OnScript

Austin Stevenson - The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus

Episode: In this episode, we delve into the rich and erudite book The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus by Austin Stevenson. This fine work tackles the intricate topics of epistemology, ontology, and their related historical and theological perspectives, drawing heavily on the ideas of Thomas Aquinas. In Part I of his book, Stevenson begins by emphasizing the necessity of a metaphysical framework to properly understand Jesus’s historical and divine nature. He critiques modern historical approaches that often overlook these complexities and proposes a more integrated method. In Part II, Stevenson addresses different types of knowledge, including divine, acquired, and prophetic knowledge, and explores how cognitive psychology and metaphysics relate to historical knowledge. He applies this to particular texts and offers an analysis of Mark 13:32 and the concept of the beatific vision to demonstrate his arguments concretely. His thesis is that understanding Jesus’s humanity requires integrating historical methods with theological insights. In do does he challenges both historians and theologians to reconsider their approaches. He interacts with contemporary scholars like Seth Heringer and Jonny Rowlands, carving an alternative path forward. For those interested in the intersection of history and theology in the study of Jesus, this book provides a fascinating and thought-provoking read.

Guest: Dr Austin Stevenson is assistant professor of theology at Palm Beach Atlantic University and co-host of the Faith at the Frontiers podcast. Before joining the faculty at PBA, Austin was a junior research fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. He holds an MA and ThM in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, BC), and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His research specializes in the ressourcement of classical Christian thought in conversation with an interdisciplinary range of topics, including theological hermeneutics, New Testament studies, public health, literature, and the natural sciences.

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Jason Staples - Paul and the Resurrection of Israel (part II)

Episode: Ready to get exegetical? We had so much fun discussing Jason Staples's important new book, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, that we couldn't resist a second episode. Episode one focused on the theology and broader message of the book. This second episode exposes how the book's theology emerges from a close reading of Paul's letters. Cohosted by Matthew Bates and Erin Heim.

The Book: Jason A. Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites (Cambridge University Press, 2024). The gospel promoted by Paul has for many generations stirred passionate debate. That gospel proclaimed equal salvific access to Jews and gentiles alike. But on what basis? In making sense of such a remarkable step forward in religious history, Jason Staples reexamines texts that have proven thoroughly resistant to easy comprehension. He traces Paul's inclusive theology to a hidden strand of thinking in the earlier story of Israel. Postexilic southern Judah, he argues, did not simply appropriate the identity of the fallen northern kingdom of Israel. Instead, Judah maintained a notion of 'Israel' as referring both to the north and the ongoing reality of a broad, pan-Israelite sensibility to which the descendants of both ancient kingdoms belonged. Paul's concomitant belief was that northern Israel's exile meant assimilation among the nations – effectively a people's death – and that its restoration paradoxically required gentile inclusion to resurrect a greater 'Israel' from the dead. (Publisher’s description).

Guest: Jason A. Staples (Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill) is an author, historian, speaker, journalist, voice actor, and former American football coach. He is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State University. In additon to Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, he is also the author of The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2021), as well as numerous journal articles. You can connect with him on X/Twitter (@JasonStaples).

OnScript’s Review: Enormously important and theologically productive. In Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, Jason Staples shows--again and again--how seemingly isolated puzzles in Paul's letters can be explained coherently within a Second Temple framework of restoration. As the Holy Spirit transforms individuals amid the nations, the twelve tribes of Israel are being raised from the dead. An astonishing contribution. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone; professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.

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Jason Staples - Paul and the Resurrection of Israel (Part I)

Episode: When the Spirit blows over the bones, flesh forms, and they rattle back to life. But the bones are Israel, all twelve tribes. Did the partial return of several tribes from Babylon satisfy God's promises for all Israel? Or was a broader return expected? In his important and influential new book, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, Jason Staples shows that Paul believed God was raising the nation of Israel from the dead in an unexpected way. Cohosted by Matt Bates and Erin Heim.

The Book: Jason A. Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites (Cambridge University Press, 2024). The gospel promoted by Paul has for many generations stirred passionate debate. That gospel proclaimed equal salvific access to Jews and gentiles alike. But on what basis? In making sense of such a remarkable step forward in religious history, Jason Staples reexamines texts that have proven thoroughly resistant to easy comprehension. He traces Paul's inclusive theology to a hidden strand of thinking in the earlier story of Israel. Postexilic southern Judah, he argues, did not simply appropriate the identity of the fallen northern kingdom of Israel. Instead, Judah maintained a notion of 'Israel' as referring both to the north and the ongoing reality of a broad, pan-Israelite sensibility to which the descendants of both ancient kingdoms belonged. Paul's concomitant belief was that northern Israel's exile meant assimilation among the nations – effectively a people's death – and that its restoration paradoxically required gentile inclusion to resurrect a greater 'Israel' from the dead. (Publisher’s description).

