The Bible Sojourner

Is there a divine council? In this episode we discuss the Bible texts which talk about angels being granted special authority over nations and how that should impact our understanding of how God interacts with angels. We talk about the Divine Council worldview that Mike Heiser popularized in his book The Unseen Realm. We also discuss whether the Bible refers to angels as divine, and how our English definitions don't always match with how the Hebrew language defines the angelic existence.

This episode continues the discussion from last time about biblicism. Although last episode discussed methodology and logic of interpretation primarily, this episode discusses biblicism from a standpoint of history and specifically the Reformation. We look at Wyclif, Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin and look at some of the examples of how the Reformers were guilty of the things biblicists are often accused of: (1) departing from “universal” Christian teaching, (2) trying to avoid extra-biblical labels, and (3) focusing on the Greek and Hebrew of specific texts of Scripture.

Links mentioned:

In this episode we examine the concept of biblicism. Is biblicism dangerous? Do we need creeds and confessions to tell us what the Bible means? Or, to put it another way, should we let our theological presuppositions dictate the meaning of a passage? We review a past episode of Theocast on biblicism and why there are tremendous problems with saying theological systems need to drive our interpretation. Theocast video reviewed: https://youtu.be/iq9rsE_6Vq8 James White on Matthew Barrett and Biblicism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jprAqzDpf4

We look at a variety of issues, such as the resurrection and reign of believers, whether baptism can be done in Jesus's name, and whether the Holy Spirit should be thought of as feminine. Time stamps and topics are as follows:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 2:13 The Resurrection and Reign of Dead Saints
• 12:09 Being Baptized in Jesus's Name Instead of Trinity
• 20:35 Observing the Passover in the Millennium
• 28:33 The Holy Spirit is Feminine in the Old Testament
• 34:45 Psalm Superscriptions
• 42:03 Translating Musical Descriptions in the Psalms
• 44:45 How Should we Understand Psalm 8
• 46:46 Thoughts on Legacy Standard Bible and Other Translations

We look at an assortment of listener questions and talk about a variety of issues. See list of topics in the time stamps below:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:27 Was the Serpent a Serpent in Genesis 3?
• 07:47 Ancient Weaponry in Prophecies
• 20:55 Role of the Church in Observing the Ordinances
• 28:27 Push for Unity Among Non-mainline Churches
• 35:18 Luke 5 and New Wine in Old Wineskins
• 40:08 VanDrunen's Two Kingdom Model
• 50:57 Conflation of Church Age and Kingdom and Christ's Priesthood
• 52:56 Use of Replacement Terminology
• 56:36 Question about Lordship Salvation
• 1:01:17 Ceremonial Observances in the Future
• 1:04:20 The New Covenant and the Church

Links Referenced:

In today's episode, we talk about mental health and the Christian. What kind of insight does the Bible give into mental health? How does the world use the term? We look into the history of the mental health movement and talk about how the Bible describes anxiety and other mental health issues. Lastly, we apply the biblical worldview in order to assess this important topic. 0:00 Intro

2:51 Defining Mental Health

12:12 History of Mental Health Movement

21:11 Implications of Secular Mental Health Movement

29:01 Applying a Biblical Worldview to the Discussion of Mental Health

In today's episode, we discuss English Bible translations. In the first half, we talk about the King James Version (KJV) and why people still use it, and whether or not it is inspired or superior to other translations. In the second half of the episode, we talk about Bible translation philosophy in general and how it is a somewhat complicated endeavor. Resources referenced in the podcast:

On today's episode, a special guest (Tim Goeman) joins us to talk about the early formative years of parenting. We also move on to the later stages of the family to talk about end-of-life issues (i.e., taking care of elderly parents). These are often issues that get ignored, but as believers, we need to have these conversations.

Resources referenced in the podcast:

The Baptism Debate has been released! In this episode, we talk about a little bit of the history behind the book. We also discuss the arguments that help consolidate the issues behind whether or not infants should be baptized. Listen to the episode and see if the book might be something that would be helpful in understanding infant baptism and Reformed covenant theology.

