader at pastor conferences. He is also a consultant for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, and for the Association of Theological Schools. He served along with his wife, the Reverend Joanne L. Browne Jennings as associate ministers at the Mount Level Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, and for many years, they served together as interim pastors for several Presbyterian and Baptist churches in North Carolina. They are the parents of two wonderful daughters, Njeri and Safiya Jennings.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
If you like this: Check out our episode with Nyasha Junior about her book An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation.
In this episode, Dru interviews scholars and publishers at the book tables and receptions at the annual meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature (which also includes the American Academy of Religion, Institute for Biblical Research, American Schools of Oriental Research, and more!). Order of appearance:
Robin "the rain in Spain" Parry (Wipf & Stock)
Marc Cortez (Wheaton)
Rodrigo de Sousa (Faculté Jean Calvin)
Nijay Gupta (George Fox University)
John Anthony Dunne (Bethel Seminary)
Jesse Myers/Miles Custis (Lexham Press)
Ela Lazarewicz-Wyrzykowska (Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology)
Heath Thomas (Oklahoma Baptist University)
Mary Katharine Hom (Independent Scholar/OnScript regular)
Anne-Marie Ellithorpe (Vancouver School of Theology)
The post SBL Special Report! An Inbetwepisode first appeared on OnScript.
In this inbetwepisode, Dru interviews scholars and publishers at the book tables and receptions at the annual meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature (which also includes the American Academy of Religion, Institute for Biblical Research, American Schools of Oriental Research, and more!). Order of appearance:
- Robin "the rain in Spain" Parry (Wipf & Stock)
- Marc Cortez (Wheaton)
- Rodrigo de Sousa (Faculté Jean Calvin)
- Nijay Gupta (George Fox University)
- John Anthony Dunne (Bethel Seminary)
- Jesse Myers/Miles Custis (Lexham Press)
- Ela Lazarewicz-Wyrzykowska (Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology)
- Heath Thomas (Oklahoma Baptist University)
- Mary Katharine Hom (Independent Scholar/OnScript regular)
- Anne-Marie Ellithorpe (Vancouver School of Theology)
Episode: Michael Bird speaks with Matt Bates and Erin Heim about his new joint venture with N.T. Wright, The New Testament in Its World (Zondervan, 2019). We discussed Mike’s take on […]
The post Michael Bird – The New Testament in Its World (with N. T. Wright) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Benjamin Sommer speaks with Matt Lynch about Torah, Sinai, Jewish perspectives on the authority of the Hebrew Bible, Psalms, lament, and way more. Guest: Benjamin D. Sommer is Professor of […]
The post Benjamin Sommer – Revelation and the Authority of the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This is a re-release. Larry Hurtado passed away recently, and in memory of his contributions to biblical studies, we’re re-releasing this 2016 episode. Apologies for the sound quality. Larry […]
The post Larry Hurtado – Destroyer of the Gods first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What hath penal substitution to do with recapitulation? Or Christus Victor with moral influence? Turns out, quite a lot. Of the making of many books and ideas on atonement there is no end. Could there be room for a new approach? In this episode, Josh McNall joins host Amy Hughes for a conversation on his new book The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ's Work in which he presents a way to reconsider the fracturing of perspectives on Christ's work and to reintegrate the various models of atonement.
Guest: Joshua McNall is Ambassador of Church Relations and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. After planting a Wesleyan church near Grand Rapids, Michigan, Josh completed his PhD at the University of Manchester (UK). Since then, he has published three books, including A Free Corrector: Colin Gunton and the Legacy of Augustine (Fortress, 2015), the popular-level, Long Story Short: The Bible in Six Simple Movements (Seedbed, 2018), and The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ's Work (Zondervan Academic, 2019). He and his wife Brianna have four small children and he blogs regularly on issues of theology and culture at www.joshuamcnall.com.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: What hath penal substitution to do with recapitulation? Or Christus Victor with moral influence? Turns out, quite a lot. Of the making of many books and ideas on atonement there […]
The post Josh McNall – The Mosaic of Atonement first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Chris Tilling presents his work on Karl Barth’s Romans commentary. He argues that Barth’s reading of Romans is worth the attention of biblical scholars, even though Barth is a systematic theologian. […]
The post Chris Tilling – Barth on Romans (Part 2) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Chris Tilling presents his work on Karl Barth's Romans commentary. He argues that Barth's reading of Romans is worth the attention of biblical scholars, even though Barth is a systematic theologian. Go figure! This is part 2 of a 2-part episode.
Host: Chris Tilling is Graduate Tutor and Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at St Mellitus College. Chris co-authored How God Became Jesus (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2014) with Michael Bird (ed.), Craig Evans, Simon Gathercole, and Charles Hill. He is also the editor of Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul (Eugene, Or: Cascade, 2014). Chris’s first book, the critically acclaimedPaul’s Divine Christology (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), is now republished with multiple endorsements and a new Foreword, by Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2015). He is presently co-editing theT&T Clark Companion to Christology (forthcoming, 2020), and writing the NICNT commentary on theSecond Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, forthcoming). Chris has published numerous articles on topics relating to the Apostle Paul, Christology, justification, the historical Jesus, Paul S. Fiddes, Karl Barth, the theology of Hans Küng, and more besides. He has appeared as a media figure for Biologos, GCI, Eerdmans, Wipf & Stock, and HTB’s School of Theology. He has organised public theology lectures as well as theology conferences, and he enjoys playing golf and chess, now working as editor for a couple of chess publishing houses. He is married to Anja and has two children.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: Chris Tilling presents his work on Karl Barth’s Romans commentary. He argues that Barth’s reading of Romans is worth the attention of biblical scholars, even though Barth is a systematic theologian. […]
The post Chris Tilling – Barth on Romans (Part 1) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Chris Tilling presents his work on Karl Barth's Romans commentary. He argues that Barth's reading of Romans is worth the attention of biblical scholars, even though Barth is a systematic theologian. Go figure! This is part 1 of a 2-part episode.
Host: Chris Tilling is Graduate Tutor and Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at St Mellitus College. Chris co-authored How God Became Jesus (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2014) with Michael Bird (ed.), Craig Evans, Simon Gathercole, and Charles Hill. He is also the editor of Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul (Eugene, Or: Cascade, 2014). Chris’s first book, the critically acclaimedPaul’s Divine Christology (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012), is now republished with multiple endorsements and a new Foreword, by Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2015). He is presently co-editing theT&T Clark Companion to Christology (forthcoming, 2020), and writing the NICNT commentary on theSecond Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, forthcoming). Chris has published numerous articles on topics relating to the Apostle Paul, Christology, justification, the historical Jesus, Paul S. Fiddes, Karl Barth, the theology of Hans Küng, and more besides. He has appeared as a media figure for Biologos, GCI, Eerdmans, Wipf & Stock, and HTB’s School of Theology. He has organised public theology lectures as well as theology conferences, and he enjoys playing golf and chess, now working as editor for a couple of chess publishing houses. He is married to Anja and has two children.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
Episode: Philip Ziegler joins Erin Heim to discuss apocalyptic theology, Pauline literature, and the implications of both for Christian discipleship. They discuss Ziegler's new book, Militant Grace, which constitutes a serious theological engagement and response to the apocalyptic turn in Pauline studies. Along the way, Professor Ziegler shares with us the influence friends and mentors like J. Louis Martyn have had on him both personally and professionally.
Guest (from the University of Aberdeen): Philip Ziegler holds a doctorate from the University of Toronto / Victoria University, where he studied systematic and historical theology, ecumenics and the philosophy of religion at several member colleges of the Toronto School of Theology. He was ordained to the Order of Ministry of the United Church of Canada in 1996. During 2000/1 he was a Junior Fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto. After holding a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Religion, he taught at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Canada as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology. Philip joined the faculty of the University of Aberdeen as Lecturer in Systematic Theology in January 2006. In 2016 he was appointed to a personal Chair in Christian Dogmatics. He is a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.
Book: Militant Grace (Baker, 2018) (from the publisher's website):This clear and comprehensive introduction to apocalyptic theology demonstrates the significance of apocalyptic readings of the New Testament for systematic theology and highlights the ethical implications of the apocalyptic turn in biblical and theological studies. Written by a leading theologian and proponent of apocalyptic theology, this primer explores the impact of important recent Pauline scholarship on contemporary theology and argues for a renewed understanding of key Christian doctrines, including sin, grace, revelation, redemption, and the Christian life.
Give: Help support OnScript as we grow and develop. Click HERE.
If you like this: Check out our interview with Fred Sanders on his book The Triune God.
Episode: Philip Ziegler joins Erin Heim to discuss apocalyptic theology, Pauline literature, and the implications of both for Christian discipleship. They discuss Ziegler’s new book, Militant Grace, which constitutes a […]
The post Philip Ziegler – Militant Grace first appeared on OnScript.
Seth Heringer's Uniting History and Theology (Fortress Press) argues that Christians do not need to use the historical-critical method to make historical claims but should instead write boldly Christian history. By using the historical method, grounded as it is in an incomplete understating of German historicism, they close off investigation of the past from the aesthetic and, importantly, from God. This is why 20th-century Christian scholarship has failed to unite history and theology. Instead of relying on the historical method as the primary way to think about past events, Christians need to reimage what historical work entails. Heringer thus presents a Christian approach to history that dialogues with recent developments in historical theory.
The post Seth Heringer – Theology and History first appeared on OnScript.
You've spoken. We've listened. You've asked for more episodes giving a window into the secret lives of OnScript co-hosts. Or at least, you've asked us to allow more time for chat between hosts. So we'll try to do a bit more of that. In this episode, Matt Lynch and Matt Bates, the co-founders of OnScript, ask each other questions about Paul, hell, life, violence, divine-human appearances in the OT, faith as allegiance, Matt B.'s new book, books we've read, and more. Enjoy, and share the word!
The post Q&A – Matt Lynch and Matt Bates first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: You've spoken. We've listened. You've asked for more episodes giving a window into the secret lives of OnScript co-hosts. Or at least, you've asked us to allow more time for chat between hosts. So we'll try to do a bit more of that. In this episode, Matt Lynch and Matt Bates, the co-founders of OnScript, ask each other questions about Paul, hell, life, violence, divine-human appearances in the OT, faith as allegiance, Matt B.'s new book, books we've read, and more. Enjoy, and share the word!
Hosts: Matt Bates (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Quincy University. He writes with a posture of faith seeking understanding, with a desire to serve the church, academy, and any reader of goodwill. He's the author of Gospel Allegiance (Brazos, 2019), Salvation by Allegiance Alone (Baker Academic, 2017) is now available for order. His recent The Birth of the Trinity (Oxford University Press, 2015) focuses on how certain reading strategies helped early Christians to see that the one God can be differentiated as multiple persons. He has also written on the Apostle Paul’s method of interpreting Scripture: The Hermeneutics of the Apostolic Proclamation (Baylor University Press, 2012). A current book project, to be published by Eerdmans, explores the process by which Jesus came to be enthroned as king, as well as the theological implications for us today.
Matt Lynch is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Old Testament at Westminster Theological Centre in the UK. He's the author of Monotheism and Institutions in the Book of Chronicles (Mohr Siebeck, 2014), and Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge, forthcoming 2020), and has written various articles on the Old Testament. He also blogs regularly at theologicalmisc.net. Matt is particularly interested in helping students grasp the theological and literary contours of the Old Testament, wrestle through its ethical and historical challenges, and understand its ongoing significance.
What is the relationship between the individual Christian and the community of faith? How do we navigate the pendulum swings between an overemphasis on the individual at the expense of community and an overemphasis on community at the expense of the individual? In this episode, OnScript host Amy Brown Hughes talks with her colleague Sharon Ketcham about her new book Reciprocal Church: Becoming a Community Where Faith Flourishes Beyond High School, how often we talk about faith as a "product," what theological anthropology must undergird our ecclesiology, and where hope lies in the future of the church.
The post Sharon Ketcham – Reciprocal Church first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We all know that for Christians, Scripture is crucial–it’s the lifeblood of the church. But when we press deeper, what is it? What do words like authority and inspiration […]
The post Joseph Gordon – Divine Scripture in Human Understanding first appeared on OnScript.
Theology Track Episode: Live from Nashotah House, WI (3rd year running), here’s part 2 of our interview with Fr John Behr. Amy Brown Hughes talks with Fr John Behr about […]
The post (Theology) Fr John Behr – Origen and the Early Church, Pt 2 first appeared on OnScript.
Theology Track Episode: Live from Nashotah House, WI (3rd year running), we’ve got a two-part interview. Amy Brown Hughes talks with Fr John Behr about Origen and all things Patristic. […]
The post (Theology) Fr John Behr – Origen and the Early Church, Pt1 first appeared on OnScript.
Theology Track Episode: Live from Nashotah House, WI (3rd year running), we've got a two-part interview. Amy Brown Hughes talks with Fr John Behr about Origen and all things Patristic. This episode requires theological safety gear, helmet, orange cones, ... everything. Enjoy part 1! More next week.
Guest: The Very Reverend Dr John Behr is a British Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian. He is the former Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he is currently the Director of the Master of Theology Program and the Father Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professor of Patristics. He was ordained to the diaconate on September 8, 2001 and the priesthood on September 14, 2001. He is the editor of the Patristic Series released by St. Vladimir's Press. He was elected dean of the seminary on November 18, 2006, and served as dean from 2007 until 2017, when he was named Father Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professor of Patristics. He's the author of numerous books, including translation works, e.g., Origen: On First Principles (Oxford), Irenaeus: On the Apostolic Teaching (St Vladimir's Press), The Way to Nicaea, Vol. 1 (St. Vladimir's Press), and Formation of Christian Theology, Vol. 2: The Nicene Faith (St. Vladimir's Press). (adapted from Wikipedia, no less)
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If you like this: Check out our episode with Amy Brown Hughes and Lynn Cohick on their book Christian Women in the Patristic World, as well as our episode with Meghan Henning on her book Educating Early Christians Through the Rhetoric of Hell, and our episode with Matthew Thomas on his book Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’ in the Perspective of Second Century Reception.
