Podcasts about bible geek

Chevaux starts the show hashing out an argument with Joe that started on IG. Rick Ross gets beat up in Canada. Joe shares the difference between a geek, nerd, and a dork. Meek Mill offers a $2,000 reward for a South Philly man that assaults a woman in Dollar General.

(66) WISE AS A SERPENT-THINK INVESTIGATE - YouTubeSupport the show

If the sodomites did not want to rape the two angels, then why did Lot have to offer up his daughters? What is your opinion of the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs? Is it possible that Luke couldn't narrate the death of Paul (in Acts) precisely because it was the Petrine christians that bumped him off? That would really throw a spanner in the works for his purpose of healing the divisions between the two factions, so it might have seemed prudent just to omit the whole sorry episode altogether. Did the gospel writers write other works? Do we have any other works from the time period of the gospels that might have been written by one of the 4 authors?

God tells the serpent he will slither. The assumption is that he lost his legs. The Bible doesn't say how he got around before. So was it was a winged serpent? What gods from Greek mythology are mentioned in the Bible?  Are sports mentioned in the Bible? Are there two sets of different ten commandments? Judges 11:24: "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy God giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess." Does that mean that the Hebrews believed Chemosh to be real?

Are there 2 competing versions of Israel crossing over the /red vSea? Does the Bible teach the Trinity? Are the 12 disciples the houses of the Zodiac? Are Levi and Matthew 2 different people? Might Noah's "bow" in the sky have been the Milky Way? Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a single deity or a set of 3? Are the creation stories of Genesis chapter one and chapters 2-3 different stories placed side by side? Or successive episodes of one story?

Why should we think Bultmann's "Ecclesiastical Redactor" was Polycarp of Smyrna?

Why do so many people describe the serpent from the Garden of Eden as the Devil? When did people begin to differentiate "religion" from "philosophy"? Why did Paul never write a thorough exposition of his beliefs/theology? Are Genesis chapter 1 and Chapters 2-3 parts of a single story? Or 2 different stories? Who changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? When Jesus tells the Jews that their father is the Devil. is he saying that Yahweh is Satan. If I'm understanding them correctly. it has been said that Jesus's father was not the old testament God.

Do any scholars understand Jesus to have been a philosopher like Socrates? What do you know about Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, and "The Local Church" movement? Why does Gerd Ludemann consider "he appeared to Peter and the Twelve" and "he appeared to James and all the apostles" to have originally been rival slogans, subsequently fused together? 1 Clement makes Clement Paul's contemporary, but wouldn't that place Paul in the 90s?

Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with eyewitnesses of Jesus or that the Gentile Mission began only after the destruction of the Temple, etc.

Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with eyewitnesses of Jesus or that the Gentile Mission began only after the destruction of the Temple, etc.

Why do the gospels refer simply "Caiaphas" instead of the full name Joseph ben Caiaphas? If we ended up with Paul's Christology then why do Christians get circumcised? Any notions among scholars that Paul might have been on drugs, schizophrenic, bipolar or something? Why did Irenaeus think Jesus died in his fifties?

I Septuagint Daniel was translated in the 3rd century BCE, mustn't the predictions of the Hasmonean revolt of 165 have been actual predictive prophecies? If the expression "fishers of men" as used in Habakkuk and Jeremiah denotes oppressors of Israel, doesn't the use of it to mean preachers of the gospel imply an unhistorical character for the relevant synoptic passages? Why do the synoptic stories of Jesus' relatives visiting him seem to denigrate Mary? Given John 3:16, the Great Commission, etc., why should Peter have been clueless when the Holy Spirit told him to evangelize the Gentile Cornelius?

I was reading Isaiah 43 and came across this passage concerning the return of the exiles from Babylon sounds a lot like Exodus with the safe passage through water and being saved from Egypt. What's your view on the prophetic works being used to inspire parts of the Exodus story? You speak of why we might consider Mark written at a later date - my question is "Isn't the existence in Gospel of Mark of narrative around several delays of the Parousia mean that the gospel is initially much earlier, but then interpolated on this subject to correct previous failure? i.e., can only have previous failure if those bits were written and included much earlier? How does this impact the history of Mark's production and its timing? (Plus I read the Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke from my work in progress, The Heresy of Paraphrase: An Interpretive Paraphrase of the Gospels.)

Katie and Bobby went to a Evangelization Conference/Retreat with Mark Hart as the main presenter.  They unpack what they learned and how to practically evangelize within your own sphere of influence (without being a "weirdo").Show Notes:Mark Hart BooksAltarationFollow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and don't forget to follow, subscribe, like and share!

