Scripture Untangled

Listen to Wesley Huff, Central Canada Director of Apologetics Canada being interviewed by the British and Foreign Bible Society’s Rev. Dr. Andrew Ollerton as they discuss some common questions about faith and Scriptures. Can we trust the New Testament? Are these texts reliable?

---

Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca

Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate

Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety

Whether you’re well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world’s best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. 

---

Wesley Huff is currently working on a video series called “Can I Trust the Bible?” and is doing a PhD in New Testament and Christian origins at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College. He has participated in numerous public dialogues, debates, and interfaith events on issues of faith, belief, and religion across North America. 

Wes was born in Multan, Pakistan and spent a portion of his childhood in the Middle East. After being diagnosed with a rare neurological condition at the age of eleven that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Wes experienced a miraculous recovery that the doctors themselves said they had no medical explanation for. This experience, along with a great deal of study and soul searching in his later teens solidified his interest in the subjects of faith and engaging the beliefs and worldview perspectives of others. Currently he lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife their three children.

Learn more about Wesley Huff

Website: wesleyhuff.com

Apologetics Canada: apologeticscanada.com 

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

If you don't know who Jesus Christ is, that means you're not engaging Scripture. And if you're not engaging Scripture, you might come to a false understanding of who Jesus Christ is. Oh, Jesus Christ was a prophet. He was a social justice advocate. No, He's the incarnate Son of God. And that is revealed in Scriptures. And it's through that revelation that we come to know about who He is, the Saviour of the world, the Promised Messiah, the fulfillment of the law, the prophets, and the covenants. But He is also for us, He is our Lord and God and He has changed everything. And it's continuing to change things through the incarnation to the resurrection. And if you don't know those things, first of all, how can you live out your faith as a Christian? And how can you possibly come to understand the nature of the world and the nature of yourself as a human person made in His image and likeness? So, without engaging the Bible, we simply cannot be Christians.

---

Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett is the Program Director of Faith Communities at Cardus. He is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto and Eastern Canada. Andrew is Program Director, of Faith Communities at Cardus. 

A champion of religious freedom domestically and internationally, he has served as Canada’s first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and led Global Affairs Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016. He simultaneously served as Canada’s Head of Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). When not praying, studying, or advocating, Fr. Andrew can be found with his fly rod in a stream, listening to bluegrass or Beethoven.

---

Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling was the Senior Minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church in Toronto, one of Canada’s largest United Church congregations and was responsible for leadership and administration at Timothy Eaton from 1998 until his more recent retirement. Overseeing staff, providing visionary leadership, acting as the public representative of over 1,500 members and managing a dynamic and ever-evolving ministry to the city of Toronto and beyond.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Law from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, a Master of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. In 2008, Wycliffe College, Toronto, recognized his contribution to preaching with an honorary Doctor of Divinity.

Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling is now the Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society building relationships with churches, academic institutions and individuals across Canada.

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

So, I've followed Jesus now for more than 60 years, and always, there have been a few days life has been too busy to do it, just impossible, but every day. I mean I was reading this morning, and I just love that time every day in the Bible, in the Scriptures. And what's amazing is I read it now, well, more than 60 times, you always, every year see something fresh, that you didn't see before. And you think, my goodness, why didn't I see that? And of course, the simple fact is that life is raising different questions all the time. And you bring those at least in the back of your mind to what you're reading, and you suddenly see again, and again, the incredible relevance of Scripture. I love it.

---

Listen to Dr. Os Guinness, prominent social critic, a senior fellow at the Oxford Center for Christian apologetics, and author or editor of more than 30 books being interviewed by veteran journalist Lorna Dueck. Os discusses his newest book, Signals of Transcendence - which describes God's voice to us - and challenges us to listen for the voice of God speaking into our lives. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, Os Guinness was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. 

Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, Carpe Diem Redeemed, and The Magna Carta of Humanity. His latest book is The Great Quest: Invitation to the Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning, published in 2022. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. 

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

Listen to Dr. Os Guinness, prominent social critic, a senior fellow at the Oxford Center for Christian apologetics, and author or editor of more than 30 books being interviewed by veteran journalist Lorna Dueck. Os discusses his newest book, Signals of Transcendence which describes God's voice to us and challenges us to listen for the voice of God speaking into our lives. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

---

Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca

Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate

Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety

Whether you’re well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world’s best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. 

---

Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, Os Guinness was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. 

Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, Last Call for Liberty, Carpe Diem Redeemed, and The Magna Carta of Humanity. His latest book is The Great Quest: Invitation to the Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning, published in 2022. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. 