John Piper believes that any remarriage after divorce is wrong. We review Piper's position paper on the subject and compare it with the position presented by Andrew David Naselli in a 2019 journal article. We talk about the cultural context of Jewish and Greco-Roman life and how that should contribute to one's understanding of the Bible's divorce passages.

While the culture is trying to de-feminize women, the Bible gives clear teaching on God's beautiful and unique design for women. Furthermore, the Bible gives plentiful instruction on what the church is to teach younger women. We do our women (and men) a disservice when we fail to emphasize the godly calling of motherhood and being a wife, but this is a very unpopular message in today's culture.  

What is dispensationalism? How does dispensationalism differentiate itself as a system from other ways of interpreting Scripture? I'm joined by special guest Michael Vlach to discuss his new book Dispensational Hermeneutics. We talk about how dispensationalism is more than just an eschatology, but really a whole framework for reading the Bible.   

Have you heard of ChatGPT? It is one of the most amazing technological advances of this decade. This new era of artificial intelligence brings with it a variety of challenges and ethical dilemmas. How should Christians think about tools like ChatGPT?

The new year is upon us! Many Christians are making goals for 2023, a practice I think we all should do. In this video we talk about what Christians can (and should) do to make 2023 a more productive, Christ-exalting year. 

Matthew 1:5 says that Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab. Does this mean Rahab was the mother of Boaz? We take a look at the purpose of genealogies in the Old and New Testament and answer whether Boaz was the son of Rahab.

In this episode, we ask the question of whether there are Apostles today. We discuss the three criteria for being an Apostle, and what Scripture has to say on the issue of the gift of Apostleship.

In this episode, I talk about an alternative translation of Genesis 4:7, and why I think it is the best even though no English translations follow it! Perhaps instead of Genesis 4:7 being a reference to sin crouching at the door it is a reference to God providing a sin offering for Cain. Buckle your seatbelts! 

Blog article referenced in episode:

In this episode, we talk about what is probably the best argument for Amillennialism. Matt Waymeyer walks us through the eschatological framework employed by the amillennialist, focusing on the argument that the two ages, this age and the age to come, makes an intermediate kingdom impossible. We talk about how premillennialism best accounts for the Old Testament prophecies and allows Revelation 20 to be interpreted in a straightforward manner. 

In this episode, we discuss the explosive nature of the Abrahamic Covenant and how that fits into the book of Genesis. Furthermore, we talk about the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and how those help shape our understanding of how we read the book of Genesis. 

What happens to babies when they die? In this episode, we discuss this important issue from a biblical and logical perspective. We cover the main views and assess the biblical evidence. 

Links mentioned in the podcast:

In this episode I discuss the role of the Noahic covenant in the storyline of the Bible. I also talk about how the covenant fits into the context of Genesis, and why it talks about more than just avoiding another flood. 

In this episode we talk about the recent theological trends in evangelicalism and what that means about the state of the church today. We discuss a variety of key findings from the State of Theology 2022 survey. 

Links:

In today's episode we talk about how Christians argue for the acceptance of homosexuality. I review Walter Brueggemann's recent article on how one can be a Christian and accept LGBT persons into the church.

In today's episode we discuss whether there is a link between Baptist theology and Transgenderism. We also explore the ramifications of covenant theology and paedobaptism, focusing on some of the major differences between Baptists and paedobaptists. 

Videos Reviewed:

In this episode we examine the question, what is the purpose of the Bible? We talk about the big picture about why we have revelation from God, and how that leads to the ultimate purpose of life, to glorify God. 

In this episode, we define postmillennialism and talk about their belief that there will be a time when the majority of people have embraced the gospel. Should we expect the world to gradually get better through the embrace of the gospel? Here are some thoughts on that component of postmillennialism. 

In this episode, we talk about why the culture struggles with defining what a woman is. There are worldview issues in the background that make it difficult for the secular culture to speak absolutely. We talk about 3 reasons why the culture struggles with defining a woman, and the appropriate response by Christians.  

Recording this episode from Jerusalem, we talk about misunderstandings of dispensationalism and how one ought to think about dispensationalism. We interact with a Q & A from RC Sproul, as well as a panel discussion put on by Ligonier ministries. 

Today's episode is an interview with Mark Ward and covers the King James Version, and how to talk to those who believe in King James Onlyism.