The Two Testaments

Dr. Olivia Stewart Lester (Loyola University Chicago) guides us through Revelation 12-14. We discuss:

* The woman who gives birth and is chased by the dragon (12:1–6, 13–16)

* The conflict between the woman’s child and the dragon as a combat myth and how Revelation critiques the Apollo-Python combat myth

* The two wings of the great eagle that the woman receives, and her escape to the wilderness (12:14)

* The beast who receives its authority from the dragon, the beast’s mortal wound (13:1–8), and how Daniel 7 helps us understand the beast

* The prophetic warning and call to endurance in 13:9–10.

* The second beast that marks people’s foreheads with the number 666 (13:11–18)

* The 144,000 who have the name of the lamb and of the Father on their foreheads and their masculine-virginal description (14:1–5)

* The mysterious song that John hears (14:3)

* The three angels who speak and deliver messages of God’s judgment (14:6–12)

* Whether the description that “the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever” indicates a never-ending conscious punishment (14:11); and how to understand the depiction of God’s violence (14:10–11)

* The Son of Man, the angels, and their sickles for harvest (i.e., judgment; 14:14–20)

Works by Dr. Olivia Stewart Lester

* "Revealed History as Prophetic Rivalry: John's Apocalypse, the Sibylline Oracles, and the Prophecy of Apollo," Early Christianity 10 (2019): 461–480

* Prophetic Rivalry, Gender, and Economics: A Study in Revelation and Sibylline Oracles 4–5. WUNT 2/466. Mohr Siebeck, 2018.

Dr. Olivia Stewart Lester recommends

* The TV show, The Bear 

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The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Dr. Beth Stovell (Ambrose University) guides us through the book of Nahum. We discuss:

* Nahum’s emphasis on God’s anger

* The vivid description of a battle scene (Nahum 2)

* Nahum’s metaphor of the city of Nineveh as a prostitute (3:4)

* What it means that "her infants were dashed to pieces" (Nahum 3:10)

* How Nahum is hopeful

Works by Dr. Beth Stovell

* The Book of the Twelve, with David Fuller. Cascade, 2022

* Theodicy and Hope in the Book of the Twelve. Edited with G. Athas et al. T&T Clark, 2021

* Minor Prophets I (Hosea-Micah) and Minor Prophets II (Nahum-Malachi). The Story of God Bible Commentary Series: Old Testament. Zondervan, forthcoming 

* Mapping Metaphorical Discourse in the Fourth Gospel: John's Eternal King. Brill, 2012

Dr. Beth Stovell recommends

* The works of Dr. Juliana Claassens, Professor of Old Testament at Stellenbosch University (South Africa)

* The Africana Bible: Reading Israel's Scriptures from Africa and the African Diaspora. Fortress Press, 2009

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Obadiah with Dr. Beth Stovell

Dr. Beth Stovell (Ambrose University) guides us through the Book of Obadiah. We discuss:

* the historical context of Obadiah

* How Obadiah relates to the Book of the Twelve

* A major theme of Obadiah: appealing for God’s justice against Edom

* Obadiah’s use of “the day of the LORD” and the universal judgment of all the nations and Israel (Obadiah 1:15)

Works by Dr. Beth Stovell

* The Book of the Twelve, with David Fuller. Cascade, 2022

* Theodicy and Hope in the Book of the Twelve. Edited with G. Athas et al. T&T Clark, 2021

* Minor Prophets I (Hosea-Micah) and Minor Prophets II (Nahum-Malachi). The Story of God Bible Commentary Series: Old Testament. Zondervan, forthcoming 

* Mapping Metaphorical Discourse in the Fourth Gospel: John's Eternal King. Brill, 2012

Dr. Beth Stovell recommends

* The works of Dr. Juliana Claassens, Professor of Old Testament at Stellenbosch University (South Africa)

* The Africana Bible: Reading Israel's Scriptures from Africa and the African Diaspora. Fortress Press, 2009

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Dr. Ian Boxall (St. Stephen's House, University of Oxford) guides us through Revelation 8:6–11:19 (The Seven Trumpets). We discuss:

* The angels blowing trumpets (8:6)

* The significance of the great burning mountain and the star being thrown into the waters (8:8-11).

