Rethinking Scripture

Episode 19: My Father's House (John 14)

October 21, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

John chapter 14 is often referred to as Jesus’ farewell discourse. In it, He talks of his coming and going and his intent to prepare a mansion for each and every believer. But, as much as I hate to say it, we’ve likely come to a bit of a misunderstanding about that. As it turns out, the dwelling Jesus is talking about might actually be a little more like a mobile home.

Referenced Resources:

• Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John (pp. 454–455). New York: United Bible Societies.
• Hahn, S. W. (2008). Temple, sign, and Sacrament: Towards a New Perspective on the Gospel of John. Letter & Spirit: Temple and Contemplation: God’s Presence in the Cosmos, Church, and Human Heart, 4, 128–129.

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 18: Washing Up Before Dinner (John 13)

October 14, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

In this episode, we begin looking at a series of chapters in John’s gospel where Jesus and the disciples share a meal in the upper room. Much of the content is in red letters, and its confusing material for the disciples to process. We’ll examine that context in a little more detail, and focus in on what Jesus said about washing people’s feet. 

Referenced Resources:

• Asumang, A. (2013). Washing One Another’s Feet as Jesus Did: Revelatory Activities and the Progressive Sanctification of Believers. Conspectus, 15, 2.
• Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John (p. 430). New York: United Bible Societies.

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 17: A Voice from Heaven (John 12)

October 7, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

Chapter 12 is a turning point in the gospel of John. It’s in this chapter that the author describes the end of Jesus’ public ministry. But before Jesus ducts out of the public eye, John ties together several of the themes he’s developed thus far in his gospel. It’s a continuation of Jesus calling his sheep away from the temple ministry, and a further identification of his other flock. 

Referenced Resources:

• Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John (p. 404). New York: United Bible Societies.
• Köstenberger, A. J. (2007). John. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (p. 479). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos.
• Beale, G. K. (2008). We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry. IVP Academic.
• What You Revere, You Resemble - Dr. Gregory Beale - Audio lecture provided by The Gospel Coalition: http://media.thegospelcoalition.org/audio/beale_gk/beale-01_what_you_revere_you_resemble.mp3
• The Irony of Idolatry - Dr. Gregory Beale - Audio lecture provided by The Gospel Coalition: http://media.thegospelcoalition.org/audio/beale_gk/beale-isaiah_06_irony_of_idolatry.mp3

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 16: The Resuscitation of Lazarus (John 11)

September 27, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall

In John chapter 11, several questions arise out of how Jesus handles the death of his good friend, Lazarus. But a logical look at the assumptions we have, about this chapter, may cause us to rethink what we thought we already knew about  Lazarus’ new lease on life.

Referenced Resources:

• Links to Jewish thoughts on lingering souls:
  1. https://reformjudaism.org/glimpses-afterlife - Zunz dates it to the middle of the 7th century.
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviticus_Rabbah  - The Encyclopaedia Judaica and Jacob Neusner date it to the 5th century.
  3. The Zohar, which is one of the texts that make up the Kabbalah, is composed of the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who was a second-century Talmudic mystic. After being passed along by oral tradition for centuries, the Zohar was finally published in the late 13th century. The belief that the soul lingers for three days after death seems to have emanated from the texts that make up the Kabbalah, notably the Zohar. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemira)
  4. In his book "Jewish Views of the Afterlife," Simcha Paull Raphael says: "Immediately following death, there is a period known as Hibbut Ha Kever, pangs of the grave. During this period, the soul is confused, lingers around the body and tries to go back to his home to be with his loved ones. After this, there is a maximum period of 12 months in Gehenna, which is a realm described as fiery, where the soul is purified of its sins." After the twelve-month period, it is believed the soul rests permanently in the afterlife. (https://classroom.synonym.com/jewish-belief-that-the-spirit-lingers-for-three-days-12087774.html)
• Regarding Jesus needing to name Lazarus specifically.
  1. A quaint Puritan writer said that if Jesus had not named Lazarus when He shouted, He would have emptied the whole cemetery! (Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 337.)
  2. Jesus shouted only three words: Lazarus come out! Augustine once remarked that if Jesus had not said Lazarus’ name all would have come out from the graves. (Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 315.)
  3. MAXIMINUS [The Arian; 360-65...frequently argued w/Augustine]: For all the dead, most beloved, would have arisen out of their graves [on hearing] that one voice if he had not called out that single name. Therefore he spoke in particular, “Lazarus, come forth.” … It is also in this singular name that he called, I say, that we see in a single instance what is to be understood more generally of all in the future. SERMON 14.3.(Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (pp. 29–30). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 15: The Good Shepherd (John 10)

September 20, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall

John 10 is all about sheep and shepherds… and recently the church has tried to make this passage all about our modern-day context. But what if John 10 isn’t speaking about the 21st-century at all? What if Jesus was just describing His ministry within the religious context of His day? Well… that type of reading might cause us to rethink this entire passage. 

Referenced Resources:

• Horner, David A. “Whether Augustine’s Name Should Be Pronounced AW-gus-teen or aw-GUS-tin?" Philosophia Christi, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2009. Evangelical Philosophical Society. [http://www.epsociety.org/userfiles/Horner%20(Augustine).pdf
• Wright, W. M., IV. (2012). Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice: The παροιμία of the Good Shepherd Discourse and Augustine’s Figural Reading. Journal of Theological Interpretation, Volume 6, (1–2), 105.
• Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Jn 10:1–18). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
• Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 309–310). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 14: A... Problem, of Punctuation? (John 9)

September 13, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

Before Jesus heals a blind man, in John 9, the disciples ask Him a very strange question. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Unfortunately, our English translations may be misguiding us in regards to Jesus’ response. So let’s move some punctuation around and rethink what Jesus might have been saying about sin, work… and the sabbath.

