It Means What It Means

In this conversation, Nicholas Elder discusses his book Gospel Media: Reading, Writing, and Circulating Jesus Traditions , which covers the complexity of reading, writing, and circulating texts in the ancient world. He dispels myths about these practices and highlights the influence of other fields on biblical studies. He explores the relationship between ancient and modern media and emphasizes th...

In this episode Jared talks to Tod Linafelt about his book The Hebrew Bible as Literature: A Very Short Introduction from Oxford University Press. Books mentioned or recommended in this episode: Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode , JPS TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures , Books by Robert Alter , An Invitation to Biblical Poetry , Reading the Poetry of First Isaiah: The Most Perfect Model of...

In this conversation, Dr. Ben Witherington discusses his background as a professor of New Testament and his extensive experience in teaching and writing. He introduces his book The Problem with Evangelical Theology: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Wesleyanism, and Pentecostalism and explains his motivation for writing it. The conversation then delves into the na...

In this conversation, Brent A. Strawn discusses the significance of Yahweh's lookalikes in the ancient world and the challenges of differentiating Yahweh from other gods. He explores the extremes of over-differentiation and over-similarity and the limitations of historical analysis in understanding the ancient Near East pantheon. Strawn also examines inadequate responses to Yahweh's lookalikes and...

In this episode, Jared talks to Jon D Levenson about his essay “Is There a Counterpart in the Hebrew Bible to New Testament Anti-Semitism” from the book Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes. Recommendations made include novelist Ben McIntyre and Jared throws in Kurt Vonnegut and Terry Pratchett for good measure. Click here to find out where you can follow the podcast.

In this episode Jared talks to Collin Cornell about his chapter in Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes , which he edited. The title of his chapter is Theological Approaches to the Problem of God’s Ancient Look-Alikes. Collin’s recommendations are Paula Fredriksen , Matthew V Novenson , Matthew Thiessen , A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East , Matt Chalmers , and Gard Gra...

On this special Thanksgiving episode, Jared talks with Daniel Rodriguez about his article “Reframing Hospitality: Cognition, Social Binding, and Mimetic Criticism” from The Bible Translator . Daniel mentioned and recommended René Girard, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Ryan Stokes, Michele Foucault, language as a function of relationship , Reinier de Blois , Eugene Nida, Kenneth Lee Pike, Chris Ti...

On this episode, Jared talks about his experience at the 2023 American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature combined annual meeting. He attended presentations by the following scholars: David A Burnett , Jeremy Williams , Jason Staples , Ryan C Chester , and Hindy Najman . Click here to find out where you can follow and support the podcast.

On this episode, Jared talks with Alexiana Fry about her book Trauma Talks in the Hebrew Bible: Speech Act Theory and Trauma Hermeneutics . Alexiana references or recommends Precarious Life , Esther Brownsmith , Appalling Bodies , Rape Culture in the House of David , Feminist Trauma , Texts after Terror , Good Book , Does Scripture Speak for Itself? , Living a Feminist Life , Abusing Religion , Ba...

In this episode Jared Talks to Chris Tilling about the book Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul: Reflections on the Work of Douglas Campbell .  Books mentioned in the podcast: Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul ;   Commentary on Galatians ; The Letter to the Romans: Paul Among the Ecologists ; The Letter to the Romans (New International Commentary on the New...

On this special Halloween episode, Jared talks with Heather Macumber about here book Recovering the Monstrous in Revelation , which is part of the series Horror and Scripture . Heather recommends Apocalypse against Empire , The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition , Humor, Resistance, and Jewish Cultural Persistence in the Book of Revelation , “The Haunting of Jesus: Reading Mark through the G...

In this Episode Jared talks to Jodi Magness about her article “Toilets and Toilet Humor in the Story of Eglon’s Murder by Ehud” from the March 2023 issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature . Professor Magness also recommended her book The Archaeology of the Holy Land: From the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple to the Muslim Conquest ; the work of archaeologist Eric H Cline ;  and Great Courses by...

In this episode Jared talks to Stanley Hauerwas about his essay “A Story-Formed Community: Notes on Watership Down ” from The Hauerwas Reader . Professor Hauerwas also recommended Richard B. Hayes' work on the Old Testament in the New Testament , his commentary on Matthew for the Brazos Commentary Series, Alasdair MacIntyre's philosophy , and Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir . The book that J...

Jared talks with Rabbi Michael E Harvey about his 3 March 2023 Twitter thread discussing the authorship and meaning of Genesis 1. Rabbi Harvey is the Author of  Let's Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians .

Sophia RC Johnson is a PhD Candidate in Hebrew Bible at Cambridge University. We begin by discussing the thesis of her article in the December 2022 issue of The Journal of Biblical Literature. I follow her lead and my curiosity from there. Her recommendation for listeners is Yonatan Adler's The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal (https://tinyurl.com/yjr7j8dw). This episod...