He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world’s major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area.

Learn more about Os Guinness: osguinness.com

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

Listen as Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett, Cardus Program Director, Faith Communities and Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling, CBS Ambassador are interviewed by veteran journalist Lorna Dueck. Together they discuss a CBS-supported Cardus study, The Bible and Us, which explores questions about Canadian Christians and their engagement with and attitudes towards the Bible. How and why do Canadian Christians read the Bible? What do they think about the Bible? Do they know the Bible? 

---

Read the report, The Bible and Us: biblesociety.ca/cardus-the-bible-and-us

Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca

Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety

Whether you’re well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world’s best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. 

Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate

---

Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett is the Program Director of Faith Communities at Cardus. He is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto and Eastern Canada. Andrew is Program Director, of Faith Communities at Cardus. 

A champion of religious freedom domestically and internationally, he has served as Canada’s first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and led Global Affairs Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016. He simultaneously served as Canada’s Head of Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). When not praying, studying, or advocating, Fr. Andrew can be found with his fly rod in a stream, listening to bluegrass or Beethoven.

---

Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling was the Senior Minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church in Toronto, one of Canada’s largest United Church congregations and was responsible for leadership and administration at Timothy Eaton from 1998 until his more recent retirement. Overseeing staff, providing visionary leadership, acting as the public representative of over 1,500 members and managing a dynamic and ever-evolving ministry to the city of Toronto and beyond.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Law from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, a Master of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. In 2008, Wycliffe College, Toronto, recognized his contribution to preaching with an honorary Doctor of Divinity.

Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling is now the Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society building relationships with churches, academic institutions and individuals across Canada.

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

But ultimately, it's based on the assumption that justice is good, yeah or that there is a thing called justice that is driving us to the heart of the gospel of God, who Himself is justice personified. So don't think that in dealing with this situation, you're losing sight of Scripture. You're not. It is about, again, getting back in the Word and seeing what God says about us. And not just taking you know, Galatians 3:27 and 28. There is neither slave nor free, Jew nor Greek, male nor female. A lot of people use that Scripture to say, therefore we should have the conversation. That Scripture's not doing what we think it's doing. It's not. Have a conversation, look back at Scripture. What is the question behind the question? It is a question of justice, and all of our hearts desire for justice is found. Bless the Lord in the God of the Bible. That's where we're coming back to.
---
Listen to Clare Williams, founder of GET REAL being interviewed by British and Foreign Bible Society’s Rev. Dr. Andrew Ollerton about how race and faith interact, within the scope and space of Christianity, and some of the issues that raises today.

Clare Williams completed her undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at The University of Oxford, Jesus College and then worked as an English teacher and senior leader in various South East London schools for 10 years. She is a speaker and tutor at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA). Her work focuses upon questions of race, justice and culture, and what the Christian message has to offer these contested issues. Clare has served in various church roles such as singing in worship, youth work, evangelism, outreach/training and community projects, and lives in Hampshire with her family.

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

Listen to Clare Williams, founder of GET REAL being interviewed by British and Foreign Bible Society’s Rev. Dr. Andrew Ollerton about how race and faith interact, within the scope and space of Christianity, and some of the issues that raises today.

Clare Williams completed her undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at The University of Oxford, Jesus College and then worked as an English teacher and senior leader in various South East London schools for 10 years. She is a speaker and tutor at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA). Her work focuses upon questions of race, justice and culture, and what the Christian message has to offer these contested issues. Clare has served in various church roles such as singing in worship, youth work, evangelism, outreach/training and community projects, and lives in Hampshire with her family.

---

Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca

Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety

Whether you’re well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world’s best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. 

Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate

---

Learn more about Clare Williams

GET REAL Website: realquestions.co.uk/about

YouTube: @getreal7863

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You think, well, I don't feel like that. I'm feeling great right now. But somewhere, someone else is feeling that way and maybe I pray this Psalm, not for myself, but for someone else. And I can enter into their experience or conversely, if I'm feeling, oh, it was a terrible day and I'm, oh I'm so distraught, everything's going wrong! I flip open the page and it's, you know, come into our joy to the Lord, serve the Lord of gladness. Well, I don't feel that way but maybe someone else does and maybe I need to get out of my own self. We implode into ourselves too much. Maybe I should pray for someone else, and not just for myself. So we lose ourselves in the Psalms, and they're better. It's nice when the Psalm expresses what I feel. It's better when it doesn't, because then it stretches me out of my own ego, and that's what we need to do.
---
In this episode, listen to Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins being interviewed by well-known journalist Lorna Dueck. Cardinal Collins talks about the power of Lectio Divina - the contemplative and transformative practice of reading, praying with and meditating on Scriptures - and how engaging with the Scriptures not only impacts us personally but also positively affects the people around us.

