Bible Feed

Laurence and Paul finish our series on the 5 books of Moses, the Torah by looking at Deuteronomy.  It turns out that this section doesn't conclude with the people of Israel reaching their destination, then the main character dies (sorry for the spoiler...)! Instead they find that this book acts as a stage-setter, defining how leaders of this ancient people will be described for the next 600 years....

In this 3rd episode in the series, Paul and Dan go off on a tangent to think about demons.  They start by looking at where they appear in the Old Testament and find them linked to the idols worshipped by the peoples around the ancient Israelites and presented as having no real existence or power.  When they come to the Gospels they explore why they suddenly appear so often there and why they are l...

Paul and Dan continue their exploration of how these 'characters' appear in the Bible.  In part 1 they reached a preliminary conclusion that they are used as terms to personify our inherent tendency to want to go our own way rather than God's way.  In this episode they look at many more of the biblical passages that refer to the devil and satan and try to categorise them to get a comprehensive vie...

This episode was recorded just before Easter 2023 and Dan welcomes a guest, John Launchbury, to discuss the vital question: why did Jesus have to die?  They explore the meaning of the word atonement and consider the pros and cons of some, so-called atonement theories that theologians have proposed over history.  As they explore the key scriptural passages involved they find that the impact of the...

Josh and Paul continue our series of book introductions, taking on the next of the five books of the Torah - Numbers, which is actually not just about counting things, it's about a journey through the wilderness.  As they work through the sections of the narrative, they find a pattern that has already been repeated several times in previous books and has its roots in Genesis.  They also look at th...

Paul and Dan embark on a multi-part exploration of the terms devil and satan and how they are used through the Bible.  They aim to lay some foundations here by thinking about how our worldview might affect how we read the Bible and the importance of taking notice of how Jesus interpreted his Bible. They do (eventually) start to explore some verses that talk about the devil and satan and draw an in...

Jordan and Dan continue working through the 'books' within the Psalms. This time they look at books three, four and five and find that they can be seen to follow a spiritual journey.  They find that some Psalms express doubts and uncertainties and deeply question what God is doing. But by remembering what God has done in the past the Psalmist is led back to peace of mind and trust in God, ending w...

For the next of our Bible book introductions, Jordan Walton and Dan Weatherall tackle the Psalms.  As there are 150 of them we thought they deserved two episodes! So here is part 1, with part 2 to follow in a couple of weeks.  Dan and Jordan consider whether the Psalter is just a random collection of prayers and songs or whether there is some structure to it.  Having identified a five book structu...

For the next of our Bible book introductions, Paul and Laurence take a look at the smallest of Paul's letters, his letter to Philemon.  After clearing up the centuries old debate about how to pronounce his name, they proceed to explore why a personal letter about fixing a very personal relationship should be included in the scriptures.  They find that it is, in fact, an incredibly revealing case s...

The Bible Feed core team of Paul, Dan, Josh and Laurence get together to reflect on some serious, and some less serious, themes from 2022 and look forward to our plans for 2023.  We thank all our listeners for their support in 2022 and wish you all the best for 2023, may it see the full realisation of the kingdom of God in the earth.

In keeping with the season, Paul and Dan consider the concept of "the Son of God".  They consider examples of that phrase throughout the Bible, but concentrate on what it means for Jesus to be the only son of the Father. How can Jesus uniquely be called the Son of God?  Does calling him the Son of God make him Deity in any sense?  What is Jesus claiming when he says he is the Son of God?  All thes...

We continue our introductions to the books of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, with Paul and Laurence covering the book of Leviticus.  This is maybe not the most appealing read, after all, what does how long you remain unclean if you touch a dead body, have to do with a Christian today?  But as Paul and Laurence scratch the surface they find that the careful structure of this book poi...

