Ep118. Hey Jude, Ali Robinson
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I spoke to Ali Robinson about teaching the New Testament, that little book of Jude, harsh language, conflict, and struggling to stick to a topic of research.
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Ep114. The Straight Mind in Corinth, Gillian Townsley
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I spoke with Gillian Townsley about queer reading across 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. We talk about attending to the ideology of reception and how reading across helps us move beyond the 'tired old debates'. I ask about how the work of Monique Wittig shapes her project (specifically about bringing men/masculinity back into focus). We also discuss her analysis of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Christians for Biblical Equality and how supposedly oppositional movements are bound by heteronormativity. We end by discussing the unique form/formatting of chapter 6 which involves two distinct thinkers battling for page space.
Read MoreEp103. Postcolonialism and the Book of Revelation, U-Wen Low
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I sat down with U-Wen Low to talk about the Book of Revelation as drama, resistance literature, and message of hope. We also discuss postcolonialism in biblical studies, and how he found himself in the middle of all this fascinating (if not highly controversial) research.
Read MoreEp101. Jesus and the Forces of Death, Matthew Thiessen
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I sat down with Matthew Thiessen to discuss the Gospels’ portrayal of ritual impurity within First-Century Judaism. We discuss how purity concerns map out the reality of the gospel writer's worlds, and clarify the differences between categories of holy, profane, pure, impure. Matthew then demonstrates Jesus' acceptance of the reality of these categories and his desire to rid people of the conditions that create ritual impurity. All of this shapes how we read Jesus' interactions with the haemorrhaging woman, those with leprosy, and corpses, as well as his teachings on sabbath, exorcisms, and food. We end with a discussion on how attention to ritual impurity can help us not fall into anti-semitism in our reading and preaching.
Read MoreEp86. Appalling Bodies, Joseph A. Marchal
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"Paul is probably the least interesting thing about Paul’s letters." I sat down with Joseph Marchal to talk the way his book reaches past questions of what Paul 'thought' (or how his texts can be read in 'inclusive' ways) toward far more fascinating queer figures before and after his letters: "androgynes, eunuchs, slaves, and barbarians—each depicted as perversely gendered and strangely embodied figures in their own distinctive, though interrelated ways”. We discuss his intentionally anachronistic style of juxtaposition, and how this leads his work on 1 Corinthians 11 and Paul's concerns about the women prophesying, to considerations of ancient figures of androgyny and contemporary work on female masculinity. And much, much more!
Read MoreEp84. Luke/Acts and the End of History, Kylie Crabbe
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How does Luke's understanding of the end of history reshape experience in the present? I sat down with Kylie Crabbe to talk Luke/Acts, eschatology, history, and how ancient writers make sense of negative experience. I also ask Kylie to argue the case for Luke as the best gospel and attempt to disprove the theory that Acts is actually kind of boring.
Read MoreEp78. The Messianic Theology of the New Testament, Joshua W. Jipp.
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I sat down with Josh Jipp to talk about the messianic identity of Jesus as the presupposition for and primary content of New Testament theology. We discuss balancing unity and plurality within the New Testament, the benefits and risks of centring the messianic identity in light of the history of Christian supersessionism, the kind of kingdom this messiah brings, and (just in time for Easter) how the Passion narratives establish Jesus' messianic identity - hint, it has much more to do with the Psalmist's Davidic King than Isaiah's suffering servant.
Read MoreEp63. Colossians: an Eco-Stoic Reading, Vicky Balabanski
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I sat down with Vicky Balabanski to discuss her Eco-Stoic reading of Colossians; a new addition to the Earth Bible Commentary Series with T&T Clark. We talk about stoicism – the ins and outs, its popularity in the New Testament era, and how it shapes the letter to the Colossians. We then pick up how an eco-stoic reading can guide the church trying to untangle itself from certain assumptions, readings, and patterns that contributed to the ecological crisis we now face and lead us into action.
Read MoreEp53. Participating in Christ, Michael Gorman
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I interviewed Michael J. Gorman about his book Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul’s Theology and Spirituality (Baker Academic, 2019). I ask Michael how some common refrains stack up against Paul’s understanding of participation, how the cross not only reveals Christ and God, but also what it means to be human. We talk about co-resurrection and how that shapes how we speak of justification, how Michael’s work on theosis is more narrative than metaphysical, and if there’s a relationship between Paul’s union with Christ language and Matthew 25’s presence of Christ in the least of these. Finally we talk about his deuteron-Pauline letter to the contemporary church in North America.
Read MoreEp35. The Big Story in Romans, Beverly Roberts Gaventa
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“A prolonged and careful study of Romans means finding that salvation is more complex, more cosmic, more challenging than we have usually imagined.”
I sat down with the esteemed New Testament scholar Beverly Roberts Gaventa to talk about her book "When in Romans: an invitation to linger with the Gospel according to Paul". We talk about why she was drawn (and remains drawn) to Paul, her big picture approach to Romans centring on the themes of salvation, Israel, ethics, and community. We also discuss connections between Paul’s letter and Terrence Malick’s film Tree of Life, taking seriously the "all" in conversations on salvation, writing on Romans in the shadow of Der Romerbrief, and why Phoebe goes to show that Pauline theology is not just a guy thing.
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