OnScript

Tom Oord - The Uncontrolling Love of God

Episode: It's a wide-ranging coffee-shop style conversation featuring Thomas Jay Oord and host Matthew W. Bates. Truly, since Tom was at his favorite local coffee shop in Idaho and Matt was drinking copious quantities of coffee at his desk in Illinois. What topics were brewed up? Chaos, the problem of evil, the limits of scientific materialism, the nature of the miraculous--and how all of this could plausibly be explained by a model of divine providence in which God never coerces creation. Tom Oord's book, The Uncontrolling Love of God, compels all who encounter his ideas to grapple with the very foundation of Christian thought anew. Grab your mug of coffee and join in.

Guest: Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Tom Oord is an award-winning author, and he has written or edited more than twenty books. His sole-authored titles include Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement (Brazos, 2010) and The Nature of Love: A Theology (Chalice, 2010) His edited volumes frequently engage matters of science and theology: e.g., God in an Open Universe: Science, Metaphysics, and Open Theism (edited with William Hasker and Dean Zimmerman; Wipf & Stock, 2011). Oord has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award twelve times as professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho. He is known for his contributions to research on love, relational theology, science and religion, and Wesleyan thought. Oord is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene.

Book: Thomas Jay Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015). Publisher's description: Rarely does a new theological position emerge to account well for life in the world, including not only goodness and beauty but also tragedy and randomness. Drawing from Scripture, science, philosophy and various theological traditions, Thomas Jay Oord offers a novel theology of providence―essential kenosis―that emphasizes God's inherently noncoercive love in relation to creation. The Uncontrolling Love of God provides a clear and powerful answer to the problem of evil, the problem of chance, and how God acts providentially in the world..

The OnScript Quip (our review): Chaos, ugliness, evil. Order, beauty, good. Too many theologies can explain one side, but not the other. Thomas Jay Oord's The Uncontrolling Love of God determinedly holds fast to both poles, offering a fresh model for how God's essentially loving nature can provide systematic integration. Prepare to rethink fundamental theology. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript.

Help Support OnScript: Click on The Uncontrolling Love of God to purchase Anderson's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.

Gar Anderson - Paul's New Perspective

Episode: Grab a PBR (or craft beer) & get ready for a new perspective as Matt Lynch grills Gar Anderson (Professor of NT at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin) on his new book Paul’s New Perspective (IVP). The basic argument of the book is that Paul’s old perspective is actually what is commonly referred to today as the “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP), and Paul’s new perspective is somewhat closer to the “Old / Traditional Perspective on Paul” (TPP).

Then what was the theological aim in the Pauline Corpus? What language/metaphors/images did he adopt in some of his earliest letters, and which portrayals did he altogether drop and replace in his latter writings? What was Paul’s aim in expounding on Israel and Torah in Romans or the law-grace relations in Galatians? All of these topics and more are thoughtfully and carefully discussed (no expenses spared) in this week’s episode. (-J. Soto)

Guest: Gar Anderson is Professor of New Testament and Acting Dean/President at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin. Previously, Gar was on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (1984-2001), and was was on the faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary (Orlando, FL campus) from 2002-2007. In addition to his major study on Pauline soteriology, Paul's New Perspective: Charting a Soteriological Journey (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016), he has also published articles in numerous scholarly journals, dictionaries, and edited volumes. Additionally, Dr. Anderson is a regular contributor to the Covenant blog and writes articles and reviews regularly for The Living Churchmagazine. (adapted from the Nashotah House faculty page).

Book: 'The debate between proponents of the old and new perspectives on Paul has been followed closely over the years, consolidating allegiances on either side. But the debate has now reached a stalemate, with defectors turning to apocalyptic and other solutions. in Paul's New Perspective: Charting a Soteriological Journey (IVP 2016) Garwood Anderson recounts the issues and concludes that "both 'camps' are right, but not all the time." And with that teaser, he rolls up his exegetical sleeves and proceeds to unfold a new proposal for overcoming the deadlock.

