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 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...
Excellent Article on the Sol Invictus Myth as the Basis for Birth Date of Jesus on December 25
Some readers will recall that last year around Christmas we devoted an episode of the Naked Bible Podcast (#195) to the myth that Christmas was a pagan holiday because of the December 25 (winter solstice) date. As the myth goes, the date was chosen by Constantine to...
Christmas a Pagan Celebration? What You Know May Not Be So
Hat tip to Stephen Huebscher for this one! Here's a link to an interesting short essay on this topic. The author argues (with some justification) that rather than Christians adapting a pagan holiday to their sacred calendar, pagans co-opted December 25 from...
Reflections on ETS, SBL, and Other Stuff
Well, I'm home after three weeks on the road (PA, Providence RI, Boston, and you can throw in NY, Connecticut, and New Jersey in if you count the driving). To say I'm glad would be quite an understatement. Of course I had fun, saw friends and family, and met new...
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...
Lengthy Interview on Unseen Realm by Frank Viola on the Patheos Blog
I'm grateful to Frank Viola (the author, not the MLB pitcher!) for the time he invested into reading (studying, really) my book, The Unseen Realm. Frank is a best-selling author in the wider evangelical world, as well as a blogger and speaker. He gets the content of...
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,...