Episode: Erin Heim and Chris Tilling interview Darren Sarisky about his recent book Reading the Bible Theologically (Cambridge).
The post Darren Sarisky – Reading the Bible Theologically first appeared on OnScript.
This week's ep features a public talk from OnScript's Dru Johnson on his recent book Human Rites: The Power of Rituals, Habits, and Sacraments (Eerdmans, 2018). Special thanks to Christ Church Jerusalem who recorded this event, and let us re-post it here. Enjoy!
If you like this episode: Check out our original episode with Dru (before he was a host) on his book Knowledge by Ritual, and Dru's interview with Jonathan Pennington.
The post Dru Johnson – Human Rites first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Jonathan Greer joins the show to talk about a big project he just co-edited on the history, context, archaeology, culture, and world of the Old Testament. Jonathan shares from his own work digging at Tel Dan, a very significant site for understanding the Jerusalem Temple and worship in ancient Israel. They discuss major archaeologists, the historicity of events in the Bible, the interaction of faith and critical study, and much more.
Guest: Jonathan Greer is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Director of the Hesse Memorial Archaeological Laboratory at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He has written extensively on the history and context of the Bible. He's the author of Dinner at Dan: Biblical and Archaeological Evidence for Sacred Feasts at Iron Age II Tel Dan and Their Significance (Brill, 2013) and the co-editor with John Hilber and John Walton of Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts (Baker Academic, 2019).
If you like this episode: Check out our episodes on the Isaiah Seal Impression, and The Ancient World of the Bible.
Episode: Jonathan Greer joins the show to talk about a big project he just co-edited on the history, context, archaeology, culture, and world of the Old Testament. Jonathan shares from his own work digging at Tel Dan, a very significant site for understanding the Jerusalem Temple and worship in ancient Israel. They discuss major archaeologists, the historicity of events in the Bible, the interaction of faith and critical study, and much more.
Guest: Jonathan Greer is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Director of the Hesse Memorial Archaeological Laboratory at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He has written extensively on the history and context of the Bible. He's the author of Dinner at Dan: Biblical and Archaeological Evidence for Sacred Feasts at Iron Age II Tel Dan and Their Significance (Brill, 2013) and the co-editor with John Hilber and John Walton of Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts (Baker Academic, 2019).
If you like this episode: Check out our episodes on the Isaiah Seal Impression, and The Ancient World of the Bible.
The post Jonathan Greer – Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Matt Lynch has been eagerly awaiting this book (Opening Israel's Scriptures), and the chance to talk with one of his favorite OT scholars. That day has come! Matt speaks with Ellen Davis about the intersection of critical and theological biblical interpretation, the manna economy in Exodus, ecology and the Bible, Wendell Berry, violence in the Old Testament, lament, & more!
The post Ellen Davis – Opening Israel’s Scriptures first appeared on OnScript.
Ryan O'Dowd is the rare combination of Anglican Priest and scholar of the wisdom literature (though he agrees with Will Kynes's critique of the wisdom genre). In this episode, Dru and Ryan talk about his recent commentary on Proverbs in the Story of God series (Zondervan), his life as a pastor-scholar, and how being an academic is like being a model.
The post Ryan O’Dowd—Wisdom Literature and Commentaries first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Kelly Murphy joins OnScript to talk about about Gideon in scripture and tradition, and about how various biblical and post-biblical writers portray the Tuba Warrior as a 'real man' or not. This episode features discussion about editing the Bible, the book of Judges, Gideon, Zombies, and more.
Guest: Kelly is associate professor in the department of philosophy and religion at Central Michigan University. She completed her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Emory University. She’s the co-editor of Apocalypses in Context: Apocalyptic Currents Through History (Fortress) and the author of Rewriting Masculinity: Gideon, Men, and Might (OUP, 2019).
Episode: Kelly Murphy joins OnScript to talk about about Gideon in scripture and tradition, and about how various biblical and post-biblical writers portray the Tuba Warrior as a ‘real man’ […]
The post Kelly Murphy – Rewriting Masculinity first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The Pentecostals are taking over OnScript! Amy talks to Dr. Ivan Satyavrata, pastor and theologian about the necessity of the "traditioning" of Pentecostalism, the incongruence of Pentecostalism not being completely on board with women in ministry or engaging extensively with the poor, and a discussion of the transformation of the Holy Spirit.
Guest: Ivan holds a Ph.D from Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, UK, and ThM from Regent College, Vancouver. Dr. Ivan Satyavrata serves as the Senior Pastor of one of the largest churches in North India—a multilingual congregation of 8 languages and about 5,000 people in Kolkata, India—and as the executive director of multiple social justice and outreach ministries operated under the church’s auspices. The schools operated by the church provide education and basic health care for over 10,000 children, while the feeding stations of the church provide the only food source available to approximately 10,000 people per day. Additionally, Pastor Ivan oversees ministries of rescue from the sex trafficking industry, jobs training for the “untouchables” of Indian society, church planting throughout northeastern India, and teaching at the Buntain Theological College—a leading Christian undergraduate college in Northern India. His interests include Christian witness to people of other faiths and the Christian response to social issues. He has authored two books: Holy Spirit, Lord and Life Giver (Langham), God Has Not Left Himself Without Witness (Wipf & Stock), and most recently, Pentecostals and the Poor: Reflections from the Indian Context (Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press). Ivan’s wife Sheila [Elizabeth], and sons, Rahul and Rohan, are the pride and joy of his life.
The Pentecostals are taking over OnScript! Amy talks to Dr. Ivan Satyavrata, pastor and theologian about the necessity of the "traditioning" of Pentecostalism, the incongruence of Pentecostalism not being completely on board with women in ministry or engaging extensively with the poor, and a discussion of the transformation of the Holy Spirit.
The post (Theology) Ivan Satyavrata – Holy Spirit first appeared on OnScript.
How does social-memory theory change how we think about the New Testament? In Rafael Rodríguez's Jesus Darkly, the Jesus that emerges from the shadows is surprisingly bright and relevant. Yet even when he remains mysterious, the darkness helps us anticipate the ultimate face-to-face encounter.
The post Rafael Rodríguez – Jesus Darkly first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We see but a poor reflection, dimly. How does social-memory theory change how we think about the New Testament? In Rafael Rodríguez's Jesus Darkly, the Jesus that emerges from the shadows is surprisingly bright and relevant. Yet even when he remains mysterious, the darkness helps us anticipate the ultimate face-to-face encounter. Rodriguez talks candidly about how a foot-washing ceremony--which should not be confused with foot-licking--changed his life, while offering reflections on Jesus's significance for the church today. Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
Guest: Rafael Rodríguez is a professor of the New Testament at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee. He grew up in Colorado Springs. Dr. Rodríguez holds a B.A. from Cincinnati Bible College and an M.A. from Cincinnati Bible Seminary. He received a Ph.D. from The University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom for his dissertation that was subsequently published as Structuring Early Christian Memory (Bloomsbury T&T Clark). Beyond that he has penned or edited four additional books: Oral Tradition and the New Testament (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014); If You Call Yourself a Jew (co-edited with Matthew Thiessen; Cascade, 2014); The So-Called Jew in Paul's Letter to the Romans (Fortress, 2016); and the book we are discussing today, Jesus Darkly.
The Book: Rafael Rodriguez, Jesus Darkly: Remembering Jesus with the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 2018). New Testament students have not always been well served by study of the historical Jesus, which tends to segregate Jesus from his significance vis-à-vis Israel’s scriptures and God’s agenda as this is developed among the New Testament writers in the living context of a faith community’s memory. The witness of scripture does in fact help us remember Jesus well. From beginning to end, the Bible tells the story of God putting God’s family back together. Its plot develops in multiple, sometimes competing, ways. It exhibits the full range of human emotions and, perhaps surprisingly, it claims that these are also God’s emotions. But on every page, we hear the call of a God whose family has chosen an early inheritance instead of an intimate relationship. That God – pictured as a parent, often a father – beckons God’s children, inviting them to return and to sit at the table, clothed by mercy and affirmed as God’s very family. (Publisher’s description).
The OnScript Quip (our review): In Jesus Darkly, Rafael Rodríguez paints using the rich, earthy hues of social-memory theory. Jesus remains shrouded in deep mystery. Yet there is fresh light amidst the darkness. Readers will discover that Jesus shines brighter due to the starkness of the contrast. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Super-fan Brent Strawn is back on the podcast to talk about why he thinks the 'Bible-as-story' paradigm needs to die, Andy Stanley's book Irresistible, how the Old Testament is still dying, and the idea that problems with violence in the Old Testament are often projections.
The post Brent Strawn – The Bible is Not a Story first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt's been wrestling with the topic of violence in Scripture for a while, and has returned to Dan Hawk's Berit Olam commentary on the book of Joshua. It was a pleasure to talk with Dan about his new book on violence in the Bible. He takes a literary approach that deserves serious attention.
Guest: L. Daniel Hawk is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary. When it comes to Old Testament scholarship and theology, Dr. Hawk is an expert. He is also an excellent communicator, able to make complex issues of theology accessible to those in his classroom. Students find Dr. Hawk to be kind, compassionate, and a compelling teacher. He's the author of the Berit Olam commentary on Joshua, the Apollos commentary on Ruth, Joshua in 3-D, The Violence of the Biblical God, and co-edited Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations, and much more. (adapted from the Ashland Theological Seminary website).
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I (Matt L) have been wrestling with the topic of violence in Scripture for a while, and has returned to Dan Hawk's Berit Olam commentary on the book of Joshua. It was a pleasure to talk with Dan about his new book on violence in the Bible. He takes a literary approach that deserves serious attention.
The post Daniel Hawk – The Violence of the Biblical God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Scott has a riveting biography, from growing up as a missionary kid in South America to entering the Goth and underground music scene to thinking about the effects of horrors and traumas on the body of Christ. You won’t want to miss Scott’s insights here, as he discusses his book God of All Comfort.
Guest: Scott is an Anglican theologian, historian and moral philosopher, and an Associate Professor at Ridley College (in Melbourne, Australia). He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in theology, early Christianity, ethics and philosophy of religion. He also supervises research degrees including Ph.Ds. His previous books include one on the Trinity (Trinitarian Self and Salvation), and another (with Greg Forbes) on the depiction of women in Luke-Acts (Raised from Obscurity), Trinity Without Hierarchy: Reclaiming Nicene Orthodoxy in Evangelical Theology (Kregel Academic) and with Sean McDonough, A Time for Sorrow: Recovering the Practice of Lament in the Life of the Church, (Hendrickson). He is also the co-editor (with Mike Bird) of the Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers (2020).
Book: (from the publisher) “How does God respond to trauma in a world full of horrors? Beyond their physical and emotional toll, the horrors of this world raise difficult theological and existential questions. Where is God in the darkest moments of the human experience? Is there any hope for recovery from the trauma generated by these horrors? There are no easy answers to these questions. In God of All Comfort, Scott Harrower addresses these questions head on. Using the Gospel of Matthew as a backdrop, he argues for a Trinitarian approach to horrors, showing how God—in his triune nature—reveals himself to those who have experienced trauma. He explores the many ways God relates restoratively with humanity, showing how God’s light shines through the darkness of trauma.”
OnScript Quip: (from Dru’s blurb on the back of the book) “Scott Harrower skillfully brings the pressing issue of trauma and horror into the realms of historic, Trinitarian, and creedal life of the church today. By leading us through ‘horror-attuned readings’ of the Gospels, he helps us to avoid the pitfalls of neglecting trauma as the present lens through which many of us read Scripture, but also without reducing trauma to the only lens. I initially thought this book would be an interesting read. But Harrower made me quickly realize how necessary this discussion is to understanding Scripture, theology, and our culture soaked in misappropriations of horror. Scripture as well as the church past and present have a horror-redeeming function, and Harrower aptly helps us navigate it.”
Episode: Scott has a riveting biography, from growing up as a missionary kid in South America to entering the Goth and underground music scene to thinking about the effects of horrors and traumas on the body of Christ. You won't want to miss Scott's insights here.
The post Scott Harrower—God of All Comfort (Trinity & Horror) first appeared on OnScript.
Is the Holy Spirit properly called God? Yes, Christians are eager to say. But how and when did this development take place? The early church sensed the Spirit's full divinity, but struggled for centuries to find a grammar. Kyle Hughes, The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit, advances an exciting new argument. He shows that the key is the Spirit's role as a divine person who could bear witness to other divine persons. Everyone who is interested in bible and theology--take note!--and grab a listen. Trigger warning: we also dream of eating large quantities of smoked meat. If that is more than your stomach can handle, beware. Hosted by Matt Bates.
The post Kyle Hughes – The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Is the Holy Spirit properly called God? Yes, Christians are eager to say. But how and when did this development take place? The early church sensed the Spirit's full divinity, but struggled for centuries to find a grammar. Kyle Hughes, The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit, advances an exciting new argument. He shows that the key is the Spirit's role as a divine person who could bear witness to other divine persons. Everyone who is interested in bible and theology--take note!--and grab a listen. Trigger warning: we also dream of eating large quantities of smoked meat. If that is more than your stomach can handle, beware. Hosted by Matt Bates.