But in a field crowded with opinions, could anything new emerge? Anderson's interaction with Paul and his interpreters is at the highest level, and his penetrating and energetic analysis captures attention. What if Paul's own theological perspective was contextually formed and coherently developed over time? Have we asked justification to carry a burden it was never meant to bear? Would fresh eyes and a proper sequencing of Paul's letters reveal Paul's ownnew perspective? Might we turn a corner and find a bold and invigorating panorama of Pauline soteriology? This is a Pauline study worthy of its great theme, and one that will infuse new energy into the quest for understanding Paul's mind and letters.' (adapted from the IVP Academic website)

Help Support OnScript: Click through Paul's New Perspective to purchase Anderson's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5% or so (at no loss to you). Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.

Miryam Brand - Evil Within and Without

Episode: What causes our sin? At some point, a first century Jewish teacher stumbles out of the Galilee saying things like, “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9). Unbeknownst to many modern Christians, the New Testament's teaching on sin's causes and solutions enters the fray of a lively literary and sectarian discussion. Jewish communities had lots of ideas about how demons influence us to sin, how the Torah can heal us from sin, and the role of closed communities in solving sin. How can we understand this raucous panoply of evil-talk in Second Temple Judaism? Dru Johnson talks with Dr. Miryam Brand about her research on sin and evil in Second Temple Judaism texts (that is: Jewish texts from 400 BCE–100 CE), which is also featured in her highly accessible podcast and blog.

Guest: Dr. Brand holds a Ph.D. in Bible and Late Antiquity (specialty in Dead Sea Scrolls) from New York University and an Associate Fellowship at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. She also has an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She currently works in both fields: teaching and research in Second Temple literature while working as a marketing manager for a hi-tech company. She has written scholarly articles for collected writings (“1 Enoch: Introduction and Commentary” in Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, ed. Louis Feldman, James Kugel, and Lawrence Schiffman) and her monograph Evil Within and Without: The Source of Sin and Its Nature as Portrayed in Second Temple Literature (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013).

Most importantly, she runs a podcast and website: understandingsin.com where you can find her writing and speaking on the topic of this interview and well beyond. In those podcasts, which I highly recommend, she teaches winsomely and invites normal people outside academia into the world of Second Temple Judaism.

Book (from the publisher): "Miryam T. Brand explores how texts of the Second Temple period address the theological problem of the existence of sin and describe the source of human sin. . . . The analysis is divided into two parts; the first explores texts that reflect a conviction that the source of sin is an innate human inclination, and the second analyzes texts that depict sin as caused by demons. The author demonstrates that the genre or purpose of a text is frequently a determining factor in its representation of sin, particularly influencing the text’s portrayal of sin as the result of human inclination versus demonic influence and sin as a free choice or as predetermined fact."

Help Support OnScript:

Click through Evil Within and Without to purchase Brand's book (or others, while you're in there) and the OnScript Podcast gets a whopping 2.5%. Each bit helps us keep this operation going. Or visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.

Dru & Matt L. - Listener Q & A

Episode: Grab a beer & lawn chair as Matt Lynch & Dru Johnson discuss your questions at this sizzlin' summer theology barbecue. Matt & Dru talk about Dru's imaginary friend(s), signing books, Christians and the law, David's failures, God's holiness, the ideas we think need to die, and other stuff. We also have an unplanned, and altogether impressive, call-in with Chris Tilling. Chris was grilling sausage when we spontaneously called him to answer questions about Paul, turning an otherwise officey conversation into a rollicking theological barbecue. Pardon Matt's poor sound quality in this episode. A driver problem ... blah, blah, blah, meant he ended up recording with his laptop mic. Also, there's some serious crackling when we Skype in Chris for a few minutes.

Chris Tilling Theologizing at the Grill: In this episode, Chris Tilling attempts to turn the grill into a lectern (or is it the other way around?).

Books: During the discussion on the 'Paul within Judaism' movement, Tilling refers to Mark Nanos, co-editor of a recent volume, Paul within Judaism (Fortress, 2015). Nanos' book comes recommended, but he meant to refer to Daniel Boyarin, who has written books on Paul and Judaism, like A Radical Jew (Univ California Press, 1997). Check 'em both out and let us know what you think!

 

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J. Richard Middleton - A New Heaven and A New Earth

Episode: J Richard Middleton discusses biblical eschatology, creation, heaven, hell, Elijah's escape of death, theology in Jamaica, whether our pets go to heaven, and much more in The Boston Tea Party, Cheltenham, during Richard's tour through the UK.

