Ezekiel 16 is known for being the most sexually explicit chapter in the Bible. Some scholars even consider it pornographic. The prophet casts the city of Jerusalem as a whore when articulating why God has condemned it and marked it for destruction. This episode...
Romans 5
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 94: The Sin of the Watchers and Galatians 3-4
Biblical scholars know that Paul subordinates the Law to Christ (Gal 3:1-18). He writes about how the Law could not result in the fruition of the promises given to Abraham (and, by extension, to all nations; Gen 12:1-3). Paul then asks “Why then was the law given?” He...
The Origin of Sin in Irenaeus and Jewish Pseudepigrapha (Enoch, Jubilees, Etc.)
Readers of this blog know that several people who’ve commented in the past about my views on Romans 5:12 have thought that plain reading of the text out of step with traditional Christianity. Below is an article (not publicly accessible) that shows that Irenaeus...
The Pope Wants to Baptize Aliens (Again)
SIGH. Those of you who read my material (especially the biblical stuff) know I don’t bash Catholicism, though I have serious disagreements with it. (I’m here to irritate everyone, not just Catholics). 🙂 I have no doubt that this pope has a good heart, and...
Comments on the Four Views of the Historical Adam Reviews
As promised, I want to post a few thoughts on Nijay Gupta’s posted reviews of the four views book on the Historical Adam. These comments presume you have read the reviews (here and here). On Lamoureaux’s view (“Evolutionary creation and no historical...
Can Unbelievers Ever Please God? Part 2
While I won’t repeat what I said in Part 1, the comments to that post have left me thinking that some readers still don’t understand what I’m saying and not saying and so are missing the point of the question. So, by way of review What I’m...
Can Unbelievers Please God? Part 1
Most readers are familiar with the idea of “total depravity” as taught by many Christian theologians over the centuries — the idea that (in overly broad strokes) humans are unable to turn themselves to God and are inherently sinful. Those who have...
Taking Genesis 1-3 at Face Value: Is it Compatible with Recent Genome Research?
[Addendum 7/27/2012: I hope readers will have a look at the comments on this post when they are done reading the post. There are some good, coherent questions asked. I hope readers will see that these questions only *appear* problematic *since* they are asked from the...
The Evolution of Adam: Additional Thoughts
[NOTE / UPDATE: 6/6/2020 – I was recently informed that BioLogos deleted that article mentioned below by Dennis Venema because the science in it was deemed indefensible. For details on that, click here .] A few weeks ago I had offered some thoughts on a review...
Review of Peter Enns’ Book, The Evolution of Adam
This review of Peter Enns’ short but important book, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins , is getting some discussion on the web. I just finished Enns’ book, so I want to share some impressions of this...
Romans 5:12 and Universalism: Applying My Take on Romans 5:12 to the Problem
I’m actually surprised at how brief this one turned out to be! (I’m sure you all are as well). Here’s the passage: 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned...
A Side Note on “Corporate Solidarity”
Forgot to push the button on this last night. I recently had a good exchange with a Naked Bible reader via email and wanted to share my thoughts on the notion of how “corporate solidarity” (CS) fails to answer my objections to the traditional view of...
Paul, Original Sin, and Rabbinic Theology
I’ve had a request for the two articles on the idea of “original sin” and rabbinic material. Here they are: S. Porter, “The Pauline Concept of Original Sin in Light of the Rabbinic Background,” Tyndale Bulletin 41:1 (1990): 3-30 Kister,...
Adam’s Sin and Old Testament Theology
In my last post about contextualizing the OT in light of the ancient Near Eastern culture of the OT writers, I was reminded again of the striking absence of Adam’s sin in OT theology. Other than Genesis 3 and then Genesis 4-5, where Adam is mentioned with...