Guest: Kyle R. Hughes is History Department Chair at Whitefield Academy and Adjunct Professor of Bible and History at Belhaven University Atlanta. He is the author of The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit (Brill, 2018) and has published articles in Novum Testamentum, Vigiliae Christianae, and Journal of Early Christian History. His primary theological interests include early Christian scriptural exegesis, spiritual formation in the Anglican tradition, and Christian educational practice. Hughes has a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Radboud University Nijmegen. He lives in Smyrna, Georgia with his wife and two children. He is an avid fan of Star Wars and strategic board games.
The Book: Kyle R. Hughes, The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit: Prosopological Exegesis and the Development of Pre-Nicene Pneumatology (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 147; Leiden: Brill, 2018). In The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit, Kyle R. Hughes offers a new approach to the development of early Christian pneumatology by focusing on how Justin, Irenaeus, and Tertullian linked the Holy Spirit with testimony to the deity and lordship of the Father and the Son. Drawing extensively on recent studies of prosopological exegesis and divine testimony in the ancient world, Hughes demonstrates how these three pre-Nicene Christian writers utilized Scripture and the conventions of ancient rhetoric and exegesis to formulate a highly innovative approach to the Holy Spirit that would contribute to the identification of the Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. (Publisher’s description).
The OnScript Quip (our review): Scholars have long agreed that the answers to vital questions about the development of the doctrine of the Trinity are 'no'. But Kyle Hughes' extraordinary study will shatter this consensus. The questions are: Can we show the Spirit was regarded to be a distinct divine person before the third century? Can the Trinity be successfully rooted in the Old Testament as well as the New? The answers must now be 'yes'. The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit is one of those rare breakthrough books that will reshape both historical and systematic theology. Read it. — Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
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In this wide-ranging episode Amy Brown Hughes talks with Sameer Yadav about the 'promiscuous' nature of theology, his book 'The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God: Toward a Theological Empiricism,' his recent work on apophaticism in the Christian mystical tradition, and race in the philosophy of religion.
The post Sameer Yadav – Theology, Race, and the Mystical Tradition first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this wide-ranging episode Amy Brown Hughes talks with Sameer Yadav about the 'promiscuous' nature of theology, his book The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God: Toward a Theological Empiricism, his recent work on apophaticism in the Christian mystical tradition, and race in the philosophy of religion.
Guest: Sameer Yadav graduated from Boise State University with a bachelor degree in philosophy, earned a Master of Divinity at Master’s Seminary, a Master of Sacred Theology at Yale Divinity School, and a doctorate in theology and ethics at Duke Divinity School, with a primary concentration in systematic and philosophical theology and minor concentrations in moral theology and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. He is the author of The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God(Fortress Press, 2015), and has published in various journals including The Journal of Analytic Theology, Journal of Religion, Faith and Philosophy and Pro Ecclesia. He's a member in American Academy of Religion, Society of Christian Philosophers, Society of Christian Ethics, and Society of Scriptural Reasoning. (drawn from the Westmont website)
Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
He's back! And this time with ideas about science, theology, and philosophy that will blow your mind! Prof. Ervine Sheblatzm has been "rethinking everything" and "sequencing out" several innovative new theories that he believes will usher in "encounters of the fourth kind" in the study of Paul's letters and in science. Listen in as Matt talks with Ervine about his groundbreaking new book Faultines in the Horizon: Paul's Dawning Age Marches On.
The post Ervine Sheblatzm – Faultlines in the Horizon first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: He’s back! And this time with ideas about science, theology, and philosophy that will blow your mind! Prof. Ervine Sheblatzm has been “rethinking everything” and “sequencing out” several innovative new theories that he believes will usher in “encounters of the fourth kind” in the study of Paul’s letters and in science. Listen in as Matt talks with Ervine about his groundbreaking new book Faultines in the Horizon: Paul’s Dawning Age Marches On.
Guest: Prof. Dr. Ervine Sheblazm is reported to hold doctorates in Physics and Theology from “recognized institutions,” and has won awards and competitions of various sorts. He runs a research facility in the Lake District in the UK with his friend Dave and his goat Paul, and caries out extensive research online. His primary areas of research include multiverse theory and the epistles of Paul, but he also conducts research in paleo-archaeology, cosmology, and metaphorism. He lists “life coaching” and “aristarchic subversions” among his various hobbies. He’s also the author of The Apostle Paul, Multiverse Theory, and the Journey of the Inner Soul (Amazon, 2018).
Dru Johnson and Matt Lynch talk to Robert Alter about his new Princeton University Press book The Art of Bible Translation and his newly released translation of the Hebrew Bible into English. Robert explains how the translation came about and how The Art of Bible Translation acts as a methodological introduction to his translation of the Hebrew Bible.
The post Robert Alter—The Art of Bible Translation first appeared on OnScript.
Chris Tilling chats with Jeff McSwain about his new book Simul Sanctification: Barth's Hidden Vision for Human Transformation (Wipf & Stock, 2018).
The post Jeff McSwain – Simul Sanctification first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Chris Tilling chats with Jeff McSwain about his new book Simul Sanctification: Barth's Hidden Vision for Human Transformation (Wipf & Stock, 2018).
Guest: Jeff McSwain is Founder and Director of Ministry formation at Reality Ministries, a community-based non-profit that offers a variety of opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to work, play, learn and grow together.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase McSwain's book (or others, while you’re browsing Amazon), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so at no loss to you. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
Jon Levenson's Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel (Yale, 2006) is one of the books I (Matt) most recommend to my students and colleagues. It models biblical scholarship that is exegetically adept, holds the big picture, understands the history of interpretation, and is genuinely creative. Dru and I had the privilege of sitting down with Jon Levenson--a favorite on the show--to talk through this theme of vital importance to Jews and Christians.
The post Jon Levenson – Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Jon Levenson's Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel (Yale, 2006) is one of the books I (Matt) most recommend to my students and colleagues. It models biblical scholarship that is exegetically adept, holds the big picture, understands the history of interpretation, and is genuinely creative and convincing. Dru and I had the privilege of sitting down with Jon Levenson--a favorite on the show--to talk through this topic of vital importance to Jews and Christians.
Guest: Jon Levenson is Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School. He’s well known in the world of Biblical studies, but just in case you’re not familiar or have been living under a rock, he’s the author of numerous influential works, including Sinai and Zion, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, The Love of God and others. Read him!
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Levenson’s books (or others, while you’re browsing Amazon), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so at no loss to you. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: In our latest Theology Stream episode, Amy Hughes talks with practical theologian Michael Bruner about Flannery O’Connor, a “theology of the grotesque,” and why literature and art in church […]
The post (Theology) Michael Bruner – A Subversive Gospel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In our latest Theology Stream episode, Amy Hughes talks with practical theologian Michael Bruner about Flannery O'Connor, a "theology of the grotesque," and why literature and art in church isn't elitist. Michael has some great stories to tell and is one of probably a very few theologians who can talk about what it's like to write a screenplay. The conversation stems from discuss his latest book A Subversive Gospel: Flannery O'Connor and the Reimagining of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth.
Guest & Book: The Reverend Dr. Michael Bruner is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Azusa Pacific University in California. Born and raised in the Philippines as the son of missionary parents, he received his Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Washington, a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Theology from Fuller Seminary. Michael is the author, most recently, of A Subversive Gospel: Flannery O’Connor and the Reimagining of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness (IVP Academic Press, 2017). He is currently writing a commentary on the four gospels with his father, Dale Bruner. Michael is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a Lily Fellow, and a resident scholar at the Huntington Library in San Marino. He lives in Pasadena with his wife Jenna and their two children.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase a book (or others, while you’re in there), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
In this episode, Michael Carasik (pronounced like "Jurassic") and I discuss the wonderful world of Jewish commentary and his translation of the medieval Jewish commentators.
The post Michael Carasik – Medieval Jewish Commentary first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: I (Dru) remember my first encounter with ancient Jewish scholarship on the Torah. I’m embarrassed to say I was in my 30s doing a PhD when I got a paper accepted at a conference in Jerusalem. Going to Israel for the first time, I was surrounded by Jewish scholars discussing the philosophical notions in the Hebrew Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud. The Hebrew Bible I knew, but the Talmud and the likes were alien landscapes to me. At that moment, as if I didn’t already feel like an imposter scholar, I realized that there was a whole other world of understanding. I think it’s fair to say that Michael Carasik’s new translations of the medieval Jewish commentaries will go a long way towards exposing scholars to this whole other world. In this episode, Michael Carasik (pronounced like "Jurassic") and I discuss the wonderful world of Jewish commentary and his translation of the medieval Jewish commentators.
Guest: Dr. Michael Carasik teaches Hebrew at the University of Pennsylvania. He also hosts a weekly podcast called Torah Talk, where he comments on the weekly Torah portion. He is the author of several books including Theologies of the Mind in Biblical Israel (Peter Lang, 2005); The Bible’s Many Voices (JPS, 2014), and the volume series we are discussing today: HERE. This photo is from the Genesis commentary provided for this interview.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase a book (or others, while you’re in there), and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: New Perspective on Paul versus Old Perspective. The debate rages because a proper understanding of Christian salvation is at stake. Matthew Thomas has a novel angle that brings fresh evidence–the […]
The post Matthew Thomas – Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’ first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: New Perspective on Paul versus Old Perspective. The debate rages because a proper understanding of Christian salvation is at stake. Matthew Thomas has a novel angle that brings fresh evidence--the earliest reception history of Paul's phrase "works of the law." Also, you get to discover if you should believe in aliens. Or, embrace or avoid camping. Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
Guest: Matthew J. Thomas is the author of Paul's 'Works of the Law' in the Perspective of Second Century Reception (Mohr Siebeck, 2018), and holds a D.Phil in Theology (New Testament and Patristics) from the University of Oxford. He has served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick's Seminary, and is currently a visiting scholar at Franciscan University and a distance instructor in theology with Regent College. Matthew and his wife Leeanne met as MCS students at Regent, and have two children. Prior to coming to Regent, Matthew studied at Pepperdine University and worked at Harbor House Ministries, an after-school program for youth in Oakland.
The Book: Matthew J. Thomas, Paul's 'Works of the Law' in the Perspective of Second Century Reception (WUNT 468; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018). Paul writes that we are justified by faith apart from 'works of the law', a disputed term that represents a fault line between 'old' and 'new' perspectives on Paul. Was the Apostle reacting against the Jews' good works done to earn salvation, or the Mosaic Law's practices that identified the Jewish people? Matthew J. Thomas examines how Paul's second century readers understood these points in conflict, how they relate to 'old' and 'new' perspectives, and what their collective witness suggests about the Apostle's own meaning. Surprisingly, these early witnesses align closely with the 'new' perspective, though their reasoning often differs from both viewpoints. They suggest that Paul opposes these works neither due to moralism, nor primarily for experiential or social reasons, but because the promised new law and covenant, which are transformative and universal in scope, have come in Christ. (Publisher's description).
The OnScript Quip (our review): Debates on the Old Perspective and New Perspective on Paul are log-jammed. Or, they were. Matthew Thomas shows that the earliest interpreters do not regard "works (of the law)" in Paul as good deeds or inappropriate moral efforts in general. The New Perspective on works is shown to be not new after all, but rather to recovery earliest Christian teachings. This outstanding study promises to break a major impasse in Pauline theology. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase a book (or others, while you're in there), and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Welcome to the inaugural episode of OnScript's new Theology Stream. OnScript's newest co-host Amy Brown Hughes talks with Natalie Carnes of Baylor University about icons, iconophilia, iconophobia, and iconoclasm. This topic has loomed large in church history, and carries important theological implications.
The post (Theology) Natalie Carnes – Image and Presence first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Welcome to the inaugural episode of OnScript's new Theology Stream. OnScript's newest co-host Amy Brown Hughes talks with Natalie Carnes of Baylor University about icons, iconophilia, iconophobia, and iconoclasm. This topic has loomed large in church history, and carries important theological implications.
Guest: Natalie Carnes is a constructive theologian who is interested how Christian doctrine can speak to modern life in the world. She draws on literary and visual works to interpret traditional theological ideas through somewhat less traditional themes, like childhood, beauty, art, iconoclasm, and gender. She trained at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Duke before coming to Baylor, where she is currently an Associate Professor of Theology. In addition to a number of articles, she has published two books, Beauty: A Theological Engagement with Gregory of Nyssa, and Image and Presence: A Christological Reflection on Iconoclasm and Iconophilia.
Give to OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Natalie's books (or others, while you're browsing Amazon), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so at no loss to you. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Happy New Year! Enjoy this rebroadcast of our 2016 interview with John Barclay about his monumental book Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans). Apologies for the sound quality here. This was one of our earlier episodes.
OnScript is working hard to bridge the divide between biblical studies and theology. Keep your eyes and ears out for our new OnScript Theology Stream in the coming year.
Help Support OnScript: Click through the link above to purchase John Barclay's book (or others, while you’re browsing Amazon), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so at no loss to you. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
Thanks for listening!
Sandra Richter discusses the Bible and ecology, her love for Deuteronomy, teaching the Old Testament, women in academia, and much more. We've also got a big announcement in this episode, so tune in!
The post Sandra Richter – Ecology and the Bible first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Comin’ to you live from the annual Society of Biblical Literature conference in Denver! Sandra Richter sits down with Matt Lynch to discuss her work on ecology and the Bible, the legacy of Meredith Kline, women in academia, & lots more that you need to tune in to hear. Also, we have a very exciting announcement in this episode! Amy Brown Hughes is joining as a co-host for OnScript’s new Theology Stream, starting 2019! Stay tuned for more information in the new year.