Guest: Jason A. Staples (Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill) is an author, historian, speaker, journalist, voice actor, and former American football coach. He is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NC State University. In additon to Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, he is also the author of The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism: A New Theory of People, Exile, and Israelite Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2021), as well as numerous journal articles. You can connect with him on X/Twitter (@JasonStaples).

OnScript’s Review: Enormously important and theologically productive. In Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, Jason Staples shows--again and again--how seemingly isolated puzzles in Paul's letters can be explained coherently within a Second Temple framework of restoration. As the Holy Spirit transforms individuals amid the nations, the twelve tribes of Israel are being raised from the dead. An astonishing contribution. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Salvation by Allegiance Alone; professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.

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Matthew Martens - Reforming Criminal Justice

Episode: What might Scripture have to contribute to contemporary discussions about criminal justice (esp. as practiced in the United States)? In this episode, Matt Lynch speaks with trial lawyer and author Matthew T. Martens about ways that the Bible can shape our thinking about criminal justice today. Topics range from biblical-theological principles to plea bargaining, jury selection, judges, witnesses, sentencing, the death penalty, and more, all related to his recent book Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal (Crossway, 2023).

Guest: Matthew Martens is a trial lawyer and partner at an international law firm in D.C., and has spent most of his 25+-year legal career practicing criminal law as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney. He was a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme court and was a political appointee in the criminal division of the US Justice Department. At his law practice website for Wilmer Hale, it says that “He is one of the few lawyers who has appeared—and won—at trial at “all four tables”: civil plaintiff, civil defendant, criminal prosecution and criminal defendant.” He’s the author of the book we’re discussing today, entitled, Reforming Criminal Justice: A Christian Proposal (Crossway, 2023).

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Michael Barber - The Historical Jesus and the Temple

Episode: Has the quest for the historical Jesus been plagued by an anti-liturgical sentiment? Michael Barber joins OnScript to discuss the historical Jesus, best method, and Jesus's mysterious engagement with the temple and its system. Cohosted by Matthew Bates and Chris Tilling.

The Book: Michael Patrick Barber, The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, Methodology, and the Gospel of Matthew (Cambridge University Press, 2024). In this book, Michael Patrick Barber examines the role of the Jerusalem temple in the teaching of the historical Jesus. Drawing on recent discussions about and memory research in Jesus studies, he advances a fresh approach to reconstructing Jesus' teaching. Barber argues that Jesus did not reject the temple's validity but that he likely participated in and endorsed its rites. Moreover, he locates Jesus' teaching within Jewish apocalyptic eschatology, showing that Jesus' message about the coming kingdom and his disciples' place in it likely involved important temple and priestly traditions that have been ignored by the quest. Barber also highlights new developments in scholarship on the Gospel of Matthew to show that its Jewish perspective offers valuable but overlooked clues about the kinds of concerns that would have likely shaped Jesus' outlook. A bold approach to a key topic in biblical studies, Barber's book is a pioneering contribution to Jesus scholarship. (Publisher's description).

Guest: Michael Patrick Barber (PhD Fuller Theological Seminary) is Professor of Sacred Scripture and Theology at the Augustine Institute. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and publications, including Paul, A New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 2019), co-written with Brant Pitre and John Kincaid. In addition to his academic research, Dr. Barber has written public-facing works, most recently, The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season. He also writes for the website, TheSacredPage.com, and can be found on Twitter (@MichaelPBarber).

OnScript's Review: In this important contribution to the quest for the historical Jesus, Michael Barber shows the deree to which previous attempts have been hampered by an anti-liturgical bias. What emerges is a more thoroughly Jewish Jesus who had a complex relationship with the temple and its system. -- Matthew W. Bates, author of The Birth of the Trinity; professor of theology at Quincy University.

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Nijay Gupta - Strange Religion

Episode: Fighting statues? Mystery cults? Roman religion was strange. Yet in many ways Christianity was even stranger. Nijay Gupta's Strange Religion explores how Christianity was oddly attractive to Romans. If we "keep it weird," Christianity can remain compelling today. Co-hosted by Matthew Bates.

The Book: Nijay K. Gupta, Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling (Brazos, 2024). The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on today's believers. Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. They practiced a whole new way of thinking about and doing religion that would have been seen as bizarre and dangerous when compared to Roman religion and most other religions of the ancient world. Award-winning author, blogger, speaker, and New Testament teacher Nijay Gupta traces the emerging Christian faith in its Roman context in this accessible and engaging book. Christianity would have been seen as radical in the Roman world, but some found this new religion attractive and compelling. The first Christians dared to be different, pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable, transformed how people thought about religion, and started a movement that grew like wildfire. Brought to life with numerous images, this book shows how the example of the earliest Christians can offer today's believers encouragement and hope. (Publisher's description).

