The Biblical Mind

Latest Episodes:

Still Trying to Find Yourself? Try Losing It First (Alan Noble) Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

One of the most countercultural sentences comes from the Heidelberg Catechism: our only comfort in life and death is that "I am not my own, but but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ." The loudest voices in the contemporary West seem to tell us that we belong to ourselves, that we author our own destinies and create our own identities. This is not the way of Scripture.

It's also an exhausting, depressing, and disappointing way to live. Indeed, belonging to yourself is literally impossible. Counterculturally and even counterintiutively, we need to practice dying to ourselves and living for others, because we belong to God and to our communities.

Though the burden of belonging to others is difficult to bear, with practice and the Holy Spirit’s help it is possible. Dr. Alan Noble joins us to discuss his book You Are Not Your Own, and how to practice belonging to God in a world that is self-seeking.

Show Notes:

0:26 Comfort or solution?
3:42 Practice knowing that you are not your own
7:54 Counting the cost
10:07 Ways God belongs to us
13:55 Dirtlings
15:20 Being = belonging
17:34 Jacques Ellul
19:14 Weaving threads, and the middle-way between resignation and affirmation
27:01 What we’ve lost in renunciation
28:26 Dysfunctional legalism and the singular will
34:40 Stay-at-home parents
38:18 Non-techniques to solve the problem
40:20 Stumbling around, grace, and forgiveness

Other resources mentioned:

The Meaning of the City, by Jacques Ellul

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music used in TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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The Church Needs African Hermeneutics (Liz Mburu) Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

Where you are situated in time and space affects how you interpret the world. This cultural, geographical, and historical consciousness likewise forms a hermeneutical lens whereby we read and understand Scripture.

Professor Liz Mburu, a Kenyan theologian and author of African Hermeneutics, joins us this week on the podcast to discuss how she views Scripture through an African hermeneutical lens. One African way of seeing the Bible is as a text of power, with a strong focus on the role of the Holy Spirit.

As members of the body of Christ, Christians around the globe need each other's perspective to develop a full understanding of Christianity and how to practice it.

Show notes:

0:27 Biblical hermeneutics
5:06 Looking at Scripture through the Kenyan lens
10:40 Is there an African hermeneutic?
14:45 Scripture as a text of power
19:06 The native religion informing the hermeneutic
23:17 Pastors visiting witch doctors/syncretism
28:06 The Global church needs all its members

Show Notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music used in TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America (Aaron Griffith) Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

In the latter half of 20th century, the evangelical community's developing attitudes toward crime and punishment overlapped with the increasingly punitive approach of the American criminal justice system. Faith leaders such as Billy Graham and James Dobson cast crime as an issue of the criminal's heart, deemphasizing its enmeshment with broader social structures and ills.

On this episode, Aaron Griffith discusses his book God’s Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America and how thinking about criminality can help people deepen their understanding of sin and redemption.

Show notes:

0:25 20th-century Christianity and justice
6:31 Crime: A matter of the heart?
15:45 Cities
21:37 How neighborhoods function
26:45 Biblical principles to guide policing
33:00 Equal treatment for all: a biblical perspective
39:00 Is there room for an inclusive, restorative justice model?

Books/articles mentioned:

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music used in TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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Extreme Violence, Nahum, and Reconciliation in the Congo (Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi) Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been afflicted by war and violence. The people are not always ready for reconciliation, because they are busy seeking justice. Dr. Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi, a professor and a Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Tshumbe (D.R. Congo), discusses his book on Nahum, "Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses."

The violence in the book of Nahum connects directly to the experiences of people in the Congo. Dr. Onyumbe Wenyi explains how Nahum's portrayal of a vengeful God and abhorrent war scenes can speak to severely traumatized communities.

Show notes:

0:27 Wars in the Congo
3:41 How the war affected the culture
6:29 How people live in a context marked by tragedy
10:35 Not ready for reconciliation
11:36 Dr. Onyumbe Wenyi's perspective on forgiveness
15:40 The Book of Nahum
18:36 Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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What Biblical Racial Reconciliation Actually Looks Like (Anthony Bradley) Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

Reconciliation in practice involves local communities acknowledging the wrongs of their particular pasts and figuring out how to move forward— what the responsibilities are and how to live together in peace.

In the area of racial reconciliation, we focus a lot on justice and the responsibilities of the offenders. But biblical reconciliation also requires the injured party to show mercy and eventually let go of the wrongs, which is profoundly humbling to those receiving the mercy.

Dr. Anthony Bradley joins us this week to discuss what has informed current racial tensions and how churches and communities can move forward.

Show notes:

0:26 Examining the racial tensions within a community
1:50 Racial reconciliation and ignoring history
4:19 What informs current racial tensions
7:05 The 80s
10:39 Reconciliation in Scripture and the local past
17:32 Truth required for reconciliation
20:43 Disconnection from history
28:20 Racial solidarity

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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The Torah Is Not a Law Book (Jerry Unterman) Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

The nation of Israel was born into a world that was already culturally old and established. When the Torah appeared, the ancient Near East contained several law collections. CHT fellow Dr. Jerry Unterman explains that unlike other law codes of the ANE, the Torah is not a law book. Rather, its unique framework reveals it to be a treaty—a covenant between God and His people, embedded in a narrative.

