Someone just sent me this short article from the Daily Beast by church historian Candida Moss: "Nero, the Execution of Peter and Paul, and the Biggest Fake News in Early Christian History." Basically, it's about how Christians really weren't persecuted by Nero as part...
Acts
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 153: Ezekiel 38-39, Part 2
This follow-up to Part 1 on these popular and controversial chapters focuses on the interpretation of the Gog-Magog invasion as a whole. Special attention is paid to how Rev 20:7-10 re-purposes Ezekiel 38-39 and how that re-purposing is consistent with a sound...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 151: Ezekiel 37
Apologies - I forgot to post this episode! Ezekiel 37 is one of the most familiar in the entire book, but that familiarity really extends only to the first fourteen verses. The chapter actually contains two oracles which telegraph the same ideas and work in tandem....
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 150: Ezekiel 35-36
These two chapters seems intrusive. The oracles against the nations ended in Ezekiel 32, followed by the announcement of Jerusalem’s fall (ch. 33) and a transition to the future hope of Israel (ch. 34). Chapters 35-36 are an oracle against Edom (“Mount Seir”) followed...
The Unseen Realm and the Mission of the Cross (the Church): A Common but Significant Question
This may be controversial in terms of the illustration I'll use, but I find the illustration has explanatory power. I think our real problem isn't how darkness has adapted, but how believers have changed (i.e., their thinking). I'll try and explain. I just posted this...
Two New Kindle Books — Notes on Leviticus and Acts from the Naked Bible Podcast
I'm happy to announce that there are two new Kindle books available: Notes on Leviticus from the Naked Bible Podcast ($0.99) Notes on the Book of Acts from the Naked Bible Podcast ($0.99) As you might guess from the titles, these are edited version of the transcripts...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 126 – Ezekiel 18
Ezekiel 18 focuses on one central idea: individual accountability for one’s own sinfulness. The chapter opens with God’s rejection of the pervasive Israelite idea that the suffering of one generation is the result of the sins of previous generations. The message God...
Naked Bible Podcast 107 – Book of Obadiah, Part 2
The episode is now live. Naked Bible Podcast Episode 107 continues Dr. Michael Heiser’s expositional study of the Book of Obadiah, focusing on the final verses (vv. 18 and 21), where the judgment of Edom and the rise of God’s Kingdom are declared. Heiser unpacks how...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 101: Jesus, the Exile, and the Tribulation
Mike does some eschatology (and next week, too). Kind of like a Bigfoot sighting. Get it while supplies last! In this provocative episode of the Naked Bible Podcast, Dr. Michael Heiser reframes the popular evangelical understanding of the “tribulation” by exploring...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 98: Conversation about Alternatives to Modern Church (“House Churches”)
In this episode Mike and Trey talk with Tim Andrews and Rich Baker about alternative ways to think about church – specifically, if church wasn’t a time or a place, what would that be like? Tim Andrews currently lives in Atlanta, GA, and has been in leadership in...
Naked Bible 60: Acts 27 & 28
Acts 27 & 28 This episode wraps up our study of the book of Acts. These two chapters focus on Luke’s account of Paul’s hazardous journey by ship to Rome. Through the course of his narrative, Luke drops some cryptic references to the theological concept of a...
Naked Bible 58: Acts 23-26
Acts 23-26 These chapters cover the trials and imprisonments of Paul before setting sail for Rome to appeal to Caesar. Rather than focusing on the trial scenes, this episode of the podcast for the most part focuses on several statements of theological importance...
Naked Bible 57: Acts 22
Acts 22 In an earlier episode (#50), we asked whether Paul’s stoning at Lystra in Acts 14 was the backdrop for the heavenly visionary experience he described in 2 Corinthians 12. Did Paul in fact have an NDE? We concluded that the chronology Paul alluded to in 2...
Naked Bible 56: Acts 20 & 21
Acts 20-21 describes Paul’s last missionary trip before returning to Jerusalem where he was saved by Roman soldiers from rioting Jews who spotted him in the temple. His deliverance would ultimately result in an appeal to Caesar and subsequent journey to Rome. These...
Naked Bible 54: Acts 18 & 19
Acts 18-19 introduce three people that become part of Paul’s ministry and the storyline of his missionary journeys: Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos. This episode discusses some of the language in Luke’s description of how the testimonies of people who embraced Jesus...