Guest: Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, Durham) is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has written numerous books, including recent titles such as Tell Her Story (IVP Academic), Galatians (in The Story of God Commentary series by Zondervan Academic), Galatians (in the Word Biblical themes series) and Paul and the Language of Faith (Eerdmans). Gupta blogs at www.cruxsolablog.com and can be found on X/Twitter (@NijayKGupta).

OnScript's Review: Let's keep it authentically weird. Roman religion was odd: talking statues, meaningful entrails, warring gods. In Strange Religion, Nijay Gupta shows how ancient Christianity was equally weird yet oddly attractive in the Roman world. If the contemporary church can look to the earliest church's strange way of life, it will remain compellingly different today. Highly recommended. -- Matthew W. Bates, author of Why the Gospel?; professor of theology at Quincy University.

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Brent Strawn - Honest To God Preaching

Episode: Strawn argues that keeping secrets makes us sick, and the Old Testament offers a way to speak honestly about the BIG things like sin, suffering, and violence.

Guest:  Brent Strawn is D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Law at Duke Divinity and Duke University. He’s the author of numerous books, including The Old Testament is Dying (Baker) Honest to God Preaching (Fortress), The Old Testament: A Concise Introduction (Routledge), Lies My Preacher Told Me (WJK Press), and The Incomparable God: Readings in Biblical Theology (Eerdmans). He's the editor of many books and resources, including the award-winning The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law (Oxford, 2015). He’s also hosted In Parallel, an offshoot of OnScript that looks at the resonances between biblical and modern poetry.

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Garrick Allen - Words Are Not Enough

Episode: In this episode, Dru Johnson talks with Garrick Allen about how paratexts (i.e., all the things around and between the biblical texts) have shaped our notions of canon, Gospel, and our reading practices of the biblical literature. His forthcoming Eerdmans book—Words Are Not Enough: Paratexts, Manuscripts, and the Real New Testament—argues that paratexts might hold the most sway over our biblical reading, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's unavoidable. From titles of anonymous books to cross-reference systems to extensive theologically-driven study notes, the biblical literature has always been entangled with paratexts. Dru and Garrick spend some time talking about the recent "Trump Bible" (AKA Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA Bible) and the ethical contours of paratexts.

Guest: Garrick Allen is Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism (Theology & Religious Studies) at the University of Glasgow. His first book, The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture (Cambridge 2017), was awarded the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise 2019 and his essay "Monks, Manuscripts, Muhammad, and Digital Editions of the New Testament," published also in a chapter in his book Manuscripts of the Book of Revelation (Oxford 2020), was awarded the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship by the Society of Biblical Literature (2018). His most recent book is Words Are Not Enough: Paratexts, Manuscripts, and the Real New Testament (Eerdmans, 2024).

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Ervine Sheblazm - Abraham's Bosom, Paul, and the Decline of Postmodernism

Episode: Back for the 7th time, Prof. Dr. Ervine Sheblazm is here to speak the hard truth about tuff questions. What happens when culture fails to address its own insidious tendencies? How do we move forward when culture reaches a dead end? What lies around the corner for those of us living on the crusted-over remains of modernity and its evil child, post-modernity? Dr. Sheblazm has thought through each of these questions, and he has answers that left reviewers stunned. Learn about how Abraham's bosom and Pauline passages may hold the key to navigating the troubled waters we live in.

Guest: Dr. Sheblazm is the best tendencies in all of us ... what we wish we were on a good day.

Endorsements: 

If you enjoyed this episode … why not check out the good Dr.’s other episodes, HERE, HERE, HERE,  HERE, HERE, and HERE.

 

 

N. T. Wright and Michael Bird - Jesus and the Powers

Episode: Beginning with Jesus's kingship, Tom Wright and Michael Bird speak to about the potentials and perils of contemporary politics. Discover a Christian vision for government not as an overbearing nanny or a terrifying bully but as God's servant. Cohosted by Matthew Bates.

The Book: Tom Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political  Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (SPCK/Zondervan, 2024). Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?

In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work. (Publisher's description, abridged).

Guests: N.T. Wright is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. 

Mike Bird is Academic Dean, Postgraduate Coordinator, and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia.

OnScript's Review of Jesus and the Powers: The gospel is that Jesus is king. And, yes, this is a political claim. But what should that mean for our politics today? Wright and Bird make a powerful Christian case for liberal democracies as the least worst option, because they protect liberties, curb evil, and create space to love our neighbors well. Discover how Christians can participate wisely in government to help it remain God's servant. -- Matthew W. Bates, author of Why the Gospel?; professor of theology, Quincy University

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