Present Perfect: An Applied Church History Podcast

Welcome to the first episode of Present Perfect, an applied church history podcast. In this episode, we introduce the podcast and let you know what it's all about.

In this episode, I talk a bit about the principles of history and how I'm going to apply them in the podcasts. This isn't your usual history--it's applied history!

Facts are slippery things! While you might think the facts of history are straightforward and objective, nothing could be farther from the truth. We're going to take a look at what we know and what we don't.

Time is the organizer of history. Humans are time-oriented, so we see everything from a past, present, and future perspective. But time is tricky! Understanding it in relation to historical study is crucial. We'll start to tackle this difficult subject today.

Teachers need to be honest about where they're coming from. In this podcast, I talk about my presuppositions, the places where my thinking and beliefs begin. As you'll discover, these influence my outlook on history.

The Bible is the topic of our first season of podcasts. Where did it come from? How did our modern English Bible come to us from the ancient manuscripts? What about translations? We're going to tackle all of these topics and more in the season ahead!

How did the books that make up our Bible come to be regarded as the genuine word of God? We'll take a look at this complex topic today by seeing how the Jewish people assembled what to us is the Old Testament and to them, the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).

We continue our discussion of canonicity with the New Testament books. We'll see how the early church took its time about establishing the canon of the New Testament. We'll also look at the criteria they used to decide what was genuine Scripture and what was just ordinary human writing.

Can manuscripts be copied and re-copied for hundreds of years and retain their accuracy and integrity? Today, we'll see how a dedicated group of Jewish scribes preserved the Old Testament through careful copying. We'll also take a look at some linguistic principles and see how they helped bring back a language that was dying out.

The New Testament manuscripts are a lot more controversial than those of the Old Testament. We're going to examine the oldest available New Testament manuscripts and see where they came from.

Translating the Bible into other languages has been going on for thousands of years. But translation isn't as easy it you might think. We're going to take a look at the historical periods during which Bible translation took place. We'll also examine some of the issues of translation itself.

In this podcast, we continue discussing some of the linguistic principles of translation. We also look at a more general language question: are some languages more capable than others? Listen in and find out!

Did you know that the Bible has been translated into Latin several times throughout its history? In this podcast, we take a look at Latin's long heritage in European culture. We'll then examine the first Latin Bible, the Vetus Latina. It paved the way to a much more well-known Bible. And we'll tip our hat to author James Hilton and Latin pronunciation.

We now take a look at a Bible translation whose influence is comparable to that of the King James Version. Developed by a rather unusual man over more than two decades, the Latin Vulgate has a complex history. We'll also see a trend emerging that translators face up to the present day.

We now take a look at the history of the English language and the first English Bibles. As Rome's influence dimmed in the West, new political forces re-shaped Europe and brought language changes into England. If you've never heard English in its earliest form, you may be surprised how much the language has changed over the centuries.

The fourteenth century was a time of turmoil--plagues, political tensions, and three men all claiming to be the one true pope. But into this troubled world came a new Bible translation. We’ll take a look at the first Middle English Bible and the man who helped produce it, John Wycliffe.

What do a teacher of Greek, the Ottoman Turks, and textual criticism all have in common? Bring them together in the world of the Renaissance and interesting things start to happen. In this podcast, we examine one of the most important critical texts of the New Testament.

Sometimes projects can get away from you and take you to unexpected destinations. Erasmus went on such a journey when he tried to produce a new Latin Bible and ended up producing five versions of a Greek critical text instead. We'll continue our look at the history of the Textus Receptus, a crucial text in the Reformation era. 

The Reformation is one of those historical events that's difficult to evaluate because there are so many strong opinions about it. In this podcast, we attempt to take a balanced look at the Reformation and the Roman Catholic Church's response to vernacular Bible translations.

One thing that many of the Reformers had in common was a desire to produce vernacular Bible translations. In this podcast, we look at William Tyndale, a major figure of the English Reformation. Unable to publish legally, Tyndale got his Bible into people's hands through unusual channels.

It's hard to keep a good Bible down, and Tyndale's translation was one of the best. Despite Tyndale's execution, within just a few years, his Bible not only was legal in England but available in three different forms. We'll see how this happened and how Tyndale's translation choices helped further the English Reformation.

