New Books in Biblical Studies

Interviews with Biblical Scholars about their New Books

Religion & Spirituality
Christianity
376
Rhiannon Graybill, “Are We Not Men? Unstable Ma...
Rhiannon Graybill‘s Are We Not Men? Unstable Masculinity in the Hebrew Prophets (Oxford University Press, 2016) offers an innovative approach to gender and embodiment in the Hebrew Bible, revealing the male body as a source of persistent difficulty for...
33 min
377
Brandon D. Crowe, “The Last Adam: A Theology of...
One scholar famously referred to the Gospels of the New Testament as passion narratives with long introductions. Such a view, however, tends to minimize the theological importance of Jesus’ life and ministry before his death. In today’s podcast, Dr.
32 min
378
Jordan D. Rosenblum, “The Jewish Dietary Laws i...
In The Jewish Dietary Laws in the Ancient World Jordan D. Rosenblum explores how cultures critique and defend their religious food practices. In particular he focuses on how ancient Jews defended the kosher laws, or kashrut, and how ancient Greek,
45 min
379
Glen A. Fritz, “The Lost Sea of the Exodus, 2nd...
The crossing of the Israelites through the Red Sea is one of the most famous scenes in the story of the Exodus out of Egypt. But can it be that for the last couple thousand years, historians, geographers, and scholars have had the wrong sea in mind?
34 min
380
Steven Dilday, “The Exegetical Labors of the Re...
Matthew Poole (1624-1679) was an English Nonconformist theologian educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; he held the rectory of St Michael le Querne in London from 1649 to 1662. Poole is principally associated with the work Synopsis Criticorum Biblic...
30 min
381
David Rohl, “Exodus: Myth or History? (Thinking...
Archaeologists and scholars of the ancient Near East regularly make statements to the effect that there is absolutely no archaeological evidence for many events of the Bible, including Israel’s sojourn in Egypt, the Exodus out of Egypt,
40 min
382
Joshua Guthman, “Strangers Below: Primitive Bap...
Before the Bible Belt fastened itself across the South, competing factions of evangelicals fought over the faith’s future, and a contrarian sect, self-named the Primitive Baptists, made its stand. In Strangers Below: Primitive Baptists and American Cul...
48 min
383
David Willgren, “The Formation of the ‘Book’ of...
How was the ‘Book’ of Psalms formed, and why? The first question relates to the diachronic growth of the collection, while the second relates to issues of purpose–to what end are psalms being juxtaposed in a collection? On this show,
46 min
384
Fr. Gary Selin, “Priestly Celibacy: Theological...
One of the particular markers of the Latin rite of the Catholic Church is priestly celibacy. How did this discipline develop there? Why did it develop? What does it mean? Since it is a discipline that can be changed, should it be made optional? Fr.
50 min
385
David W. Stowe, “Song of Exile: The Enduring My...
On today’s program we will be speaking with David W. Stowe about his recent book Song of Exile: The Enduring Mystery of Psalm 137 (Oxford University Press, 2016). Song of Exile weaves together the 2,500-year history of one of the most famous psalms in ...
43 min
386
Jack M. Sasson, “From the Mari Archives: An Ant...
For over 40 years, Jack M. Sasson has been studying and commenting on the cuneiform archives from Mari on the Euphrates River, especially those from the age of Hammurabi of Babylon. Among Mari’s wealth of documents,
69 min
387
Eva Mroczek, “The Literary Imagination in Jewis...
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed a world of early Jewish writing larger than the Bible, from multiple versions of biblical texts to revealed books not found in our canon. Despite this diversity,
49 min
388
Andrew T. Abernethy, “The Book of Isaiah and Go...
As with the other major prophets, the Book of Isaiah can be intimidating–its sheer length, its seemingly disjointed organization, its varied and distant historical context. While a few passages are familiar, like Isaiah’s call in ch. 6,
46 min
389
Dov Weiss, “Pious Irreverence: Confronting God ...
Judaism is often described as a religion that tolerates, even celebrates arguments with God. Unlike Christianity and Islam, it is said, Judaism endorses a tradition of protest as first expressed in the biblical stories of Abraham, Job, and Jeremiah.
57 min
390
T. Desmond Alexander, “Exodus” (Teach the Text)...
On this program, we speak with T. Desmond Alexander about his recent commentary on Exodus in the Teach the Text Commentary Series published by Baker Books in 20016. T. Desmond Alexander is senior lecturer in biblical studies and director of postgraduat...
41 min
391
Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle, “The Art of...
On today’s program, I talk with Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle about their new book, The Art of the Bible Illuminated Manuscripts from the Medieval World, published by Thames and Hudson (and distributed in the United States by W. W.
63 min
392
Benjamin L. Gladd and Matthew S. Harmon, “Makin...
Benjamin L. Gladd is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He completed his Ph.D. from Wheaton College in New Testament in 2008, and teaches courses in Greek, Exegesis, the New Testament,
35 min
393
Donald Berry, “Glory in Romans and the Unified ...
In this program, we discuss Glory in Romans and the Unified Purpose of God in Redemptive History (Pickwick Publications, 2016), a revision of Donald Berry’s doctoral dissertation. With this publication, Berry fills in a gap in Pauline studies,
55 min
394
Fleming Rutledge, “The Crucifixion: Understandi...
On this program, I talk with Fleming Rutledge about her new book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2015), and the themes and motifs surrounding the topic in the history of biblical interpretation.
63 min
395
Joseph Lam, “Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bibl...
On this program, I spoke with Joseph Lam about his book, Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept (Oxford University Press, 2016). Joseph Lam is an assistant professor in the Department of Religious ...
62 min
396
Jon D. Levenson, “The Love of God: Divine Gift,...
In The Love of God: Divine Gift, Human Gratitude, and Mutual Faithfulness in Judaism (Princeton University Press, 2016), Jon D. Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, explores the origin and development of the idea ...
28 min
397
Richard B. Hays, “Reading Backwards: Figural Ch...
Richard B. Hays is the George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. Internationally recognized for his work on the letters of Paul and on New Testament ethics, he has written many scholarly books that bridge the discipline...
59 min
398
Gary A. Anderson, “Charity: The Place of the Po...
In Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (Yale University Press, 2013), Gary A. Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, explores the theological underpinnings of alms-giving, or charity.
23 min
399
Stern, et al., “The Monk’s Haggadah: A Fifteent...
The Monk’s Haggadah: A Fifteenth-Century Illuminated Codex from the Monastery of Tegernsee (Penn State UP, 2015) is unique. The book, edited by David Stern, Christoph Markschies, and Sarit Shalev-Eyni, combines a gorgeous facsimile of a late 15th-centu...
59 min
400
Susannah Drake, “Slandering the Jew: Sexuality ...
In Slandering the Jew: Sexuality and Difference in Early Christian Texts (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), Susannah Drake, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Macalester College, investigates the representations of Jewish sexuality in e...
31 min