Kermit Zarley was a professional golfer who had an interest in studying the Bible about the end times when he came across a disturbing verse. Reading Jesus's words in the Olivet Discourse, he noticed that only the Father knew the day and hour of the end. Neither the angels nor the son of God were privy to it. As a good trinitarian evangelical, Zarley was familiar with the dual natures idea, but just couldn't square that with the scripture. If Jesus was God in his being, he knew everything. Why did he say he didn't know the time of the end? Surely, Jesus couldn't be lying! This conundrum set Zarley down a path of research and investigation for many years until he slowly uncovered a different way of understanding Christ. Although he knew going public with his new belief would result in ostracism and rejection, he went ahead with it anyhow. This is his story.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/3bZ7t2Z-ql8

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From her childhood in a Jewish family to a 7-year stint with the Jehovah's Witnesses to attending evangelical churches, Susanne Lakin never felt comfortable with the doctrine of the Trinity. She signed up to attend Phoenix Seminary, a conservative evangelical school, thinking they would help her finally get to the bottom of it. She was willing to agree to the idea, thinking, surely, studying with scholars like Wayne Grudem, the prince of evangelical systematic theology, would answer her questions and settle the issue for her once and for all. Amazingly, the opposite happened. This is her story.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/W35IRYHjfP8

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This is part 18 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

What tools can help you understand the bible better? Today we'll cover some recommended resources for you to deepen your study of the scriptures, including bible dictionaries, commentaries, bible software, AI, and more. Of course, it's impossible to cover everything in a reasonable time frame, so I'll just recommend two or three of each resource type, focusing primarily on tools that I personally have and use regularly.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJOFFIkNdUg&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=18

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18 Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible

Why do we need extra-biblical tools to help us understand the Bible?

Bible Dictionaries

Commentaries

This is part 17 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

After reviewing the resources you can use to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, we delve into the sources that translators use for their work. Next, we'll look at translation philosophies, including formal and dynamic equivalence. Lastly we'll cover the controversial issues of gender accuracy and translation bias. Over all, this episode should give you a nice introduction to a deep answer for what translations you should use and why.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsxuNfkTt-U&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=18

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—— Notes ——

17 How to Choose a Bible Translation

Translation basics

The Bible is in three languages.

How to begin learning Hebrew or Greek

How to improve your existing knowledge of

This is part 16 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

Revelation is a complicated book of the Bible. It contains some of the most incredible and awe-inspiring descriptions of God's throne room and the final paradise on earth. It also describes sinister mayhem, wanton destruction, and toe-curling persecution. How can we make sense of it? In today's episode we'll go over the basics of authorship, audience, occasion, and purpose. Then we'll explore how Revelation uses visionary symbols to convey truth. Lastly, we'll go over five interpretive lenses through which you can understand the timing of the events in Revelation. We may not settle every issue, but my hope is that this overview will at least prepare you to read Revelation for yourself.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/98OFG5OSjNE?si=jcN6wZnbeqavNFRi

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—— Notes ——

How to Read Revelation

Authorship

Audience

Occasion

This is part 15 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

In previous episodes, we've looked at Paul's church epistles and pastoral epistles. Today we move into the third section of epistles in the New Testament--the general epistles. Instead of surveying each of the eight general epistles, we'll just focus on two: Hebrews and 1 John. We'll ask about author, audience, occasion, purpose, and mode for each. Going through these two will hopefully provide you with helpful examples to enable you to read these epistles more fruitfully on your own.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/alXkHkkhn_w

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—— Notes ——

The General Epistles

Hebrews

This is part 14 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

The Pastoral Epistles are letters to church leaders, instructing them how churches should function. Though they are not well read by most Christians today, they remain authoritative for pastors, elders, and deacons. Today we'll cover 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. We'll explore the major theme of how the church should be a well-run household where godliness prevails. Additionally, we'll consider qualifications for leadership, warnings against false teachers, and the incredible importance of sound teaching.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-zdww6-Udk&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=14&t=1004s&pp=iAQB

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The Pastoral Epistles

Household

This is part 13 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

Before getting to the Church Epistles, we'll begin with an overview of how letters were written, read, and performed. Then we'll see how they are arranged in our Bibles. We'll spend a good deal of time talking about occasion. Why did Paul write each letter? What was going on that prompted him to initiate the expensive and elaborate process of writing to them? Lastly, we'll briefly consider how to apply what we read to our lives.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg3tInZU9JY&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=13&pp=iAQB

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Letters in the First Century

Name

Greek Words

English Words

Verses

Chapters

Romans

7113

9506

432

16

1 Corinthians

6832

9532

437

16

2 Corinthians

4480

6160

257

13

Galatians

2232

3227

149

6

Ephesians

2424

3047

155

6

Philippians

1631

2261

104

4

Colossians

1583

1993

95

4

1 Thessalonians

1484

1908

89

5

2 Thessalonians

826

1065

47

3

Church Epistles in Chronological Order

This is part 12 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

Acts is an action-packed book full of excitement and wonder. We learn about the early expansion of the Church from a small group of ragged Christ-followers to dozens of house churches throughout major cities in the Mediterranean world. How did Christianity "go public"? The book of Acts tells that story. In this episode you'll learn four major emphases in Acts as well as how to think through application for us today.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TIzpc3mfOg&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=12&pp=iAQB

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Luke wrote Acts.

Major events of Acts

Organization of the book

Leading and experience of God’s spirit

This is part 11 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

The Gospels are evangelistic biographies of Jesus. In today's episode you'll learn the basic storyline of the four biblical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then we'll go through them from shortest to longest to see how each brings a unique and helpful perspective in telling the life of Christ. We'll also hit some important concepts like the kingdom of God, parables, and the word of God. Lastly, we'll ask about application. How can you figure out which sayings of Christ apply to you today and which ones do not?

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/0iHhidbL4e8?si=3rs4fGGtQjsJAObB

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—— Notes ——

The Four Gospels

Basic Storyline of the Gospels

Mark (11,305 words)

John (15,633 words)