The Biblical Unitarian Podcast

As we continue our deep dive into the many ways that the Gospel of John displays Jesus as the prophet like Moses from Deut. 18:15-22, we focus this week on how Jesus speaks all that Yahweh has commanded him. We give attention to the insistence that Jesus' words are actually his Father's words spoken through him, the portrayal of Jesus as the agent who comes in the name of his Father, and the autho...

As we continue our exploration into the many ways that Deut. 18:15-22 has shaped the christological portrayal of Jesus in the Gospel of John, we focus this week on the phrase "I will put my words in his mouth" from Deut. 18:18a. We note the frequency in which Jesus openly admits that his words are not his own, rather they belong to the God who commissioned him. We also look at several witnesses in...

This week's episode continues exploring how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as the prophet mentioned in Deut 18:15-22. Having already observed how Moses anticipates the Johannine Jesus, how Jesus is explicitly described with the title "Prophet," and the insistence that Jesus is a fellow human member of the people of Israel, we can turn our attention to the second half of Deut 18:15 where people...

This week’s episode begins our exploration of the many ways in which the Gospel of John draws upon Deut. 18:15-22 in order to portray Jesus as the prophet like Moses. First, we note how Jesus is frequently introduced as a figure like Moses in John. Second, we take note of the motif where the crowds discover that Jesus is ”the prophet.” Third, we observe how the Johannine Jesus fulfills the require...

The Didache is an early collection of the teachings of Jesus, aimed at making disciples. This week's episode will explore what the Didachist--the author of the Didache--taught about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We explore the ways in which the Didache portrays the relationship between God and Jesus, as well as the meaning of the baptismal reference from the end of Matthew. Please consider sup...

Clement of Rome is a very important witness to the character of early Christianity, particularly because he is the earliest extrabiblical Christian author whose writings have survived. What did Clement of Rome believe and teach about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? This episode combs the Greek text of 1 Clement in order to provide answers to these very important questions.  Please consider suppo...

Most translations describe the Lamb of God as the "Root of David" in the Book of Revelation. A root, however, is something that comes before the tree. Does the title "Root of David" prove that Jesus preexisted David? This episode explores this overlooked title and attempts to make sense of what John the Revelator intended to convey to his original audience.  Please consider supporting this Podcast...

Did Jesus have to be Yahweh, the God of Israel, in order for his death to completely deal with the sins of all humanity? Many have been led to believe so, but what does the New Testament teach? This episode explores the intersection of christology and atonement taught by eight different authors of the New Testament to determine if only God could atone for the transgressions of the human race on th...

Is the figure described as "Son of Man" in the extra-biblical book of 1 Enoch the same Son of Man we read about in the New Testament gospels? This episode explores 1 Enoch and its portrayal of the "Son of Man" to ascertain its relation to Jesus' favorite title. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks                   To vie...

What truths about the birth of Jesus Christ are most commonly left out of nativity scenes, Christmas plays, and Advent sermons? This week's episode explores five important truths concerning the Son of God that pastors only interested in talking about the incarnation regularly ignore. Each of these biblical truths discussed in this episode is inconsistent with the doctrine of the literal preexisten...

In this week's episode, we listen to the recent paper I presented on the origins of the doctrine of incarnation within the forms of Judaisms that predated Christianity. We carefully examine the Book of Proverbs, the deuterocanonical book of Sirach, the Qumran scroll labeled 1Q20, and the works of Philo, noting how each author illustrates God's personified wisdom as becoming flesh in the lives of n...

Were the opponents of 1 John Jews who gave up their confession of Jesus being the Jewish messiah, perhaps to rejoin the local synagogue? This week's episode explores this possibility. We look at the arguments in favor of the secessionists in 1 John being Jews as well as the arguments against this interpretation. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://ww...

Was the significance of Jesus' humanity under attack by the opponents in 1 John? This episode looks at the arguments of two prominent scholars who make this case. We first look at Raymond Brown, who proposes a high christology that didn't value very much the assumed humanity of Jesus. We also hear the reconstruction of Urban Von Wahlde, who suggests that the opponents ignored the importance of the...

