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Biblical Studies
Jewish Studies February 4, 2023

The Jewish Reformation

Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism As Spiritual Enterprise

Michah Gottlieb

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The Jewish Reformation: Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism as Spiritual Enterprise (Oxford University Press, 2021) was the 2022 winner of the AHA’s Dorothy Rosenberg Prize in the history of Jewish …

Biblical Studies

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Interviews with scholars of the Bible about their new books.

Biblical Studies February 3, 2023

The Shema in John's Gospel

Lori A. Baron

Hosted by Michael Morales
The Shema (Deut. 6:4-5) remains the centerpiece of Jewish prayer, proclaiming divine unity even while summoning God’s people to loyalty and loving obedience. In her recent book, Lori A. Baron …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 31, 2023

Ecclesiastes and the Meaning of Life in the Ancient World

Arthur Keefer

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Is the search for meaning a luxury of the modern world or have human beings always struggled to find meaning in the human condition – in the face of suffering …
Almost Good Catholics January 31, 2023

Walking the Via Dolorosa

An Archaeologist Follows Jesus from His Trial to His Crucifixion

Ilka Knüppel

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Archaeologist Ilka Knüppel discusses her master's thesis—The Search for Jesus's Final Steps: How Archaeological and Literary Evidence Reroutes the Via Dolorosa—and how she came to write it. To use both …
Almost Good Catholics January 30, 2023

The Mesopotamian Connection

Comparing the Bible to Other Literature of the Ancient Near East

Cathleen Chopra-McGowan

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Professor Cathleen Chopra-McGowan examines some the incongruities of our Bible in the context of the Ancient Near East, showing how the stories and traditions of Israel resembled and borrowed from …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 27, 2023

The Aryan Jesus

Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany

Susannah Heschel

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton UP, 2010) documents the process, and relative ease, with which institutions of higher learning and the religious establishment …
Biblical Studies January 23, 2023

Divine Shepherd Christology in the Gospel of Matthew

Wayne Baxter

Hosted by Michael Morales
The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as ‘Shepherd. ’ Is this theme part of the Gospel’s divine Christology? Wayne Baxter, by exploring shepherd imagery in the Hebrew Bible and the …
Almost Good Catholics January 19, 2023

Better Call Paul

How Did the Early Jewish Christians Understand “Works of the Law”?

Matthew Thomas

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
In his new book, theologian Matthew Thomas takes on the big question of what the Apostle Paul means when he talks about "Works of the Law" -- as opposed to …
Jewish Studies January 13, 2023

Psyched for Torah

Mordechai Schiffman

Hosted by Matthew Miller
Today I talked to Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman about his book Psyched for Torah (Kodesh Press, 2022). His writings on the weekly parsha exude complete fluency in both traditional Jewish sources like Talmud …
Jewish Studies January 8, 2023

Reconstructing the Talmud

An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature

Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
In Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature (Hadar Press, 2014), Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff introduce the modern Talmud student to the techniques developed …
Christian Studies January 5, 2023

Does God Intend that Sin Occur?

Matthew J. Hart and Daniel J. Hill

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Matthew J Hart and Daniel J Hill's book Does God Intend that Sin Occur? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) argues, from a detailed consideration of the Christian Scriptures, that God intends that sin …
Almost Good Catholics December 31, 2022

The Gospels in the Early Church

Evidence for the Chronology and Transmission of the Christian Scriptures

Matthew Thomas

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Professor Matthew Thomas returns to explain how we can place the Gospels in time and context using both internal clues (literary evidence) and the external ones (anthropological evidence). These are …
Nomads, Past and Present December 31, 2022

Nomads in the Bible

Hosted by Maggie Freeman
What does the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible have to say about nomads and nomadism in the ancient Near East? This episode explores nomadism in the Judaic religious tradition through the eyes …
Almost Good Catholics December 27, 2022

Who Wrote the Bible?

Sorting out the History of the Bible We Have

Matthew Thomas

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Matthew Thomas, theologian and biblical scholar, explains how the Bible got to be the Bible, how confident we can be in its historicity, and on what authority we can trust …
Israel Studies December 26, 2022

Life in Citations

Biblical Narratives and Contemporary Hebrew Culture

Ruth Tsoffar

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
In her latest book, Life in Citations: Biblical Narratives and Contemporary Hebrew Culture (Routledge, 2019), Ruth Tsoffar studies several key biblical narratives that figure prominently in Israeli culture. Life in Citations …
Christian Studies December 24, 2022

The Need for Creeds Today

Confessional Faith in a Faithless Age

J. V. Fesko

Hosted by Justin McGeary
The Need for Creeds Today: Confessional Faith in a Faithless Age (Baker Academic, 2020) is an accessible invitation to the historic creeds and confessions makes a biblical and historical case for …
Biblical Studies December 23, 2022

Writing With Scripture

Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark

Nathanael Vette

Hosted by David Kunsman
In Writing With Scripture: Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark (T&T Clark, 2022), Nathanael Vette proposes that the Gospel of Mark, like other narrative works in the Second Temple period, uses the …
Writ Large December 7, 2022

On "Genesis"

A Discussion with Ronald Hendel

Ronald Hendel

Hosted by Zachary Davis
In a podcast about books that have changed the world, I bring you the book that I think changed the world the most: The Hebrew Bible. Specifically, the first book …
Biblical Studies November 30, 2022

Daughter Zion's Trauma

A Trauma Informed Reading of Lamentations

James Yansen

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Utilizing insights from trauma studies, James Yansen's book Daughter Zion's Trauma: A Trauma Informed Reading of Lamentations (Gorgias Press, 2019) advances the view that awareness of trauma's potential effects sheds light …
On Religion November 21, 2022

The Magi

Who They Were, How They've Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate

Eric Vanden Eykel

Hosted by Gregory Soden
George Tyrrell insisted that the quest for the historical Jesus was no more than scholars staring into a well to see their own reflections staring back. Jesus is the mirror …