The Biblical Roots Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Professor R. L. Solberg participated in a livestreamed debate with Torah teacher Melissa Schilling Smith (aka God's Little Hummingbird) on How the Sinai Law Applies to Followers of Jesus. The discussion was moderated by Melissa's friend, Scott Harwell, who also hosted the debate on his YouTube channel.  Both agree that salvation is by grace through faith alone, but they...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we respond to the bold claims made by Melissa Schilling Smith—aka “God’s Little Hummingbird”—about mainstream Christianity and biblical theology. Melissa accuses respected teachers of being false prophets and insists that Torah observance is required for Christians today. But is this view biblically accurate? We take a careful, respectful look at one of her videos...

Send us Fan Mail The last half of Hebrews 10 contains a bold and timely message: because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, believers now have full, confident access to God! This is a major turning point in the letter. After 9.5 chapters of deep theological teaching, the author of Hebrews pivots from doctrine to application. The message is bold and timely: because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifi...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Melissa Dougherty. Join us as she discusses her journey from New Thought beliefs to a deeper understanding of Biblical Christianity. She explores the differences between New Thought and New Age, the identity of Jesus, and the implications of these beliefs on modern Christianity. The discussion highlights the importance of critical thinking, the dangers of autonomy in spiritua...

Send us Fan Mail Are Christians still under the Law of Moses? Should followers of Jesus today keep Torah commandments like the Sabbath, dietary restrictions, or temple sacrifices? In this episode, we take a clear and careful look at what the Bible teaches about the Mosaic Law, its purpose, and its fulfillment in Christ. We’ll explore how the Old Covenant law reveals God’s character, why it was giv...

Send us Fan Mail Are the teachings of the First Fruits of Zion ministry safe for your church? We speak with David Harris, Ph. D, a Jewish believer in Jesus, and pastor Randy Powell, an expert on FFOZ, on this question. Prof. Solberg gets their reaction to 5 video clips from  FFOZ founder, Boaz Michael. The panel addresses the controversial claim of an “incomplete gospel,” analyzing the theological...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we test the teaching of a Hebrew Roots rabbi named Steve Berkson who teaches at Messianic Torah Observant Israel near Chattanooga, TN. Rabbi Berkson teaches, "It’s not works versus grace, it's works and grace." And he defines "grace" as merited favor, saying, "It's the opposite of what you were taught. How shocking is that? Anoth...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we take a serious look at the popular YouTube channel  @Truthunedited  and its controversial “Testing Christianity” series by Ron Charles. With over 100 million views, his teachings are spreading confusion about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We examine his five-question "test" of Christianity and compare it directly to the Bible. Is his theology biblically...

Send us Fan Mail Let's look at 6 specific differences between our modern Western culture and the culture in which the Bible was written. Why? Because knowing these differences gives us a heightened awareness of the culture in which our Bible was written, which helps us better understand what the biblical authors wanted to communicate to us. Then, using those 6 specific differences, we'll...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re joined by Christian thinker, artist, and apologist FLAME, who spent nearly two decades in the Reformed Baptist tradition before embracing a deeper understanding of grace. Together, we explore how the biblical teaching on law, identity, and grace shapes not just theology, but how we engage culture, alternate belief systems like Hebrew Israelism, and the moder...

Send us Fan Mail Why don’t Christians offer animal sacrifices anymore? What makes Jesus’ sacrifice so unique—and final? What did it accomplish? In this episode, we dive into the first half of Hebrews 10, where the author brings his powerful argument to a climax: Jesus is the true form that the entire old covenant system only foreshadowed. If you've ever wrestled with questions about the law,...

Send us Fan Mail Why do Christians celebrate Easter instead of Passover—especially when Jesus was crucified during Passover week? In this video, we unpack the powerful connections between Passover, the Last Supper, and the resurrection of Jesus. Discover seven ways the ancient feast of Passover foreshadowed the redemptive work of Christ and how the Last Supper transformed everything. Grab your Bib...

