The Naked Bible Podcast

How did we get the New Testament? This episode is in response to listener requests. Mike and Trey interview Rick Brannan, the information specialist for Greek New Testament products and databases at Logos Bible Software, about how we got the New Testament, the KJV-only idea, and conspiratorial views about the history and transmission of the Greek New Testament. We also talk about tools for learning about the Greek New Testament and its vocabulary. Rick is the general editor of the Lexham English Septuagint, translator of The Apostolic Fathers in English, and author of Greek Apocryphal Gospels, Fragments, and Agrapha. Links: Summary of how the Byzantine-Majority Text (and the Textus Receptus) gets defended against the Alexandrian. Drawn from D. A Carson, The King James Version Debate, A Plea for Realism, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986), pp. 39-78 Codex Sinaiticus Rick’s personal blog: http://rickbrannan.com Rick’s Twitter: @RickBrannan Publisher: http://appianwaypress.com (Appian Way Press) Lexical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy Publisher page: https://appianwaypress.com/lcpe-first-timothy/ Second Timothy: Notes on Grammar, Structure, and Syntax Publisher page: https://appianwaypress.com/second-timothy-notes/

In this episode Mike and Trey talk with Tim Andrews and Rich Baker about alternative ways to think about church – specifically, if church wasn’t a time or a place, what would that be like? Tim Andrews currently lives in Atlanta, GA, and has been in leadership in alternative church communities for over twenty years. Rich Baker has a long history in ministry to the homeless and other marginalized communities in the US and abroad. Many who listen to the podcast feel displaced from church and have expressed the desire to connect with likeminded people. This episode focuses on how the traditional modern church model can either be supplemented or replaced with Christian fellowship that builds a sense of family and is serious about biblical content.

Our 12th Question and Answer episode!

Our 11th Question and Answer episode! Link referenced: AllAboutGod.com

David Burnett discusses the connection between celestial vs earthly bodies in 1 Cor 15, drawing on OT passages about the divine council. This deep dive into resurrection texts will change your perspective on Paul's theology.

Biblical scholars know that Paul subordinates the Law to Christ (Gal 3:1-18). He writes about how the Law could not result in the fruition of the promises given to Abraham (and, by extension, to all nations; Gen 12:1-3). Paul then asks “Why then was the law given?” He answers that it was “added because of transgressions” (Gal 3:19). The most common assumption is that this (somehow) means the Law was a response to Adam’s sin, or human sins. But, and Adam sinned only once so far as the Bible tells us. Opting for the law being added in response to human sins doesn’t address why humanity became so wicked that it needed the law. Most Christians would defer to Adam’s transgression at this point, but there is no Romans 5:12 in Galatians (Romans is a later epistle). This episode takes a minority view of Paul’s statement about the addition of the law—at least among Christians. This view, however, reflects the viewpoint of nearly every Second Temple Jewish text (Paul’s era) known to exist that comments on human depravity:  that the Law was added to restrain human evil, which proliferated not because of Adam, but because of the sin of the Watchers in Gen 6:1-4.

The book we know as 1 Enoch was well known to early Christians. Its importance produced an understandable question among some influential early Christian writers and, one may presume, Christians in general: Should 1 Enoch be considered inspired and thus “Scripture” in the manner of other books in the Old Testament? Ultimately, Christianity at large answered this question negatively, save for the Church in Ethiopia. But the discussion is nonetheless of interest today. This episode presents an abbreviated survey of how select Second Temple Jews and early Christian books and writers assessed the scriptural status of 1 Enoch. Google Book referenced: James C. VanderKam, “1 Enoch, Enochic Motifs, and Enoch in Early Christian Literature,” Pages 33-101 in James C. VanderKam and William Adler, eds., The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity (Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum 3/4; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996). paper referenced: Nickelsburg Knowledge of Enoch and Watchers Story in Early Judaism and Christianity

Ezekiel 28:14, 16 describe an “anointed cherub” who walked in the midst of “the stones of fire” and was removed from among “the stones of fire.”  What are the stones of fire? What do these verses describe? How do the phrases relate to what’s going on in Ezekiel 28 and its “twin,” Isaiah 14? blog post referenced

Our 10th Question and Answer episode!

This episode discusses why hellfire in the New Testament is associated with “the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). Where does that idea come from? There are in fact earlier books that are the basis for this language—inside and outside the Old Testament.