The Biblical Mind

Is God Perfect? Does that Matter? Peter Leithart Lecture

This podcast is taken from the evening lecture of our February 14-15 workshop with the Rev. Dr. Peter Leithart from the Theopolis Institute.If you're interested in the content of the workshop that he refers to multiple times throughout the lecture, stay tuned for the recording of that, coming soon.

The Hebraic Roots of Modern Equality

Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) gave a talk at The King's College on January 31st on our modern notion of equality that was uniquely sculpted in the Hebrew Bible. Politics professors—Dr. Innes, and Dr. Griffin— and Center for Hebraic Thought fellow Dr. Shira Weiss offer responses and questions.

Moral Progress in the Bible?

Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman delivers a public lecture for the CHT examining moral progress in the Hebrew Bible and more generally in the ancient Near East. 

Hebraic Thought in Christmas, Part 2: Humble Moms and Shepherds

Nerdy Episode: Baby Yoda, Christmas, & Hebrew Narrative

Drs. Mary Hom and Dru Johnson discuss the impact of the baby Yoda story in the Christmas season, how the Star Wars stories and Yoda's poetic speech prime expectations, and how much these resemble aspects of the biblical narratives and style—especially Christmas!
 

Hebraic Thought in Christmas, Part 1: Endangered Babies

We think of Christmas as a New Testament Story, but does it start earlier?
Hint: the story of a child changing the flow of cosmic events goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.
The nativity isn't an isolated story, but it pulls together all of God's political ambitions for the world, to run it with righteousness, justice, and peace.

The Idea of Christian Calling

 
Dru Johnson talks with Drs. Eric Smith and Scott Booth of Pillar Seminary about the notion of calling in Scripture and some of the problematic thinking about Christian vocation practiced in the church. They address the following questions:
 
What do Christians commonly misunderstand about calling?
Is individual calling the same as a vocation/career?
What are Christians called to do as a whole?
How do you know if God wants you to be a missionary or a banker? Does it matter?
Can we demand signs and wonders from God like Moses and Gideon did?
 

Hebrew Ethics: Radical in the Ancient Near East, Yet So Familiar to Us

In this episode, Dru talks with Dr. Unterman about biblical teaching on ethics. They discuss ancient notions of justice, law-keeping, fickle gods, and the treatment of foreigners across the Near East. Unterman highlights the specific and unusual features of Hebraic thought that have also informed our modern Western ethics more than we might realize. 
Jeremiah Unterman is a resident scholar at the Herzl Institute, Jerusalem. He is the author of Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics, From Repentance to Redemption: Jeremiah’s Thought in Transition, and numerous scholarly articles.

Genesis as Rationality in the Ancient Near East

Dru talks with Eric about how Hebrews reasoned through concepts in light of the ancient Near East.
Eric is the founder and president of The Pillar Seminary. He started the seminary with 15 years of active ministry experience and a Ph.D. from Trinity College in Bristol, England. Along with education, he brings experience from serving on leadership teams with multiple churches in the midwest. He currently serves as a visiting teaching pastor for several local congregations. Prior to The Pillar, Eric taught as an Old Testament Professor for Nebraska Christian College from 2006-2014. During those years several things solidified for Eric such as his passion for teaching, his joy when helping someone thrive right where they are, and his reflection on scripture that became Jesus Prequel, his most recent book.

From Christian-hater to CHT Co-Founder—Changed by Reading the Bible.

Robert talks about moving from antagonism towards Christians to being deeply impacted by the message of Scripture and the Church. This episode's topics range from his work with the CHT to Christian persecution in the Middle East. 
Robert Nicholson is Founder and Executive Director of The Philos Project. He holds a B.A. in Hebrew Studies from Binghamton University, and both a J.D. and M.A. in Middle Eastern history from Syracuse University. A former U.S. Marine and a 2012-13 Tikvah Fellow, Nicholson founded The Philos Project in 2014. His advocacy focuses on spreading the vision of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Middle East based on freedom and rule of law. Mr. Nicholson serves on the Board of Directors of Passages, and is a publisher of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy. His written work has appeared in First Things, The Federalist, The Jerusalem Post, The Hill, and The American Interest, among others.