Referenced Resources:

• Merrill C. Tenney, “John,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 101.
• MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1521). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
• Metzger, B. M. (1993). Persistent Problems Confronting Bible Translators. Bibliotheca Sacra, 150, 273.
• John C. Poirier. (1996). “Day and Night” and the Punctuation of John 9, 3. New Testament Studies, 42, 288–294.
• Poirier, J. C. (2006). “Day and Night” and the Sabbath Controversy of John 9. Filología Neotestamentaria (Mayo–Noviembre 2006), XIX(37–38), 113.

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 13: The Adulterous Variant

September 1, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

You may have heard a someone say, “The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it”... implying, at least in part, that every word in their version of the Bible came directly from of the original text. But nothing could be further from the truth, and today we’ll look at a popular passage, in your Bible, that likely wasn’t originally included in John’s gospel.

Referenced Resources:

• Wallace, Daniel G. “My Favorite Passage  that’s Not in the  Bible” Bible.org [online] https://bible.org/article/my-favorite-passage-thats-not-bible.
• Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures(Vol. 2, p. 346). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
• Black, D. A., & Cerone, J. N. (2016). The Pericope of the Adulteress in Contemporary Research. Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
• Hurtado, Larry. "The Adultrous Narrative: New Book" [online] https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/the-adulteress-narrative-new-book/
• Submit a question for an upcoming Q&R Special Episode: RethinkingScripture.com

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 12: Was Jesus a Jew?

Aug 23, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

In John’s gospel, there’s one group of people that keeps popping up. And we find them in the very first verse of Chapter 7. which says “the Jews” were seeking to kill Jesus. But wasn’t Jesus a Jew? Well… in one sense He was certainly Jewish… but according to the gospels, He definitely didn’t fit into this one particular group. And today, we’ll attempt to unpack the gospel's complicated category known as “the Jews”.

Referenced Resources:

• Bennema, C. (2008). The Identity and Composition of ΟΙ ΙΟΥΔΑΙΟΙ in the Gospel of John. Tyndale Bulletin, 60(2), 245-250.
• Tyndale Bulletin 60 (2008).

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 11: All That the Father Gives

Aug 16, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

Modern discussions about the last part of John 6 have become a hotbed of controversy. Those who self-describe as Calvinists and Arminians have been at battle over this passage for decades. And I, unknowingly, jumped into the middle of that mess back in the fall of 2003. I was in my masters program, I thought I understood what the passage said, but then one of my professors challenged me to think outside my theological box. Today, I’m excited to share the journey I’ve been on with “The Bread of Life Discourse.”

Referenced Resources:

• John Calvin Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
• Jacobus Arminius Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobus_Arminius
• Hunt, Dave - What Love is This? Calvinisms Misrepresentation of God - https://www.amazon.com/What-Love-This-Calvinisms-Misrepresentation/dp/1928660746/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=what+love+is+this&qid=1629141502&sr=8-1
• White, James - Open Letter to Dave Hunt - May 4, 2002 - https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/reformed-apologetics/blinded-by-tradition-an-open-letter-to-dave-hunt/
• Hunt, Dave - Dave Hunt's Response to James White - https://www.thebereancall.org/calbook.htm?sapurl=Lys5MjZkL2xiL2xpLyt3dm44dWs4P2JyYW5kaW5nPXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZSZyZWNlbnRSb3V0ZT1hcHAud2ViLWFwcC5saWJyYXJ5Lmxpc3QmcmVjZW50Um91dGVTbHVnPSUyQnd2bjh1azg=
• Hunt and White - (The Book that Resulted) Debating Calvinism: Five Points, Two Views - https://www.amazon.com/Debating-Calvinism-Five-Points-Views/dp/1590522737/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1MVOG90J10RXV&dchild=1&keywords=debating+calvinism+five+points%2C+two+views&qid=1629141845&sprefix=debating+calvin%2Caps%2C440&sr=8-3

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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Episode 10: Barley Loaves, Wind and Waves

Aug 9, 2021 - Host: Dr. Gregory Hall 

Only about 8% of the book of John repeats events from the other three gospels. That means most of John’s gospel is new material. But in John 6, there are two events that are included in that 8%. The Feeding of the 5000 is found in all four gospels… Jesus walking on water is found in Matthew and Mark (but not in Luke). So the question is, what is it about these events that caused John to include them in the list of rare repeats. We’ll take a look at that and more in this week’s episode. 

Referenced Resources:

• The Boy Who Caught the Fish - by Jack Coleman - https://youtu.be/M7xpS4RROEI
• My Wife and My Mother-in-Law - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Wife_and_My_Mother-in-Law
• Autosterogram - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostereogram

Show Music:

• Intro/Outro - "Growth" by Armani Delos Santos
• Transition Music - produced by Jacob A. Hall

Podcast Website:

• RethinkingScripture.com
• The John Study Resources: https://rethinkingscripture.com/john-study-resources/ 
• Sister site: RethinkingRest.com

Social Media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingScripture 
• Twitter: @RethinkingStuff
• Instagram: rethinking_scripture
• YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YCLg2UldJiA0dsg0KkvLA

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