Houseform Apologetics

Irrealis in the Book of Esther “Irrealis in Esther: On Being Told What was Not” (by Hebrew scholar Fred Putnam) The paper is available HERE ,   it's about how  the story of Esther is propelled by the things that don’t happen in the story.  The paper is technical, all the Hebrew is translated, and readers will find it intriguing and insightful. It shows (again) how close reading of the text, even in translation, really matters.

Jordan Peterson — Post-Modernism: A Reaction Against Modernism

The Millennials Changing Views On Israel

Jordan Peterson — The Post-Modern Activist Ethos

Michael Heiser — Debunking & Primary Sources | Peer-Reviewed Scholarship

This essay is from the out of print book, Mesopotamian and the Bible, edited by Mark Chavalas and Lawson Younger. The essay is by Chavalas, a scholar of biblical studies and ancient Mesopotamia:   Chavalas Assyriology and Biblical Studies Century and a Half of Tension The essay is about the use and abuse of Mesopotamian literature and archaeology by non-specialists. This tension and problem — “seeing” the material from Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, and Babylon as behind most everything in the Old Testament, especially the early chapters of Genesis — became known as “PanBabylonianism.” That arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the wake of the decipherment of cuneiform texts in the 19th century. It is the lifeblood of much of the “research” and “discovery” of self-anointed teachers (Christian or otherwise) one finds foisted upon unsuspecting readers on the internet and listeners on shows like Coast to Coast AM. their “findings” are hopelessly outdated and wrong in a myriad o...

Dr. Michael S. Heiser —  The Theology Behind Sci-Fi Culture Biblical Scholar | Ancient Languages Expert Historian | Author Mike speaks about a few concepts behind his novels, a two-book saga—where sci-fi meets historical fact:  • The Façade • The Portent A review of the theology behind sci-fi culture / pop-culture, and archetypical concepts we see in comic books and mass media. How might it be a useful tool for intelligent evil?

Michael Heiser — On Imprecatory Prayers (Psalm 137:9)

Back in mid-nineties a peer-reviewed article was published that sought to legitimize the idea that the Hebrew text of Genesis encrypted meaningful information about modern persons and events. Their method for detecting the presumed encrypted knowledge was known as equidistant letter sequencing (ELS).This article (Witztum, Rips, and Rosenberg) became a reference point for journalist Michael Drosnin, who wrote the bestselling book, The Bible Code, shortly thereafter. Subsequent to the success of Drosnin’s book, Bible-code research expanded to the full Torah and beyond, to the rest of the Hebrew Bible. In this episode we ask whether there is such a thing as ELS Bible codes. Have other statisticians and biblical scholars agreed with Witztum, Rips, and Rosenberg, or are there serious problems with the method and its assumptions? Michael Heiser, "The Bible Code Myth" (PDF Available Here): http://www.michaelsheiser.com/LetterDifferencesIsa53.pdf Articles: Witztum, Doron, E...

The idea that people with Rh-Negative blood indicates alien or nephilim ancestry is on the rise in fringe internet communities and websites. In this episode our panel is joined by someone with medical training (MD) who is familiar with blood typing and the genetics behind Rh-negative blood. The episode discusses the nature of Rh-negative blood, its genetic explanation, and speculations about other traits associated with Rh-negative blood. Sources for this episode:  Ellen K. Tarr, “Everything you know about being Rh-negative is wrong,” paper delivered at the 2016 CSICON in Las Vegas, NV See this link for the published version Gurudev, “Why Rh Negative is not Blood of Gods or of Alien Origin” Neil D. Avent and Marion E. Reid, “The Rh Blood Group System: A Review,” BLOOD 95:2 (January 15, 2000): 375-387; published by the American Society of Hematology at Penn State Isabelle Mouro, Yves Colin, Baya Chérif-Zahar, Jean-Pierre Cartron & Caroline Le Van Kim, “Genetic Basi...

This episode focuses on entheogens—psychedelic drugs that are known to cause “mystical states” of consciousness. Our hosts discuss Rick Strassman’s work on DMT, but that is merely a subset of entheogen study. Current research in the fields of brain science, psychology, and religion are struggling to explain how entheogens and the experiences they cause should be understood. The dilemma of consciousness, more popularly known as the mind-body problem, is at the heart of the struggle. Do entheogens simply affect part of the brain and its chemistry triggering new states of consciousness from inside your head? Or do these drugs separate consciousness from the organ of the body we call the brain, verifying that consciousness is distinct from the brain? Are God and other supernal beings experienced by people under the effect of entheogens just a product of the brain, or are they entities to be experienced by unhindered consciousness?  Articles: Peter Bebergal, “Mystics Under the Mic...

