Catholic Bible Show

This is the final episode in a series on N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of The Son of God.  We look at his historical reasons for believing the Resurrection happened.  He makes use of the Philosophical principles of necessary and sufficient conditions.

In this episode we look N.T. Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God and his take on the Gospel Resurrection accounts.  Do the discrepancies between the Gospels mean that they’re not historically accurate?  Wright doesn’t believe we need to go that far.

In this episode we continue to look at N.T. Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God.  In particular we being to look at some select issues with the Resurrection narratives that occur within the Gospels.

We continue the series on N.T. Wright’s the Resurrection of the son of God.  In this episode we look at some accounts outside of the proper resurrection gospel stories and outside of Paul.  We also look at what some Early Church fathers had to say about the resurrection.

We continue looking at N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of The Son of God.  In this episode we discover Paul’s views on the Resurrection, Justification, and his experience of the risen Christ.

What did the Jews think about the afterlife beyond the time the Old Testament was written?  In this episode we continue to look at N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God.  We look at how right is trying to drive home the point that there was some commonality between Judaism and the Christian view of the Resurrection, but Christianity developed as a result of some key mutations in Resurrection theology – due to what Jesus went through.

In this episode we look at Part 2 on a series about N.T. Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God.  We look at the views of the afterlife in the Old Testament.  It may come as a surprise that the Old Testament says relatively little about life after death.  Many ancient Jews were more concerned with life in the here and now.  We look at some of the key Old Testament passages that refer to resurrection, and it may come as a surprise as to what the primary meaning of resurrection is.

In this episode we look at Part 1 on a series about N.T. Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God.  It’s considered to one of the best treatments of the Resurrection by Christians.  In particular we start off by looking at what the Greeks and Romans thought of the afterlife.  We also spend a little time looking at how Christianity changed the idea of Jewish resurrection – for those who believed in life after death.  Wright will eventually make the argument the Resurrection is the biggest mutation of Jewish belief and the empty tomb and reports of the appearances are what best explain it.

Who visited the empty tomb of Jesus?  At what time of day did they go?  How many angels or men did they find there?  What was the reaction of those who visited the empty tomb?  What was the reaction of those whom the women told.  If we look at the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we find potentially different answers to all of those questions.  This episode will also lay the ground work for the next episodes which will be on N.T Wright’s Resurrection of the Son of God.  In this book he uses the empty tomb as one of the main historical criteria for the Resurrection being a historical event.

In Matthew and Mark it is explicitly stated that both thieves mocked Jesus on the cross, whereas Luke reports that one mocked him and the other asked for his forgiveness.  Are Matthew and Mark correct or is Luke correct?  Can they both be correct?  Or does this imply we have errors in the bible?

In the Old Testament the Son of Man is used to refer to Ezekiel, humanity in general, and an eschatological figure that Daniel witnesses.  Some scholars have noted that the Son of Man was sometimes used to signify the nation of Israel, and outside the bible as the figure Enoch.  In the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, but in some instances he seems to be talking about someone else.  Who is this Son of Man figure?

This is the final episode in the authentic Paul series, discussing the letters written in Paul’s name that most scholars believe were actually written/dictated by Paul.  We look at the popular and difficult issues of predestination, the elect, justification, works, and adoptionism.  A subtle, yet interesting commonality between Romans and the Gospels is their agreement on: blessing those who persecute you, repaying no one for evil, associating with the lowly, never avenging yourself, and helping your enemy.  It may be taken for granted that these books, which are written far apart in time and rely on different sources, agree on these details for practical Christian behavior.  It’s always helpful when there  are independent sources when scholars are trying to judge authenticity.

We look at Paul’s greatest work, the letter to the Romans.  No other book has created such division in Christian theology and denominations than this single letter.  It is Paul’s last letter, and in it he mentions his goal of reaching Spain after reaching Rome.  Nobody knows if he ever made it to Spain.  In Part 1 of the Romans discussions, we look at Paul’s discussion of the wrath of God and the sensitive social issue of homosexuality.  Paul begins to spell out his views of righteousness, justification, faith vs. works, and salvation.

In this episode we finish up what many scholars believe is a second letter written by Paul, but included in the bible as one letter called 2 Corinthians.  In the words of the New Jerusalem biblical commentary, part B of 2 Corinthians shows Paul in an “explosion of outrage”.  We see Paul’s continued theme of argument with competing Christian groups, and his justification for being a true apostle – all the hardships he goes through.

Many scholars believe that 2 Corinthians is not just one letter, but multiple.  Some scholars believe it’s as many as five letters, whereas as many believe it’s two (separated into letters A and B).  We’ll look at why they think this is the case.  As from these technical details, this is one of Paul’s most intense letters in the bible.  According to Fr. Raymond Brown, “No other letter evokes so vividly the image of a suffering and rejected absolute, misunderstood by his fellow christians.”  

Why is a short letter asking a Christian slave owner to release his slave be released in the bible?  Is this really an inspired book?  At the same time, this may be the closest we get to an indirect condemnation of slavery we’re going to get from the bible.  Within this short letter, we’ll see that Paul seems to believe in free will (counter to some Christian denominations like Calvinism).  I also take a quick side tour of John Wycliffe, who predated Martin Luther, yet had many of the same Protestant views he had centuries earlier.

In this episode we look at Paul’s reflections on: whether it is better to live or die, how a Christian should conduct their life, how salvation is attained, corrupt people within the church, and his ultimate goal of spreading the Gospel (good news of Christ).

Is Jesus subordinate to God?  Is Jesus God?  We look at some striking statements made by Paul on the issue.  We also see his usual themes of faith vs. the works of the Jewish Law and dietary issues.  Should we call priests father?  Paul certainly thinks you should call him one.  If the Jewish law is no longer binding, then how should people behave?  Is only faith necessary?  How should believers and unbelievers married to one another conduct their lives?  What is the Resurrection in Paul’s eyes?  How does Paul feel about women?

We continue the series of the authentic Pauline letters.  We continue to see Paul’s main concerns about the Jewish law being unnecessary for Christians.  In particular circumcision and dietary laws are no longer necessary.  We also look at a piece of Paul’s theology in which the offspring (singular) of Abraham is Christ.  Adoption of others Christians comes through baptism as Christ.  Paul also provides comprehensive lists of sins and virtuous behavior, hinting that he does think living a life of good works is necessary.

This episode is the first in a series discussing authentic Pauline letters, starting with 1 Thessalonians. In a previous podcast we looked at the letters most scholars think were forged in Paul’s name.  In this series we’ll look at the letters that most scholars believe were actually written by Paul.  1 Thessalonians is the earliest book written in the New Testament and it contains the themes that Paul deals with in many of his letters including: whether or not Christians need to follow the Jewish law, how Christians should live and behave, Christ’s next coming and the fate of believers when he comes, and his theology of suffering.