Where in your own scholarship do you think you insert yourself--your personality, your religious beliefs, your ethics, your political beliefs, your worldview--most? And how do you, as a scholar, try to avoid falling prey to that common fate? Is there an early form of Christianity that, had it somehow won out over what became mainstream Catholic (and then eventually also Protestant) Christianity, you think would have better served humanity through the millennia? If so, how and why? Do you think the doubting Thomas passage in John was meant to be a polemic against the gospel of Thomas which seems to have been authored and gaining traction at the same time? Be fruitful and multiply AND Replenish the earth are two separate commands, not one joined together with a comma. In other words, God didn't command Adam and Eve to replenish the human population. Are we to assume that some unknown author in the first century/early second century put together the so-called Q sayings? And for what purpose? Did the author ascribe the sayings to some fellow named Jesus prior to the fleshing out of the Jesus character in the gospels? Is the Q theory wholly dependent on an assumption of a historical Jesus? A recent Facebook posting from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, showed a picture from their collection and gift shop book of a message written out on a potshard. This message, written in Aramaic from the 5th Century BCE includes the sentence "Let me know when you will be celebrating Pascha (Passover).” Doesn't that imply it was a “moveable feast” reflecting agriculture rather than commemorating a historical occasion, the exodus? In the Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew, it reads: “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' The son answered, ‘No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,' and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” The footnote reads: "Other manuscripts read “The second.” In still other manuscripts the first son says “Yes” but does nothing, the second son says “No” but then repents and goes, and the answer to Jesus' question is that the second son obeyed his father." What do you think is the origin and reason behind the contradicting manuscripts of this parable? What do you think is the intended meaning? I still find intriguing is Saul's

I'm curious whether any of your opinions on Biblical or Christian history going from a more rare or fringe view toward a more mainstream or conservative one? Is it not a False Dichotomy to say that the only two possibilities are Inerrant Divine Revelation and Atheism? I'm wondering when and how the change as to understanding the nature of authority, authorship, and inspiration of the Bible came to be. If Revelation has actual grammatical mistakes, how do most Bible translations account for those? Does two power theology legitimize the trinity as somehow Jewish? Or is two power theology a distinct theological concept which is incompatible with the trinity? Is there any basis for believing Jesus is the angel of the lord?

What exactly does Orthodox Christianity understand is happening at the crucifixion regarding the incarnation and death of the Son of God? How can a timeless being die, etc.? Why is the Last Supper/Eucharist associated with Passover and not Yom Kippur? I don't understand how there could be an original group of Christians without an individual who prompted all of the enthusiasm about him being the Messiah in the first place. In other words, how did this concept (i.e. that Jesus - who had not liberated the Jews and had been killed by the Romans - was the Messiah) become so proliferated that there were numerous (and very different) ideas about who he was without an historical figure to inspire it all? How did you apply Wrede's “Messianic Secret” theory to Jesus Mythicism? Also, what might lead to the conclusion that Jesus was a revolutionary?

It seems one of the main reasons Christianity was initially attractive was the promise of eternal life. And certainly, going to heaven was always the carrot I saw as a kid a couple thousand years after Christianity began. But isn't that sort of a cheap, crass, or selfish reason to believe in Jesus as savior, to believe in God, to follow the various rules as your church understands them? A reward? Do you think there will be a movement to pronounce biblical proper names closer to the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic original? If you could have your wish granted for the recovery of one lost text, what would it be? A number of traditional scholars, most notably Bart Ehrman, REALLY dislike mythicism in general, and its presence in the online world of popular biblical studies. Why such hostility? In the 1946 novel Independent People by the Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness, we read of an old woman who invokes "Jesuspeter." Have you ever heard of anything like this? In Genesis 1:28 (KJV) YHWH tells the First Couple to "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth..." Huh? What exactly are they supposed to be replenishing? The planet is just a few days old and it's hardly been "plenished" in the first place!

In this special episode of Ave Explores: Lent 2023, Mark Hart, AKA the "Bible Geek," says that we shouldn't start Lent hoping to complete a series of tasks on a list. Rather, we should commit ourselves to growing closer to Jesus.