Dan introduces a new guest to the podcast, James Andrews, to consider the whole question of how we read the Old Testament in the light of Jesus.  Do we even need to pay it any attention now that Jesus has come?  They consider what it means for Jesus to fulfil the Old Testament and find that, when Jesus reads and applies the different parts of the Hebrew Bible, he shows us how to bring it to life i...

Josh and Paul tackle the far-reaching concept of inspiration.  What does it mean for something to be the inspired word of God?  Is it possible to explain how that happens, and if we can't, what certainty can we have about divine authority behind the text of the Bible?  As they consider these questions it becomes clear how important it is to treat the text with respect and be responsible and humble...

Paul and Laurence pick up from where the previous episode left off with a look at the book of Exodus. They find it's a book that starts with a great story about how the Israelites escaped from Egypt. There's high action, drama, goodies and baddies... and then intricate detail about how to construct a large tent. Why is that included?  How does that fit into the overall narrative?  Listen in to hea...

We're hoping this new series turbocharges your Bible reading!  We're doing little introductions to different books of the Bible to give you a head start on how they are structured and what the main themes are to look out for.  And where better to start than Genesis?!  Dan and Laurence discuss the first book in the Bible and think about where it all began, but they also find some pointers on where...

We've invited Becky Lewis back for this discussion.  In past centuries, going to church was a deeply embedded part of how western society worked.  But today, with so much emphasis on personal faith and opportunity to do community activities outside church, is there any point in being part of a religious group and meeting with people?  Becky talks about three key reasons: Support, Diversity and Mag...

We're back!  After a break for a couple of months we're back with a new season of podcasts on the Bible and faith in the modern world.  To kick off a new series on Biblical themes, Dan and Paul look at 8 different ideas about the Kingdom of God.  They find that both Jesus' statements about it and the expectations of his audience were deeply rooted in the Old Testament, Hebrew scriptures.  This bri...

Dan welcomes a new guest and author, Martha Sales, to talk about her zany novel, "The Enormous Tiny Experiment". In the story, aimed at 8 to 12 year olds, a somewhat idealistic professor creates a perfect mini world free from suffering - or so he thought. What could possibly go wrong when 21 tiny people are placed together in a wonderful environment without rules or regulations?! The conversation...

Laurence and Stephen conclude this 3 part series looking into aspects of early church history.  This time they explore how people became members of a church and the significance of sharing the bread and cup of wine to remember Jesus.  As in previous episodes, there are some similarities with churches today, but also some differences that are worth reflecting upon.

Paul and Dan investigate the many and varied Biblical images for the judgement.  They discuss whether we should think that any of those word-pictures and metaphors describe what will actually happen - or are they designed to teach us something else?  If you've ever experienced that moment of fear at the thought of trying to explain what you've done, listen in, as there are some encouraging message...

Paul chats to Mark Vincent, the author of a small book with big ambitions, entitled Life's Biggest Questions.  They talk about how the book came about and step through some thoughts on those major questions - Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we headed?  The book is a highly accessible read (at only 140 pages), so enjoy the conversation with Mark and we hope you'll enjoy reading t...

Laurence and Stephen continue this mini-series on themes from early church history. This time they look at Jesus' prediction that Christians might be persecuted for believing in him and how that unfolded over the first few centuries of the church.  Stephen explains what led to two periods of persection - under Emperor Nero and the Great Persecution of Diocletian - and how the church emerged from t...

Dan and Phil finish their conversation about the work of textual critics and what that can tell us about the New Testament that we read today.  They dive into some examples of accidental copying mistakes as well as more deliberate changes that a scribe might make when copying texts.  This is just a brief overview of a vast field of study and so Phil gives some really useful resources at the end th...

In this two-part episode Dan talks to Phil Evans about what the discipline of Textual Criticism can tell us about the New Testament that we read today.  Is it reliable? How strong is the evidence behind it?  Can we ever know how close it is to the original?  In this first part, Dan and Phil compare the manuscript evidence for the New Testament with the writings of other ancient, classical Greek an...