Is there any empirical evidence that would suggest people can experience a supernatural presence in places said to be haunted? How would scientists try to make that case? Readings: Michaeleen Maher, “Quantitative Investigation of the General Wayne Inn,” Journal of Parapsychology 64 (2000): 365-390 Wiseman, Watt, Stevens, Greening, O’Keefe, “An Investigation into Alleged Hauntings,” British Journal of Psychology 94 (May 2003): 195-211

Paul’s “No God But One” Teaching (1 Corinthians 8:1–6)

Michael Heiser provides biblical-theological support for the idea of innocence.

The final chapter of the book of Hebrews combines pastoral encouragement for believers under stress and reminders about the superiority of Jesus against what their persecutors were offering.  This episode wraps up our book study by highlighting how the writer blends his final appeal for faithfulness with encouragement for both the laity and the leadership in troublesome times.

Hebrews 12 follows on the heels of the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11. That’s important because heeding that context (and that of the rest of the book of Hebrews) will prevent us from taking certain things in Hebrews 12 out of context. The writer doesn’t follow the “hall of faith” with a treatise on how moral imperfection (sin) will result in keeping someone out of the kingdom of God. And yet many readers lapse into that thinking in this chapter. In this episode we read Hebrews 12 in light of Hebrews 11—and other preceding passages in the book—to reaffirm that salvation is about something done for us, not something we do, and about the obedience of Jesus, not our own obedience.

Many Christians refer to Hebrews 11 as the “hall of faith.” The label is appropriate, but the chapter raises questions. Why did the Old Testament individuals listed in Hebrews 11 “make the cut”? Was there something extraordinary about them? This episode explores the relationship of this famous passage to its far less famous context: Heb 10:35-39. Those in the “hall of faith” are not there because they were shining examples of moral purity, or because they never had doubts about what God was doing, or because they weren’t tested. Rather, they are there because they all held fast to faith—they did not “shrink back” from their believing loyalty in what God had promised. Hebrews 11 illustrates that we must have faith in what God has done for us, not our performance.

Hebrews 10 wraps up the author’s discourse on the superiority of the high priesthood of Jesus—a theme begun in chapter five. The chapter revisits how the Torah’s system of sacrifices could not take away sin as it was a shadow of things to come. The author references earlier high points of how Jesus is superior to Torah dealt with earlier. The entire second half of the chapter, though, focuses once more on the chief concern of the author—the reason he keeps telling his audience about the superiority of Jesus to the Mosaic Law—the need to keep believing the gospel so as to not “shrink back” to dependence on their obedience to law (merit-based performance) for salvation. Karen Jobes article: http://www.michaelsheiser.com/TheNakedBible/Psalm40.pdf

In his ninth chapter, the writer of Hebrews continues with his theme of the superiority of Christ over the Levitical sacrifices and priesthood. In chapter 8 he had referred to the “heavenly tent,” where Jesus was seated “at the right hand of majesty” subsequent to offering himself to provide salvation. In Hebrews 9, the focus of this episode, the sacrifice of Christ is described as an atonement superior not only to the sacrificial system broadly conceived, but specifically to the Day of Atonement ritual.

The writer of Hebrews has, to this point, put forth the idea that Jesus is superior to Moses, Melchizedek, the Aaronic / Levitical Priesthood, and the angels. In this chapter he adds another point of comparison—the Mosaic covenant. The work of Jesus on the cross, his accession to the heavenly throne as great high priest, and the subsequent coming of the Spirit (who is identified with Jesus in the NT) are superior to the Torah covenant and its inability to save. This episode focuses on the use of how the writer of Hebrews telegraphs Christ’s superiority to the Mosaic covenant through his use of Old Testament New Covenant prophecies.