THE EARLY DATING AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS: If you find that the swoon theory is not a “far fetched” theory, why don't you promote it more than say mythicism, docetism, etc.? Do you think in an earlier version Cain's murder of Abel was actually a human sacrifice? On a recent episode you mentioned Elijah originally being a sun god. Is there any archeological evidence of this? I know you wonder whether Joseph of Arimathea is fictive, put in to fulfill a prophecy in Isaiah. Could it be that buried-in-a-tomb is also a plot device? On the one hand there is the "All things are all lawful unto me," there is no sin since we are not under the Law. On the other hand, Paul repeatedly recites a list of behaviors (largely sexual behaviors) that will exclude one from eternal life. My question to you, "How do you reconcile these two things?" My understanding is that James the Just is generally considered a minor disciple if not actually not a disciple at all. If that is the case, then how could he have become the head of the Church and the Twelve? Could Jesus - who was wholly human and “holy" divine - ever become ill? The “miracle” of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the story of Juan Diego has numerous parallels with Christian origins, mainly in the form of its "evidences" being thoroughly debunked. Are there other such cases? Why the emphasis on a "sister as wife"? (1 Cor. 9:5) Were other early apostles in the habit of taking unbelieving ones? Leading to the practice being frowned upon?

What would Friedrich Nietzsche think of the comic book character Superman? I would like to know if you think the New Testament outlines a clear path to salvation. If so, what must a man do to be saved? Can you please describe what you consider to be Christianities greatest contributions to human society? What is meant by "High Christology" and "Low Christology"? Where do you think we see the earliest textual evidence for “the invention of ancient israel” as Lemche calls it? Is there anything in the bible telling us that reincarnation is part of the life cycle?

Why is it that the officially sanctioned oracular devices such as the Ephod (Urim and Thummim) are considered acceptable means to discern truth, while those who practice other techniques might earn the death penalty for their efforts? Often the biblical writers don't condemn specific cultural practices, but will speak on their difficulties, e.g., polygamous marriage. Any other examples? Might Jesus have been a Judaized version of Zeus? Is the story of the drunken Noah cursing Canaan a biblical version of a myth of conflict between various Sumerian, Babylonian, and Persian gods?. Any thoughts on the Jesus stories and possible relationship to Apollo and Seleukos/Asclepius? Could Apollo's anchor symbol have been modified to become the first appearance of the cross symbol? Why do those whom Jesus heals and tells not to tell anyone do so anyway? And why arren't they punished? Have you read the Primary Chronicle of the Kyvian Rus? There is a later portion where one of the Kyvian monarchs decides to investigate the larger religions and makes a decision to adopt the Byzantine version of Christianity. I would appreciate some commentary on the different schools of religious thought captured within.

I know you think that the criterion of embarrassment is not a valid argument for the historicity of Jesus since what is embarrassing for one generation or group of Christians was not the same for another. However, the following points are startling pieces of evidence where the gospel writers are embarrassed enough to revise the story or reluctantly accept it: 1. Jesus's place of birth: Implied as being in Nazareth in Mark, but changed to Davidic/Judaean Bethlehem in Matthew and Luke. 2. The revision of the baptizing of Jesus by John in Mark and Luke to make the subservience of the baptist clear in Matthew and John. 3. Matthew's claim that Jesus' fame reached "all over Syria" even though Jesus journeys mostly in the northern Galilee (with one notable visit to Phoenicia) 4. The proclamation of Jesus in Matthew that he has not come to overturn the Law (despite pretty much doing so everywhere else) but to fulfill it. 5. The amazement of the Nazareth crowd in Mark regarding how and where Jesus, the son of an artisan-peasant, got his wisdom and knowledge of the scriptures. 6. The confusion of Jesus with John the Baptist who, according to Herod, was Jesus raised from the dead (as you have commented on). It implies the baptist was the greater figure. 7. The suffering and despair of Jesus on the cross in Mark versus the fatalist triumphalism in Luke and John. 8. The piercing of Jesus' side in John to show he really did die to defend against charges he had not been on the cross long enough (12 hours being minimum even if he had been flogged). 9. The detailed resurrection appearances in John compared with the very limited accounts of them in Mark and Matthew.

Do you think there are any passages in the "Pauline" epistles that look like they might be written by Simon Magus? What do you make of Valentinus's claim that he was in the apostolic line of “Paul” and had secret teachings through Paul's disciple Theudas? If this is true, and Paul is Simon, can any Valentinian-like doctrine be found in any passages in Paul that might, therefore, be likely candidates for an original scrap of Simon's writing? Isn't it suspicious that a Savioe should actually be named "Savior" (Yehoshua)? Wasn't Jesus really, by "holy spirit," intending a dynamic and fresh experience of life in the present moment? I suffer from OCD (scrupulosity) and have an intense fear of going to hell for losing my belief which is totally irrational I know, but certain sensational claims by exorcists have made me wonder if it's all real after all. How can claims like this be rationalized? It seems it is impossible to hold in mind all facades of the jewel that is Jesus, when contemplating him, or having a personal relationship with him in one's mind. In their contemplation of him, are Christians really relating to one character or a cast of characters? Matthew 28:9-10 seem superfluous. Why does the risen Jesus simply repeat what the angel said only a moment before? Could it be that some of the supposed “appearances” can be explained by Jesus' early followers noticing people that reminded them of Jesus and they managed to convince themselves it really was Jesus? Because as odd as that sounds it seems to be what the two men in Lk. 24 did. I doubt that the Flavians invented Christianity. They were so pragmatic and hard-nosed that their strategy would have been simply to crush their enemies.