Guest: J. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary, on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY. He also serves as adjunct Professor of Theology at Roberts Wesleyan College and adjunct Professor of Old Testament at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston, Jamaica. He has been President of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association, 2011-2014.

While in Canada he coauthored (with Brian Walsh) The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian Worldview (IVP Academic 1984) and Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (IVP Academic/SPCK, 1995). The former book has been published in Korean, French, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The latter book received a Book-of-the-Year award (1996) from Christianity Today magazine and has been published in Korean.

He has authored The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Brazos Press, 2005), which is translated into Korean, and has co-edited a volume of essays, A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology (Pickwick, 2013). Both are available as e-books.

His most recent book on eschatology, entitled A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Baker Academic, 2014), is published in paperback and e-book formats and won the 2014 Word Guild Award — Biblical Studies Category. It has been translated into Korean.

He is currently working on a new book, entitled The Silence of Abraham, The Passion of Job: Explorations in the Theology of Lament (to be published by Baker Academic). His next project after that is a short volume, tentatively called Portrait of a Disgruntled Prophet: Samuel’s Resistance to God and the Undoing of Saul (to be published by Eerdmans). (from Richard's Blog Site)

The OnScript Quip (Our Review): In his A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Baker Academic, 2014) Middleton leads an expert tour of the Bible's creation theology. He presents the facets and implications of a this-worldly biblical eschatology. Middleton shows that this worldly eschatology derives from a ground-ed biblical protology, or story of first things in Genesis 1-2 (all creation) and the exodus (the people of Israel). Along the way, the reader meets none less than the creation-loving, matter-embracing, world-liberating God of Scripture. Middleton doesn't shy away from texts that pose potential challenges to his thesis, and offers convincing evidence that humans, and yes, this world, are destined for physical renewal. - Matt Lynch (The OnScript Podcast)

Greg Boyd - The Crucifixion of the Warrior God

Episode: Matt & Matt talk violence in the OT with Greg Boyd, who has devoted the last 10 years to researching and writing about this vexed topic. Our discussion ranges from the relationship between the cross and the conquest, Greg's theory of 'literary crucifixes' in the OT, how to relate the two Testaments, and more from Greg's monumental new book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting The Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross. And brace yourself ... there are two speed rounds in this episode.

Guest: (from the reknew.org website) 'Greg Boyd is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times, The Charlie Rose Show, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC and numerous other television and radio venues.

Greg received his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (summa cum laude 1988), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (cum laude 1982), and his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota (1979). He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) where he received the Teaching Excellence Award and Campus Leadership Award.

Greg is the co-founder of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where he serves as Senior Pastor, speaking to thousands each week.

Greg has authored or co-authored 20 books and numerous academic articles, including his best-selling and award-winning Letters From a Skeptic and his recent books Repenting of Religion and The Myth of a Christian Nation. His apologetic writings and public debates on the historical Jesus and the problem of evil have helped many skeptics embrace faith, and his writings and seminars on spiritual transformation have had a revolutionary, freeing impact on thousands of believers.' (For more about Greg, go HERE)

Book: In The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting The Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross (Fortress Press, 2017), Greg Boyd advances a thesis that the Old Testament's violent texts should be re-interpreted to reflect the enemy embracing, forgiving, love of Christ shown most fully on the Cross. Greg positions this thesis in a long line of Christian interpretation that reaches back to the early Church theologian Origin. Greg outlines a crucicentric (cross-centered) hermeneutic in the first of his two volume, 1,400-page book, and proceeds to (re-)examine violent OT texts through the lens of the cross in volume 2.

**Greg is hosting a special three day conference at Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, MN, on Sept 21-23, 2017 to discuss the problem of violence in Scripture and the possibilities of a cross-shaped interpretive lens. Information HERE.