Guest: Sandra Richter is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. She received her doctorate from Harvard University, and is the author of several books, including The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (IVP, 2010), The Deuteronomistic History and the Name Theology (de Gruyter, 2002). Her current research involves a forthcoming book on environmental theology (Hendrickson Publishers) and a commentary on Deuteronomy with Eerdmans. She has also written a series of Bible studies, with accompanying DVD’s) for church groups with Seedbed. (edited from the Westmont website).
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Sandra Richter’s books (or others, while you’re browsing Amazon), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so at no loss to you. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
OnScript Podcast interview with Lucy Peppiatt on Paul and Gender. We focus on all the troublesome issues in 1 Corinthians 11.
The post Gender and Hermeneutics in Paul (Pt 2) – Lucy Peppiatt first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This episode covers Paul, gender, hermeneutics, theology, and all the things. Lucy Peppiatt helps us think through the challenging issues at play in 1 Corinthians 11, territory we covered last week with Michael Lakey, but this time from a different angle. Lucy has thought long and hard about this passage, and talks with Matt L. about some of her groundbreaking work.
Guest: Lucy Peppiatt is Principal of Westminster Theological Centre, where she also lectures in Systematic Theology. She's the author of Unveiling Paul’s Women: Making Sense of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (Wipf and Stock, 2018), Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians (Wipf and Stock, 2015), and The Disciple: On Becoming Truly Human (Wipf and Stock, 2012). She has a forthcoming book on women in scripture with IVP Academic. Lucy co-leads Crossnet Church in Bristol with her husband Nick.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Lucy's books (or others, while you're in there), and OnScript gets a whopping 2% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: This is the first of a two part episode on gender and hermeneutics in the letters of Paul. Our focus text is 1 Cor 11, a text that poses […]
The post Gender & Hermeneutics in Paul (Pt 1) – Michael Lakey first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: This is the first of a two part episode on gender and hermeneutics in the letters of Paul. Our focus text is 1 Cor 11, a text that poses several interpretive and theological challenges that cannot be easily resolved. Michael Lakey talks with Matt L about his book Image and Glory: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as a Case Study in Bible, Gender and Hermeneutics (T&T Clark, 2010). They discuss gender, cosmology, hermeneutics, Paul, the church, and everything in between. Next week we'll here a different take on the same issue.
Guest: Michael is Lecturer in New Testament at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He divides his time between teaching NT at Cuddesdon and being a parish priest of three parishes in South Oxfordshire. He teaches across the NT curriculum. His ongoing research interests include St Paul, sex and gender in Antiquity, and the hermeneutical relationship between Scripture, doctrine, and liturgy. Michael is author of three books, his thesis monograph on gender and cosmology in 1 Corinthians, entitled Image and Glory of God (T. & T. Clark, 2010), an edited volume on being a priest and an academic, entitled Academic Vocation in the Church and Academy Today (Ashgate/Routledge, 2016) and a new book on baptism and the Lord’s Supper in the writings of Paul, entitled The Ritual World of Paul the Apostle(Bloomsbury, 2018). He is a regular book reviewer for Modern Believing and Journal for the Study of the New Testament. (from his faculty website)
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of the books (or others, while you're in there), and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: In this episode, Erin interviews Beverly Roberts Gaventa on Pauline theology, her thoughts on pedagogy, and on why Matt Bates is wrong about Karl Barth. Guest: Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of […]
The post Beverly Gaventa – Reflections on Pauline Scholarship and Teaching first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Erin interviews Beverly Roberts Gaventa on Pauline theology, her thoughts on pedagogy, and on why Matt Bates is wrong about Karl Barth.
Guest: Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Baylor University. She previously taught at Princeton Theological Seminary, Columbia Seminary, and Colgate Rochester Divinity School. Her specializations include theological and historical interpretation of the letters of Paul, and the letter of Romans in particular. She was the president of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2016, and she has received numerous awards and honorary degrees for her exceptional teaching and research. She is the author of numerous books, including When in Romans, Our Mother Saint Paul, andApocalyptic Paul: Cosmos and Anthropos in Romans 5-8.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of the books (or others, while you're in there), and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Canon, theology, and Trinity are brought together in this episode featuring guest Chris Seitz
The post Christopher Seitz – The Elder Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt, Matt, Erin, & Dru discuss your questions. And YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY NEXT! Listen to find out. Help Support OnScript: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join […]
The post Q&A Episode – October 2018 first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt, Matt, Erin, & Dru discuss your questions. And YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY SAY NEXT! Listen to find out.
Help Support OnScript: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
Dru and Joshua Berman discuss his bold claims in his book—Inconsistency in the Torah—that suggest source-criticism might erroneously ignore cognate literary forms in the ancient Near East, favoring notoriously slippery histories behind each source in the Torah instead. Working through Egyptian and Mesopotamian parallels, Berman discusses how the old paradigm of sources might be insufficient in the face of other comparable literatures. We talk through the book's core arguments, krav maga, Judaism in Israel, Fijian vacations with Seventh Day Adventists, and more!
The post Joshua Berman – Inconsistency in the Torah first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin and Dru host Douglas Groothuis for an episode that breaks from our typical Onscript fare. Doug’s newest book, Walking through Twilight is a memoir about his journey alongside his […]
The post Douglas Groothuis – Walking through Twilight first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Erin and Dru host Douglas Groothuis for an episode that breaks from our typical Onscript fare. Doug's newest book, Walking through Twilight is a memoir about his journey alongside his wife as she was diagnosed, and then finally succumbed to a form of dementia called Primary Progressive Aphasia. Doug's book is raw and painful to read at times, but it is also profound and sure to be helpful for those walking similar roads, pastoring such families, or offering help.
Guest: Douglas Groothuis is Professor of Philosophy and the head of the Apologetics and Ethics program at Denver Seminary. He received a PhD and a BS from the University of Oregon, and an MA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the author of numerous books, including Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Christian Faith, which was awarded the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/ Evangelism category from Christianity Today in 2012 and answers the troubling questions that people are actually asking.
The Book: Douglas Groothuis, Walking through Twilight: A Wife's Illness – A Philosopher's Lament (IVP, 2017). (from the publisher's website) Nothing is simple for a person suffering from dementia, and for those they love. When ordinary tasks of communication, such as using a phone, become complex, then difficult, and then impossible, isolation becomes inevitable. Helping becomes excruciating.
In these pages philosopher Douglas Groothuis offers a window into his experience of caring for his wife as a rare form of dementia ravages her once-brilliant mind and eliminates her once-stellar verbal acuity. Mixing personal narrative with spiritual insight, he captures moments of lament as well as philosophical and theological reflection. Brief interludes provide poignant pictures of life inside the Groothuis household, and we meet a parade of caregivers, including a very skilled companion dog.
Losses for both Doug and Becky come daily, and his questions for God multiply as he navigates the descending darkness. Here is a frank exploration of how one continues to find God in the twilight.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase Doug's book (or others, while you're in there), and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Tim Mackie and Jon Collins chat with Matt L. and Dru J. about how the Bible Project started, their thesis that the Bible is a unified story, P967, and a […]
The post Tim Mackie & Jon Collins – The Bible Project first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Tim Mackie and Jon Collins chat with Matt L. and Dru J. about how the Bible Project started, their thesis that the Bible is a unified story, P967, and a wide range of other topics you've been dying to learn about.
The Bible Project: If you aren't familiar with The Bible Project, it's best to visit their site (https://thebibleproject.com/), but briefly, and from their website, 'The Bible Project is a non-profit animation studio that produces short-form, fully animated videos to make the biblical story accessible to everyone, everywhere.' They're a youtube channel that makes super helpful 5 min (or so) videos to explain the books of the Bible and its major themes.
Tim & Jon: Find out about Tim and Jon HERE.
If you want to know the kinds of videos Jon Collins created before the Bible Project, check out this video - How to Survive a Robot Uprising
Scot McKnight is back, bringing a cosmic Christological vision and wisdom about how the church should handle the topics of slavery and racial reconciliation.
The post Scot McKnight – Colossians and Philemon first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Scot McKnight is back, bringing a cosmic Christological vision and wisdom about how the church should handle the topics of slavery and racial reconciliation. Last time he and Dennis Venema were talking Adam and the Genome. This time Scot shares what he learned while penning two exciting new commentaries, The Letter to Philemon and The Letter to the Colossians, for the beloved NICNT series. You also get to hear him sing. Maybe. Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
Guest: Scot McKnight is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has written more than fifty books and blogs regularly at Jesus Creed. Scot is a much-sought-after conference speaker and a renowned expert on early Christianity. He has written both academic and popular titles, including The Jesus Creed (Christianity Today’s book of the year in 2004); The Blue Parakeet; The King Jesus Gospel, and most recently Open to the Spirit. The most important thing he has written though is the foreword for Salvation by Allegiance Alone--at least that is how most people see it. Like my mother and I.
The Books: Scot McKnight, The Letter to the Colossians (New International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018). The Letter to the Colossians offers a compelling vision of the Christian life; its claims transcend religion and bring politics, culture, spirituality, power, ethnicity, and more into play. Delving deeply into the message of Colossians, this exegetical and theological commentary by Scot McKnight will be welcomed by preachers, teachers, and students everywhere.
Scot McKnight, The Letter to Philemon ( New International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). Paul's letter to Philemon carries a strong message of breaking down social barriers and establishing new realities of conduct and fellowship. It is also a disturbing text that has been used to justify slavery. Though brief, Philemon requires close scrutiny. In this commentary Scot McKnight offers careful textual analysis of Philemon and brings the practice of modern slavery into conversation with the ancient text. Too often, McKnight says, studies of this short letter gloss over the issue of slavery—an issue that must be recognized and dealt with if Christians are to read Philemon faithfully. Pastors and scholars will find in this volume the insight they need to preach and teach this controversial book in meaningful new ways. (Descriptions from the publisher's website)
The OnScript Quip (our review): Discover how Paul's cosmic vision for holistic reconciliation begins with Jesus the king's work in the household. Fresh, up to date, independent. Some commentaries are stale rehashes that have already expired before printing. Not McKnight's on Colossians and Philemon. Pastors and scholars are guaranteed to benefit from McKnight's scholarly expertise and heart for the the church for many years to come. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Episode: Live from Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin! OnScript host Matt Lynch interviews Stephen Chester. We talk about how Luther & Calvin have taken a whipping by some proponents […]
The post Stephen Chester – Reading Paul with the Reformers first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Marc Turnage lives and breathes the world of the New Testament, through literature, archaeology, and geography. He’s an expert in biblical Galilee, and comes to us live from the Galilee, […]
The post Marc Turnage – The Bible in its Ancient World first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Susan Eastman talks with Erin and Matt about her new book on Pauline Anthropology. The book is a fascinating three-way dialogue between the Apostle Paul, Epictetus, and […]
The post Susan Eastman – Paul and the Person first appeared on OnScript.
In this episode, Matthias Henze maps out how people approaching the biblical texts from the NT lens can hop into the world of Hellenistic Judaism to better understand the NT literature.
The post Matthias Henze – Mind the Gap (Jewish Writings Between the OT & NT) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dr. Mary Hom returns to the show to talk about her soon-to-be-released book The Characterization of an Empire: The Portrayal of the Assyrians in Kings and Chronicles (Wipf & Stock, 2018). But […]
The post Mary Katherine Hom – The Characterization of an Empire first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Dr. Mary Hom returns to the show to talk about her soon-to-be-released book The Characterization of an Empire: The Portrayal of the Assyrians in Kings and Chronicles (Wipf & Stock, 2018). But as is normally the case, conversation goes well beyond her recent scholarship ...
Guest: Mary Katherine Hom is a freelance Old Testament scholar currently residing in Sacramento, CA. In addition to The Characterization of an Empire (available for pre-order, see below), she is the author of The Characterization of the Assyrians in Isaiah (Bloomsbury, 2014). Formerly an Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Ambrose University (College), Dr. Hom has since explored more integrative approaches between Biblical Studies and the Christian life, from an in-depth exploration of the charismatic movement at Bethel Church to backpacking southern Africa to volunteering alongside anti-trafficking NGOs in Asia to—most personally humbling and profound for her—caring for her mother at home. Her 'business' card (discussed in the episode) speaks to these varied aspects of her life.
Book: To pre-order this book at a 20% discount off retail, please contact Wipf and Stock Publishers Customer Service Department by phone at +1-541-344-1528 or by email at orders@wipfandstock.com 'Biblical scholars usually treat Assyria as a 'background' issue that sheds light elsewhere. Mary Hom brings Assyria into the spotlight as a biblical character in its own right, and with true insight and sagacity. Her literary analysis of Assyria in Kings and Chronicles attends to ways that biblical authors personalize, caricature, and re-interpret the empire in relation to the rise and fall of Israel and Judah. This study complements her earlier study of Assyria in Isaiah, bringing the mighty and alluring empire into literary and theological life. Narrative critics of the Bible--take note!' - M Lynch
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Episode: It was half an hour before coffee and cake with the Campbell family, so Chris sits down with Douglas Campbell to interview him on his new book on the […]
The post Douglas Campbell – Paul: An Apostle’s Journey first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: It was half an hour before coffee and cake with the Campbell family, so Chris sits down with Douglas Campbell to interview him on his new book on the Apostle Paul, a particularly racy, fast-paced and electrifying book which Douglas Harink has described as “The best book on Paul since Acts”! Douglas Campbell is one of the leading Pauline scholars in the world, but this new and more popular level book reads very differently from his previous, more technical, works. Paul: An Apostle’s Journey (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2018).