Hebrews 7 picks up themes that are familiar already to readers of the book. The writer defends the superiority of Christ’s priesthood to the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament on the basis of his connection to Melchizedek. A key part of this strategy is to declare that Levi “paid tithes to Melchizedek, being still in the loins of his ancestor” (Abraham). How are we to understand this idea? This episode tackles this difficult issue, as well as the tradition that Melchizedek was Noah’s son Shem. Sources: McNamara, “Melchizedek: Gen 14:17-20 in the Targums, in Rabbinic and Early Christian Literature,” Biblica 81 (2000)  https://www.bsw.org/biblica/vol-81-2000/melchizedek-gen-14-17-20-in-the-targums-in-rabbinic-and-early-christian-literature/276/ Orlov, “The Melchizedek Legend of 2 (Slavonic) Enoch,” Journal for the Study of Judaism Vol. 31, No. 1 (2000): 23-38 http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&context=theo_fac

Our series on the book of Hebrews continues the writer’s emphasis on the faithful priesthood of Christ – this time as the basis for turning away from a theology of dead works and clinging to faith. The centrality of not turning from the true gospel of faith in the work of Christ and God’s acceptance of the ministry of his Son – of continuing in “believing loyalty” to the gospel – is the central focus of the controversial statements in Heb 6:4-6. Does this passage teach that believers can lose salvation or reject salvation? Is there a difference? What about eternal security? This episode focuses on these questions.

Hebrews 4:14–5:10 focuses on the fact that our high priest—the person who runs interference between us and God when it comes to eternal life—is the same person who gave his life for that purpose: Jesus. It is inconceivable in the writer’s mind that anyone who believes in Christ would be turned away from eternal life because Jesus, our high priest, understands the weakness of humanity and the power of external temptation. After all, he became a human precisely to provide salvation, knowing that it would mean experiencing human weakness and temptation. Human weakness and failure are therefore not going to change Christ’s disposition toward those who believe in him.

Hebrews 4:1–13 continues an important theme introduced in Hebrews 3—holding fast to faith so as to enter into God’s rest (i.e., inherit the promise of eternal life). The writer strikes an analogy between the rest of God, earlier related to entrance (or not) into the Promised Land (Numbers 14), and God’s rest at the end of his creation work. God’s Sabbath rest is therefore identified with eternal life—a rest that is the result of God’s efforts, not ours. Since Christ is the one who provided eternal life through his work on the cross, Christ is our Sabbath.

Hebrews 3 is the reader’s first introduction to what will be a familiar tension in the book: conditional statements about the believer’s salvation status. This episode focuses on this tension, pointing out that conditional statements in Hebrews are not attached to breaking the laws of Torah, or any sins of commission or omission. The conditional statements are not about works in any regard, as though believers could lose salvation when they sin. Rather, the focus is on how a believer can fall into unbelief—how they can choose to not believe the gospel. The end result is that believers are eternal secure if they believe (do not reject the gospel), but no one who rejects the gospel and therefore does not believe it has eternal life.

In Hebrews 2 the writer continues to focus on the supremacy of Christ to the Law (Torah) and angels. Christ is superior for many reasons, but chiefly because only he, through his sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection could provide the eternal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and bring humans back to right relationship with God. As Hebrews 2:1415 say God became a man in Jesus Christ so that, “through death he [Jesus] might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” This statement is followed by another one whose significance is overlooked by many, especially those who mistakenly believe that the offer of salvation through Christ is extended to fallen angels: “For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect.” This episode of the podcast focuses on the necessity of the incarnat...

The writer of Hebrews builds on his assertions that the particular son of God (Jesus) who was the agent of creation, eternal wisdom, and the essence of God, by comparing him to other supernatural sons of God (angels). But what does a phrase like “You are my son, today I have begotten you” mean? Does this mean Jesus was a created being? This episode notes the use of this phrase and other Old Testament passages utilized by the writer of Hebrews to explore its actual meaning. Along the way, the episode discusses two links in Hebrews 1 to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview and the divine council.

Hebrews 1:1–4 sets the tone for the entire epistle. The writer asserts that the revelation given by God through one particular son—Jesus Christ—is superior to Torah. It is Christ who is the full expression of God’s wisdom, and the actual, essential being of God Himself. Since the “inheritance” language of Heb 1:1-4 cannot suggest that God himself is being retired and succeeded, the language needs to be understood in terms of co-rulership. But why is this particular son (1:2) different than all others? This episode explores and expands on these themes and addresses this question by discussing the Old Testament context for the phrases, “the radiance of the glory of God,” Wisdom Christology, and hypostasis terminology.

This episode launches the next book study on the podcast: the book of Hebrews. After discussing some preliminaries about the book, the episode preps listeners to the fact that Hebrews is a book that draws heavily on the Old Testament. That strategy of the anonymous author means more than simply quoting the Old Testament. Rather, there are more significant hermeneutical issues to consider—issues that will reverberate throughout the book.

