Dragons in Genesis

Throughout the story of Jesus we find countless references to Old Testament passages, and no book of the Hebrew Bible is quoted more often than Isaiah. The contents of this book is concerned with themes of judgment and atonement, the remission of sin and the consequences of corruption, the destruction of the temple and the return to glory, and most importantly, the coming of the messiah.

The Song of Songs is a collection of erotic poetry that somehow made its way into Jewish scripture, but how did this occur? Apologists have long struggled with this idea, offering thee excuse that it’s secretly an allegory for the love of Yahweh to his chosen people. But the poetry contained in this book might be a love poem between two other deities entirely.

The book of Ecclesiastes, also called Qoheleth, is a curious text whose inclusion into the Hebrew canon has troubled scholars for centuries. It’s an introspective, pessimistic writing that violates traditional wisdom theology by positing that wisdom brings grief and moral behavior is fruitless.

We conclude our study of Proverbs with sections 3-8 of the book which includes the Poem of the Good Wife, a work that outlines what it means to be a good woman and the type of person a man should look for when choosing a partner. Moreover, it tells what a husband can expect from a good wife. Though this poem, and the book which contains it, might fall short in offering moral guidance.

The book of Proverbs, attributed to King Solomon despite the fact that most sections are individually attributed to other editors, provides us with poems, phrases, guidance, and sometimes-timeless advice. And in a few places it gives us a glimpse into long-forgotten aspects of Jewish mythology, such as a great Mother Goddess who helped create the universe!

The final episode covering the Book of Psalms includes the Thanksgiving Psalms, Liturgical Psalms, and the Acrostics. But we aren't satisfied with covering 150 psalms included in the Bible. We dig up 5 more psalms that have been discovered in various manuscripts and examine those as well.

We tackle 3 more genres of Psalm, the Hymns, Wisdom, and Royal Psalms and discuss their usefulness in early Christian literature.

In the wake of the the Babylonian Conquest many Jews found themselves living in captivity, prisoners of their conquerors. Their city destroyed, their worship interrupted, they longed for the days when Yahweh would once again rule over them and provide safety for their nation and community. Thus was born the lament psalms, songs meant to inform God of their difficulties and beg his assistance, psal...

We conclude our coverage of Job by examining the subsequent layers which were added to the text over the centuries and examine the theological implications of these layers. Does the new information contradict the original narrative, and why is the Book of Job so important to christianity?

This is a story all about how Job's life got twist-turned upside down Give me an episode or two and I'll explain How God inflicted Job with a life of pain The story of Job is NOT what you think. In fact, there isn't actually one story presented in the book, but several. And we're covering all of them.

Imagine ancient Jews who didn't observe kosher laws, had no special interest in Jerusalem, didn't practice circumcision, married foreigners, and wrote stories that never mentioned their god. This may seem difficult to imagine, but for Jews living outside of Judah, this was ordinary. Esther explores life in the Persian Empire through a tale of court intrigue and manipulation as it attempts to expla...

The Torah is centered around the idea that the descendants of Abraham are the rightful residents of the land of Israel and the religion they follow is the one true faith. Their law code comes from Moses and the land is granted to them according to divine covenant with Yahweh. But according to the Bible itself Abraham came from Babylon and the Law Code was written in Persia. And maybe, just maybe,...

The Song of Songs is the only piece of erotic love poetry included in the Hebrew Bible, and the imagery in the song is borderline pornographic. That's why I chose to recite the poem with appropriate music.

The Post-Exilic return to Judah from Babylon is central to Jewish theology, but why? Shouldn't their religion have simply picked up where the First Temple left off? What if the Second Temple wasn't a mere continuation of the old religion, but a fresh start? What if Moses and Joshua, and even Abraham were stories told to support a new religion which actually angered adherents to the older form of J...

The wild inventions of the Chronicler continue in this episode as we cover the entirety of the First Temple Period beginning with King Solomon and ending with the Temple's destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, ushering in the influence of Persian rule and religion which is evident in the text. See how the Chronicler changes events from the record of the Books of Kings in order to satisfy hi...

The two books of Chroniclers are yet another attempt by biblical authors to rewrite their national history and create new scripture which contradicts the older versions. What makes Chroniclers stand out is the fact that the older version of history, the books of Samuel and Kings, were too prolific to erase. So we're able to see how they attempted to rewrite history yet again and compare and contra...

Set during the time of the Judges, the Book of Ruth follows Ruth and Naomi, two widows returning to Bethlehem during the wheat harvest. Neither has money or prospects, but by the end of the tale they will have secured their future. But is there more to the story than a tale of women taking control of their own destiny?

Things aren’t going so well for Israel and Judah. Beset on the west by the Egyptians, the east by the Assyrians, and each other from the north and south, God’s chosen people are battling for their lives. But their hardships are due to their own wicked ways as they offend Yahweh at every turn. However, they didn’t know that what they were doing was wrong, because, according to the text, they hadn’t...

Elisha the prophet. Elisha the miracle-worker. Elisha the moon god. As the Israelites moved to a lunar calendar the importance of their lunar figures such as Elisha became more important, thus their stories of greatness and miraculous achievements grew until they outshined those of even their sun gods. Blessed with a double portion of divinity, Elisha is unparalleled in the books of Samuel and Kin...

How much sun god imagery can you fit into one character? I'm not sure, but the story of Elijah is trying to cram it all in there. From calling down fire from the sky (multiple times) to cursing the land with heat waves, the story of this prophet has it all. He also has more parallels to Moses than you can shake a magic staff at... which he also does.

Solomon's turn toward strange gods and stranger religious practices has convinced Yahweh to punish the nation of Israel by dividing it into two separate kingdoms, the northern land of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. This begins a series of conflicts led be two successions of kings who seem to go out of their way to displease the Lord. In the Books of Kings we're treated to political intr...

The greatest structure ever built in Jerusalem was Yahweh's temple, but the story of its construction might be a product of a much later generation. And the details preserved of the early religion still shine through and seem strange to monotheistic religions of today.

What did the early Christians believe about Jesus? Prior to the writing of Mark's gospel, Christian theology seemed... strange. It hints that Jesus lived in the heavens and never set foot on earth. But surely that can't be what the first Christian authors are hinting at. So what if they're not hinting at all? What if they left explicit writings detailing their beliefs about the cosmos and Christ's...

Paul can't seem to stay out of trouble and lands himself in prison once again. While cooling his heels he preaches to the guards and sends out a few letters. What do they say? Apparently Jesus lives in outer space.

Everything that could go wrong within a church has gone wrong. One member is sleeping with his stepmother and his immoral behavior has attracted the ire of Paul’s rivals who seek to undermine his authority. If that’s not bad enough, the congregation has turned against him. Some are denying that Christ was resurrected and others are openly cursing Jesus! What is an apostle to do? Write a stern lett...