Guest: (from the Duke Divinity School webpage) Professor Campbell's main research interest is the life and theology of the apostle Paul, with particular reference to an understanding of salvation informed by apocalyptic as against justification or salvation-history. However, he is interested in methodological contributions to Paul's analysis from any disciplinary angle, ancient or modern, whether Greco-Roman epistolary and rhetorical theory, or insights into human networking and conflict-resolution discovered by sociologists. His recent book-length publications include Paul: An Apostle's Journey (Eerdmans, 2018), Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography (Eerdmans, 2014), The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Eerdmans, 2009), and The Quest for Paul's Gospel: A Suggested Strategy (T & T Clark, 2005). A book of essays has been published analyzing his critical approach to justification: Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul: Reflections on the Work of Douglas Campbell (ed. Chris Tilling, Wipf & Stock, 2014).
Book: Paul: An Apostle’s Journey (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2018). In this short but spirited book Campbell presents Paul in terms of his life and activities. Biography, theology, and Pauline scholarship are all rolled together into a potent mix, with special emphasis on how Paul might challenge us afresh today. Readers, as the book description states, are invited to “relive the story of Paul’s action-packed ministry, and follow the development of Paul’s thought throughout both his physical and his spiritual travels”. This is a dramatic and rather unique book, and will appeal to a wide audience.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Campbell's books (or others, while you’re there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don’t let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Matt interviews Christian Hofreiter (RZIM) on one of the most vexed issues in biblical studies ... genocide in the Old Testament. Christian Hofreiter has been pondering this question for a long time, and has written a groundbreaking work on the subject - Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Guest: (from the RZIM site) The Revd Dr Christian Hofreiter is Director of RZIM Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the Zacharias Institut für Wissenschaft, Kultur und Glaube, a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and, most recently, the author of Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018). A native of Austria, he has studied, lived and worked in Innsbruck, Brussels, London, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Oxford, and now lives with his family in Vienna, Austria.
From 2008-2012, Christian served with the Oxford Pastorate as a chaplain to the graduate student body at Oxford University, working closely with senior academics, leaders of various churches, and a broad variety of students. An ordained Anglican minister, he was also a member of the leadership team at St Aldates Church, Oxford.
In addition, Christian studied theology at Oxford University, earning three degrees (MA, MSt, DPhil), winning several prizes and scholarships, and gaining the top first class award in 2008. His doctoral research focused on the Christian interpretation of “genocide texts” in the Old Testament.
Before arriving in Oxford, Christian worked in a government relations firm in Washington, DC, which represented the interests of foreign governments and other clients to the United States Congress and Administration, and also served as deacon at the Church of the Resurrection on Capitol Hill.
Book: Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages (Oxford University Press, 2018) takes an historical look at how Christians through the centuries have addressed, wrestled with, and re-interpreted the 'herem' passages in the Old Testament. Herem is the practice of devoting people or objects to destruction (or removing them from use) at the behest of a deity. Hofreiter provides a critically rich and illuminating tour of the history of Christian engagement with these challenging biblical passages.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase Christian's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Matt interviews Christian Hofreiter (RZIM) on one of the most vexed issues in biblical studies … genocide in the Old Testament. Christian Hofreiter has been pondering this question for […]
The post Christian Hofreiter – Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt & Mark get all exodusy in this episode, as they discuss Israel’s founding narrative and its ongoing significance. Topics range from Sabbath, to history, and from divine presence […]
The post Mark Scarlata – Exodus, Divine Presence, and Sabbath first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, we discuss the Mesopotamian texts about matters of children to deity relations, families roles, abandonment, child death, and more for the sake of understanding some of the […]
The post Shawn Flynn – Children in Ancient Israel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, we discuss the Mesopotamian texts about matters of children to deity relations, families roles, abandonment, child death, and more for the sake of understanding some of the texts of the Hebrew Bible. There exists a clear set of practices in the ancient Near East that show the value of children outside of their utility, which creates the question: Did Israelites feel the same? If so, do these shared presumptions about children explain biblical texts that cover the same social geographies?
Guest: Shawn Flynn is an Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible the Academic Dean at St. Joseph's College (University of Alberta). He is the author of two books: Yhwh Is King: The Development of Divine Kingship in Ancient Israel, Brill 2013 and the book we’re discussing in this episode, Children in Ancient Israel: The Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in Comparative Perspective (OUP, 2018). Dr. Flynn studied English Literature at Univ. of Northern British Columbia, Biblical Studies at Trinity Western University, and began doctoral work at Trinity College Dublin, completing a PhD at the University of Toronto in the department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations.
The Book: (from the publisher's website) Flynn contributes to the emerging field of childhood studies in the Hebrew Bible by isolating stages of a child's life, and through a comparative perspective, studies the place of children in the domestic cult and their relationship to the deity in that cult. The study gathers data relevant to different stages of a child's life from a plethora of Mesopotamian materials (prayers, myths, medical texts, rituals), and uses that data as an interpretive lens for Israelite texts about children at similar stages such as: pre-born children, the birth stage, breast feeding, adoption, slavery, children's death and burial rituals, childhood delinquency. This analysis presses the questions of value and violence, the importance of the domestic cult for expressing the child's value beyond economic value, and how children were valued in cultures with high infant mortality rates. From the earliest stages to the moments when children die, and to the children's responsibilities in the domestic cult later in life, this study demonstrates that a child is uniquely wrapped up in the domestic cult, and in particular, is connected with the deity. The domestic-cultic value of children forms the much broader understanding of children in the ancient world, through which other more problematic representations can be tested. Throughout the study, it becomes apparent that children's value in the domestic cult is an intentional catalyst for the social promotion of YHWHism.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase Shawn's Book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: In this episode, Cynthia Long Westfall talks with Erin about her new book on gender in Paul’s letters, which emphatically is not just a conversation about women’s issues in Paul’s letters. Tune in […]
The post Cynthia Long Westfall – Paul and Gender first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Cynthia Long Westfall talks with Erin about her new book on gender in Paul's letters, which emphatically is not just a conversation about women's issues in Paul's letters. Tune in as Cindy and Erin discuss veiling, masculine and feminine stereotypes, what it's like to be a woman in the academy, and the superiority of Minnesota hockey.
Guest: (from the publisher's website) Cynthia Long Westfall (PhD, University of Surrey) is assistant professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. She is the author of A Discourse Analysis of the Letter to the Hebrews: The Relationship between Form and Meaning and has coedited several volumes, including The Bible and Social Justice. Westfall is currently on several steering committees: the SBL Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics section, the ETS Evangelicals and Gender section, and the ETS Hebrews section. She is also a member of the editorial board for the Common English Bible.
The Book: Cynthia Long Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle's Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Baker Academic, 2016). Publisher's Description: In this volume, respected New Testament scholar Cynthia Long Westfall offers a coherent Pauline theology of gender. Westfall interprets passages on women and men together and places those passages in the context of the Pauline corpus as a whole. Her inclusion of the entire Pauline canon enables her to address the issues effectively, and she reads the texts in light of their own claims of authorship, recipient, and circumstances. She also gleans new insights by making sense of the passages in the context of the Greco-Roman culture.
Paul and Gender includes fresh perspectives on the most controverted texts, offering viable alternatives for some notorious interpretive problems in certain Pauline passages. The author reframes gender issues in a way that stimulates thinking, promotes discussion, and moves the conversation forward. As Westfall explores the significance of Paul's teaching on both genders, she seeks to support and equip males and females to serve in their area of gifting, regardless of social status, race, or gender.
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase one of Cynthia's books (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: Brace yourself for a celestial journey through the letters of Paul, the Multiverse, and the inner soul. Prof Ervine Sheblatzm sits down with OnScript host Matt Lynch to discuss his […]
The post Ervine Sheblatzm – Paul, Multiverse Theory, & the Inner Soul first appeared on OnScript.
These are your questions, so there are no reasons not to listen. And it gets even better, we've got Chris Tilling joining us as a co-host, and he's here to stay, we think. In this his inaugural episode as an official co-host, we introduce him with a head cold for extra effect. Topics range from violence in the Bible, toilet paper roll, combating cynicism, and more.
The post Listener Q&D first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: We discuss the alleged Isaiah Bulla (clay seal impression) with one of the finest epigraphers in the field. The seal was found by the Temple Mount in 2009 by Eilat […]
The post Christopher Rollston – The Alleged Isaiah Seal Impression first appeared on OnScript.
(Photo Ouria Tadmor. Copyright Eilat Mazar)[/caption]
Episode: We discuss the alleged Isaiah Bulla (clay seal impression) with one of the finest epigraphers in the field. The seal was found by the Temple Mount in 2009 by Eilat Mazar, and first announced in Biblical Archaeology Review last month (February, 2018). Matt L. and Dru J. discuss the find with Prof. Christopher Rollston, who urges caution when making bold claims about the seal's link to the biblical prophet Isaiah. We also discuss our desire to make connections between archaeology and the bible, and for a material connection with the past.
Guest: Professor Rollston is Associate Professor of Northwest Semitic languages and literatures at George Washington University. Rollston works in more than a dozen ancient and modern languages, including various ancient Semitic languages (e.g., Hebrew, Phoenician, Aramaic, Palmyrene, Nabataean, Ammonite, Moabite, Edomite, Ugaritic, Akkadian), several ancient and modern Indo-European languages (e.g., Hellenistic Greek, Classical Latin; Modern German, French, Spanish, and Italian), as well as Sahidic Coptic. He is the author of Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010). This volume was selected by the American Schools of Oriental Research (in November 2011) as the recipient of the prestigious “Frank Moore Cross Prize for Northwest Semitic Epigraphy,” a prize named for the late Harvard University Professor Frank Cross. He has also edited several volumes. Needless to say, he's very accomplished in his field! (adapted from the GWU website).
Help Support OnScript: Click through one of the links above to purchase Rollston's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
Episode: What can the language we use for “them” tell us about who “we” are? What do a group’s descriptions of outsiders tell us about the values and self-perceptions of […]
The post Paul Trebilco – Outsiders and Insiders in the NT first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What can the language we use for “them” tell us about who “we” are? What do a group’s descriptions of outsiders tell us about the values and self-perceptions of the in-group? The New Testament uses a range of designations for outsiders and, at first blush, some of the terms, like “sinner,” “unbeliever,” and “unrighteous,” seem unusually harsh to our ears. In an age where inclusivity rules the day, the New Testament authors seem woefully out of step. Fortunately, Paul Trebilco’s new research sheds some much-needed light on this important topic. In this episode, Professor Paul Trebilco talks with Erin about outsider designations in the New Testament, New Zealand, being in a gang, jazz musicians, and more.
Guest: Paul Trebilco (PhD, University of Durham), is Professor of New Testament at the University of Otago. He has published work on the Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds to the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle Paul, early Christians in Ephesus, the relationship of Scripture and Church tradition, and the Self-designations used by the earliest Christians in the New Testament. In 2017, Paul was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
The Book: Paul Trebilco, Outsider Designations and Boundary Construction in the New Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). Publisher's Description: What terms did early Christians use for outsiders? How did they refer to non-members? In this book-length investigation of these questions, Paul Trebilco explores the outsider designations that the early Christians used in the New Testament. He examines a range of terms, including unbelievers, 'outsiders', sinners, Gentiles, Jews, among others. Drawing on insights from social identity theory, sociolinguistics, and the sociology of deviance, he investigates the usage and development of these terms across the New Testament, and also examines how these outsider designations function in boundary construction across several texts. Trebilco's analysis leads to new conclusions about the identity and character of the early Christian movement, the range of relations between early Christians and outsiders, and the theology of particular New Testament authors.
Episode: OnScript welcomes one of its favorite guests, Joshua Jipp, back to the microphone. Host Matthew Bates asks Josh pointed questions that all OnScript listeners are dying to know. Like, […]
The post Joshua W. Jipp – Saved by Faith and Hospitality first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: OnScript welcomes one of its favorite guests, Joshua Jipp, back to the microphone. Host Matthew Bates asks Josh pointed questions that all OnScript listeners are dying to know. Like, "Why, Josh, didn't you title your book Salvation by Allegiance Alone (and Hospitality) rather than Saved by Faith and Hospitality?" And, "In light of your book's thesis, when I wanted to visit Chicago this past summer, and I asked if I could stay with you, why did you say 'no'"? They also get around to less important topics like xenophobia, the effects of Trumpism, immigration policy, and what an everyday Christian can do to be more hospitable.
Guest: Joshua W. Jipp (PhD, Emory) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Josh also holds a ThM from Duke Divinity School, an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a BA from Northwestern College. In addition to Saved by Faith and Hospitality, he is the author of Christ is King (Fortress, 2015) and Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts (Brill, 2013).
The Book: Joshua W. Jipp, Saved by Faith and Hospitality (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). Foreword by Christine D. Pohl. Publisher's description: Too few Christians today, says Joshua Jipp, understand hospitality to strangers and the marginalized as an essential part of the church's identity. In this book Jipp argues that God's relationship to his people is fundamentally an act of hospitality to strangers, and that divine and human hospitality together are thus at the very heart of Christian faith. Jipp first provides a thorough interpretation of the major biblical texts related to the practice of hospitality to strangers, considering especially how these texts portray Christ as the divine host who extends God's welcome to all people. Jipp then invites readers to consider how God's hospitality sets the pattern for human hospitality, offering suggestions on how the practice of welcoming strangers can guide the church in its engagement with current social challenges—immigration, incarceration, racism, and more.
The OnScript Quip (our review): I was a stranger and you invited me in. The stark clarity of Jesus' words slices through our confusion. Although the global reality is large-scale immigration, fear of the other remains an ominous cloud. What is urgently needed is a theological reflection on hospitality for the sake of church and world. Jipp's book is Christ-centered, wise, and timely. Read, and find yourself more welcoming to the stranger. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
In this episode, Matt sits down with Carol Newsom to discuss her illustrious career, her research on the Bible and ecology, the development of the self in the Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls, glass beading, weaving, and much more!