Bible Geek Holiday Special Dr. Price reads a sermon about the 1947 movie "Miracle on 34th Street" titled "He Really is Santa Claus"

Is the passage in Revelation 11:7-12 about the 2 witnesses somehow related to the Passion and Resurrection narratives of the gospels? How do you think we can discern if a text critical method produces sound (or sound enough) readings and/or artificially constrains the possible meanings of a text? In the Pistis Sophia, there are references to "five trees," from which five divine beings apparently came (with Melchizedek from the fifth). He also notes that Jesus is made to say in the Gospel of Thomas that "there are five trees in Paradise ... and one who knows them will not taste death." What are they? Doesn't there come a point where the reader interprets the story in a way that the author does not intend, but is still a valid interpretation?

Could you explain the story of Oedipus Rex as a religious figure, who had all the "signs and trappings of a deity" (Alan Dundes) I think I heard you say that the OT doesn't prophesy about a Messiah. Did I misunderstand you or did you say this? Does Matthew 19:13-15 seem to not fit between the other verses? Seems like it was added much later. How would Pilate be able to converse with Jesus? Could Jesus have known Greek? Why no updates to the Bible? Is there any proof that the Bible was ever intended to be anything but a fictional endeavor? If so, where can that be found? Deuteronomy 34:5-6 say Moses died and was buried. Some say that's a sneaky way of saying he didn't die but was taken up to heaven alive, so he was still available to be one of the Two Witnesses in Revelation. But is that cogent? Maybe some non-canonical scripture told it differently? You've mentioned some influences that took you from liberal Christianity to atheism. These were Derrida, Don Cupitt, and the 19th Century critics of the New Testament. What were some ideas these individuals shared that were significant in your transition from liberal Christianity to atheism? Do you have any references you could share concerning the nineteenth-century circuit-riding preachers and their “behaviors” when moving from town to town? What do fundamentalists make of Jude 9, where the writer alludes to an apocryphal story? Whence the belief that angels do not sing? Some speculate that the Holy Spirit was included in the Trinity in order to mirror the theology of Neoplatonism, where it speaks of a World Soul poised between the First Father and the Demiurge/Logos. Thoughts? In what book(s) do you discuss “hermeneutical ventriloquism”? What is your view on Roland Barthes's “death of the author” position against pursuing authorial intent as it relates to the Bible? What are the most important aspects of Derrida's poststructuralism for critical textual scholarship generally? Is there any indication in the Bible that the messiah might return as a female? Is there any indication in the Bible that the messiah could not possibly return as a female?

Do you know if the term "beyond time and space" began to be used to describe God after Einstein's theories were proven? In the Pistis Sophia, there are references to "five trees," from which five divine beings apparently came (with Melchizedek from the fifth). And Jesus is made to say in the Gospel of Thomas that "there are five trees in Paradise ... and one who knows them will not taste death." What might they have been? Gnosticism taught that one gains salvation through knowledge, as opposed to grace, faith, works, etc. But isn't that equally true for any Christian church that requires one to accept a particular creed? You have several times mentioned the similarities between certain gospel stories and novels from the same period. Is there a list of, or source for, said novels? In Strauss's "Life of Jesus Critically Examined it reads "Numerous rabbinical passages were cited to demonstrate, that it was consonant with Jewish notions to consider a son of pious parents to be conceived by the divine co-operation, and that he should be called the son of the Holy Spirit, without its being ever imagined that paternal participation was thereby excluded." Are you aware of these rabbinical passages? Is the story of Cain and Abel about the clash of the farmer archetype and the hunter/gatherer archetype? In Paul: A Critical Life Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, in his discussion of Acts' claim that Paul studied in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, raises John Knox's objections to the claim. What you make of Knox's points, as well as Murphy-O'Connor's comments?

