Theology in the Raw

John is back for the 3rd time to give us an update on where we're at with all things Covid-19. Wearing masks, the future vaccine, what should churches do, where will this whole thing end up? 

Whenever people consider the reliability of the Bible, they usually look to historical or archaeological evidence. And indeed, I covered that in the previous video. But in this final video of our 3 part series on the reliability of the Bible, I want to consider the message of the Bible itself as evidence for its authenticity. The Bible critiques power, humanizes women (compared it its surrounding culture), has a deep concern for the poor and marginalized, and exhibits many other values that go against the views of its surrounding culture.

Does archaeology prove or disprove the Bible? What about ancient historical records? Do they correlate or conflict with the biblical account? Is the Bible historically accurate or inaccurate? In this talk, I discuss the reliability of the Bible in light of ancient historical and archaeological records. As we'll see, the Bible actually has a very good track record when it comes to history and archaeology.

The Bible didn't just fall from heaven. There was actually a rather complex and sometimes messy journey from writing the biblical books to putting the "Bible" into your hands. In this episode, I discuss the so-called Canonization of the Old and New Testaments, asking questions like: why are these books included in the Bible--no more, and no less? What about the Apocrypha? What about other books like the Didache or the Gospel of Thomas--who decided that those books shouldn't be in the Bible? And what was the criteria for determining (or recognizing?) which books should be in the Bible? And, why does all of this matter?

Tony is attracted to other guys and is married to a woman. How does that work? We talk a lot about this in our conversation. Their marriage is actually one of the most vibrant and healthiest marriages I've ever seen. Because marriage is so much more than a place to satisfy your sexual desires. We also talk about his journey in and out and back into Christianity, how he's had to restructure his view of God and the world around what the Bible actually says, and we discuss the perennial problem of evil. This is where we get super raw and real about our own struggles with the faith.

Dr. Sandy Richter is LEGIT!! In this fascinating conversation, Sandy helps us understand the alleged "marry your rapist" law in Deuteronomy 22:28, which has been mistranslated as you'll see. She also walks us through the "marry your conquered enemy's wife" allowance in Deuteronomy 21. These texts have troubled me for YEARS and have raised questions in my own mind about whether the Old Testament dehumanizes women. Actually, it does the opposite. When you understand it in its own cultural context, you'll see that the Bible actually humanizes women much, much more than we realize.

The Rev. Canon #EsauMcCaulley, PhD is a New Testament scholar and an Anglican Priest. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of St Andrews where he studied under the direction of N.T. Wright. His research and writing focus on Pauline theology, African American Biblical interpretation, and articulating a Christian theology of justice in the public square

I asked THE Dr. John H. Walton to come on my YouTube channel and talk about the Bible and science, and I can't believe he say "yes!" This dude is LEGIT! I mean, this scholar is very qualified to speak into this topic with much wisdom and sound biblical knowledge. Anyway, in this episode, we talk about the biblical creation account and science, the historicity of Adam and Eve, the meaning of the tower of Babel, and much much more.

Mike Austin is the author of the book "God and Guns in America" Mike navigates this super touchy subject with grace and wisdom, not coming down hard on either extreme: "Take away all the guns!" or "More guns = less crime!" Mike is a philosopher, so he carefully considers all sides and arguments of the gun debate.

Heather Skriba has experienced #genderdysphoria most of her life and transitioned from female to male a few years ago. But after encountering Jesus, she heard God telling her that she was "daddy's girl" and that God desired her to live as the female He created her to be. Filled with compassion, truth, and authenticity, Heather Skriba helps us understand her transgender experience, gender dysphoria, and what role the church can play in helping people who are wrestling with their gender identity and sexuality.

Dr. Michael Heiser is a biblical scholar with a Ph.D. in Semitic Studies, and he's the author of many scholarly books related to the spiritual realm, including the best-selling book The Unseen Realm. In this challenging conversation, we talk about the divine council that informs God's decisions, the meaning of "Elohim," the origin of demons, the nephilim, the anakim, other giants in the Bible, and lots of other "strange things" in the Bible that are only strange to modern readers.

The Bible seems to say that God created on man, Adam, and the rest of humanity sprang from his loins. (Creepy image, I know.) But the science suggests otherwise. In this conversation, Old Testament scholar Dr. Tremper Longman helps us navigated the thorny issue of the Bible and science as we consider both the biblical and scientific evidence for the historicity of a historical person named "Adam."

Tremper is one of the top evangelical Old Testament scholars alive today, and he's an evolutionary creationist. In this conversation, Tremper explains why he believes that the science clearly shows that the universe and the earth are old and that this fits perfectly fine with Genesis 1-2. Genesis is simply uninterested in the age of the earth. We discuss the meaning of "day," the phrase "evening and morning," the problem of the sun and moon  being created on the 4th day (i.e. how do we determine a "day" without a sun or moon?), and the connection with the Sabbath command in Exod 20/Deut, which seems to assume a literal 24 hour day in Genesis 1.

GregColes is back! Actually, he never left. We just split our conversation into two parts. In our first conversation, Greg shared about his coming out story and what advice he'd give to parents with gay kids, and to gay Christians who are thinking of coming out. Speaking of "gay Christians," that phrase is super debated, misunderstood, and has become the subject of much turmoil in the evangelical community. Greg helps us understand what people mean and don't mean by the phrase. We also talk about other words and phrases like "homosexual," "the gay lifestyle," "practicing homosexual," "same-sex attraction," and "the gay agenda." And we discuss whether same-sex attraction, or "being gay," is itself a morally culpable sin from the perspective of a traditional Christian sexual ethic.

My good friend Dr. Greg Coles hangs out with me in my basement and we talk about faith, sexuality, and what it was like to comeout as gay. Greg gives some fantastic advice to Christian parents with gay kids and how to respond well when they come out. He also helps those who are wrestling with their sexuality to consider the right context, time, and person to come out to.