Let me start by saying (to your relief no doubt) that this Part will be shorter than the previous two. It was prompted some time ago, when I read the tragic news that the folks at Bethel Church in Redding were praying for the resurrection of a deceased little girl....
resurrection
Some Random Thoughts About Substitutionary Atonement
I just want to post some short thoughts on Dr. Johnson’s series. He’s doing what he does best – making us think about things we take for granted. I’ve jotted down some notes and sharing them is overdue. Here are some thoughts… I believe in the concept of...
Is Easter Named After a Pagan Goddess?
Short answer: Nope. A bit more of an answer: Nope, and let’s stop the “Easter is pagan” madness. For the longer answer, keep reading — both what follows and the article I’ve linked to. I thought I had posted this last year, but I guess I...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 6: Origen’s Commentary on Romans 4 and the Reception of the Qualitative Interpretation
This is the final installment of David Burnett’s guest series. This reading of Genesis 15:5 may appear novel yet it has an ancient antecedent in one of the earliest commentaries on Romans. Origen believed that in Romans 4, Paul did in fact understand the...
Paul’s Use of Genesis 15:5 in Romans 4:18 in Light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions: Part 5: Resurrection and Astral Immortality in Early Judaism and Paul
This is Part 5 of David Burnett’s guest series. In early Judaism it was widely accepted that in the resurrection or afterlife, the righteous were to in some sense become as the stars or angels.[1. See above conversation on 2 Baruch 51. For further treatment of...
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 129: ETS-SBL Interviews with Scholars – Part 2
During the recent annual meetings for biblical studies scholars held in San Antonio, Dr. Heiser interviewed a number of scholars about their recent work. In Part 2 of those interviews, we meet Dr. Andy Naselli (New Testament professor at Bethlehem College and...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 118 – Q & A 16
The episode is now live. In this Q&A episode of the Naked Bible Podcast, Dr. Michael Heiser tackles a wide range of theological questions submitted by listeners. From the justice of divine election to the nature of the resurrection body, this episode offers a...
Naked Bible 95: David Burnett – Resurrection and the Death of the Gods
This episode invites David Burnett back to the podcast for a discussion of his research on 1 Cor 15:35-50. In an earlier episode on this chapter, we talked about the meaning of Paul’s phrase “the spiritual body.” This time around, David draws our attention to the...
Naked Bible 88: What is the “spiritual body” Paul talks about in 1 Cor 15?
This episode focuses on Paul’s language, in 1 Cor 15 and elsewhere, about the “spiritual body” of the resurrected Jesus—a body that believers will also share. In Paul's day, Gentiles (Greco-Roman culture) and Jews (OT) both believed that gods had bodies -- not made...
Naked Bible 38: Acts 2:22-41
Acts 2:22-41 This episode will focus on two items of biblical theology that are controversial in biblical study: How the New Testament writers / apostles quoted the Old Testament The meaning of Acts 2:38 Of the two, the second is more familiar to Christians due to...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 025: Greco-Roman Genres of Ghost Stories and Post-Mortem Apparitions and the Gospels
I've blogged before about recent articles about these Greco-Roman genres. In this episode of the podcast I look at two familiar episodes in the life of Jesus: the incident where he walks on the water and his disciples think they are seeing a ghost, and his appearances...
James Tabor’s Essay on Early Christianity’s View of Resurrection: A Review
I have to this point confined my thoughts on the “Jesus Family Tomb” (Talpiot A) and the more recent adjacent tomb (Talpiot B) to my PaleoBabble blog, but my thoughts on James Tabor’s recent blog post entitled, “Why People are Confused about...
Just in Time for Easter Cash Flow: The Tomb of Jesus’ Disciples
$imcha Jacobovici has busy. And amazingly, Easter is just around the corner (again). Oh, the irony. The man who brought us the error-plagued Jesus family tomb, then the nails from the cross, now claims that he has found a tomb which held the remains of at least some...
The OT Cited in the NT: Peter’s (Luke’s) Use of Psalm 16:8-11 in Acts 2:24-28
I’ve decided to open with this oft-debated passage. It’s a good one, in that it introduces the sorts of issues that make this phenomenon important. Here is a PDF of the primary texts involved, along with commentary from Beale and Carson’s edited...