One topic: Universalism/Universal Salvation

Birger Pearson argues for a Jewish pre-Christian origin for Gnosticism, but Bart Ehrman says that view is passé. Why do you agree with Pearson? Did some Gnostics use Son of Man as an important title as opposed to the ways Vermes said? Or am I just taking "title" too seriously, since it's on the brain because I just read Vermes? Is the doctrine of the Trinity more of a Catholic device than other faiths? What is your assessment of the hypothesis that Matthew and Luke both drew independently from Didache, at least for portions of what scholars would later call "Q" ? What sort of model of the Earth and the broader cosmos would a person construct if one had only the Bible as a description of the world? Are the Flat-Earthers right about the biblical account of Earth's shape? Most people believe that Jesus foresaw his own death. I have been searching the internet and there doesn't seem to be any passages before Matthew 16:21–23 that would fit this narrative.

In Geza Vermes's Jesus the Jew he says many scholars reject his understanding of Jesus as a Galilean charismatic sage like Honi or Hanina ben Dosa, as well the contention that “son of man” was not a title. Please explain. Do you have any wisdom to impart in the subject of full Holiness? Do you see any reason to believe the traditional stories of the martyrdoms of Paul and Peter? Could the Gospel of John be considered Pauline?

DescriptionHow do you TRUST and FOLLOW the Holy Spirit as you are delivering talks? What work and prayer do you need to put in to make sure any un-planned pivots are led by the Spirit?In my convo with Mark Hart, sometimes referred to as the Bible Geek, we talked in depth about this question and many other fascinating ideas, including his first BIG talk that didn't turn out exactly as he had planned, his method for preparing talks to ensure that he is best able to follow the Spirit, and his spiritual practices to stay grounded as one of the most trusted communicators in the Church today.Mark Hart is a best-selling author, Catholic radio personality and highly sought after speaker. He proudly serves as the Chief Innovation Officer of Life Teen International. Mark and his wife, Melanie, have four children and live in Phoenix, Arizona.Here's a link to his many articles written for LifeTeen.comLinks:For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreachBetter Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.Check out Ryan's FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or FacebookJoin Ryan's email list.I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here's a link to get you started.

Facts? Truth? History? Myth? What does it all mean and how do we know? Bible Geek & LifeTeen CIO Mark Hart joins us to spelunk the world & themes of Indiana Jones. We discuss: - Biblical archeology & history - Icons vs Idols - Mystery & myth - Fathers & Sons - Mary - Faith & Reason - Pride, Glory, & Fame - Which is the best Indy movie - And as usual, why Jesus is awesome :)Episode 49 Show Host: Mike Tenney Show Page: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/indiana-jones-and-the-mystery-of-faith-w-mark-hart Join my Patron Community www.PopCultureCatechism.com

Tell us about Bruno Bauer. Do you know whether anyone has made a serious, well researched argument to change the BCE/CE dating scheme to something more centered in the Western/Hellenistic/Enlightenment Eras? Might the Emmaus story be based on a dream? Or the resurrection appearance of Romulus on the Alba Longa? What do you make of the references to anti-natalism in the Bible? Is the passage in Revelation 11:7-12 about the 2 witnesses somehow related to the Passion and Resurrection narratives of the gospels?

Mark has the crowd hail “the kingdom of our father that is coming,” while Matthew has “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Is it possible that Mark believed Jesus was the Messiah ben Joseph and still expected that Simon bar Kochba would appear as the Messiah ben David? And that Matthew wrote after bar Kochba was defeated and makes Jesus fulfill both roles? Don't you realize that the Clementines were written in the 4th century, not the 2nd as your heroes F.C. Baur and Bruno Bauer thought? Why the seeming neglect of Nehemiah?? Could the writing ascribed to Mark by Papias be something other than our canonical Mark? You mentioned that Karl Marx had a death bed religious conversion. I could not find anything about that online. Did you confuse him with someone else? Pope Gregory I identified Mary Magdalene with the woman who washed Jesus's feet in Luke 7:38. Why think either was a prostitute?

James D.G. Dunn (Unity and Diversity in the New Testament) says that the Ebionite gospel omitted Matthew's Nativity story because they were adoptionists, implying that their Christology was secondary, not the original. But couldn't Matthew have added it? Is there any truth to current claims that loads of Muslims are converting to Christianity after experiencing visions of Jesus? How would you critique the liberal church today? Was Philip the disciple an accountant or a math wizard? In John 6:5-7 he makes a lightning-fast calculation of the cost of enough food to feed the huge crowd. And how dare he contradict the Son of God by saying there wasn't enough food to feed the multitude? How can the word ἔλεγεν be variously translated as: “said,” “had said,” “was saying,” “had been saying,” “had already been saying,” etc? Why didn't God kill Job's wife? Was it so that Job's wife could advise him to die? In Mark 10:29,30, Jesus promises 100 mothers in this world to the one who gives up their mother to follow him. Why would someone want 100 mothers? In verse 29 Jesus mentions giving up one's father, but verse 30 omits fathers from the compensation promised in this world. Why? Mark's Jesus doesn't mention giving up one's spouses to follow him, and accordingly doesn't promise a 100-fold return in spouses. Jesus lists parents, siblings and offspring, and a couple of forms of property. This seems to parallel Job. What's the significance of omitting this class of property/family? Are we to believe that the Philistines had the architectural know-how to build a temple that would support 3,000 people on the roof (Judges 16:27)? What are some of the earliest Christian sects who disagreed with the doctrine of the trinity? What arguments did they give?

