I know … not the sort of “academic” title you’re used to seeing here. It’s prompted by some recent feedback I’ve gotten for my post “Can We Please Stop Appealing to Rabbis for Biblical and Ancient Text Interpretation?” You guessed it. There’s fear that my words...
Israel and the Church
The Biblical Prohibition of Intermarriage
I came across the article below today. It’s on a site for an old journal — all the issues are freely accessible. Here’s the article, but check out the site! Cohen From the Bible to the Talmud-The Prohibition of Intermarriage Note: The Old Testament...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 163: Other Gods and Other Religions with Gerald McDermott
Gerald R. McDermott (PhD, University of Iowa) is Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. Before joining Beeson, he was the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College. He is also associate pastor at Christ the King...
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....
Book Review: The New Christian Zionism
Most Christians are interested (and many absorbed) by the topic of the future of Israel and how, in the wake of the New Testament emphasis on the Church as the people of God (Gentiles included), Israel still matters. The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on...
Five Differences Between Qur’anic (Sharia) Law and Old Testament Law
I’d recommend this interesting essay to readers. It was published by the Christian Research Institute. The essay has some deficiencies, in that there are other important differences (and nuances within the differences noted). For example, the OT law was also...
A Book that Truly Examines New Testament Eschatology
If you think of the Left Behind novels or books by John Hagee as sources that provide insight on the New Testament doctrine of end times and the second coming, you should probably stop reading now. Hat tip to Chris Tilling and his Chrisendom blog for drawing my...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 102 – “All Israel” to be Saved?
The episode is now live. The focus is the meaning of "all Israel" in Rom 11:25-26. It's not as easy as you think. Naked Bible Podcast Episode 102 dives deep into one of Paul’s most debated phrases: “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). In this thoughtful and...
Naked Bible 85: Q&A 9
Our 9th Question and Answer episode! Also find out what topics are next for the podcast. Harvey book on the term Jew: Graham Harvey, The True Israel: Uses of the Names Jew, Hebrew, and Israel in Ancient Jewish and Early Christian Literature (Brill, 2001) Transcript 85...
Naked Bible 51: Acts 15
Acts 15 Acts 15 is the account of the Jerusalem council, the meeting of the leadership of the church in Jerusalem, along with Paul and Barnabas, to discuss the matter of Gentile acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some Jewish believers were of the opinion that...
Calculating and Fixing the Date of Easter
I’m once again feeling wearied by all the nonsense (pagan and fundamentalist Christian in equal doses) about how the date of Easter was the result of some sort of deliberate paganizing conspiracy. Personally, I don’t like the modern trappings of Easter. A...
Paul, Israel, and the “Israel of God”
Anyone who has read my series on why the *obsession* with eschatology is a waste of time will recall that one of the big issues is what “Israel” means in the epistles — and especially Paul’s works. This issue is central to any view of...
What Lands Were Promised to Abraham and Israel?
Todd Bolen recently posted two excellent summaries of the opposing views of this question on his Bible Places blog. For those interested in eschatology (especially those who think they have all the answers about end times), these posts are *highly* recommended. The...
Election and Salvation, Round Three
I decided to throw together a short video (9 minutes) to try and better explain/illustrate what my take on this topic is. I reference my thoughts on baptism therein -- how it is divorced from salvation, just as circumcision was -- and so it might be useful to skim...
Back to Election
Well, I’m finally over oral surgery, the holidays, and the beating I received this past weekend in the Naked Bible fantasy football league. (And that hurt more than the surgery). Time to get back to election. As indicated in my previous posts on this, I think...