• Why Would Jesus Retain Scars Post-Resurrection?  • In What Way Does This Apply To Believers?

•Parsing The Twelve Tribes Of Israel  •Do The Twelve Tribes Play A Role Regarding National Israel?

This is a complex issue that actually does have to do with cosmic geography and even more so, the denial of Elisha’s status as the prophet of Yahweh and as a solicitation to Elisha to play the role of an apostate priest, to join the apostate worship, to join the other gods, to be part of that system instead of Yahweh's system, to not be Yahweh’s prophet.  This is a theologically significant passage. That answer might sound strange to you but it is tied up in this cosmic geographical thinking and cosmic geographical language. Article Referenced: 1. Going Down to Bethel: Elijah and Elisha in the Theological Geography of the Deuteronomistic History (Joel Burnett)

Michael Heiser — What’s The Etymology Of Eloah?

Question #1: Can you explain ideas of end-times language & overthrow of certain evils, through the Cross, but ultimately through the Church in the last days? Question #2: What Is Your View Regarding Psalm 82:5?

Dr. Michael Heiser weighs in on how Christians should view the Doctrine of Inspiration.

Dr. Michael S. Heiser weighs in on how Christians should view the Doctrine of Inspiration.

Dr. Michael Heiser and special guest David Burnett answer questions from a live audience. Thank you to everyone who came and joined us in Boston, Massachusetts.

Our final set of interviews at SBL includes discussions with Tim Mackie from The Bible Project, and we learn about opportunities for biblical studies education in the UK from Dr. Matthew Lynch, a scholar in the UK familiar with the podcast and Mike’s work.

In our second set of interviews from SBL in Boston, we talk with Ben Giffone about how to earn an advanced degree without going into debt, teaching overseas, and his own interest in Unseen Realm content and Israelite religion. We also chat with John Schwandt, director of Mobile Education for Logos Bible Software (Faithlife). John and Mike talk about the unique benefits of Mobile Ed courses and how they are a great tool for anyone interested in learning Scripture and theology from some of the country’s best professors — all without uprooting your life and incurring debt.

Mike and Trey once again traveled to Boston for the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). In this first set of conference interviews include getting caught up with David Burnett, now in his first semester of doctoral work at Marquette University. We also chat with Marina Westerdahl, a former student of Mike’s at Knox Seminary about to begin doctoral work in Old Testament. Marina’s research interests involve the divine council. Lastly, we visit with Sam Lamerson, professor of New Testament at Knox Seminary and fellow traveler with Mike in helping Christians think well about the paranormal.

In this second installment of ETS interviews, Mike chats with Carl Sanders and Ronn Johnson, two long-time friends. In the first part of the conversation with Carl and Ronn, we focused on their own response to “higher life” sanctification and reminisced about our academic and teaching experiences. In Part 2, Mike, Carl, and Ronn conduct a thought experiment to illustrate what biblical-theological geeks do at these meetings by asking Ronn to toss out a new view of the atonement he’s been thinking about and then probing it for strengths and weaknesses.

It’s that time of year – a new round of interviews with scholars and professors at the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). In this first installment we talk to Hugh Ross about his new book, Improbable Planet, and his apologetics ministry; Doug Groothuis about anti-intellectual attitudes in the believing Church; Andy Naselli about his new book on “higher life” (Keswick) theology; and Maurice Robinson about his scholarly work on the Byzantine-Majority text type of the New Testament.

The God Of The Bible—God As Man In The Old Testament: • Genesis 18 • Genesis 32:22–32 (cf. Genesis 48:15–16; Hosea 12:4) • Exodus 23:21 (cf. John 17:11–12)

Gerald R. McDermott (PhD, University of Iowa) is Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. Before joining Beeson, he was the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College. He is also associate pastor at Christ the King Anglican Church and Distinguished Senior Fellow in the History of Christianity at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. In this episode of the podcast we discuss two of Dr. McDermott’s books: God’s Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions? and Israel Matters: Why Christians Must Think Differently about the People and the Land. God’s Rivals raises the question of why there are other religions—why would God permit that? The content of the book takes note of the Deuteronomy 32 worldview discussed so often on the Naked Bible Podcast – that, for biblical writers, the gods were real and allotted to the nations (and vice versa) in judgment at the Babel event (Deut 4:19-20; 17:1-3; 29:23-26; 32:8-9 [per ...