Can you pontificate a bit on the various schools of thought on dating New Testament literature and the Apostolic Fathers? Is there a translation that you can recommend for a first time Bible reader? Was there a Paul in history; how and why did these writings get attached to his name? Has the Bible itself become an idol? What percentage of Paul's "authentic" letters would you estimate to be first person fiction? I recently read 1 Enoch, and I have some questions about the angelic beings it features known as the Watchers. It occurred to me that, although I've long known the story of their descent to earth and their fornication with, and corruption of, us mortals, I don't think I've ever heard an explanation of where they got the name Watchers. My first thought was that watching/witnessing, and hence the ability to stand in judgement over those being observed, are functions often associated with deities. So the idea of angelic "watchers" could derive from this association. When we combine this theory with the idea of the stars as God's "heavenly host" - ie. his angel subordinates - could it be that the Watchers refer specifically to those stars which, being close to the Pole star, are always visible at night above the horizon? By never slipping out of view even during the shorter summer nights, these stars could be thought of as especially "wakeful", perpetually watching us throughout the year, and so be marked out as a special class of angel. Why do you think the name of "Watchers" got attached to the story in Genesis 6:1-4, as opposed to just calling them fallen angels, or sticking with Genesis' generic "sons of God", or some other designation? I'd like to know what you think of less popular, or perhaps more heavily editorialized volumes like the New World Translation. Do you think there are places where these convey an author's intended meaning more accurately than the mainstream, accepted versions of the Bible?

The crucifixion story in all four gospels had to have been based on Josephus' story of rescuing a friend from crucifixion. All four gospels were written after the Josephus “rescue”, so there is not a problem with the dates. But Paul talks about Christ's crucifixion and resurrection before the Josephus rescue occurred. How did he know about it? Concerning Pau's vision about the "Last Supper", I had for a long time accepted the mythicist argument that this was a vision Paul received from Christ and not something that went back to the historical Jesus, or a tradition of Jesus. But didn't Christians start having visions of Jesus only AFTER his death and resurrection? How would Paul be having a vision of Jesus BEFORE he even dies and resurrects?? 1 Cor 11 says this happened on "the night he was handed over". Could you explain the original language of the Old Testament, the language of the manuscripts, and how the text has evolved? What is your understanding of why the word "jealous" is used to describe God? What is Ephesians 3:18 about? Is the object missing from the sentence? Why are there four dimensions in the Pauline hyperreality? Is Leviathan evil? If a sun god is transformed into a human hero, for example Samson, is this demythologization? And is demythologization the opposite of euhemerism?

Why do people continue to set dates for the Rapture when they've all fallen through? Perhaps the Bible mentions 2 different arks of the covenant, the wings of the cherubim atop one of them forming a triangle through which sun shone, like the Eye of Horus. Do we lack various heretical texts simply because people stopped copying them? Are snakes symbols of wisdom because they appear to be merely a head/brain with a series of cabooses attached? What role did Shakespeare play in translation or with the translators of the KJV? Would Paul actually have been following the Jewish Law by persecuting the early Christians if they had had a high Christology?

Pride before a fall...

Did early Christians associate the trumpets of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year festival, with the Last Trumpet of the Rapture? What do you think about that last seventh chapter of the book: "Jesus for Sceptics" where a list of hardcore atheists is given, who under numerous and solid evidence changed their attitude and became hardcore Christians? Do you know of any (good) books about Polycarp? Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a role-playing game, portrays Gnostic doctrine as still current in the Middle Ages. Of course it is fiction, but is it plausible? What do you think of the claim that publishers are cheapening the experience of studying the Good Book by promoting “Bible consumerism?” Does grappling with the inconsistencies, inaccuracies, anachronisms, and atrocities in the Bible wound faith, or is it a good exercise? Some Jews claim that the Septuagint was destroyed in the fire of the Alexandrian library. Do you know why they claim this, despite evidence of other copies existing? Why are the Septuagint and Masoretic texts so different? Am I correct that modern Biblical scholarship hasn't been as interested in the apocryphal portions of the Old Testament? If so, why is this?