 

Caryn Reeder - The Enemy in the Household

Episode: The prospect of stoning a rebellious son or adulterer, or turning over an unorthodox brother or sister for execution is revolting. But how should a Jewish or Christian believer respond to such ideas when found in their own scripture? While resisting easy answers, Caryn Reeder offers a nuanced approach to books like Deuteronomy, where many of the harshest laws appear. Deuteronomy is the epicenter of legal admonitions to 'show no pity' to one's own family if they prove disloyal to the covenant. Matt L. discusses with Caryn her journey into the world of 'constructive family violence,' how the harshest of laws might have made sense in the ancient world, and how interpreters through history have re-framed violent laws in new ways.

Guest: Caryn Reeder is Associate Professor of New Testament at Westmont College in California. She grew up on a farm in central Illinois, and then did her B.A. at Augustana College, M.A. and M.Phil at Wheaton College, and her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. She is the author of The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Baker Academic, 2012), and several other articles and essays on war and violence in the Old and New Testaments. Her current research focuses on the experience of women and children in war in the New Testament and its cultural environment.

Book: The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond (Baker Academic, 2012) (From the Baker Academic Website) 'Three laws in Deuteronomy command violence against a family member--the enemy in the household--who leads others away from covenantal obligations to God. Several biblical and post-biblical narratives make use of such violence. In this fresh approach to troubling biblical texts, Caryn Reeder explores the "family violence" passages in Deuteronomy, tracing their ancient interpretation and assessing their contemporary significance. The Enemy in the Household examines such "constructive" violence carried out to protect the covenant community by investigating the reading practices of ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters of Scripture and their applications of these passages. It also provides modern readers with a model for the ethical interpretation of these difficult texts.'

Dennis Venema & Scot McKnight - Adam and the Genome

Episode: Evangelicals, grab your Noah's ark replicas. Atheists, seize your Darwinian fish symbols. It's the mother of all culture wars. Except Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight, who both hold traditional evangelical Christian convictions, suggest that the war is needless. It is okay to acknowledge the Jesus fish and to affirm that humans and fish descend from common ancestors. How did Dennis, an evolutionary biologist, and Scot, a New Testament scholar, come together to collaborate? What new evidence has emerged about the human genome in support of evolution? And the crux: How can we make sense of the Bible's description of Adam and Eve as the first humans in light of multiple strands of evidence that suggests humans evolved as a group of no less than 10,000? Hosted by Matthew W. Bates.

Guests:  Dennis Venema (PhD, University of British Columbia) is Associate Professor of Biology at Trinity Western University in British Columbia. He is a fellow of BioLogos, where he writes a popular blog, Letters to the Duchess. He has also penned numerous scholarly articles.

Scot McKnight (PhD, Nottingham) is Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. The author of more than fifty books, Scot runs the highly influential blog Jesus Creed and is a world-renowned expert on early Christianity. Some of his popular titles include The Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2004; a Christianity Today book of the year); The Blue Parakeet (Zondervan, 2008), and A Fellowship of Differents (Zondervan, 2014). McKnight has also written many books for a scholarly audience, including The Epistle of James (NICNT; Eerdmans, 2010), and one of my personal favorites, The King Jesus Gospel (Zondervan, 2011).

Book: Dennis R. Venema and Scot McKnight, Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture after Genetic Science  (Brazos, 2017). Genomic science indicates that humans descend not from an individual pair but from a large population. What does this mean for the basic claim of many Christians: that humans descend from Adam and Eve? The authors conclude that genome research about evolution and Scripture are not irreconcilable.

The OnScript Quip (our review): The evidence of nature or Scripture? A tiresome false dilemma. Interpreting the data with clarity and verve, Venema and McKnight show us how cutting-edge science and thoughtful Scripture scholarship can move us beyond faith-versus-science polemics and toward an integrated Christian worldview. -- Matthew W. Bates, Quincy University, OnScript

Susannah Heschel - The Aryan Jesus

Episode: The story of German Christian anti-Semitism of the Nazi era is still being told. Susannah Heschel's book The Aryan Jesus brings to light the archives of the 'Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life,' and tells the story of how German churches found common cause with Nazi's over their shared anti-Semitic commitments. In this episode we discuss Susannah Heschel's remarkable upbringing, her journey into studying the 'pathologies of biblical scholarship,' and her research on The Aryan Jesus.