The “evil eye” was a widespread superstition in the ancient world, one that continues on into the present day. The belief that one could cause someone harm merely by looking at them, or cast a spell over them by the same means, shows up in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian, Greece, Rome, and Rabbinic writings. But does the Bible contain any reference to the notion? This episode explores biblical references to having an “evil eye” and discusses the meaning of those references in biblical thought. Select References: Marie-Louise Thomsen, “The Evil Eye in Mesopotamia,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 51:1 (1992): 19-32 Edwin M. Yamauchi, “Magic in the Biblical World,” Tyndale Bulletin 34 (1983): 169-200 (Sec IV.C) Nicole Tilford, “The Affective Eye: Re-Examining a Biblical Idiom,” Biblical Interpretation 23 (2015) 207-221 D. A. Fiensy, “The Importance of New Testament Background Studies in Biblical Research: The ‘Evil Eye’ in Luke 11: 34 as a Case Study,” Stone-Campbell Journal. 2:...

The episode of Noah’s drunkenness in Genesis 9 has long befuddled interpreters. One of Noah’s sons, Ham, commits some heinous crime against his father. Oddly, though, Ham is not the one cursed by his father. Instead, Ham’s son Canaan bears the wrath of Noah. This episode explores the traditional solutions to the interpretive confusion and offers an alternative based on recent research in the Hebrew text. Sources: John Sietze Bergsma and Scott Walker Hahn, “Noah’s Nakedness and the Curse on Canaan,” Journal of Biblical Literature 124:1 (2005): 25-40

The Ark of the Covenant is well-known because of the popular Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. That pop culture film offers just one of over a dozen theories on what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. The question arises because the ark is not one of the artifacts taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the biblical account of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 586 BC, nor is it listed among the temple treasures returned to Israel in Ezra 1, the account of the release of the captive Judeans. This episode surveys the more interesting and important theories as to the fate of the ark. Sources: John Day, “Whatever Happened to the Ark of the Covenant?” Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 422; Bloomsbury T&T Clark; Rev. Ed edition, 2007), 250-270 John Bimson, “Shoshenk and Shishak: A Case of Mistaken Identity?” Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 6 (1992/93): 19-32 Michael S...

On what day was Jesus actually born? What year? Does the timing matter? Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25, but virtually all Christians know that day isn’t the real birth date of the messiah. While that is certainly the case, has the birth date of Jesus been lost to time, or can it be reckoned. This episode of the podcast explores these questions and provides a solution draw from Scripture, backed by both Jewish messianic tradition and astronomy.

In view of Mike’s work on the divine council and Psalm 82 in his best-selling book, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, many have asked what’s going on in John 10, where Jesus defends his deity by quoting Psalm 82. The consensus interpretation has the gods of Psalm 82 as only people – Jewish elders or Israelites at Sinai (both of which are unmentioned in Psalm 82). How does that approach make sense when Jesus needs to defend statements of equality with the Father elsewhere in the chapter (John 10:30, 38)? Mike’s view is that such an approach makes no sense at all – and that there is much more coherent alternative. Mike laid out his view in a conference paper accessible on the Unseen Realm’s companion website (Chapter 4 tab). Mike's slide presentation may be downloaded here (powerpoint slideshow ): http://www.nakedbiblepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/psalm-82.6-in-John-10.34.pptx

On a previous episode, Mike interviewed Rick Brannan on how we got the New Testament and why conspiratorial ideas about the Greek New Testament are bogus. In this episode, the Old Testament gets equal time. Mike overviews how the OT books were composed, edited, received, transmitted by scribes, and published to the present day (with a little Dead Sea Scrolls conspiracy debunking along the way). Article referenced:  Inspiration, Inerrancy, and The OT Canon: The Place Of Textual Updating In An Inerrant View Of Scripture

This episode discusses why hellfire in the New Testament is associated with “the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). Where does that idea come from? There are in fact earlier books that are the basis for this language—inside and outside the Old Testament.

This episode focuses on Paul’s language, in 1 Corinthians 15 and elsewhere, about the “spiritual body” of the resurrected Jesus—a body that believers will also share.  In Paul’s day, Gentiles (Greco-Roman culture) and Jews (OT) both believed that gods had bodies — not made of flesh and blood, but of something that was superior to flesh and blood. In other words, gods weren’t simply formless, substance-less “energy” or spirit. Paul taught that Christians would one day share Christ’s body—that they would have the same sort of body.