In the last podcast episode we continued our series on studying the Bible in a way that amounts to more than reading by taking a look at the legal genre in Old Testament books. This time I focus on another genre military annals. I think the best way of illustrating...
Naked Bible Podcast
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 021
In the last podcast, I recommended the best books and reference sources for understanding the religion and culture of the ANE for OT study. This episode wraps up my overview of taking the Bible's own context seriously by immersing oneself into the intellectual...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 20
I've talked in previous episodes about how the best way to understood the original context of the biblical writers is to immerse yourself in the worldview of the civilizations with which the biblical writers had regular contact. Weve already spent several episodes...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 019: Second Temple Texts in Translation
The series on Bible study continues with the emphasis on interpreting the Bible in its own context. The context we're discussing is the world of the ancient Near East (with respect to the OT) and the Second Temple period with respect to the NT. Interpreting the Bible...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 017: Taking the Bible’s Own Context Seriously
In this second episode of the series on Bible study, I discuss what interpreting the Bible "in context" really means -- taking the Bible's own primitive context seriously. Rather than filter the Bible through creeds dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, or even the...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 012: The Lord’s Supper and the Gospels, Part 1
Here is the link (or go to the archive here on the blog). Here is the description: When I introduced this topic and series, I said that I'm convinced that this doctrine is one of the least critically examined of all biblical doctrines. This episode gets us into some...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 009 Uploaded
This episode discusses another problem passage related to baptism: Acts 22:16. In this episode, Dr. Michael Heiser analyzes Acts 22:16, where Paul recounts his conversion and is told by Ananias to “get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 006 Uploaded
The series on baptism continues. In this episode, I apply my take on getting the circumcision-baptism relationship right to adult and/or believer's baptism. In this follow-up to Episode 5, Dr. Michael Heiser extends his theological argument about baptism and...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 182: Hebrews 4:1-13
Hebrews 4:1-13 continues an important theme introduced in Hebrews 3—holding fast to faith so as to enter into God’s rest (i.e., inherit the promise of eternal life). The writer strikes an analogy between the rest of God, earlier related to entrance (or not) into the...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 175: Hebrews 1:1-4
Hebrews 1:1-4 sets the tone for the entire epistle. The writer asserts that the revelation given by God through one particular son—Jesus Christ—is superior to Torah. It is Christ who is the full expression of God’s wisdom, and the actual, essential being of God...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 115: Ezekiel 6
The episode is now live. In this episode, Dr. Michael Heiser explores the sixth chapter of Ezekiel, where the prophet delivers a scathing judgment oracle against the “high places” of Israel—the unauthorized and idolatrous worship centers scattered throughout the land....
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 113: Ezekiel 2-3
The episode is now live. In this episode, Dr. Michael Heiser continues his series on the book of Ezekiel by exploring chapters 2 and 3—Ezekiel’s prophetic calling. Heiser walks through the symbolic and theological significance of the scroll Ezekiel is told to eat,...
Naked Bible 89: The Book of Life
There are over a dozen references in the Old and New Testaments to “books” in heaven. The idea of such books extends back to Sumer and Mesopotamian (“tablets of destinies”). In this episode, we trace the lineage of the idea through ancient Near Eastern examples, the...
Naked Bible 87: Exorcism of Demons as Part of the Messianic Profile
There is no direct talk in the Old Testament about the messiah, the son of David, would cast out demons. Yet that title (“son of David”) is found only in the synoptic gospels in association with Jesus’ healing and demonic exorcisms. While healing is a clear part of...
Naked Bible 80: Leviticus 19-20
This episode covers two chapters in Leviticus, chapters 19-20. Leviticus 19 is essentially a mini-Torah of sorts, in that it mimes a number of the Ten Commandments and a wide range of laws and commandments that are representative of the overall Torah. Chapter 20...