The Geneva Bible is a Bible of firsts. The first English Bible translated entirely from the original languages. The first printed in Roman type. But above all, the first study Bible. Produced by Calvinist Protestants from the Swiss city of Geneva, its popularity remained unrivaled for almost a century.

Almost everyone's heard of the King James Version of the Bible. But what's less commonly understood is the reason for its creation. Developed by a team of dedicated experts, it came about because of a poor Bible translation and a lot of annoying Puritans.

After taking a final look at the various editions of the KJV, we move on to a parallel movement taking place in Europe at the same time. Known as the Counter-Reformation, it was the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to reclaim Europe from Protestantism. Among its many consequences was another English Bible, this time, one working in the service of Rome.

In this podcast, we enter the modern era by looking at the biblical critical texts produced during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These are the basis of most modern Bible translations, so it's important to understand where they came from and the principles behind them.

Bible translation is a complicated and sometimes controversial topic. As we move into the modern era, we examine some of the principles behind Bible translation. We also develop a list of questions to apply when evaluating a translation.

We now enter the modern era of Bible translations. Beginning with the Revised Version in the late nineteenth century, translators gave the English-speaking world a plethora of new translations. Reactions to these varied, but translation goes on to this day.

Some twentieth century Bibles were produced not by translating but by paraphrasing--converting thought for thought. Many appreciated them for making the Bible more accessible. But others worried that they drifted too far from the original text. We'll examine a few and see how they approached the challenge.

This podcast completes our study of modern English Bible translations. We take a look at several of more recent production, including the NKJV, the ESV, the NET Bible, and the HCSB/CSB. If you use one of these for your own study, you'll find this podcast particularly valuable.

Studying the Bible can be a challenge, particularly if you don't know where to start. Ever since the Geneva Bible, study Bibles have been helping us to know our Bibles better. But not until the twentieth century did study Bibles really come into their own. We'll look at their history and also discuss a few guidelines for choosing one intelligently.

Is one translation to be preferred above all others? In this podcast, we take a look at the King James Only (KJVO) movement. We examine different positions within the movement, consider its history, and assess it against what the Bible says about itself.

In our final podcast of the season, we take a look at the lessons that we've learned through church history. We apply these to guide us in selecting a Bible translation and learning to know the Bible's Author better.

Welcome to Season 2! In this new series, we'll take a deep look at the church of the first century (AD 1 to AD 100). We'll examine its history and especially the theology of this crucial time period. More significantly, we'll explore the idea that this century contained an inflection point--a moment of critical decision, which is best explained dispensationally.

We continue our introduction to this season by looking at time and its role in historical study. We also explore the idea of reading our Bibles chronologically rather than from cover to cover. Finally, we develop an incentive for taking the time to dig into our Bibles more deeply. It goes back to such diverse biblical figures as Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar II, and the Apostle John.

In this podcast, we spend some time looking at two key presuppositions that underlie this series. First, we examine the literal-historical-grammatical method of Bible interpretation. Then, we develop the key principles of the theological model known as Dispensationalism. Finally, we identify the four dispensations of human history.

Today, we develop the idea that much of the first century was a time of transition between two dispensations (Israel and the Church). We also explore the parallel idea that Israel stood at an inflection point during this same time period. We then examine the advantages that this dual perspective gives us in developing a clear and harmonious New Testament interpretation.

The path to the Kingdom began right at the start of time. Through various historical events and prophecies, God orchestrated the coming of the Messiah, even going so far as to specify exactly when He would ride into Jerusalem and offer Himself as King. This podcast explores those prophecies and events as we get ready to study the history of this crucial century. 

While Israel at the beginning of the first century was spiritually pretty bleak, there were a number of faithful "watchful waiters" who eagerly desired the coming of the Messiah. In this podcast, we'll take a look at several of them, including a group of very unusual men.

John the Baptist is a puzzling figure who appears at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Clearly, he was the prophesied Forerunner whose task it was to announce the coming of the Messiah. But was he also the Elijah, whose coming God promised as He closed the Old Testament? In this podcast, we'll see what the Scripture has to say.