His Eminence Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins is one of only 16 people in all of Canadian history to be appointed by the Pope to serve at the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Collins has served as a priest in Canada for 50 years, celebrating his golden jubilee in that role in May of 2023.

Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto (Canada) is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto from 2007 to 2023. 

Ordained a priest in 1973, he holds a BA and MA in English, and a BA in theology. While studying in Rome, specializing in sacred Scripture and the Book of Revelation, he received his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1978 and a Doctorate in Theology from the Gregorian University in 1986.

He has also served as Chancellor of the University of Saint Michael’s College and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, and Chair of the Board of Governors of Saint Augustine’s Seminary and of the Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary.

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

And I think it was in the middle of that process that I started to realize that like the Israelites sort of collecting their stones and piling them all together, and to what is called an Ebenezer, I think, here I raise mine every day. And so, all these things started to dawn on me that this was a thing, and I hadn't realized that these stones were related, and they needed...then they build up to something. And so, it didn't happen before, it happened during the process of becoming an opera singer. And then, as the career progressed, the talking about it I was sort of forced always to talk about faith and sort of what it meant to me. I mean, it was in a very cursory kind of way, but it was frequently brought up and then maybe that was also contributed to the fact that I realized it was more of a call than I had realized.
---
In this episode, listen as Ben Heppner (Canadian tenor and broadcaster) shares with Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling (Ambassador, Canadian Bible Society) about the role of Scripture in his life. Recorded as part of a series entitled The Word for Life: When Scripture Comes Alive, Ben talks about discovering in his early years a view of the Bible as bread, not stone, that gives life, and points you to Jesus. Referring to Joshua 4:9 and 1 Samuel 7, he shares how, in retrospect, he realized that over the years, God helped him to add different elements to his toolkit, including opera. He explains how the church has been foundational in his life and acknowledges that it was in the church that he learned the ropes of being a public singer.

Ben Heppner is a celebrated Canadian tenor whose career highlights include roles in some of the world's most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, and La Scala. Ben Heppner's contributions to the world of classical music extend to concert performances, recordings, and collaborations with renowned orchestras and conductors. He is a 1988 winner of the Metropolitan Opera auditions and received Grammy® Awards in 1998 for his recording of Die Meistersinger on London/Decca records and in 2001 for his recording of Les Troyens with the London Symphony Orchestra on LSO Live. Heppner hosted CBC Radio’s SATURDAY AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA, featuring the finest opera productions and recordings from around the world from 2013 to 2021, and now hosts CBS Radio's BACKSTAGE, where he shares stories from behind the scenes. Ben Heppner lives in Toronto with his wife. He has three grown children and five grandchildren. Heppner loves drinking coffee on the deck and touring the countryside on his motorcycle.

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

In this episode, listen to Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins being interviewed by well-known journalist Lorna Dueck. Cardinal Collins talks about the power of Lectio Divina - the contemplative and transformative practice of reading, praying with and meditating on Scriptures - and how engaging with the Scriptures not only impacts us personally but also positively affects the people around us.

His Eminence Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins is one of only 16 people in all of Canadian history to be appointed by the Pope to serve at the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Collins has served as a priest in Canada for 50 years, celebrating his golden jubilee in that role in May of 2023.

Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto (Canada) is a Canadian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto from 2007 to 2023. 

Ordained a priest in 1973, he holds a BA and MA in English, and a BA in theology. While studying in Rome, specializing in sacred Scripture and the Book of Revelation, he received his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1978 and a Doctorate in Theology from the Gregorian University in 1986.

He has also served as Chancellor of the University of Saint Michael’s College and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto, and Chair of the Board of Governors of Saint Augustine’s Seminary and of the Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary.

---

Learn more about the Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca

Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety

Whether you’re well-versed in Scripture or just starting out on your journey, The Bible Course offers a superb overview of the world’s best-selling book.  This eight-session course will help you grow in your understanding of the Bible. Watch the first session of The Bible Course and learn more at biblecourse.ca. 

Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate

---

Learn more about Cardinal Collins: cccb.ca/the-catholic-church-in-canada/directory-of-bishops-and-eparchs/cardinals/thomas-cardinal-collins/ 

• Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.ca
• Help people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donate
• Connect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesociety
• The Bible Course: biblecourse.ca