Bible Bard - English

This episode describes what the Bible say about life after death? We know from the teachings of other religions that some (like Hindus, Buddhists) want release from the cycle of death and rebirth, and release (moksha) from personality. The Bible expresses the view that God likes individuals and that people retain their individual personalities throughout eternity. This episode shows the texts wher...

n the last lesson (BB-34) we looked at life after death for believers in Jesus Christ. In this lesson we look at life after death for non-believers. The Bible speaks of the possibility of two (2) births and two (2) deaths for every human being. This is a wonderful Bible idea. This episode provides the clear literary text that describes how this concept works.

God is invisible. He seems distant, because while we can talk to him (prayer), he doesn’t seem to respond immediately to us. This episode discusses verses believer's faith that communication with God is real and not just wishful thinking. The following sample texts explain why rational people can think, feel, and believe that their communications with God are part of a conversation.

Jesus is reported in the Gospels to have made some important statements about God and human beings. This episode presents 12 of the most controversial things Jesus said. When religious people find out what Jesus says, many are offended. Little of what Jesus actually said is easy to hear, for that reason some even question whether Jesus actually said these things. It seems easier for some to prefer...

Jesus was a human being and therefore he had a human family. Christian teachers have had difficulty with this fact and denominational churches have often including this New Testament fact into their doctrine. Everyone is willing to agree that the virgin Mary was the human mother of Jesus. The Bible states that after Joseph married the pregnant Mary, they did not have sex until after Jesus was born...

A description of the New Testament church is a very difficult thing to provide. The Bible Bard podcast is based upon the idea of reciting only texts that provide a simple and clear description of a topic using words and sentences not difficult to understand. The church as described in the New Testament does not easily conform to those basic podcast requirements. This episode looks at a division in...

The point of this podcast is to present Bible content to a generation of listeners that, through no fault of their own, have had little or no contact with the best-selling book in all of publishing history. The Bible is a controversial book because it says things that shock and surprise human beings that take the time to listen or read it. It’s an alien book about a supernatural Being that reveals...

This episode discusses three (3) things we need to know if we are to obtain peace with God and ourselves. 1. Commit your just revenge and vengeance to God. 2. Forgive those who harmed you. 3. Receive forgiveness from God for our sins against him. None of this seems possible to most human beings and for many, #2 forgiving others seems the most difficult. This episode details what the Bible actually...

In this lesson we're beginning a look at what the Bible teaches about sex. Sex is a powerful force in human life, so the Bible has a lot to say about it. The sexual part of marriage, the sexual activity within marriage, is not given any rules in the Biblical text except to say that if each partner consents to an activity, the marriage bed is “undefiled”. However, faithfulness in marriage is requir...

As stated in Lesson 42 Sex and marriage, God has not placed rules around sexual activity within marriage. He has placed rules about sex within the family and extended family. God says, "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations… " Human beings like sex and seem to want to have it with anyone they see. Because family members are generally more available to a person than anyo...

In this lesson we are looking at what the Bible teaches about sex, specifically rape. Sex is such a powerful force in human life, so the Bible has a lot to say about it. Because the Bible Bard uses a literary approach to understanding the Bible, this topic compares two different rapes recorded in the Bible and finds some amazing things the Bible says about the girls raped, their attackers, and how...

The Bible is a compilation of 66 individual books written by over 40 authors over a period of about 1,600 years beginning about 1,500 BC – and ending about 100 AD. This podcast Part 2 answers the question, How was the text of the Bible actually composed? This episode looks at several places (among many posside places) where the text answers this question. Scoffers who do not believe in the superna...

The Bible Bard podcast has discussed before why figurative language is needed in the text of the Bible. In this Part 2 of this discussion, we reflect a little bit more on the use of poetic language, simile, and metaphor, and analogies in the Bible. Here's a couple of the important metaphors of the Bible: Jewish nation is the wife of Jehovah, therefore Israel is married to God. The Christian church...

Ask a Christian, what can Jesus do? and the answer lis usually, "anything". In this podcast we look at what the book of Mark says about Jesus in his healing ministry. There is something Mark says that Jesus cannot do. Jesus could control disease, evil spirits, and even the weather, but what he couldn't control tells us a lot about him and God's purpose in the way he has structured his relationship...

In this podcast we look at the Great Commission and try to understand who it is given to and what it means. Here is the actual text: " Then Jesus came to them (the disciples) and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey...

The Book of Job is controversial in both the date assigned to its original publication and the story that make up its contents. As said before, the Bible Bard is not here to dispute or defend the Biblical text. We have textual evidence that this is the first book of the Bible, written before the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Setting aside the book’s dat...

The Bible Bard reflects on what the podcast has done todate and why. Here’s the problem with information about anything:         There is too little information so that we are missing content that we need or there is too much information so that the essential content we want is difficult to find. The Bible Bard has tried to strike the correct balance between...

What does the Bible teach about talking to God? About prayer? All people, even those who do not believe in God, would like to talk to him if they could. For example, in the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark we have the character Dr. Marcus Brody stating, " The Ark is a beacon. It’s a radio for talking to God. " In this podcast you will see that YOU are the ARK for talking to God! This po...

A lot of people believe that while there is a Creator, He does not intervene in the universe. He set it up, it is running like a clock full of natural controls, but He is off elsewhere doing God things. The Bible has a lot to say about this idea, especially in the first book in the Bible titled after its main character, Job. This literature is over 4,200 years old and directly addresses the idea o...

Our culture struggles with authority, not because people despise it, but because they reject illegitimate authority—authority that abuses its power. Many perceive God as such an authority, believing God has the power to prevent suffering, but chooses not to, which seems unreasonable to those unfamiliar with what the Bible teaches about God. This episode discusses what God wants for humanity and wh...

The Bible warns believers in Jesus Christ to expect persecution. The word “Christian” means actually “Christ follower”. In the countries today in North Korea, Afganistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Miramar, China, Mali, Sudan, and the Central African Republic, they all heavily repress and persecute, even murdering and imprisoning people they identify as Christians. Christians are persecuted elsewhere, not...

The Jews have been persecuted for a long time by a lot of different people, ethnic groups, and nations. A lot of it could be attributed to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, except for this Bible information: In Deuteronomy 7:6 God is speaking, "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his p...

In the literature of the Bible the ancient Hebrews enter into a covenant (legal) relationship with God. The core of this agreement is called the 10 commandments. This episode deals with the first two of the set, Apostasy & Idolatry, which are closely linked in the text. When God delivered the 10 laws to the Hebrews, no punishments were associated with any violation of these rules! Most punishm...

In the literature of the Bible the ancient Hebrews enter into a covenant (legal) relationship with God. The core of this agreement is called the 10 commandments. This episode discusses command 3, Blasphemy. This act is defined as defaming the name of God by speaking of or using his name in an empty to vile manner. Violating this command is very common occurrance in "Christian" countries. If the pe...

In the literature of the Bible the ancient Hebrews enter into a covenant (legal) relationship with God. The core of this agreement is called the 10 commandments. This episode deals with the 4th commandment, keeping the Sabbath. This commandment is contraversial because it is a requirement of God that has national significance to the ancient Hebrews, but also is part of a moral set, which begins an...