Jesus' ministry on earth is far too large to cover in just a few podcasts. So we'll restrict ourselves to examining His main purpose for coming to earth: to offer the Kingdom to Israel. We'll see where His miracles and His redeeming mankind fit in this plan. We'll also see how a crucial part of Israel opposed the coming Kingdom.

In this podcast we explore how Israel reached a crucial inflection point in its history. Although many ordinary people were willing to accept Jesus as Israel's Messiah, the religious leaders, the official voice of the nation, rejected Him. We'll examine the ramifications of their actions, as well as Israel's future relationship with God. We'll also look at the tantalizing possibility that the Millennial Kingdom could have started in the first century had Israel reacted differently.

With Jesus' resurrection, we reach a fork in the road. For nearly four decades, Israel and the Church will travel parallel paths through history, with God reaching out to Israel as He simultaneously reveals the Church to the world. We'll explore these concepts and then take a look at what the disciples did as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Traditionally, the Church began with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost. The reality is a bit more complex. In this podcast, we'll see that God was doing TWO things on Pentecost, inaugurating the Church, and giving Israel a second chance to embrace the Kingdom through its Messiah. And a brief examination of Israel's seven Feasts of the Lord reveals something even more significant.

As we begin our trek through the early church's history, with its parallel Jewish and Gentile paths, we'll lay out our methodology. We're going to work through the remainder of the first century decade by decade. In this podcast, I'll deal with a few practical issues, including our historical sources and philosophy of church history. I'll wrap up by explaining the reason that today's church cannot truly replicate the early church.

In this podcast, we begin to examine the Church's first decade--AD 32 to AD 40. We'll examine the very early church's practices, leadership, and the people who made it up. Since the Book of Acts is our sole source for this time period, we'll take a look at that book and its writer, Luke. Finally, after being curiously quiet for a while, Israel's leadership will react to a miracle encouraging the nation to reconsider its path.

The narrative of Ananias and Sapphira seems a bit disturbing and out of place in the Church Age. But as this podcast demonstrates, that incident served to establish several important concepts that were highly necessary for the very early church to understand. Amongst these was the nature of God, as well as the principle of apostolic authority. We'll examine apostolic authority, catalog its qualities, and explore why it was necessary. We'll also discover why it was temporary and no longer exists today.

Israel's leadership of the first century was complicated, fragmented, and factional. Understanding it makes the world of the very early church much more intelligible. In this podcast, we'll sort it out by taking a look at the priests, Sadducees, Pharisees, scribes, lawyers, and rabbis. We'll explore each group's origins, their beliefs, and how they interacted with each other.

In this podcast, we wrap up our detour survey of first-century Israel's core leadership. We examine the Pharisees and determine whether or not they were as bad as is commonly believed. Were they all hypocrites, or were there a few good ones? We'll answer this question by seeing what the entire New Testament has to say about this controversial group.

Resuming our survey of AD 32 through AD 40, we see the very early church tackle an administrative problem by appointing the first deacons. Amongst these is Stephen, the Church's first martyr. We'll explore the circumstances that led to his death and meet the man who went from heartily approving it to becoming one of the Church's greatest apostles. We'll also examine the Samaritans and Philip's ministry to them.

The martyrdom of Stephen brought about a beneficial change to the very early church by forcing it to begin fulfilling the Great Commission. In this podcast, we look at Philip's mission to Samaria and its consequences. We also explore a crucial difference in the Holy Spirit's actions during the Church's first decade and examine possible reasons behind them.

Saul of Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul, is an amazingly complex figure who features prominently in the very early church's history. We'll explore his childhood in the city of Tarsus, his education in Jerusalem, and his abrupt encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. We'll also examine the Roman world in which he grew up and see why he could move so effortlessly between the world of Greek philosophers and the world of conservative Judaism.

As we wrap up the very early church's first decade, we continue to explore Saul of Tarsus' history. We'll attempt to disentangle the period after his conversion, which included a mysterious interlude in Arabia, several years in Damascus, and a memorable fifteen days in Jerusalem.

At long last, we reach the end of the very early church's first decade. We'll conclude this complex and dense time period by looking at two of Peter's miracles, including a very rare one. Then, we'll answer the seven questions with which we sum up each decade's qualities.