In Genesis 18, Abraham stands on a mountain with Yahweh, pleading mercy for the wicked cities down in the valley. This is one of the high moments in Abraham’s life since interceding for rebellious people is what being a prophet in the Bible is all about. Join us for this week’s episode as we discuss the role of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis, and their continued role in cultural imagination today.

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics by Robert A. J. Gagnon
• A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovering Jesus by David Bennett
• Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin
• People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not Just an Issue by Preston Sprinkle

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In our first episode of the new year, we catch up on the story of Abraham, taking a closer look at the cameo cast of Lot, Hagar, and Ishmael. Who are they, and what role do they play in Abraham’s story? We also reflect on the “righteousness” Abraham receives for trusting in God’s audacious promises (Genesis 15:6), and what this means today for followers of Jesus. Listen in!

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Abraham and Melchizedek by Bible Project
• Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Jon D. Levenson
• Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification by Alister E. McGrath
• Sin: A History by Gary A. Anderson

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With the false starts of Genesis 1–11 behind us — the Tower of Babel, the Flood, the rebellion in Eden — the story now turns over a fresh page with Abraham and his family. In today’s conversation, we talk about why God chose Abraham at all (who is still called Abram at this point), why he was building altars all over Canaan, and how he fits into the larger narrative and theology of the Bible.

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Jon D. Levenson
• Call of Abraham: Essays on the Election of Israel in Honor of Jon D. Levenson (Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity) by Joel Kaminsky

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So a few people get together to build a tower. What's so bad about Babel? This week on Deeper we'll talk about why we find the story of Babel at such an important juncture in the story of Genesis. Who are these builders? What are they trying to build? Why is it so problematic? How does this story echo into the rest of the biblical narrative? Join our guest host, Pastor Nathan, and co-host, Destiny, to find out!

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Tower of Babel handout
• The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible by Dr. Michael S. Heiser

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God floods the world because of sin and starts all over with one righteous man, his family, and their floating zoo of animals. What does this story tell us about who God is, and what kind of world we live in? How does Noah figure into the larger story and theology of Genesis? And how does this ancient Israelite narrative square up—if at all— with modern scientific knowledge about dinosaurs, mega-floods, and things like that? We talk about all this and more in this week’s episode.

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Noah as the new Adam comparison

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Brothers at war, suffering shepherds, and God’s choice of a younger brother: these biblical themes begin in Genesis 4, the story of Cain and Abel. And while the first violent crime in the Bible intensifies the downward spiral of sin, a closer look at Genesis 4 also betrays strong similarities with the failure in Eden itself. In today’s conversation, we explore all these connections, and also review where we’ve come so far in Genesis 1–3.

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Adam as Israel: Genesis 1–3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh by Seth Postell
• Reading Moses, Seeing Jesus: how the Torah fulfills its goal in Yeshua by Seth Postell
• Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by John Paul II

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Adam and Eve lose their home in Eden: their quest to be more “like God” backfires, and they can no longer be “with God.” How does this short story at the beginning of Scripture relate to the rest of the Bible? Are its effects felt in the remainder of the Old Testament? What did early Jesus followers make of it?

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Adam as Israel: Genesis 1–3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh by Seth Postell
• Reading Moses, Seeing Jesus: how the Torah fulfills its goal in Yeshua by Seth Postell

Visit our Resources page for more on Bible & Science.

Connect with us on Facebook & Instagram.

Is Satan jealous of humans? Does Jesus’ death on a tree mirror the tree in Eden? How does Jesus overturn the fatal choice of our first parents? We talk about all this and more in this week’s conversation...

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Standard collection of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

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Sex in Eden? Woman is a “helper”? Man's solitude is “not good”? Genesis 2 contains some of the most important - and puzzling! - descriptions of human relationships, and in this week’s episode, we ask what it all means. (And a bonus discussion: who wrote Genesis anyways?)

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by John Paul II

Visit our Resources page for more on Bible & Science.

Connect with us on Facebook & Instagram.

Why is there a second story about God creating humans in Genesis 2? Why is Eden so lavish, with gold, precious stones, gushing rivers, and magical trees? Is the first human basically a groundskeeper, or did his job have a deeper purpose? How does all of this relate to Jesus, and also to us today?

Weekend teaching: Brentwood & Concord

Other helpful links:

• The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament by Sandra L. Richter
• Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About the Environment and Why It Matters by Sandra L. Richter
• Joint Statement on the Environment
• Parallels between Eden and the Temple
• Parallels between Eden and the New Jerusalem
• Picture of the pinecone from The General Sherman tree

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