Dr. Joseph Clair joins us for a rousing lecture on POETRY in the Bible, following his lecture on this very topic. Why does God seem to love poetry so much? We discuss, with a close reading of Psalms 1 and 2.

There are prophets in the Bible—many of them. Christians today claim the Bible is their authoritative book, setting a pattern for life and practice. However: Are there prophets today, in the Biblical sense of the word “prophet”? How would we know? Why would there be? Why would there not be? Some Christians think yes, others, no. Our artifact for discussion: A story in the Washington Post from 2020 featuring a man who claims he is, in fact, a “prophet” today. If you browse around on the internet for a while, you can find many more examples, too.
***Episode note: For reasons we don’t understand, this episode gets cut off at the end, just before Dr. Doak reveals his true view! We have no clue how it happened and our original recording file itself gets cut off at this point. Super weird, and we apologize. For the record, Dr. Doak’s view on this is similar to (even if not exactly like) the view he argued in the debate portion.

Following up on Dr. Doak’s lecture, KINGDOM, we take another shot at summarizing and discussing this wide range of materials, all telling the story of Israel once they enter the land in 1 Samuel all the way through the demise of the kingship and the nation at the end of 2 Kings. And then there are a lot of books authored or spoken by “prophets,” also. Our close reading engages with a classic prophetic scene. Join us.

Does God have a favorite place on earth? Are some places more holy than others? Is the land of Israel still God’s “chosen land,” today? Join us for a civil discussion. Our artifact—which we failed to mention in the podcast itself!—is: Basically any story about the land of Israel over the past several decades! You can easily find all kinds of material about this all over YouTube, the news, etc. So we’re going to let you fill that in on your own. You can do it.

Your professors gather around the podcasting table to discuss this week’s topic, LAND (please watch the lecture on this topic before listening to this podcast!). We ask Dr. Edwards to say more about some specific points in the lecture, Dr. Doak offers alternate ways to think about the justifications for war in the book of Joshua, and we engage in a close reading of a strange little story.

This week we’re tackling two topics and lectures! First, the EXODUS, the story of Moses and the freeing of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Second, the LAW, the set of commandments the people receive at Mt. Sinai. Dr. Payne and Dr. Doak engage in an extended close reading of a strange ritual. Here is the lecture on the EXODUS that you need to watch first, and here is the one on LAW.

Should the 10 Commandments from Exodus ch. 20 be displayed in public spaces in America today? WE DEBATE. This week’s artifact: The story of a Montana man who took down the 10 Commandments.
Here is one version of the story
And here is another

This week we bring Dr. Sarita Edwards into the studio to discuss the ANCESTORS in Genesis chs. 12-50 and her lecture on this very topic. How do we feel about the notion that God chooses some people…and not others? Do you have more sympathy for Sarah or Hagar in their dispute in Genesis chs. 16 and 21?

This week we’re discussing one of the most dreaded and revered concepts at Christian colleges: the “ring by spring” phenomenon. Students talk about it at George Fox. They talk about it at Gonzaga. And it is apparently also the title of a Hallmark movie. We use the concept as a bridge to thinking about the romantic relationships between the ancestors in Genesis chs. 12–50: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah, Joseph and Asenath. And…others. Were these marriages “good” marriages? What should we make of their methods of engagement (often in arranged marriages)? Dr. Doak and Dr. Payne debate.

Dr. Doak and Dr. Payne follow up on the CREATION topic lecture, which covers Genesis chs. 1-11. In particular, they read Genesis ch 3, verses 1-7, in search of knowledge about the snake, gender, and who is at fault for humanity’s first sin. (Reminder: these podcasts are follow-ups to the main weekly lecture video, which you must watch first!)

Should readers of the Bible expect to find Noah’s ark, in reality, on top of a mountain in the Middle East? What might be the advantages and disadvantages of such a quest? Dr. Payne and Dr. Doak debate. Our artifact for the week is the “Ark Encounter” exhibit in Kentucky:
https://arkencounter.com/
And also related phenomena, like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kAgfh_-oSY

For this first in the series of “I Need to Know More” weekly podcasts, your four teaching professors all get together to kick things off! We discuss this week’s main video lecture by Dr. Brian Doak on the BIBLE. What is the text, physically? How does it get presented to us? How do Christians uphold their view that the text is sacred and holy? Dr. Doak gives another shot at going deeper on some concepts around canon and translation. These “I Need to Know More” podcasts are predicated on listeners having already watched the corresponding main lecture video for the week! Here is the YouTube playlist with all of those videos:
https://bit.ly/2CpgYEI.

Welcome to our end-of-week teaching and podcast element! We’re calling it the “THEO POP-CULTURE SMACKDOWN.” Each week, we’ll debate a different topic at the intersection of (a) our week’s topic, (b) pop culture, and (c) the Bible and faith. This week: it’s Dr. Payne vs. Dr. Doak on the question: Are “specialty Bibles” good or bad for faith?
Here are some examples of the “speciality Bibles” we’re talking about:
New Everyday Life Bible
The Athlete’s Bible
Tim Lahaye’s Prophecy Study Bible
Faith Girlz

The crew gets back together one more time for a final Amen.

Dr. Nijay Gupta brings it in for a landing: more content on "the life everlasting" and the final Amen!

Are Christians supposed to see the material world as lower than or subordinate to the spiritual realm? Two scholars debate. Over Zoom. Dr. Joseph Clair, Dean of the College of Christian Studies, versus Dr. Abigail Favale, Director of the William Penn Honors Program, George Fox University.

We continue with themes of the body and resurrection with our next-to-last Creedal phrase: “the life everlasting”!

Is “the Rapture” a thing? We debate!

What do Christians believe about the resurrection? What does this doctrine matter? Are we really going to keep our bodies?

We bring back Pastor Dom and let him have it with some of the most difficult questions we can think of regarding the issue of forgiveness!