The post Carol Newsom – Creation, Anthropology, and Glass Beads first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Gender is a hot-button topic. The validity and limits of “gender roles” still remains a controversial issue in the church. Meanwhile early Christian theology is all about the church Fathers–at […]
The post Lynn Cohick & Amy Brown Hughes – Christian Women in the Patristic World first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Gender is a hot-button topic. The validity and limits of "gender roles" remains a controversial issue in the church. Meanwhile early Christian theology is all about the church Fathers--at least this is the mindset in some circles. While it may be acknowledged that women were vital to the development of early Christianity, for those nurtured in such circles, any notion of women making lasting theological contributions is simply silly or wishful thinking. The period from 100-600 AD is called the Patristic era in common parlance for a reason. Lynn Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes bringing compelling contrary evidence and a balanced perspective, drawing from their recent book, Christian Women in the Patristic World. Join the discussion as they are welcomed by OnScript co-host Matthew Bates for a conversation about women, gender, and early Christianity.
Guests: Lynn Cohick (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. Prior to coming to Wheaton in 2000, Lynn taught for three years in Nairobi, Kenya. She researches the ways Jews and Christians lived out their faith in the ancient settings of Hellenism and the Roman Empire, and how Jews and Christians today can better appreciate and understand each other. Lynn also explores women’s lives in the ancient world. In addition to the present book, she has published Philippians (Zondervan, 2013); Ephesians (Cascade, 2010); and a book that might particularly interest our listeners, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians (Baker Academic, 2009).
Amy Brown Hughes (Ph.D., Wheaton College) is Assistant Professor of Theology at Gordon College. She has co-authored the book under discussion today, Christian Women in the Patristic World, as well as editing and contributing to various essay volumes. Amy received an M.A. in history of Christianity from Wheaton College and her B.A. in theology and historical studies from Oral Roberts University. She enjoys highlighting the contributions of minority voices to theology, especially those of women.
Book: Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes, Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Lecacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017). Publisher's description: From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women--as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers--influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries. This book provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. It highlights the social and theological contributions they made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.
The OnScript Quip (our review): Nothing beautiful is ever a waste. But lovely things can be lost or corroded by time. The delightful story of the theological contribution of women to early Christianity had been tarnished by ugly neglect. Cohick and Hughes are masterful in their restorative craft. They strip way the layers of grime to showcase the story's original splendor and vivid hues. Scholars and students will be compelled to gaze intently at this work of art. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Episode: Pour yourself a wee dram of whisky and tune in as Matt and Dru talk with Iain Provan about the perils and benefits of literal(istic) interpretation of Scripture and his […]
The post Iain Provan – The Reformation and the Right Reading of Scripture first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Happy New Year! Enjoy this rebroadcast of our 2016 interview with John Barclay about his monumental book Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans). Apologies for the sound quality here. This was one of […]
The post John Barclay – Paul and the Gift (Rebroadcast) first appeared on OnScript.
This is a re-release of episode #12 with Jon D. Levenson on his book ‘The Love of God’ Episode: Jon Levenson joins OnScript to discuss his recent book The Love of […]
The post Episode #12 Jon D. Levenson – The Love of God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: It’s time for part 2 of our journey into biblical poetry, this time with the inimitable Elaine T. James. Matt L. talks with Elaine about the poetry of Song, […]
The post Elaine James – Song of Songs first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: It's time for part 2 of our journey into biblical poetry, this time with the inimitable Elaine T. James. Matt L. talks with Elaine about the poetry of Song, the relationship between humans and the land, the absence of God from the book, conceptions of bodily beauty in the book & ... well ... you'll just have to listen! Our conversation springs from her book Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Episode: Hey all, we’ve got a very special announcement. Listen in … and also enjoy a mix of interviews from the annual Society of Biblical Literature geek fest in Boston. The […]
The post !!Special Announcement!! & Short Interview Mix first appeared on OnScript.
Matt L & Dru try to find the Lost world of the Israelite Conquest with John Walton, of Wheaton College, and they give it their best. This discussion dips into the various provocative claims of John's book, but also manages to cover important items like John's response to sombreroed penguins, good novels, and counting one's steps to ensure the closest route between two points. If you've ever wrestled with the ethics or theology of the conquest story, tune in.
The post John Walton – The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest first appeared on OnScript.
Biblical poetry can be tough going. It doesn't rhyme, doesn't have meter, and it comes from an ancient culture. But it makes up some 27% of the Bible! In this first of two episodes on biblical poetry, Matt L. talks with J. Blake Couey, who is a reliable guide through the challenging waters of ancient Hebrew poetry, and who brings listeners his infectious appreciation for the prophetic poetry of Isaiah 1-39.
The post Blake Couey – Reading Isaiah’s Poetry first appeared on OnScript.
Michael F. Bird OnScript Podcast Interview on Jesus the Eternal Son with Matthew W. Bates
The post Michael Bird – Jesus the Eternal Son first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: If Jesus said, “pluck out your eye if it causes you to sin” shouldn’t all Christian men be cyclopsed? If he literally said, “Do not swear an oath,” can Christians no longer testify in court? The steep ethical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount forces more questions than it answers. Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington of Southern Seminary talks with Dru Johnson about how we should read the Sermon on the Mount and what it teaches.
In this episode of OnScript, Pennington shares insights from his new book on the Sermon, portraying a new-and-very-old vision of its teaching that engages the Jewish and Hellenistic worlds of virtue.
About the book: (From the publisher's website) "The Sermon on the Mount, one of the most influential portions of the Bible, is the most studied and commented upon portion of the Christian Scriptures. Every Christian generation turns to it for insight and guidance.
In this volume, a recognized expert on the Gospels shows that the Sermon on the Mount offers a clear window into understanding God's work in Christ. Jonathan Pennington provides a historical, theological, and literary commentary on the Sermon and explains how this text offers insight into God's plan for human flourishing. As Pennington explores the literary dimensions and theological themes of this famous passage, he situates the Sermon in dialogue with the Jewish and Greek virtue traditions and the philosophical-theological question of human flourishing. He also relates the Sermon's theological themes to contemporary issues such as ethics, philosophy, and economics."
About the author: Jonathan T. Pennington is currently Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (USA). He attained a B.A. in History from Northern Illinois University, a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Chicago), and a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where he wrote a thesis entitled “Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew” under the supervision of Professors Richard Bauckham and Philip Esler. During his time at TEDS he also served for five years as the Associate Pastor at the Evangelical Free Church of Mt. Morris in northern Illinois. (adapted from jonathanpennington.com/about/)
He has written and contributed to several books on the New Testament, including Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew (Baker Academic, 2009) and his widely used Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction (Baker Academic, 2012).
OnScript Quip: By considering the Torah's instruction that aims at Israel's flourishing, Pennington offers a refreshing vista of the Sermon, which is neither individualistic, nor merely Hebraic in nature. Pennington gets us to look again at well-worn passages and consider how the Sermon, particularly situated in Matthew, means to call Israel and Gentiles to something beyond "rules to follow." There's plenty to chew on here, technically and personally.
Help Support OnScript: Click through The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing to purchase Pennington's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor. Don't let us stop you from doing both.
["Blind Love Dub" from this episode by Jeris © 2017, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/55416 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)]
If Jesus said, “pluck out your eye if it causes you to sin” shouldn’t all Christian men be cyclopsed? If he literally said, “Do not swear an oath,” can Christians no longer testify in court? The steep ethical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount forces more questions than it answers. Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington of Southern Seminary talks with Dru Johnson about how we should read the Sermon on the Mount and what it teaches.
The post Jonathan Pennington – The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing first appeared on OnScript.
With its messianic associations, pouring or smearing oil on the head is both foundational and divisive in Judaism and Christianity. Language about oil is—well, sorry—slippery. This is true in ancient contexts as well as modern. For instance, Trypho, a second-century Jew, is reported to have said: “The messiah, if he has indeed come and is somewhere, is incognito; he does not even know himself yet nor does he have any power until Elijah comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to everyone” (Dial. 8.4). Justin Martyr vociferously disagreed. In this episode, Matt Novenson helps us see that past analysis of "messiah" language has frequently contributed to the slipperiness, so new questions are needed. Listen in as OnScript host Matthew Bates and Matt Novenson work toward a more firm grip on messianic discourse.
The post Matthew Novenson – The Grammar of Messianism first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: With its messianic associations, pouring or smearing oil on the head is both foundational and divisive in Judaism and Christianity. Language about oil is—well, sorry—slippery. This is true in ancient contexts as well as modern. For instance, Trypho, a second-century Jew, is reported to have said: “The messiah, if he has indeed come and is somewhere, is incognito; he does not even know himself yet nor does he have any power until Elijah comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to everyone” (Dial. 8.4). Justin Martyr vociferously disagreed.
In this episode, Matt Novenson helps us see that past analysis of "messiah" language has frequently contributed to the slipperiness, so new questions are needed.
Listen in as OnScript host Matthew Bates and Matt Novenson work toward a more firm grip on messianic discourse.
Guest: Matthew V. Novenson is Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. He has also been visiting professor at Dartmouth College and Duke University Divinity School and visiting research fellow at Durham University. He is the author of the critically acclaimed monograph Christ among the Messiahs (Oxford University Press, 2012), as well as the book that we are highlighting today, The Grammar of Messianism (Oxford University Press, 2017).The Book: Matthew V. Novenson,The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017). Publisher's description (abridged): What did it mean to talk about "messiahs" in the ancient world, before the idea of messianism became a philosophical juggernaut, dictating the terms for all subsequent discussion of the topic? In this book, Matthew V. Novenson offers a revisionist account of messianism in antiquity. He shows that, for the ancient Jews and Christians who used the term, a messiah was not an article of faith but a manner of speaking. It was a scriptural figure of speech, one among numerous others, useful for thinking about kinds of political order: present or future, real or ideal, monarchic or theocratic, dynastic or charismatic, and other variations besides.
The OnScript Quip (our review): Oil is slippery. Language about oil in Judaism and Christianity is foundational but even harder to grasp: anointing, unction, messiah, Christ. By asking fresh questions, Matthew Novenson has managed to fasten numerous new grips and handles onto our ancient texts. Lucid and authoritative, The Grammar of Messianism is an important study that provides scholars with a more secure purchase on messiah language. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Help Support OnScript: Click on The Grammar of Messianism to purchase and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Or visit our Donate Page if you want to support our ongoing operations regularly. Thanks!
Episode: When people say, “Well, that’s only a metaphor,” what exactly do they mean? A new book on metaphors in the NT takes on the literal versus metaphorical dichotomy, claiming that it is a false dichotomy. Metaphors in Paul, are not merely illustrative, but creatively evoke true meaning in a way that so-called "literal" cannot. Considering that Paul’s use of the term “righteousness” (δικαιωσυνη) itself is a metaphor, so is “redemption” and “enslaved,” which means that “freedom” might also be a metaphor.
In this episode of OnScript, Dru Johnson interviews Dr. Erin Heim, assistant professor of NT at Denver Seminary about her book: Adoption in Galatians and Romans: Contemporary Metaphor Theories and the Pauline HUIOTHESIA Metaphors (Brill, 2017).
About the book: (From the publisher's website) In a new study on the Pauline adoption metaphors, Erin Heim applies a wide array of contemporary theories of metaphor in a fresh exegesis of the four instances of adoption (huiothesia) metaphors in Galatians and Romans. Though many investigations into biblical metaphors treat only their historical background, Heim argues that the meaning of a metaphor lies in the interanimation of a metaphor and the range of possible backgrounds it draws upon. Using insights from contemporary theories, Heim convincingly demonstrates that the Pauline adoption metaphors are instrumental in shaping the perceptions, emotions, and identity of Paul’s first-century audiences.
About the author: Dr. Erin Heim earned a Ph.D. from the University of Otago (NZ), an M.A. from Denver Seminary, and a B.Mus. from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral thesis on the Pauline adoption metaphors was named an exceptional thesis in the division of the humanities at the University of Otago and became the book discussed in this podcast. Dr. Heim regularly presents academic papers at professional conferences on biblical literature, hermeneutics, and New Testament backgrounds. She speaks and writes on issues surrounding contemporary practices of adoption, and the need for responsible theological dialogue surrounding the adoption of children.
OnScript Hot Take: Though a monograph, Adoption in Galatians and Romans is a readable book that keeps a wide audience in mind. Heim does the work of carefully bringing the reader into the wide world of metaphor theory and the historical backgrounds to adoption in Roman and Jewish contexts. It's fair to say that you'll probably not be able to see adoption the same in Pauline theology after this book, and the same goes for metaphor. Listen to the end for some very prescient personal wisdom from Dr. Heim on the impacts of her study for contemporary adoption and how to speak of it in the church today!
["Blind Love Dub" from this episode by J
When people say, “Well, that’s only a metaphor,” what exactly do they mean? A new book on metaphors in the NT takes on the literal versus metaphorical dichotomy, claiming that it is a false dichotomy.
The post Erin Heim — Adoption in Galatians and Romans first appeared on OnScript.