Is 1 John written to combat the heresies of Cerinthus, the heretic of the late first century CE? This week's episode examines the arguments in favor of 1 John being written against Cerinthus and his followers--those who taught that the human Jesus was a different person from the divine Christ who descended upon Jesus as his baptism, only to separate from him right before his death. After hearing t...

Are the opponents of 1 John docetic Christians, namely, those who taught that Jesus only seemed to be a human being who suffered and died? This week's episode looks at the evidence in favor of identifying the opponents in 1 John as docetists. After defining the term and reading several examples of what believers in docetism taught, we listen to the critiques that some scholars have brought forth a...

Were the secessionists in 1 John Gnostics? This episode looks at the arguments in favor of identifying the opponents in 1 John as adherents to Gnosticism. We also look at the arguments against identifying the opponents as Gnostics. In the end, you the listener can decide which side gives the most persuasive case. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://w...

What is the identity of the opponents mentioned in 1 John? Answer: we are not entirely sure. This week's episode introduces 1 John and the ways in which the author corrects the christology of the opponents. We discuss the three passages that scholars have pointed to in their attempts to determine the identity and beliefs of the opponents. We also briefly sketch out the various proposals for who th...

What is Gnosticism and who were the Gnostic Christians? While some listeners might have a vague idea of what beliefs define Gnostics, this episode dives deep into the problems with attempts to summarize their teachings. We focus on Ptolemy (student of Valentinus), Justin the Gnostic, and the Apocryphon of John. We also offer some alternative ways to characterize these varied Christian sects. Pleas...

Could human beings in Judaism and early Christianity say the phrase "I am he" and mean something other than "I am Yahweh, the only true God of Israel?" This episode explores ten human figures who said, in various languages, "I am he." In each instance, it is clear and self-evident that these speakers were making ordinary, casual, self-referential claims. Furthermore, there is no indication that ot...

This episode examines the meaning of the phrase "I am He" (Greek: "ego eimi") in John chapters 9-21. Within these five instances, four belong to Jesus and one belongs to a blind beggar, which brings some nuance to our study. Is the person who says "I am He" claiming to be the only true God within the Gospel of John? Or are there better answers based on the available evidence and context? This week...

In John chapter 8, Jesus makes the claim "I am He" four times, with the final claim resulting in the Jews attempting to stone him to death. This week's episode will closely examine the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews in order to better understand what he meant by the claim "I am He" (Greek: ego eimi). Is Jesus claiming in this chapter to be Yahweh, the only true God, or is he claiming to be Go...

This week's episode begins looking through all the occurrences of "ego eimi" ("I am He") within the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel according to John. After noting how the narrative regularly distinguishes God and Jesus as two separate beings, we examine the first four instances of "ego eimi," two of which are uttered by John the Baptist and two by Jesus himself. The results indicate that Jesus was not...

In this week's episode, we explore every single occurrence of the phrase "I am he" (Greek: "ego eimi") in the Gospel of Luke in order to see if any of the speakers who utter the phrase are making a claim to be Yahweh, the God of Israel. We also explore the many ways in which the Lukan Jesus is distinguished from God in ways that never suggest that the two figures have collapsed into a single being...

This week's episode examines all the instances of people saying "I am He" in the Gospel according to Matthew. We note that Jesus makes this self-declaration (Greek: "ego eimi") twice and each of his disciples also utters the phrase. Do those who say "I am He" mean that they are identifying as Yahweh, the God of Israel? Or is the claim a casual, self-reference that has nothing to do with what God m...

This week's episode examines all the occurrences within the Gospel of Mark where Jesus says "I am he" (Greek: "ego eimi"). We begin by examining whether the narrator distinguishes God and Jesus or whether the two are collapsed into a single being. From there, we set each of the instances where the Markan Jesus declares "I am he" in its context in order to see whether he is claiming to be Yahweh, t...