* The striking and darkening of the sun, moon, and stars (8:12)

* The eagle that cries woes upon the earth (8:13)

* The bottomless pit, the smoke, and the bizarre locusts that come up out of the pit (9:1-6)

* The significance of the locusts as hybrid creatures with features of animals, humans, and demons; their ruler, Abaddon, Apolyon (9:7­–11)

* The significance of the mighty angel who comes from heaven and who holds a “little scroll open” (10:2)

* The voice from heaven that instructs John not to write down what he heard the seven thunders say(v. 4), but instead to eat the scroll in the angel’s hand (vv. 8–10).

* The identity of “the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit” (11:7) and “the great city” (v. 8)

* The “two witnesses” (11:3)

Works by Dr. Ian Boxall

* Christ in the Book of Revelation. Paulist Press, 2021 

* The Book of Revelation and Its Interpreters. Rowman and Littlefield, 2016

* Patmos in the Reception History of the Apocalypse. Oxford University Press, 2013 

* Revelation: Vision and Insight: An Introduction of the Apocalypse. SPCK, 2002 

* The Revelation of Saint John. Black's New Testament Commentary. Baker Academic, 2009

Dr. Boxall recommends

* How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul Silvia

* The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books by Eviatar Zerubavel

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Micah with Dr. Mark Gignilliat

Dr. Mark Gignilliat (Beeson Divinity School) guides us through the Book of Micah. We discuss:

* Micah’s historical context

* Loving God and loving neighbor as the key themes of Micah

* The significance of Micah’s position between Jonah and Nahum

* The interplay of God’s judgment against Israel and the nations

* The significance of Micah 3:12 in the center of the Twelve, and its theme of the death and resurrection of Zion.

* Does Micah 4:5 depict a future eschatological vision where Israel worships its God while the other nations worship their gods?

* The promise of a ruler who will come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)

* The meaning of Micah 6:8, “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”

* The interplay of judgment and restoration in Micah 7, and how Micah 7:18–20 uses Exodus 34, where God reveals himself as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love . . . yet by no means clearing the guilty.”

Works by Mark Gignilliat

* Micah, International Theological Commentary, T&T Clark, 2019

* Reading Scripture Canonically: Theological Instincts for Old Testament Interpretation. Baker Academic, 2019

Dr. Mark Gignilliat recommends

* Make your own sausage and salami

* Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus, Oneworld, 2016

* Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, Yale University Press, 2009

* Iain McGilchrist, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World, 2 volumes, Perspectiva, 2021

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Revelation 6:1-8:5 with Dr. David deSilva

Dr. David deSilva (Ashland Theological Seminary) guides us through Revelation 6:1-8:5. We discuss:

* The four bizarre creatures of Revelation 4–5 that appear again in chapter 6.

* The significance of the four horses and riders (6:1–8).

* The lament of the martyrs in the heavenly temple, their cry for justice, and the rationale for God’s delayed vengeance (6:9­–11).

* The 144, 000 from the tribes of Israel (7:4–8) and how they relate to the innumerable number from every tribe and nation (7:9).

* The marks on the forehead of the 144,000 (7:3).

* The “great ordeal/tribulation” (7:14).

Works by David deSilva 

* Discovering Revelation, Eerdmans: 2021.

* A Week in the Life of Ephesus, IVP Academic, 2020.

* Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning, Hendrickson, 2013.

* Seeing John's Way: The Rhetoric of Revelation, WJK, 2009. 

David deSilva recommends

* Craig R. Koester, Revelation. Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries. Yale University Press, 2015.

Next Episode

Next up on the Two Testaments, Dr. Mark Gignilliat (Beeson Divinity School) guides us through the Book of Micah, and Dr. Ian Boxall (St. Stephen's College, Cambridge University) guides us through Revelation 8:6–11:19.

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Jonah with Rev. Dr. Vanessa Lovelace

Rev. Dr. Vanessa Lovelace (Lancaster Theological Seminary) guides us through the Book of Jonah. We discuss:

* What we can know about Jonah’s historical context

* Major themes in Jonah including repentance and forgiveness

* God relenting from judging Nineveh in Jonah compared to God judging Nineveh in Nahum

* Jonah as the anti-prophet

* If Jonah is meant to be taken as a universal or particular message

* The fish/whale that swallows Jonah

* Different ways to understand Jonah disobeying God’s call to preach to Nineveh

* Jonah’s payer as insincere

* The repentance in Nineveh that includes the animals

* Understanding God turning from judging Nineveh, and Jonah’s response to God’s mercy

Works by Vanessa Lovelace 

* Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Ed. with G. Byron. SBL Press, 2016.