Send us Fan Mail Why did Jesus have to die? How does His blood redeem us from our sins? We look at how redemption is made possible through Christ's powerful and perfect blood in this episode of our Hebrews Bible study. Even if you haven’t heard the previous episodes in this series, you’ll get a lot out of this discussion! Links mentioned in this episode Sin Sacrifice: A Response to Caleb Hegg...

Send us Fan Mail There are a ton of questions out there about Easter and whether Christians should celebrate it. And here’s the thing. While there are a lot of internet myths and conspiracy theories about Easter’s pagan and historical origins (which we address in this episode), there are also some legitimate concerns we need to look at. And we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. S...

Send us Fan Mail Some modern believers question the deity of Christ. They challenge—and some even flat out deny—that Jesus is God. Yet, the belief that Jesus is divine goes all the way back to the earliest years of the Christian faith, and it comes straight out of the mouth of Jesus Himself , and the biblical text. So that particular doctrine of the Deity of Christ has withstood many challenges an...

Send us Fan Mail Hebrews 9 is the only place in the entire New Testament that discusses the significance of the Old Testament tabernacle and what it means for believers today. The author shifts his focus to Jesus as our high priest in a superior sanctuary. We get into a lot of detail about the significance and beauty of the Old Covenant Tabernacle, what it represents, and how it points to Jesus. T...

Send us Fan Mail Hebrews Chapter 8 contains the deepest discussion in all of the NT about the new covenant, and the longest OT quote (from Jeremiah 31:31-34). And this is also where the author of Hebrews makes a pivotal turn in the argument he is developing. One of the reasons Hebrew 8 is so significant is because it’s the only place in the entire New Testament where we find the language of a “fir...

Send us Fan Mail This chapter contains what is really the dominant theme of the entire book of Hebrews. The author reveals the superiority of Jesus over the old covenant Levitical priesthood and draws out the significant implications that follow. There are many deep connections and comparisons in this chapter between Jesus and the old covenant law and priesthood. This chapter also contains the Bib...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Tovia Singer recently put out a video where he tried to refute some of the claims made by Wesley Huff on the Joe Rogan podcast. In this episode, we get deep into it and test and dismantle the 6 big arguments that Rabbi Singer made. He challenged: 1. The authorship of the Gospels 2. What day was Jesus crucified 3. How long Jesus was really in the grave 4. If there were really...

Send us Fan Mail In part 9, we look at a more positive and encouraging passage. We’re in the big middle section where the author is teaching the superiority of Christ over the entire Mosaic system of worship given under the Old Covenant law with its priesthood, temple, rituals, and sacrifices. He’s encouraging his readers to hold fast to their faith by pointing out the superiority of Jesus over ev...

Send us Fan Mail Myles Christian was raised Seventh Day Adventist but came to discover how unbiblical their teachings are. After a period of rebellion and personal struggle, he left the religion. Myles is now a mainstream Christian who runs an outreach ministry to SDAs called Answering Adventism. In this episode, he shares his journey out of SDA, offering many profound insights into their religion...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we examine what has, historically speaking, been one of the most challenging passages in the New Testament for believers and for the Church as a whole. So we’re going to get into some deep water today and try to do it some justice. (Or at least give us some things to think about.) This passage is going to bring us directly into the controversial “once saved always...

Send us Fan Mail In part 7, the author begins to look at the high priesthood of the Messiah, Jesus, and show how He is a better high priest than any that came before Him. (In fact, he will use the priesthood of Jesus over the coming chapters to show His superiority over the entire Old Covenant system of rituals and worship that the priests were in charge of.) The reason he’s drawing these comparis...

Send us Fan Mail In his video series "Testing Christianity," Mr. Ron Charles of  @Truthunedited makes a number of claims about Christianity and the word "Christian." He says Christianity is against the Bible, that the apostle Peter never wrote the word "Christian" in 1 Peter 4:16, and that Christianity is a corrupted, pagan-influenced "religion of tares." Ar...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discover a whole lot of dots to connect in Hebrews Chapter 3 and many applications for modern believers. The author shows how Jesus is superior to Moses and draws on the Torah to teach on topics like holding fast to our faith. He also brings up the idea of salvation and “once saved, always saved.” Lots of theological goodness here! Defending the Biblical Roots...