Guest: 'Susannah Heschel is the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and the history of anti-Semitism. Her numerous publications include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus (University of Chicago Press), which won a National Jewish Book Award, and The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press). She has also taught at Southern Methodist University and Case Western Reserve University.' [from the Dartmouth website]

Heschel tells the story of her childhood and relationship with her father Abraham Joshua Heschel in a beautifully written piece called 'My Father, Myself.' Abraham Joshua Heschel is the author of The Sabbath, The Prophets, and many other highly influential books. In her piece, Susannah tells the story of her father's escape from Poland in 1940, including his involvement in the civil rights movement. Abraham Heschel famously marched with MLK from Selma to Montgomery, an experience that he describes thus: 'When I marched in Selma, I felt like my legs were praying.' She also describes her father's support of her feminism and scholarship.

Book: In The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton University Press, 2008), Susannah Heschel traces the redefinition of Jesus as an Aryan opponent of the Jewish people during the Nazi era. German Christian theologians and biblical scholars aligned themselves with the Nazis (and many became Nazis) via their shared anti-Semitism and formed the 'Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life.' Heschel digs into the archives of this institute to tell its story, and to set it in the wider context of Christian anti-Semitism during the Third Reich. The members of this institute include some of the most influential biblical scholars of the time. Heschel then follows the post-war career 'success' of the institute's members as they found jobs in universities, seminaries, and churches in East and West Germany. The book raises troubling but important questions about Jewish-Christian relationships.

Jeremiah Unterman - Justice for All

Episode:What role has the Hebrew Bible played in shaping our modern views on ethics? Many Christians have casually believed that the radical ethics of the New Testament provide the moral foundation of the West. Remarkably, Christians are often unaware of the deep roots of Western morality in Hebrew Bible. Many are often surprised to find out that Jesus did not invent the ideal of loving our neighbor as ourselves, rather he is quoting Leviticus from the Torah. Moreover, what we often understand to be modern and civil about Western morality—caring for the poor and orphans, inclusion of the immigrant, weekend rest and labor laws, offering forgiveness, and more—actually comes directly out of the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament).

Dru Johnson interviews Jeremiah Unterman about his new book—Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics. Unterman has offered work that not only presents us with the Hebraic roots of our morality, but demonstrates that this ethical framework is found only in the Hebrew Bible and not in the literature of ancient Israel’s neighbors: the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and more.

Guest: Jeremiah Unterman was the Director of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools in North America before becoming a Resident Scholar at the Herzl Institute.  He is the author of a T&T Clark monograph on Jeremiah, From Repentance to Redemption: Jeremiah’s Thought in Transition as well as numerous scholarly articles.

He has taught at Dartmouth College, Northwestern University, University of California – Irvine, and other universities. He received a B.A. in Hebraic Studies from Rutgers University, an M.A. in Bible from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. in the Judaica Program of the Near Eastern Studies Department at U.C., Berkeley, where he studied with the renowned scholar: Jacob Milgrom.

Book: From the publisher:
"Justice for All demonstrates that the Jewish Bible, by radically changing the course of ethical thought, came to exercise enormous influence on Jewish thought and law and also laid the basis for Christian ethics and the broader development of modern Western civilization. Jeremiah Unterman shows us persuasively that the ethics of the Jewish Bible represent a significant moral advance over Ancient Near East cultures. Moreover, he elucidates how the Bible’s unique conception of ethical monotheism, innovative understanding of covenantal law, and revolutionary messages from the prophets form the foundation of many Western civilization ideals. Justice for All connects these timeless biblical texts to the persistent themes of our times: immigration policy, forgiveness and reconciliation, care for the less privileged, and attaining hope for the future despite destruction and exile in this world."

The OnScript Quip (our review): I have both read this book in early drafts and used it teaching freshmen in a Christian context at The King's College. I have been convinced of its merits by the content, but also by how it has helped young college students reassess the bible’s position in the world of ancient literature. This book not only offers fresh insights into the ethical matrix of the Hebrew Bible, but also acts as a primer folks not intimately familiar with the literature of the bible or the ancient Near East. I would dare say that many Christians might be surprised by the ethical teaching of the Torah and prophets, from which the New Testament texts derive most all of their ethics. - Dru Johnson, The OnScript Podcast

Street interviews by Sabrina Sanchez.

["Blind Love Dub" from this episode by Jeris © 2017, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/55416 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)]