* “Jonah.” In Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets. Ed. J. O’Brien. Oxford University Press, 2021: 449–460.

* Outsider-Within: A Womanist Reading of Hebrew Bible Narratives as the Politics of Belonging, forthcoming 2024.

Vanessa Lovelace recommends

* Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Ed. G. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace. SBL Press, 2016.

* Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Westminster John Knox, 2017.

* Nyasha Junior, An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Westminster John Knox, 2015.

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Dr. Juan Hernández Jr. (Bethel University) guides us through Revelation 4-5. We discuss:

* The significance of the repeated title, "him who sits on the throne"

* The four living creatures around the throne

* The twenty-four elders who lay down their crowns and their hymn

* Why the scroll cannot be opened

* John's presentation of the lamb as having seven horns and seven eyes.

* Why the lamb's blood is said to ransom people

* John's high christology which parallels the lamb with the one on the throne

Works by

* Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse: The Singular Readings of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi, Mohr Siebeck, 2006.

Juan Hernández recommends

* Juan Hernández Jr. recommends reading "Penguin Classics" which form a canon of the best kinds of literature. 

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University

Amos with Dr. M. Daniel Carroll R.

Dr. M. Daniel Carroll R. (Wheaton College) guides us through Amos. We discuss:

* God as the main theme of Amos

* The interplay of ethics, theology, and worship

* The meaning of one of the most well-known verses of Amos: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everlasting stream” (5:24)

* The judgment of the nations in Amos 1–2 as a strategy of suspense rather than entrapment

* Whether or not Amos uses the notion of natural law to indict the nations

* God’s lament over his judgment, and the necessity of judgment for justice

* The meaning/translation of “the plumb line” as “tin” (Amos 7:7–8)

* How to understand Amos 7:12–15 and if Amos is a prophet

* Amos 9 gives hope to Israel by presenting a future in which the people rebuild their lives within the land

Works by Daniel Carroll

* "Twenty Years of Amos Research," Currents in Biblical Research 18.1, 2019

* Amos—The Prophet and His Oracles: Research on the Book of Amos. Westminster John Knox, 2022

* Amos. NICOT. Eerdmans, 2020

* The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today. Baker Academic, 2022

Daniel Carroll Recommends

* David Nirenberg. Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. Norton, 2013

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.

Dr. Jeffrey Weima (Calvin Theological Seminary) guides us through Revelation 2-3. We discuss:

* The significance of the form of the addresses to the seven churches as sermons rather than letters

* Why John writes to these seven churches, and the significance of their arrangement

* What it means that the church in Ephesus "abandoned the love you had at first" (2:4)

* Who are the Nicolaitans and what did they do and teach? (2:6, 15)

* The meaning of the phrase "the synagogue of Satan" (2:9; 3:9) and how to handle this phrase in light of the history of anti-Judaism and anti-semitism

* The meaning of the "hidden manna" and the difficulty of making sense of "the white stone" with the name on it (2:17)

* The significance of Jezebel (3:17) and the nature of the punishment that she receives: "I am throwing her on a bed" (3:22)

* The significance of "the key of David" (3:7)

* The significance of the church of Laodicea being likened to lukewarm water (3:15–16)

Works by Jeff Weima

* The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation: A Commentary & Guide. Baker Academic, 2021

* Paul the Ancient Letter Writer: A Introduction to Epistolary Analysis. Baker Academic, 2016

* Neglected Endings: The Significance of the Pauline Letter Closings. Sheffield, 1994

This Week’s Blurb

Jeff Weima recommends: 

* Taking a Biblical Study Tour to Turkey with Jeff Weima.

* For more information, visit his website www.jeffreyweima.com

Next Episode 

In our next episode, Dr. Daniel Carroll (Rodas) (Wheaton College) guides us through the book of Amos.

Subscribe and don't miss an episode

The Two Testaments takes you on a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible, hosted by Rony Kozman and Will Kynes

Visit our website at thetwotestaments.com, where you can subscribe, access all episodes, and meet our guides through Scripture. Sign up now so you don’t miss an episode.Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Vurbl, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts.

You can also watch us on Youtube.

This episode is co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this episode do not necessarily represent those of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the National Endowment for the Humanities or Samford University.