In a Gospel about, and supposedly written by, Nicodemus why would it not state that he assisted with the burial? I was wondering what examples we have of textual reconstructions, created through the methods of textual criticism, that match subsequent discoveries of texts. What do you make of the bizarre episode in Exodus 4:24-26? Was Peter as stupid or illiterate as we are told? Do we have examples of Christians and Jews taunting Arabs for having been given no prophets, revelations, etc.? Was Joseph really a woman as some rabbis and Kabbalists suggested? Re the idea that the Paul character diverged from a Simon Magus type character into the more Petrine character found in Acts, I think of Solomon Grundy and the Hulk, or Kara (Supergirl) and Carol (Captain Marvel) Danvers, who seem to have begun as divergent characters with coincidental similarities, and then converged and diverged again over time according to the theological needs of their editors. Are there better examples of this in literature or the Bible? What do we really know about the status of women in the “New Testament times”.

In which gnostic work can one find the myth of the sacrifice of the primal man of light, whose shattered divine sparks give life to the whole creation? What was the role of women in early Christian formation such as the Johannine gospel being written by female hands? Have you seen the documentary showing the possible basis for the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97778-3 Wasn't Mark in error calling Herod Antipas “Basileus” (king) instead of tetrarch? If Adam and Eve do not know what sin, death, or disobedience are, do they have any chance of survival? There is no way for them to learn about these except by trial and error. If procreation and eternal life were both available to the gods, wouldn't the gods have ended up with standing room only, even if there were only two humans? If a piece of toast says "I am the body of the grain, eat it." and an actual person says "this bread is my body, eat it." Do both statements contain equal parts metaphor and literalism? The toast is metaphorically speaking, but it literally is the body of the grain. The person is literally speaking, but the bread is metaphorically their body. Is there any tradition in ancient cultures, biblical or otherwise, where Adam attempts to procreate with every species of animal until god realizes that a woman is required? The Priestly creation story presupposes an endless expanse of water. Is it a consistent view, between the priestly creation and flood stories, that the flood reverted the world to the state that existed before creation? According to the Torah, ingesting blood is on par with murder and idolatry as an affront to God. The priests are in charge of slaughtering sacrificial animals and performing rituals with blood. One would expect accidents to happen, and blood to sometimes splash where it shouldn't. Why aren't there any instructions on what to do if blood accidentally splashes into the mouth? I would expect a continuum of remedies for various degrees of accident: 1. blood went onto the lips, but not inside the mouth. 2. blood went inside the mouth but was not swallowed. 3. blood was swallowed, but the error was immediately detected, and a forced vomiting was induced. What about nose bleeds? What about wounds inside the mouth or in the gastrointestinal system? What about war? Would involuntarily ingesting your own blood also be an abomination? There is a translation that uses the different names of God

How does Adoptionism fit into the evolution of historic Christology? My question is about the range of meanings that adelphoi can take. Can it mean ‘brothers in Christ' which could be understood as ‘believers' (regardless of gender)? There are various examples of Matthew ‘cleaning up' Markan originals to beef up the Jesus character into a much more divine figure. So why did Matthew leave in ‘my god my god why have you forsaken me?' Is there ANY decent critical scholarship that argues FOR the Pauline authorship of the Pastorals? Might the “Doubting Thomas” episode be an attempt to rebut the resurrection doctrine as taught by Thomas Christians? Have you ever heard if the origins of Saint Patrick's Day can be traced back to ancient Christians who co-opted Pagan holidays? What are your thoughts on the James Moffatt Bible? What do we really know about "the twelve"? Do you happen to know the history of hand gestures incorporated into prayer, and what role they play?

In this episode my guest is author, scholar Robert M. Price. His podcast The Bible Geek Show presents theology with a twist but without the spin.Subscribe to the YouTube channel.Support the podcast.Music featured in this episode:The Jokesyoutube.com/user/h3h3productions

In Acts 1:13-14 “certain women” are mentioned alongside the disciples. Who were they? Was it intentional that Mark has a stand-in appear inside Jesus's tomb instead of Jesus himself? Also, that Mark had the stand-in notify a group of women first about Jesus's resurrection? What is your understanding of Ezekiel's vision of the temple and the restoration of the pure worship? The Gabriel Revelation Stone, discovered at the Dead Sea in the early 2000, is said to depict the angel commanding the slain Messiah Simon of Peraea to rise on the 3rd day? Is that true? Is there a so-called musical source in the Tanakh? Is there an English translation of the old testament that uses the original names El, Elyon, Yahweh, and El Shaddai instead of substituting Lord, God, Almighty, or Adonai? In 1 Corinthians 11:25 Jesus says, “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”' What does 'this' refer to here? And when he says "as often as you drink it" What is “it' in this context?  Can you explain which components of Christianity originated from Judaism and which originated from Greek thinking?