Thomas Jay Oord OnScript Podcast Interview on The Uncontrolling Love of God with Matthew W. Bates
The post Thomas Jay Oord – The Uncontrolling Love of God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: It's a wide-ranging coffee-shop style conversation featuring Thomas Jay Oord and host Matthew W. Bates. Truly, since Tom was at his favorite local coffee shop in Idaho and Matt was drinking copious quantities of coffee at his desk in Illinois. What topics were brewed up? Chaos, the problem of evil, the limits of scientific materialism, the nature of the miraculous--and how all of this could plausibly be explained by a model of divine providence in which God never coerces creation. Tom Oord's book, The Uncontrolling Love of God, compels all who encounter his ideas to grapple with the very foundation of Christian thought anew. Grab your mug of coffee and join in.
Guest: Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Tom Oord is an award-winning author, and he has written or edited more than twenty books. His sole-authored titles include Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement (Brazos, 2010) and The Nature of Love: A Theology (Chalice, 2010) His edited volumes frequently engage matters of science and theology: e.g., God in an Open Universe: Science, Metaphysics, and Open Theism (edited with William Hasker and Dean Zimmerman; Wipf & Stock, 2011). Oord has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award twelve times as professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho. He is known for his contributions to research on love, relational theology, science and religion, and Wesleyan thought. Oord is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene.
Book: Thomas Jay Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015). Publisher's description: Rarely does a new theological position emerge to account well for life in the world, including not only goodness and beauty but also tragedy and randomness. Drawing from Scripture, science, philosophy and various theological traditions, Thomas Jay Oord offers a novel theology of providence―essential kenosis―that emphasizes God's inherently noncoercive love in relation to creation. The Uncontrolling Love of God provides a clear and powerful answer to the problem of evil, the problem of chance, and how God acts providentially in the world..
The OnScript Quip (our review): Chaos, ugliness, evil. Order, beauty, good. Too many theologies can explain one side, but not the other. Thomas Jay Oord's The Uncontrolling Love of God determinedly holds fast to both poles, offering a fresh model for how God's essentially loving nature can provide systematic integration. Prepare to rethink fundamental theology. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript.
Help Support OnScript: Click on The Uncontrolling Love of God to purchase Anderson's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
Episode: Grab a PBR (or craft beer) & get ready for a new perspective as Matt Lynch grills Gar Anderson (Professor of NT at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin) on […]
The post Gar Anderson – Paul’s New Perspective (1st Live Episode!) first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What causes our sin? At some point, a first century Jewish teacher stumbles out of the Galilee saying things like, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw […]
The post Miryam Brand – Evil Within and Without first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: What causes our sin? At some point, a first century Jewish teacher stumbles out of the Galilee saying things like, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9). Unbeknownst to many modern Christians, the New Testament's teaching on sin's causes and solutions enters the fray of a lively literary and sectarian discussion. Jewish communities had lots of ideas about how demons influence us to sin, how the Torah can heal us from sin, and the role of closed communities in solving sin. How can we understand this raucous panoply of evil-talk in Second Temple Judaism? Dru Johnson talks with Dr. Miryam Brand about her research on sin and evil in Second Temple Judaism texts (that is: Jewish texts from 400 BCE–100 CE), which is also featured in her highly accessible podcast and blog.
Guest: Dr. Brand holds a Ph.D. in Bible and Late Antiquity (specialty in Dead Sea Scrolls) from New York University and an Associate Fellowship at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. She also has an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She currently works in both fields: teaching and research in Second Temple literature while working as a marketing manager for a hi-tech company. She has written scholarly articles for collected writings (“1 Enoch: Introduction and Commentary” in Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, ed. Louis Feldman, James Kugel, and Lawrence Schiffman) and her monograph Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013).
Most importantly, she runs a podcast and website: understandingsin.com where you can find her writing and speaking on the topic of this interview and well beyond. In those podcasts, which I highly recommend, she teaches winsomely and invites normal people outside academia into the world of Second Temple Judaism.
Book (from the publisher): "Miryam T. Brand explores how texts of the Second Temple period address the theological problem of the existence of sin and describe the source of human sin. . . . The analysis is divided into two parts; the first explores texts that reflect a conviction that the source of sin is an innate human inclination, and the second analyzes texts that depict sin as caused by demons. The author demonstrates that the genre or purpose of a text is frequently a determining factor in its representation of sin, particularly influencing the text’s portrayal of sin as the result of human inclination versus demonic influence and sin as a free choice or as predetermined fact."
Help Support OnScript:
Click through Evil Within and Without to purchase Brand's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5%. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.
[podbean resource=”episode=vkxnx-6d4c4a” type=”audio-rectangle” height=”100″ skin=”1″ btn-skin=”103″ share=”1″ fonts=”Helvetica” auto=”0″ download=”0″ rtl=”0″] Episode: Grab a beer & lawn chair as Matt Lynch & Dru Johnson discuss your questions at this sizzlin’ summer […]
The post Listener Qs & Online Barbecue with Matt L. & Dru J. first appeared on OnScript.
J Richard Middleton discusses biblical eschatology, creation, heaven, hell, Elijah's escape of death, theology in Jamaica, whether our pets go to heaven, and much more in The Boston Tea Party, Cheltenham, during Richard's tour through the UK.
The post J. Richard Middleton – A New Heaven and A New Earth first appeared on OnScript.
Matt & Matt discuss violence in the OT with Greg Boyd, who has devoted the last 10 years to researching and writing about this vexed topic. Our discussion ranges from the relationship between the cross and the conquest, Greg's theory of 'literary crucifixes' in the OT, how to relate the two Testaments, and more from Greg's monumental new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting The Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross. And brace yourself ... there are two speed rounds in this episode.
The post Greg Boyd – The Crucifixion of the Warrior God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt & Matt talk violence in the OT with Greg Boyd, who has devoted the last 10 years to researching and writing about this vexed topic. Our discussion ranges from the relationship between the cross and the conquest, Greg's theory of 'literary crucifixes' in the OT, how to relate the two Testaments, and more from Greg's monumental new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting The Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross. And brace yourself ... there are two speed rounds in this episode.
Guest: (from the reknew.org website) 'Greg Boyd is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times, The Charlie Rose Show, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC and numerous other television and radio venues.
Greg received his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (summa cum laude 1988), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (cum laude 1982), and his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota (1979). He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) where he received the Teaching Excellence Award and Campus Leadership Award.
Greg is the co-founder of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where he serves as Senior Pastor, speaking to thousands each week.
Greg has authored or co-authored 20 books and numerous academic articles, including his best-selling and award-winning Letters From a Skeptic and his recent books Repenting of Religion and The Myth of a Christian Nation. His apologetic writings and public debates on the historical Jesus and the problem of evil have helped many skeptics embrace faith, and his writings and seminars on spiritual transformation have had a revolutionary, freeing impact on thousands of believers.' (For more about Greg, go HERE)
Book: In The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting The Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross (Fortress Press, 2017), Greg Boyd advances a thesis that the Old Testament's violent texts should be re-interpreted to reflect the enemy embracing, forgiving, love of Christ shown most fully on the Cross. Greg positions this thesis in a long line of Christian interpretation that reaches back to the early Church theologian Origin. Greg outlines a crucicentric (cross-centered) hermeneutic in the first of his two volume, 1,400-page book, and proceeds to (re-)examine violent OT texts through the lens of the cross in volume 2.
**Greg is hosting a special three day conference at Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, MN, on Sept 21-23, 2017 to discuss the problem of violence in Scripture and the possibilities of a cross-shaped interpretive lens. Information HERE.
Episode: The prospect of stoning a rebellious son or adulterer, or turning over an unorthodox brother or sister for execution is revolting. But how should a Jewish or Christian believer respond to such ideas when found in their own scripture? While resisting easy answers, Caryn Reeder offers a nuanced approach to books like Deuteronomy, where many of the harshest laws appear. Deuteronomy is the epicenter of legal admonitions to 'show no pity' to one's own family if they prove disloyal to the covenant. Matt L. discusses with Caryn her journey into the world of 'constructive family violence,' how the harshest of laws might have made sense in the ancient world, and how interpreters through history have re-framed violent laws in new ways.
Guest: Caryn Reeder is Associate Professor of New Testament at Westmont College in California. She grew up on a farm in central Illinois, and then did her B.A. at Augustana College, M.A. and M.Phil at Wheaton College, and her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. She is the author of The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Baker Academic, 2012), and several other articles and essays on war and violence in the Old and New Testaments. Her current research focuses on the experience of women and children in war in the New Testament and its cultural environment.
Book: The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Baker Academic, 2012) (From the Baker Academic Website) 'Three laws in Deuteronomy command violence against a family member--the enemy in the household--who leads others away from covenantal obligations to God. Several biblical and post-biblical narratives make use of such violence. In this fresh approach to troubling biblical texts, Caryn Reeder explores the "family violence" passages in Deuteronomy, tracing their ancient interpretation and assessing their contemporary significance. The Enemy in the Household examines such "constructive" violence carried out to protect the covenant community by investigating the reading practices of ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters of Scripture and their applications of these passages. It also provides modern readers with a model for the ethical interpretation of these difficult texts.'
Episode: The prospect of stoning a rebellious son or adulterer, or turning over an unorthodox brother or sister for execution is revolting. But how should a Jewish or Christian believer […]
The post Caryn Reeder – The Enemy in the Household first appeared on OnScript.
Evangelicals, grab your Noah's ark replicas. Atheists, seize your Darwinian fish symbols. It's the mother of all culture wars. Except Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight, who both hold traditional evangelical Christian convictions, suggest that the war is needless. In their book 'Adam and the Genome' they suggest that It is okay to acknowledge the Jesus fish and to affirm that humans and fish descend from common ancestors. How did Dennis, an evolutionary biologist, and Scot, a New Testament scholar, come together to collaborate? What new evidence has emerged about the human genome in support of evolution? And the crux: How can we make sense of the Bible's description of Adam and Eve as the first humans in light of multiple strands of evidence that suggests humans evolved as a group of no less than 10,000? Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
The post Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight – Adam and the Genome first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Evangelicals, grab your Noah's ark replicas. Atheists, seize your Darwinian fish symbols. It's the mother of all culture wars. Except Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight, who both hold traditional evangelical Christian convictions, suggest that the war is needless. It is okay to acknowledge the Jesus fish and to affirm that humans and fish descend from common ancestors. How did Dennis, an evolutionary biologist, and Scot, a New Testament scholar, come together to collaborate? What new evidence has emerged about the human genome in support of evolution? And the crux: How can we make sense of the Bible's description of Adam and Eve as the first humans in light of multiple strands of evidence that suggests humans evolved as a group of no less than 10,000? Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.
Guests: Dennis Venema (PhD, University of British Columbia) is Associate Professor of Biology at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He is a fellow of BioLogos, where he writes a popular blog, Letters to the Duchess. He has also penned numerous scholarly articles.
Scot McKnight (PhD, Nottingham) is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. The author of more than fifty books, Scot runs the highly influential blog Jesus Creed and is a world-renowned expert on early Christianity. Some of his popular titles include The Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2004; a Christianity Today book of the year); The Blue Parakeet (Zondervan, 2008), and A Fellowship of Differents (Zondervan, 2014). McKnight has also written many books for a scholarly audience, including The Epistle of James (NICNT; Eerdmans, 2010), and one of my personal favorites, The King Jesus Gospel (Zondervan, 2011).
Book: Dennis R. Venema and Scot McKnight, Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture after Genetic Science (Brazos, 2017). Genomic science indicates that humans descend not from an individual pair but from a large population. What does this mean for the basic claim of many Christians: that humans descend from Adam and Eve? The authors conclude that genome research about evolution and Scripture are not irreconcilable.
The OnScript Quip (our review): The evidence of nature or Scripture? A tiresome false dilemma. Interpreting the data with clarity and verve, Venema and McKnight show us how cutting-edge science and thoughtful Scripture scholarship can move us beyond faith-versus-science polemics and toward an integrated Christian worldview. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript
Episode: The story of German Christian anti-Semitism of the Nazi era is still being told. Susannah Heschel’s book The Aryan Jesus brings to light the archives of the ‘Institute for the Study and Eradication […]
The post Susannah Heschel – The Aryan Jesus first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The story of German Christian anti-Semitism of the Nazi era is still being told. Susannah Heschel's book The Aryan Jesus brings to light the archives of the 'Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life,' and tells the story of how German churches found common cause with Nazi's over their shared anti-Semitic commitments. In this episode we discuss Susannah Heschel's remarkable upbringing, her journey into studying the 'pathologies of biblical scholarship,' and her research on The Aryan Jesus.
Guest: 'Susannah Heschel is the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and the history of anti-Semitism. Her numerous publications include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus (University of Chicago Press), which won a National Jewish Book Award, and The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press). She has also taught at Southern Methodist University and Case Western Reserve University.' [from the Dartmouth website]
Heschel tells the story of her childhood and relationship with her father Abraham Joshua Heschel in a beautifully written piece called 'My Father, Myself.' Abraham Joshua Heschel is the author of The Sabbath, The Prophets, and many other highly influential books. In her piece, Susannah tells the story of her father's escape from Poland in 1940, including his involvement in the civil rights movement. Abraham Heschel famously marched with MLK from Selma to Montgomery, an experience that he describes thus: 'When I marched in Selma, I felt like my legs were praying.' She also describes her father's support of her feminism and scholarship.
Book: In The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press, 2008), Susannah Heschel traces the redefinition of Jesus as an Aryan opponent of the Jewish people during the Nazi era. German Christian theologians and biblical scholars aligned themselves with the Nazis (and many became Nazis) via their shared anti-Semitism and formed the 'Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life.' Heschel digs into the archives of this institute to tell its story, and to set it in the wider context of Christian anti-Semitism during the Third Reich. The members of this institute include some of the most influential biblical scholars of the time. Heschel then follows the post-war career 'success' of the institute's members as they found jobs in universities, seminaries, and churches in East and West Germany. The book raises troubling but important questions about Jewish-Christian relationships.
