Bible Bard - English

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-141_Putting God to the Test The literature of the Bible makes an interesting distinction around the idea of a human being testing God. The Bible appears to say that demanding God prove Himself because one distrusts Him will not get an answer. A believing request for guidance or clarification of God’s will seems sometimes permitted. Get a transcript of BB-141 at www. B...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-140_Faith and Reason in Abraham. In Genesis Chapter 15 Abraham is a wealthy Bedouin roaming Canaan about 4,100 years ago in the Near Eastern Middle Bronze Age. God makes a two-part promise to him. Abram asks, "How can I know..." such a thing will happen? Today we look at Faith and Knowledge according to the Bible - with a brief stop off at critics who say there is no...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-139_Metaphor of Light in the Bible. As listeners to this podcast know, we are interested in reading the Bible as literature because that method delivers us from ideology. When reading we find that the text is full of figurative language, so the Bible Bard often investigates things like metaphor. This episode discusses the progression morally of using light as a metaph...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-138_Jephthah and the Unbreakable Vow. There are several horrifying stories in the Bible where people chosen by God commit immoral acts, make terrible decisions, and fail in their basic commission from the God of the Bible. From the point of view of Bible teaching, this is a conflict between a principle and its application. The first principle is clear, if you make a v...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-137 God’s Three Orders to Christians. According to the text in the book of 2 Timothy, there are three negative orders God has given to Christians – things not to do! In this episode we discuss what the literature of the Bible says in this passage. For a transcript for to www. BibleBard.org and click the PDF link. Support the Bible Bard podcast on Patreon at BibleBardU...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-136 Biblical Eras Past, Present, and Future. This episode discusses how the Bible measures time. The text makes distinctions that create God-defined eras during which occur changes in human history and in the relationships defined between God and humanity. For a transcript go to https://www. BibleBard.org and click the PDF link. Support the Bible Bard podcast on Patre...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-135 Witness Stones in the Bible. One of the strangest idioms in the text of the Bible is references to witness stones. These are inanimate objects named in Bible stories that are called upon to witness events or statements that occur during the narrative. This episode discusses how the text of the Bible uses this idiom. For a transcript go to https://www. BibleBard.or...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-134_What the Lord's Prayer Is and Is Not. There are two different prayers in the New Testament that have been referred to as the Lord’s Prayer. Some Christian denominations call the first on the Our Father . It’s found in Matthew 6:9-13. The second is found in John Chapter 17. In today's episode we look at the second prayer, which is the true "Lord's Prayer". The full...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-133_Biblical Eras Past Present and Future. In today's episode we look at the measure of time in Bible literature. The text makes distinctions that create God-defined eras during which occur changes in human history and in the relationships defined between God and humanity. How this works and what it means is today's topic. Go to www. BibleBard.org to download a transc...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-131_Two Kinds of Christians_Believing-Unbelieving. Many people think that Christianity as a religion includes only believers in Christ. But the Christian religion (like most religions) includes true believers and unbelievers – who embrace the name but reject the essence of the faith. In today’s episode we look at this topic: believing and unbelieving Christians. Go to...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-132 God Likes Writing Thoughts Down continues the discussion of the Bible as literature, past episodes for example: BB-126_About the Bible as Text and BB-69 Approaches to Sacred Texts . Today, I want to look at Bible writings from God’s point-of-view. Go to www. BibleBard.org to download a transcript, listen to another episode from the Archive, or get links to other m...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-130 How to Seek God According to the Bible. Few people in our culture are interested in seeking and finding God, especially the God of the Bible. Studies suggest that over half of Millennials view themselves as Bible-neutral or Bible-skeptical . Yet, paradoxically, Bible reading among young men is up. This spiritual curiosity is often suggested as the foundation for t...

Recently, the famous Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams (1957–2026) died at 68 years of age from prostate cancer but left a letter his wife read for the public. Although he said he was “not a believer” [in God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible] he was going to make a public prayer to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior as a matter of “risk-reward calculation”. His statement is a type of deathbed last...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-129 Metaphor of Thirst in the Bible. As listeners to this podcast know, we are interested in reading the Bible as literature because that method delivers us from ideology. We want to know directly what the literature of the Bible says for ourselves. In today’s episode we look at another metaphor, the metaphor of thirst. Here are some texts that employ this mundane obj...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-127_Jesus Rebukes His Disciples. There is a lot written about Jesus in his expressions of love, kindness, and grace. But in today’s episode we look at what the text says about his rebukes, impatience, and criticisms of his followers. Go to www. BibleBard.org to download a transcript, select another episode from the Archive to listen to, or browse the /Store. Support t...

This Bible Bard podcast episode is BB-126 The Bible as Text. The Bible explicitly comments on itself as historically written eyewitness-based accounts of events that were archived, transmitted, and preserved for future generations. Of course, critics claim that is not the case. In this podcast episode I want to look at what the Bible says about itself and briefly note the contradictions of critics...

The Bible Bard podcast episode is BB-125_Two Boy Kings. In the text of the Hebrew Bible, we have only two boys who became kings when they were children (under 9 years of age). The Bible explored this trope way before either classical Greece or Imperial China. The Bible often links characters in pairs—Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, David and Jonathan, Elijah and Elisha, Mary and Martha, and many ot...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-124_A Proverb and Riddle about Wealth. In Psalm 49, this writer presents three radical ideas that challenge both ancient and modern religious assumptions. These ideas directly oppose what human beings have believed in nearly every culture. For a free transcript, go to www. BibleBard.org and click PDF. Click this link to open a PDF of Psalm 49 to follow along: https://...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-123_The Metaphor of the Cup. As listeners to this podcast know, we are interested in reading the Bible as literature because that method delivers us from ideology. We want to know directly what the literature of the Bible says for ourselves. We find when reading that the text is full of figurative language. In today’s episode we look at another metaphor, the metaphor...

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-122_God’s Foolishness and Weakness discusses the use of irony and paradox in the biblical text, looking at the idea presented that God is foolish and God is weak. For a transcript of this episode, go to www. BibleBard.org, and click the PDF link.

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-121 More on Mercy and Judgment adds to and clarifies the content of BB-118 Mercy Triumphs over Judgment. For a transcript of this episode, go to www. BibleBard.org, and click the PDF link.

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-120 Four Insults Directed at Jesus Christ looks at what his enemies said to him while he was pinned to the cross and apparently defeated. I analyze this text using literary methods to discover who is speaking and how what they say relates to various episodes during the life of Jesus. For a transcript, go to www. BibleBard.org and click PDF .

Bible Bard podcast episode BB-119 Prediction and Prophecy , concerns biblical prophecy and prediction in the Bible and in the secular world. In this episode we compare Modern symbolism to Biblical symbolism and try to understand the difference in how Biblical prephecy relates to history. For a transcript, go to www. BibleBard.org and select PDF .

In Bible Bard episode BB-118 Mercy Triumphs over Judgment we look at a single verse from the book of James that places these two concepts together in the writer's admonition. Go to www. BibleBard.org and click PDF to get a transcript. Support the Bible Bard podcast on Patreon (BibleBardUSA), on GOFUNDME, or click the Donations tab on the Bible Bard website to make a contribution.

In Bible Bard episode BB-117 What Motivates God we are looking at Psalm 31 that provides three (3) reasons that God acts in the world. These reasons are distinguished from other religions whose gods act out of different motivations. Using inductive methodology, we explore other texts in the literature that support and clarify the three motivations of Ps 31. For more information, go to www. BibleBa...