In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the function of circumcision in Galatians and it’s implications for human identity. What is the purpose of circumcision in the Older Testament? How does it relate to Baptism in the New Testament? Fr. Marc begins the program by reviewing the social context in Palestine during late…
Category: The Bible as Literature
Interview with Dr. Greg Paulson
In this week’s episode, Richard and Fr. Marc interview Dr. Greg Paulson, a biblical scholar and text critic who was recently invited to work on the 29th edition of Nestle-Aland, the standard edition of the Greek New Testament used by scholars, Bible translators, professors, students, and pastors worldwide. In addition to discussing his upcoming project,…
Push the Text
Is a paralytic just a paralytic? Why did the priest in Luke walk down from Jerusalem and not up? What is the significance of being half dead, or left for dead on the side of the road? Why are we told in Luke, not once, but twice, that functionaries of the Temple passed by, specifically,…
You Say You Wanna Teach?
In this week’s episode, Richard and Fr. Marc reflect on Jesus’ famous declamation against the Scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23. It is commonly assumed that by condemning the hypocrisy of religious teachers, Jesus is endorsing an alternative, ethically correct teacher. In reality, Matthew’s beautiful and emotionally explosive woes are a universal description of…
Can These Bones Live?
In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard review Fr. Paul Tarazi’s exegesis of the healing at Bethesda, (John 5:1-15) reflecting on the function of weakness in the New Testament and the Lord’s commandment to keep the Sabbath. They discuss how these concepts relate to the purpose of the Torah in Genesis and Exodus, and…
Interview with Fr. Sergius Halvorsen
In this week’s episode, Richard and Fr. Marc interview Fr. Sergius Halvorsen, Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Rhetoric at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, New York. In his work in the field of Homiletics, Fr. Sergius insists that his students strive to be faithful to the narrative in order that they, as he explains, might…
Shame on Who?
In this week’s episode, Richard and Fr. Marc contrast biblical and worldly shame, reflecting on the central role that shame plays in the biblical tradition and the various responses to shame portrayed in the characters of Matthew’s gospel. In the Bible and in life, human shame can lead to alienation, mistreatment of those who are…
Who is the King of Glory?
According to a 2014 survey published by The American Bible Society, the number of people who consider the Bible just a book “written by men” has doubled in just three years. In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard examine factors contributing to this trend through the lens of John 20 and the liturgical use…
The Wrong Side of the Law
In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard reflect on John 12 and how the dialogue between Jesus and Judas illuminates an uncomfortable tension between Scripture and human systems of ethics and morality. Twisting a deconstructive prophetic mechanism (preaching on behalf of the poor against the rich) into a moral principle, Judas finds himself on…