Assuming that Luke and Matthew we copying large parts of Mark, and that books were extraordinarily rare, what kind of people were Luke and Matthew? Were they respected scribes? Low level bishops of some sort? For those who consider the Bible inerrant or infallible, what does this mean in the context of Proverbs and Song of Songs? What does it mean for Psalms? If Thomas, Didymus, or equivalents mean twin, and that was a common way of referring to a twin, what was the other sibling in the pair called? Biblical authors use superlatives in every single verse. When biblical authors use expressions that could be translated to English as "forever" or "eternal", what's a good way to interpret these? What is your view of the key role played by the Bible in the early Judeo-Christian foundation and later development of post-contact North American institutions? Is it possible that a historical “Paul” actually wrote all 14-15 letters, over a span of several years, and neglected to read his older writings to ensure they were consistent with his previous writings, or simply changed his mind about what he'd written in the previous epistles. Occasionally you mention having been fortunate enough to meet various great biblical scholars over the course of your career. Would you be willing to describe one or two of those meetings/correspondences/friendships that meant the most or was most intellectually valuable to you?

In biblical times, how could one distinguish a Jew from a Samaritan by outward appearance? Where did Paul derive the information we read in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26? What do you think of the recent introduction of inclusive language in the New American Standard Bible? Might Thomas have been the “Twin” brother of Jesus? I could imagine a situation where a historical figure, increasingly understood as a more and more exalted figure, is equated and conflated with a mythical personage who developed separately, but is there a simpler solution? Assuming there was a common source, the "Q", why was he deleted, quenched, made to disappear? Unless it was Josephus? Does the Ipuwer Papyrus really verify Exodus? If the Romans fabricated the Gospel or adapted it, why did they pick the Levant as the source? What was the point of the “whole burnt offering”? Might the things that are said about Simon Magus have been based on things John the Baptist's disciples said about Jesus, according to the Mandeans? As to the apologetic technique of "interpreting the less clear passage by means of the more clear," is it legitimate to apply it to 2 passages within a single work, or within multiple works by the same author?'

Mark Hart began sharing scripture reflections with teens in his youth group in the mid-1990s. Now "The Bible Geek" is executive vice president of Life Teen International and travels the world sharing his passion for God's Word. Hart offers encouragement for those who want to meet Jesus through the Bible and tips for becoming a better reader of scripture.

Do you think that back in the times at the beginnings of Christianity, there was an organization or brotherhood similar to the modern day Masons that ran parallel to Judaism, and later to Christianity, that served as an incubator for the kinds of syncretic ideas that seemed prevalent in the unorthodox sects of that era? Why is it assumed Matthew and Luke each used some third source (M or L) as opposed to just writing that unique material? : Might the famous devotional poem "Footprints" based on Acts of John 93? When and why did critical scholars begin dating gnosticism as a post-Christian constellation of beliefs? The judgment passage in Revelation 20 says “books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. Doesn't the book of life actually make the whole ‘judgement' aspect of the story completely redundant? The 5th century BCE Elephantine Papyri strongly suggest a Jewish community with little if any knowledge of the Torah and who shockingly violated several aspects of Deuteronomi law (such as polytheism) yet seek and seemingly get permission from priests in Jerusalem to build their own temple! Had any of these people ever read the Pentateuch? Why do scholars say, e.g., Mark was the first Gospel, 1 Thess was Paul's first epistle? Why are they passing off scholarly guesswork as known fact? Please recommend a book explaining the meanings of “the Son of Man.” Who or what is Azazel? 2 Esdras 6 says God created Enoch and Leviathan together on the Fifth Day, then goes on to say that Adam was finally created on the sixth Day. Enoch was created BEFORE Adam? What is going on there? When do you think Christians first considered themselves as having a different religion than Jews? And perhaps leadingly (in terms of what I wonder), do you think that we may not be looking at a splinter, but rather a merger of Jewish sects and gentile sects that found enough compatibility to join disparate groups? How do you understand or explain the lack of first-century Christian texts? Is the war enough to explain it, or is the lack of a prominent Palestinian Christianity possible? Gerd Theissen describes the messianic secret in Mark as "a literary form given to the 'monotheistic' reservations about a life of Jesus bathed in the divine splendor." (p.96) The way I understood him--using Wrede, apparently--is that somehow presenting Jesus literarily as not claiming he was.