Episode: What role has the Hebrew Bible played in shaping our modern views on ethics? Many Christians have casually believed that the radical ethics of the New Testament provide the moral […]
The post Jeremiah Unterman—Justice for All first appeared on OnScript.
Episode:What role has the Hebrew Bible played in shaping our modern views on ethics? Many Christians have casually believed that the radical ethics of the New Testament provide the moral foundation of the West. Remarkably, Christians are often unaware of the deep roots of Western morality in Hebrew Bible. Many are often surprised to find out that Jesus did not invent the ideal of loving our neighbor as ourselves, rather he is quoting Leviticus from the Torah. Moreover, what we often understand to be modern and civil about Western morality—caring for the poor and orphans, inclusion of the immigrant, weekend rest and labor laws, offering forgiveness, and more—actually comes directly out of the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament).
Dru Johnson interviews Jeremiah Unterman about his new book—Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics. Unterman has offered work that not only presents us with the Hebraic roots of our morality, but demonstrates that this ethical framework is found only in the Hebrew Bible and not in the literature of ancient Israel’s neighbors: the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and more.
Guest: Jeremiah Unterman was the Director of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools in North America before becoming a Resident Scholar at the Herzl Institute. He is the author of a T&T Clark monograph on Jeremiah, From Repentance to Redemption: Jeremiah’s Thought in Transition as well as numerous scholarly articles.
He has taught at Dartmouth College, Northwestern University, University of California – Irvine, and other universities. He received a B.A. in Hebraic Studies from Rutgers University, an M.A. in Bible from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in the Judaica Program of the Near Eastern Studies Department at U.C., Berkeley, where he studied with the renowned scholar: Jacob Milgrom.
Book: From the publisher: "Justice for All demonstrates that the Jewish Bible, by radically changing the course of ethical thought, came to exercise enormous influence on Jewish thought and law and also laid the basis for Christian ethics and the broader development of modern Western civilization. Jeremiah Unterman shows us persuasively that the ethics of the Jewish Bible represent a significant moral advance over Ancient Near East cultures. Moreover, he elucidates how the Bible’s unique conception of ethical monotheism, innovative understanding of covenantal law, and revolutionary messages from the prophets form the foundation of many Western civilization ideals. Justice for All connects these timeless biblical texts to the persistent themes of our times: immigration policy, forgiveness and reconciliation, care for the less privileged, and attaining hope for the future despite destruction and exile in this world."
The OnScript Quip (our review): I have both read this book in early drafts and used it teaching freshmen in a Christian context at The King's College. I have been convinced of its merits by the content, but also by how it has helped young college students reassess the bible’s position in the world of ancient literature. This book not only offers fresh insights into the ethical matrix of the Hebrew Bible, but also acts as a primer folks not intimately familiar with the literature of the bible or the ancient Near East. I would dare say that many Christians might be surprised by the ethical teaching of the Torah and prophets, from which the New Testament texts derive most all of their ethics. - Dru Johnson, The OnScript Podcast
Street interviews by Sabrina Sanchez.
["Blind Love Dub" from this episode by Jeris © 2017, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/55416 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)]
Episode: In this episode, Matt & Matt reflect back on the last year of OnScript-ing, answer some listener Q&A, and … make a big announcement. Yes, we have some exciting […]
The post Matt & Matt – Listener Q&A + More first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: In this episode, Matt & Matt reflect back on the last year of OnScript-ing, answer some listener Q&A, and ... make a big announcement. Yes, we have some exciting news to share with you! Matt L. also quizzes Matt B. about his latest book Salvation By Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King (Baker, 2017).
Guests: OnScript co-hosts Matt Bates and Matt Lynch. You can read about us here, but basically, we teach and write about the OT & NT. Matt B. depends heavily for his work on people like Matt L., but the reverse is not necessarily the case. Matt L. teaches at Westminster Theological Centre in the UK, and Matt B at Quincy University, in Illinois.
Book: Matt's Salvation By Allegiance Alone offers a 'fresh proposal for what faith means within a biblical theology of salvation, Matthew Bates presses the church toward a new precision: we are saved solely by allegiance to Jesus the king. Instead of faith alone, Christians must speak about salvation by allegiance alone. The book includes discussion questions for students, pastors, and church groups and a foreword by Scot McKnight' (from the Baker Academic website).
Episode: Guest Brent Strawn unfurls his provocative thesis that The Old Testament is Dying with OnScript host Matt Lynch. Matt and Brent discuss the malaise of ignorance about, hostility toward, and success-driven re-packaging of, the Old Testament in recent and ancient history. Along the way Brent laughs a lot, sheds a few tears (I didn't verify that), and even sounds a few hopeful notes ... but not before letting his diagnosis sink in.
Guest: Brent A. Strawn is Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta. He is the author of What Is Stronger Than a Lion? Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2005), and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law (Oxford University Press, 2015), along with Iconographic Exegesis of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible: An Introduction to Its Theory, Method, and Practice (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2015) and other books, including his most recent book The Old Testament is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker Academic, 2017). Brent taught previously at Rutgers University and Asbury Theological Seminary, and has taught as a visiting lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary and visiting professor at Columbia Seminary.
Book: The Old Testament is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker Academic, 2017). 'This timely book shows how the Old Testament is like a language - a language is used and learned or it falls into disuse and eventually dies. Brent Strawn details a number of ways the Old Testament is showing signs of decay, demise, and imminent death in the church and criticizes common misunderstandings of the Old Testament that contribute to its neglect. He also shows that it is possible for a language to be recovered. Drawing fresh insight from recent studies of how languages die and are revived, Strawn offers strategies for renewing the use of the Old Testament in Christian faith and practice. This clearly written book will appeal to professors and students of the Old Testament as well as pastors and church leaders.' (From the Baker Academic Website)
The OnScript Quip (our review): The title of this book is not click bait. It's a serious data-supported diagnosis by one of today's leading doctors of all matters Old Testament. Brent A. Strawn (Candler School of Theology, Emory University) examines the Church's inability to speak fluent, or even near-fluent, Old Testament, and he names the forces at work against language acquisition. Strawn claims that at best the Church speaks a pidginized form of the Old Testament, a kind of baby speak: 'Joshua win battle!' 'David kill Goliath!' He examines three factors that accelerate language loss: The New Atheists, The Neo-Marcionites, and the health and wealth 'Happiologists,' and discusses their attractiveness and their impact on the Church's native tongue. Strawn lets his diagnosis sink in deeply before letting just a few shafts of hopeful light enter the dimly lit hospital room where the Old Testament lies, attached to a ventilator.
Episode: Guest Brent Strawn unfurls his provocative thesis that The Old Testament is Dying with OnScript host Matt Lynch. Matt and Brent discuss the malaise of ignorance about, hostility toward, and success-driven re-packaging […]
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Kevin Vanhoozer OnScript Podcast Interview on Biblical Authority After Babel with Matthew Bates
The post Kevin Vanhoozer – Biblical Authority After Babel first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt L. and J. Daniel Kirk discuss the humanity of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels, and the idea that Jesus’ humanity meant much more than the fact that he […]
The post Daniel Kirk – A Man Attested by God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt L. discusses with Dru Johnson his claim that the Bible offers an epistemology, one where humans know by ritual. They discuss key influences on Dru’s work, the importance of […]
The post Dru Johnson – Knowledge by Ritual first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Fred Sanders and OnScript host Matthew Bates talk Trinitarian theology. Fred’s exciting book, The Triune God, is the launching point for the discussion. Discover why it is imperative that […]
The post Fred Sanders – The Triune God first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt L. sits down with his former professor Iain Provan to discuss Discovering Genesis: Content, Interpretation, Reception. Their conversation ranges from fly fishing and salmon forests to the wilds of […]
The post Iain Provan – Discovering Genesis first appeared on OnScript.
Oliver Crisp brings his considerable philosophical acumen to bear on Scripture and tradition in order to break new ground in christology. Oliver and OnScript host Matthew Bates discuss Crisp's book 'The Word Enfleshed' (Baker, 2016), think through classical topics in christology, including the eternal generation of the Son and the Trinity, the incarnation, image of God, and the hypostatic union.
The post Oliver Crisp – The Word Enfleshed first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: For this episode, Matt Lynch sits down with long time friend Mary Hom to talk about her longstanding interest in the Assyrians and the Old Testament. Matt asks questions […]
The post Mary Katherine Hom – The Assyrians and the Old Testament first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Christians like to speak about letting Scripture interpret Scripture, but beyond using an easy passage to make sense out of a more difficult one, what does this mean? David […]
The post David Starling – Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: The polymathic Mark S. Smith joins OnScript to discuss his book on God’s body, and the way Hebrew and Ugaritic literature present divine embodiment in human space. Along the […]
The post Mark Smith – Where the Gods Are first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Larry Hurtado and OnScript host Matthew Bates smash gods. Well, actually Larry is the one who brings the heavy artillery, drawing from his recent Destroyer of the Gods (Baylor […]
The post Larry W. Hurtado – Destroyer of the Gods first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Matt L. discusses womanist biblical interpretation with Nyasha Junior of Temple University. If this is a new subject to you, or you’re on the hunt for a great introduction to […]
The post Nyasha Junior – An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation first appeared on OnScript.
Richard Hays joins us to talk about his recent book 'Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels.' Richard speaks candidly about his recent battle with cancer, revealing how it has shaped his writing and theological outlook. After walking us through several of his own favorite scriptural "echoes," Richard covers diverse topics, including figuration and early Christology. His reflections on best scriptural reading practices for the church are beautiful and profound.
The post Richard B. Hays – Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels first appeared on OnScript.
Co-hosted discussion of divine Christology in contemporary NT studies with Chris Tilling, author of 'Paul's Divine Christology.'
The post Chris Tilling – Talking New Testament Christology first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Take a journey into the heart of the Deuteronomist to discover more about the king after God’s own heart through the eyes of the book of Kings. Matt Lynch interviews Alison Joseph about […]
The post Alison Joseph – Portrait of the Kings first appeared on OnScript.
OnScript host Matthew Bates welcomes David Downs to discuss the biblical and systematic implications of atoning almsgiving. Interviewing from Tanzania, David's reflections on charitable giving for the church today is multicultural and profound.
The post David J. Downs – Alms first appeared on OnScript.
Episode: Jon Levenson joins OnScript to discuss his recent book The Love of God (Princeton, 2016). Jon and Matt L. discuss how the concept of ‘love’ differed in ancient Israel, whether […]
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Episode: When speaking of Christian origins, what images and grammar could a first-century Jew use to say that Jesus of Nazareth was in some sense YHWH, the one God of […]
The post Crispin Fletcher-Louis — Jesus Monotheism, Volume 1 first appeared on OnScript.
At a glance: Brennan Breed joins us to discuss his recent book Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History (Indiana University Press, 2014). This episode is virtual road trip through the world of biblical studies, reception history, and beyond. Along the way, Breed discusses his run-in with a bear, theories about the end of the world, UFOs, and why he thinks biblical texts are more at home on the road.
The post Brennan Breed – Nomadic Text first appeared on OnScript.
Episode Summary: How does brain relate to mind? To spirit or soul? And what does all of this have to do with conversion and Scripture? OnScript host Matthew Bates […]
The post Joel Green – Conversion in Luke-Acts first appeared on OnScript.
Episode Summary In this interview, Matt L. talks about This Strange and Sacred Scripture with author, Old Testament Scholar, and professor Matthew Schlimm. They discuss Matthew’s relationship with the Hardy Boys novels, […]
The post Matthew R. Schlimm – This Strange and Sacred Scripture first appeared on OnScript.
Pete and Matt L. discuss the uncertainties of faith, of life, and of life with the Bible. We also talk about how Pete has managed the challenge of losing control of his faith. Matt asks Pete his opinion on the ideal of 'knowing what you believe' and on 'always being prepared to give an answer ... about the hope that is in you' (1 Peter 3:15). Pete also talks about the 'slippery slope' of certainty. Finally, Pete addresses three of his favorite OT books for navigating the loss of certainty. And, by the way, Pete was swinging a baseball bat in his study during the interview. I'm glad it wasn't an in-person interview.
The post Peter Enns – The Sin of Certainty first appeared on OnScript.
Guest: John M. G. Barclay is Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University in England, one of the most highly regarded professorships in the theological world. Barclay is the author […]
The post John M. G. Barclay – Paul and the Gift first appeared on OnScript.
Guest: Meghan Henning is Assistant Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Dayton. She specializes in New Testament and Early Christianity, and holds an undergraduate degree in Religion and […]
The post Meghan Henning – Educating Early Christians Through the Rhetoric of Hell first appeared on OnScript.
Guest: Professor Michael J. Gorman holds the Raymond E. Brown Chair in Biblical Studies and Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland. A renowned New Testament scholar, he […]
The post Michael J. Gorman – Becoming the Gospel first appeared on OnScript.
Guest: David Lambert is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his Ph.D., M.A., and A.B. from Harvard University. In […]
The post David A. Lambert – How Repentance Became Biblical first appeared on OnScript.
[View Episode] Guest: Joshua W. Jipp is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Josh did his Ph.D. in New Testament at Emory University, a ThM from Duke Divinity School, an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a BA from Northwestern College. In addition to his recent book Christ is King, he is also the author of a book[Read More]
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[View Episode] Guest: Dr. Munther Banayout Isaac is Academic Dean and Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Bethlehem Bible College in Bethlehem, Palestine. He completed his Ph.D. at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, and has an MA from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and Bachelor of Science from Birzeit University in [Read More]
The post Munther Isaac – From Land to Lands first appeared on OnScript.