The Naked Bible Podcast

What is the New Apostolic Reformation, with Holly Pivec The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) seems to quite clearly justify labeling it a movement or denomination. Millions of people around the world are part of its network of churches. However, many NAR leaders and advocates deny that it’s a denomination or movement. Many Christians who are attracted by NAR teachings and practices have no idea tha...

September 23 has come and gone. The world didn’t end. Jesus didn’t return. There was no rapture. Planet X (Nibiru) never showed up. Why not? The answers involve both astronomy and sound biblical interpretation. We’ll leave the astronomy to experts in that field. We’ll consider the biblical reasons why the September 23 prophetic date-setting was nonsense. Those reasons are actually transparent, at...

In Hebrews 2 the writer continues to focus on the supremacy of Christ to the Law (Torah) and angels. Christ is superior for many reasons, but chiefly because only he, through his sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection could provide the eternal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and bring humans back to right relationship with God. As Hebrews 2:1415 say God became a man in Jesus Christ so t...

The writer of Hebrews builds on his assertions that the particular son of God (Jesus) who was the agent of creation, eternal wisdom, and the essence of God, by comparing him to other supernatural sons of God (angels). But what does a phrase like “You are my son, today I have begotten you” mean? Does this mean Jesus was a created being? This episode notes the use of this phrase and other Old Testam...

Hebrews 1:1-4 sets the tone for the entire epistle. The writer asserts that the revelation given by God through one particular son—Jesus Christ—is superior to Torah. It is Christ who is the full expression of God’s wisdom, and the actual, essential being of God Himself. Since the “inheritance” language of Heb 1:1-4 cannot suggest that God himself is being retired and succeeded, the language needs...

Dr. Heiser answers questions from a live audience. Thank you to Wayland Baptist University for hosting and Nathan for organizing the event. Thank you to everyone who came and joined us in Lubbock, Texas.

This episode launches the next book study on the podcast: the book of Hebrews. After discussing some preliminaries about the book, the episode preps listeners to the fact that Hebrews is a book that draws heavily on the Old Testament. That strategy of the anonymous author means more than simply quoting the Old Testament. Rather, there are more significant hermeneutical issues to consider—issues th...

Dr. Heiser answers your questions about Melchizedek.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

In the previous episodes on Melchizedek we covered the Old Testament data (Parts 1A, 1B) and Second Temple Jewish interpretation (Part 2) of the enigmatic Melchizedek. This episode focuses on Hebrews 7, the New Testament passage that focuses on Melchizedek as a type or analogy to Jesus.

Surviving and Thriving in Seminary, with Danny Zacharias and Ben Forrest Ever thought about taking a seminary class? Getting a degree in biblical studies? Even if you haven’t and just want good advice on how to do biblical research on your own, you’ll want to listen in on this conversation. This episode of the podcast focuses on the book by Drs. Zacharias and Forrest, How to Survive and Thrive in...

In the previous two episodes on Melchizedek (1a, 1b) we covered the Old Testament data on this enigmatic figure. Jewish writers and readers in the Second Temple Period (ca. 500 BC – 70 AD) naturally had ideas on who Melchizedek was and how to understand him as a king-priest. This episode discusses important texts from the Second Temple Period that deal with Melchizedek. Primary attention is placed...

Melchizedek is one of the more enigmatic figures in the Bible. Mentioned in only two passages in the Old Testament (Gen 14:17-24; Psalm 110), he nevertheless drew a lot of attention during the Second Temple Period and the New Testament. Thousands of pages of scholarly research have been devoted to him. Nearly everything said about him produces interpretive problems, from the nature of his name, to...

Melchizedek is one of the more enigmatic figures in the Bible. Mentioned in only two passages in the Old Testament (Gen 14:17-24; Psalm 110), he nevertheless drew a lot of attention during the Second Temple Period and the New Testament. Thousands of pages of scholarly research have been devoted to him. Nearly everything said about him produces interpretive problems, from the nature of his name, to...

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

David Burnett returns to the podcast to discuss Paul’s defense of his apostleship and his heavenly ascent in 2 Corinthians 11-12. This episode expands upon an earlier episode on Paul’s ascent, specifically linking it to Second Temple Jewish apocalyptic literature (the Apocalypse of Abraham) and rabbinic material that appears to draw on that earlier material. The link to Abraham in Jewish thought i...

Gerald R. McDermott (PhD, University of Iowa) is Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. Before joining Beeson, he was the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College. He is also associate pastor at Christ the King Anglican Church and Distinguished Senior Fellow in the History of Christianity at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion....

The “evil eye” was a widespread superstition in the ancient world, one that continues on into the present day. The belief that one could cause someone harm merely by looking at them, or cast a spell over them by the same means, shows up in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian, Greece, Rome, and Rabbinic writings. But does the Bible contain any reference to the notion? This episode explores biblical referen...

In this episode Dr. Heiser talks to the men behind a new translation project, John Hobbins and Samuel Bray. The first volume of their effort is entitled Genesis 1-11: A New Old Translation for Readers, Scholars, and Translators. Our discussion focuses on the translation enterprise – what translators need to think about as they do their work. The strength of this new project is its thorough documen...

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.   resource referenced: Erickson, The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The episode of Noah’s drunkenness in Genesis 9 has long befuddled interpreters. One of Noah’s sons, Ham, commits some heinous crime against his father. Oddly, though, Ham is not the one cursed by his father. Instead, Ham’s son Canaan bears the wrath of Noah. This episode explores the traditional solutions to the interpretive confusion and offers an alternative based on recent research in the Hebre...

The Ark of the Covenant is well-known because of the popular Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. That pop culture film offers just one of over a dozen theories on what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. The question arises because the ark is not one of the artifacts taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the biblical account of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in...

This episode continues our discussion of Ezekiel’s temple vision. Whereas Part 1 noted the problems a literalistic approach produces for both coherent interpretation and consistency in biblical theology, this episode looks at positive indications in the text that compel us to read the temple vision in a way that transcends literalism. Doing so observes the way Ezekiel re-purposes cosmic mountain i...

These final chapters of Ezekiel are known for the prophet’s vision of a new temple. However, scattered within that vision is an enigmatic figure referred to as the “prince” (Hebrew: nasiʾ). In this episode we discuss whether or not Ezekiel’s temple vision should be understood as a functioning building used after the return of the messiah, and how such a literal expectation aligns (or not) with the...

This episode features a conversation with David Limbaugh, author of The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels. While the conversation naturally focuses on David’s most recent book, we also get to know him, his spiritual journey, and his thoughts about academic biblical study and its place in the Church at large.