The Biblical Mind

Latest Episodes:

Biblical Artist Series: Ned Bustard Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

How should Christians engage with the visual arts? Many forms of "Christian art" (films, children's Bibles, music) make in-your-face, moralistic claims. Other Christians condemn art because of its "bad messages." Still others believe that making art is nothing more than expressing yourself or your emotions. Ned Bustard possesses a very different perspective.

Ned is an artist and graphic designer based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He believes that provocative, visually fascinating pieces are not necessarily in tension with Scripture. Instead, they can be used to heighten biblical themes or show us parts of the text that we had not yet noticed. Ned's book Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups exemplifies this approach, with gritty and novel depictions of often-whitewashed or ignored passages of Scripture.

In this episode, Dr. Dru Johnson talks with Ned about a couple of the most provocative pieces in Revealed. They also discuss the tearing down of Confederate statues, how art can be used as an argument, and how making woodcuts of the Bible is actually a lot like preaching.

Show notes:

1:26 What should we do about putting up and tearing down statues?
6:00 How art is like preaching
10:13 Good versus bad Christian art
15:35 Ned's work on his book Revealed
24:00 Integrating faith and art
26:29 Ned's depiction of Judges 19
34:20 Art with a "slant"
40:12 Why people miss the arguments in Biblical poetry and the visual arts

See more of Ned Bustard's work through his graphic design company, World's End Images.

Read more about the proposed cylinder around the Robert E. Lee statue.

Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) promotes a diverse group of artists rooted in orthodox Christianity.

Show notes by Micah Long.

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Listen to an Article: Malcolm Guite on Poetic Imagination and Biblical Prophecy Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

Heather Cate reads "Why Poetic Imagination Is Necessary to Understand Biblical Prophecy," by Malcolm Guite, published July 22, 2020.

Prefer to listen to articles? The CHT will publish recorded readings of more its top articles in the coming weeks.

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A Realist Christian Response to the Horror of Trauma (Scott Harrower) Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

How can Christians go beyond a "thoughts and prayers" perspective of trauma and suffering? Those who have experienced trauma, from soldiers to sexual assault survivors, often hesitate to trust members of their community.

In this episode, Dr. Dru Johnson interviews Dr. Scott Harrower of Ridley College, a former emergency department nurse, about the biblical response to trauma. Scott explains the psychology of PTSD and how Christians should respond to psychological suffering. From there, they discuss the roots of Pauline perspectives on comfort in the Hebrew Bible. Finally, they discuss the biblical emphasis on God equipping His people to comfort the vulnerable, rather than providing sudden or supernatural solutions.

0:00 Introducing Scott Harrower
2:09 The psychology of trauma
5:10 PTSD and trust
11:15 How the Hebrew Bible addresses trauma
14:50 How Christians should respond to suffering communities
17:38 The character of people who work for restoration and reconciliation
21:07 Concluding thoughts

For more of Dr. Scott Harrower's work, check out God of All Comfort: A Trinitarian Response to the Horrors of This World, a work on trauma, horror, and how the doctrine of the Trinity can help address the problem of evil.

Show notes by Micah Long.

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Why Scripture Doesn't Talk about Law, Religion, or Belief (Joshua Berman) Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

We may uncritically assume that biblical authors think of religion, law, and belief in the same way that we do. Dr. Joshua Berman, however, notes that the ancient Hebrews didn't have the contemporary Western concepts of religion and belief, which involve individualistic intellectual assent to the right propositions. Likewise, the concept of law in the Bible isn't a clear-cut list of dos and don’ts.

In this episode, Dr. Dru Johnson talks with Dr. Berman about his new book, Ani Ma’amin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith.

Show notes:

0:00 Ani Ma'amin
1:24 Why terms such as law, religion, and belief are alien to the Hebrew Bible
7:20 The modern versus the ancient understanding of religion
9:48 Modern “belief” versus ancient lived experience
17:40 Law as more than dos and don’ts
21:43 The problems with biblical source criticism and modern biblical scholarship
37:02 Maimonides, Jewish belief, and the way of life

For the nerdier version of Dr. Berman's book, check out: Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism

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Scripture on Policing in America Jun 04, 2020

Show notes

Dru Johnson and Celina Durgin talk about threads of teaching in Scripture regarding the use of force and systemic racism, as well as practical steps that the Torah and Jesus taught to bring justice into unjust communities.

Show notes:

1:28 How Torah protections for the vulnerable bear on our notion of justice
4:00 How the powerful/vulnerable dynamic plays out in state agency and police use of force
7:48 How the Torah evaluates self-defense and de-escalation
15:20 God’s wrath against those who mistreat the vulnerable
23:04 What the church should do in response to exploitation of the vulnerable
36:02 Why epistemic humility is essential for just policing in America
38:47 What we can learn from the modern Israeli military

Show notes by Micah Long.

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A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament (Dr. Jaco Gericke) May 26, 2020

Show notes

For a first-ever joint episode with OnScript, Dru talked to Dr. Jaco Gericke of North-West University, South Africa about his journey to philosophical theology, and some of his current research, particularly his recent book, A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament: A historical, experimental, comparative and analytic perspective.

Among other things, they discuss:

—Why Dr. Gericke doesn't like to call himself an atheist

—How he went from disliking Old Testament studies to specializing in it

—Why "biblical theology" and "philosophical theology" are tricky terms for some scholars

—The importance of humility when interpreting Scripture

—How "wrong" ideas can spur scholarly progress

—Most importantly, which Stanley Kubrick film is the best

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Introducing Dr. Jeremiah Unterman (CHT Fellow) May 19, 2020

Show notes

Dru Johnson and Dr. Jerry Unterman discuss his college years during the war in Israel, studying with Jacob Milgrom for his Ph.D., and his most recent work on the unique ethical contribution of the Bible in the ancient world. Plus, Dr. Unterman recalls his odd sighting while at UC Berkeley in the '70s.

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Is the NT Just Stoic Philosophy? [Corrected] May 14, 2020

Show notes

The newest fellow of the CHT, Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington of Southern Seminary, joins Dr. Dru Johnson to discuss how Jesus' views interacted with the intellectual world of his day. This world was populated by both Jewish and Hellenistic ideas, as well as hybrids of the two traditions. In this context, Jesus' teachings, such as those in the Sermon on the Mount, generated sophisticated answers to ancient philosophical questions about, for example, the nature of true happiness and the good life.

Dr. Pennington engages this topic in more detail in his forthcoming book Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life.

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Group Therapy for Anxiety in the Old Testament Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Ben White, Assistant Professor of New Testament at The King's College, discusses with CHT Director Dr. Dru Johnson his article in Christianity Today called "Fighting Anxiety With the Old Testament" — written a year ago but exceptionally applicable in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. They talk about the honesty across the Bible about the weakness and struggles of the human condition, and how that's helpful for dealing with anxiety today.

Read Dr. White's article in Christianity Today here:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/april/fighting-anxiety-with-old-testament.html?share=zTVxeiWXGHWZglBLzyD69K5LJLtiykhY

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Economic Thought in the Bible Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Michael Rhodes of Union University speaks about the radical economic principles begun in the Torah and worked out in the prophets and teaching Jesus and Paul. Topics include:

The problem with objectifying "the poor".
How our wealth corrupts our view of economics.
The power of Jubilee.
How the biblical authors use "inclusion" and economic leveling in response to sin.
How Paul's letter to the Corinthians reflects Hebraic economics.

Much of this discussion also references his book written with Brian Fikkert and Robbie Holt: Practicing the King's Economy Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give.

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