TBDBy itmeanswhatitmeans

James McGrath is a religious studies professor and author of the book Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. In this conversation, McGrath explains how his interest in John the Baptist was sparked by his previous work on the Gospel of John and the Mandaeans, a group that emerged from followers of John the Baptist. He also challenges common miscon…

In this conversation, Nathan McDonald discusses the concept of priestly hegemony and its utilization of different aspects of culture to establish power. He explains the development of the biblical text and the complex history behind it. Nathan also explores the connection between the priestly and Deuteronomic sources and how they collided and harmo…

In this conversation, Eric J. Harvey discusses his research on blindness in the ancient Middle East, particularly in the Hebrew Bible. He explains the differences between the categories of not seeing, unseeing, and blind, and how interpreters have often misunderstood and conflated them. Eric also delves into the concept of the normate body and the …

In this episode, Jared talks to William Morrow about his article “Mourning for Tammuz: Prophecy and Projection in Ezekiel 8:14” from The Journal of Biblical Literature. Recommendations made include the Society of Biblical Literature website, Bible Odyssey, Biblical Archaeological Review, American Theological Library Association, Review Biblical Lit…

Jonathan Rowlands, a theology lecturer, discusses the book of Hebrews and its themes. He explains that Hebrews is a unique text in the New Testament, and its genre and authorship are still debated. The book emphasizes Jesus as a high priest and his role in atonement. Rowlands explores different readings of Hebrews 1:3b and how they impact the under…

In this episode, Jared talks to Curtis Freeman about his essay “The Faith of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Conundrum” from the book Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul: Reflections on the Work of Douglas Campbell. Recommendations made include James William McClendon, Glen Butner, Fred Sanders, NT Wright, Richard Hays, and Mark A Noll features pr…

In this conversation, Jon DePue discusses the main themes of his book Beyond Justification: Liberating Paul’s Gospel with Jared. They explore the concept of Paul's gospel as a gospel of life and liberation, moving beyond the traditional understanding of justification. They discuss the cosmic scope of Paul's gospel and the importance of the afterlif…

In this episode, Jared talks to Haley Gabrielle about her article “Re-remembering Hagar: Reading Σάρξ in Galatians with Spillers” from the Journal of Biblical Literature. Recommendations made include Shively Smith, Randall Bailey, Gay Byron, Vanessa Lovelace, Mitzi Smith, Sharon Jacob, Dolores Williams, and (I added) Gale Yee. Reach out with feedba…

Mark A. Noll discusses his book America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794 to 1911. He shares his motivation for writing the book and explains that it is a continuation of his research on the use of the Bible in American history. Noll highlights the entrepreneurial and free-form nature of religion in America, particularly in…

Hananel Shapira, a PhD student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses his research on the priestly literature and his article on the incense altar. He explains that while the prescriptive incense altar is a later addition to the text of Exodus 25-29, it does not mean that it was absent from the temple rites. Shapira argues that the menora…

In this episode, Jared talks to Ya’akov Dolgopolsky-Geva about his article from the Journal of Biblical Literature “Where (and When) Did the Authors of Joshua 10:1-39, 11:1-15 Live?”. Recommended scholars include Shirly Natan-Yulzary, Ariel Seri-Levi, and Idan Dershowitz. Click here to find out where you can follow the podcast.…

In this conversation, Nicholas Elder discusses his book Gospel Media: Reading, Writing, and Circulating Jesus Traditions, which covers the complexity of reading, writing, and circulating texts in the ancient world. He dispels myths about these practices and highlights the influence of other fields on biblical studies. He explores the relationship b…

In this episode Jared talks to Tod Linafelt about his book The Hebrew Bible as Literature: A Very Short Introduction from Oxford University Press. Books mentioned or recommended in this episode: Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode, JPS TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures, Books by Robert Alter, An Invitation to Biblical Poetry, Reading the Poe…

In this conversation, Dr. Ben Witherington discusses his background as a professor of New Testament and his extensive experience in teaching and writing. He introduces his book The Problem with Evangelical Theology: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Wesleyanism, and Pentecostalism and explains his motivation for wr…

In this conversation, Brent A. Strawn discusses the significance of Yahweh's lookalikes in the ancient world and the challenges of differentiating Yahweh from other gods. He explores the extremes of over-differentiation and over-similarity and the limitations of historical analysis in understanding the ancient Near East pantheon. Strawn also examin…

In this episode, Jared talks to Jon D Levenson about his essay “Is There a Counterpart in the Hebrew Bible to New Testament Anti-Semitism” from the book Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes. Recommendations made include novelist Ben McIntyre and Jared throws in Kurt Vonnegut and Terry Pratchett for good measure. Click here to find out w…

In this episode Jared talks to Collin Cornell about his chapter in Divine Doppelgängers: YHWH’s Ancient Look-Alikes, which he edited. The title of his chapter is Theological Approaches to the Problem of God’s Ancient Look-Alikes. Collin’s recommendations are Paula Fredriksen, Matthew V Novenson, Matthew Thiessen, A Companion to the Hellenistic and …

On this special Thanksgiving episode, Jared talks with Daniel Rodriguez about his article “Reframing Hospitality: Cognition, Social Binding, and Mimetic Criticism” from The Bible Translator. Daniel mentioned and recommended René Girard, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Ryan Stokes, Michele Foucault, language as a function of relationship, Reinier de…

On this episode, Jared talks about his experience at the 2023 American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature combined annual meeting. He attended presentations by the following scholars: David A Burnett, Jeremy Williams, Jason Staples, Ryan C Chester, and Hindy Najman. Click here to find out where you can follow and support the pod…

On this episode, Jared talks with Alexiana Fry about her book Trauma Talks in the Hebrew Bible: Speech Act Theory and Trauma Hermeneutics. Alexiana references or recommends Precarious Life, Esther Brownsmith, Appalling Bodies, Rape Culture in the House of David, Feminist Trauma, Texts after Terror, Good Book, Does Scripture Speak for Itself?, Livin…

In this episode Jared Talks to Chris Tilling about the book Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul: Reflections on the Work of Douglas Campbell. Books mentioned in the podcast: Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul; Commentary on Galatians; The Letter to the Romans: Paul Among the Ecologists; The Letter to the Roman…

On this special Halloween episode, Jared talks with Heather Macumber about here book Recovering the Monstrous in Revelation, which is part of the series Horror and Scripture. Heather recommends Apocalypse against Empire, The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition, Humor, Resistance, and Jewish Cultural Persistence in the Book of Revelation, “The …

In this Episode Jared talks to Jodi Magness about her article “Toilets and Toilet Humor in the Story of Eglon’s Murder by Ehud” from the March 2023 issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature. Professor Magness also recommended her book The Archaeology of the Holy Land: From the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple to the Muslim Conquest; the work of ar…

In this episode Jared talks to Stanley Hauerwas about his essay “A Story-Formed Community: Notes on Watership Down” from The Hauerwas Reader. Professor Hauerwas also recommended Richard B. Hayes' work on the Old Testament in the New Testament, his commentary on Matthew for the Brazos Commentary Series, Alasdair MacIntyre's philosophy, and Hannah's …

Jared talks with Rabbi Michael E Harvey about his 3 March 2023 Twitter thread discussing the authorship and meaning of Genesis 1. Rabbi Harvey is the Author of Let's Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians.By itmeanswhatitmeans

Sophia RC Johnson is a PhD Candidate in Hebrew Bible at Cambridge University. We begin by discussing the thesis of her article in the December 2022 issue of The Journal of Biblical Literature. I follow her lead and my curiosity from there. Her recommendation for listeners is Yonatan Adler's The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reapp…