Show Notes:

0:26 What is the world of law in the Torah?
6:02 Hammurabi and "If x, then y"
9:58 The ANE laws were never promulgated to the people
12:43 The God who makes a treaty with the people
15:47 Laws for the people to "tend"
16:50 Shared responsibility
17:36 The way the law works
21:43 Michael LeFebvre's contested article
25:53 God is the source of justice
27:28 What's the difference between laws?

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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No One Asks for Forgiveness in the Bible? (Joshua Berman) Jan 07, 2022

Show notes

People don't ask for or grant forgiveness in the Bible—at least, not in the way modern people are familiar with. Scripture is less focused on whether someone feels sorry or magnanimous than on practical reconciliation and restoration. Repeatedly in biblical narratives, characters demonstrate this reconciliation with a kiss.

Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman discusses how forgiveness as we understand it is a modern notion and how the relevant biblical notion differs.

Show Notes:

0:26 The Hebrew Bible doesn't portray apology-and-forgiveness
4:38 Defining relationships
5:52 Forgiveness in Hebrew
7:48 The modern notion of forgiveness
10:35 Kissing
15:34 Torah and incarceration
19:40 We need to "get along"
21:05 The biblical authors on forgiveness
23:55 Reconciliation should be embraced
28:13 What does God think of us?
29:25 Postscript: The Prodigal Son

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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African Americans Understood Paul‘s Words While Slave Owners Twisted Them (Lisa Bowens) Dec 17, 2021

Show notes

Discussing her book African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation, Dr. Lisa Bowens identifies how people twisted the Scriptures written by the Apostle Paul to promote slavery and justify it as a Christian practice. But at the same time, Dr. Bowens explains, Black Americans were interpreting Paul's writings for themselves, and throughout history, they still appealed to Pauline texts extensively to protest and resist their oppression, and ultimately to build a strong foundation for the American church.

Show notes:

0:26 Hidden voices in Black Christian thought
4:25 What does sScripture actually say?
6:15 Nancy Ambrose and how Paul was preached to the enslaved
10:18 1774 Slave Petition
16:37 The slavery project and the broadening of the canon
19:40 John Jea and the miracle of literacy
25:40 Why we need to hear different voices
29:50 Salvation is spiritual and physical
34:37 For economic gain

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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What Are Sermons for, and How Can They Be Improved? (Jonathan Pennington) Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

When it comes to preaching, less is more. If you really understand a complex issue, you should be able to write it down on a postcard. In light of this, how does one avoid dumbing down their preaching while still clearly communicating a complex message?

Dru and CHT fellow Dr. Jonathan Pennington discuss his book Small Preaching: 25 Little Things You Can Do Now to Make You a Better Preacher, how to convey rich meaning in a sermon while keeping it simple, and the significance of preaching within a worship service.

Show notes:

0:26 Sermon prep
1:27 How can a preacher avoid common pitfalls?
3:22 Two schools: lofty and simple
7:55 Confidence
9:00 The ideal preacher's life/snack writing
12:48 Should you write your sermon?
17:16 The significance of preaching in the worship service
23:49 Teaching vs. preaching
31:06 "Celebrification" of preaching
33:23 Is preaching performance art?

Show notes by Dominique LaCroix

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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Three Grinches in a Pod: Complicating Christmas Dec 03, 2021

Show notes

It's that time of year again.

It's the time when those who hate eggnog, pretty lights, cheery music, presents, and joy itself crawl out of their dark, barren hovels, bent on ruining Christmas.

Well, we aren't those people. Let us have our winter festival, says Dru. Let us have our (modest) presents, says Celina. Let us have our feasting, says Amy.

But we all ask, what does the winter festival of American Christmas really have to do with the first and second comings of Jesus Christ? Are traditional Advent practices a straightforward way to redeem the holiday? Do we even want to put the "Christ" back in "Christmas"?

Join Dru, Celina, and Amy as they discuss how we might faithfully improvise rituals of waiting and celebration to help us remember our place within the story of God's promise to the nations through Israel.

0:30 Rushing and conflating—why we're grumpy
6:08 Calling Dru out*
6:49 The fat man in the room: Christmas is not a biblical holy day
9:37 Redeeming Christmas through better rituals?
11:23 An Hebraic spin on Advent
17:22 Distraction from the establishment of God's peace through Israel
19:51 The biblical argument against telling children there's a Santa Claus
21:41 Theologically rich Advent practices

*Despite her protestations, Celina has since admitted that Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" totally slaps.

Show notes by Celina Durgin

Credits for the music TBM podcast: hebraicthought.org/credits.

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