Context Matters
This podcast is for people who are curious about the ancient context that influenced the final shape of the Bible…AND ALSO…how our modern context influences the way we understand the Bible and God and all things spiritual.
Episodes
How does prayer fit into the formation and healing of our imagination? As we continue our conversation with Dr. Justin Bailey, he addresses prayer as reorienting our attention, priorities, and requests within Jesus' story. We also contrast cheap, clichéd hope with costly hope shaped by confession, suffering, and the Spirit’s reminder of the larger biblical story.
Find out more about Dr. Bailey and his book HERE
In our recent conversations about spiritual formation, the use of the imagination has come up several times. Why is the imagination so significant in spiritual formation? Don't we simply need to learn more data about the Bible? Out of early misgivings about the models of discipleship we often use in the church, Rev. Dr. Justin Bailey decided to focus his work on discipleship and the imagination. Today Justin joins us to talk about ...
This is a re-edited broadcast of a conversation with Dr. Michael Rhodes from 2024. Is it possible that Western Christianity and modern American life is shaping us to become people who are NOT good at doing justice, and loving mercy, and showing kindness? We know of such concepts but do we embody such concepts in the world around us? This week kicks off a several week conversation with scholars about different aspects of discipleshi...
This is a re-edit conversation from 2024 with Dr. Lanta Davis. Her book Becoming by Beholding is a wonderful conversation partner with some of the recent podcast episodes.
Her book will prompt you to think about the connection between art, imagination, and theology. How did the historic church think about the imagination and spiritual formation, and can we do a better job of that in today's environment? Are we aware enough of what ...
Today we continue the conversation with Arrabon's founder, David Bailey. We talk about what the "Gospel of the Kingdom" means along with several of Arrabon's resources to equip all kinds of audiences for understanding Scripture and spiritual formation. There are so many tools available to help a diverse group of Jesus followers, despite their differences, learn to grow and mature as God's people.
Find out more about Arrabon HERE
David Bailey is the Founder and Chief Vision Officer of Arrabon. As a public theologian, David helps to bring wisdom, theological imagination, and moral imagination to the way that Christians show up in the world. He created Arrabon as a way to equip Christ's followers to actively, creatively pursue healing in their communities, to be a foretaste of the kingdom of God, an agent of healing, and an agent of reconciliation in their co...
When two contradictory commands about remembering past events refused to be reconciled, Dr. Megan Roberts began exploring new theories to help her exegetical work. Trauma theory helped explain the Israelites engagement with memory. And working on what God's comfort can say to traumatized people hit a deep and personal cord in her own life.
Read more about her work in Isaiah HERE
Biblical texts can be hard to read for several reasons - the poetry or images are challenging, or the emotion is strong, or the text seems to contradict itself in strange ways. In this episode, Dr. Megan Roberts from Prairie College tells us what draws her to these challenging texts and how they have a personal impact on her own life.
Read more about her work in Isaiah HERE
You can find many of her sermons and teaching at Prairie Co...
Last week Dr. Faro introduced us to the significant literary theme of women who advance the story of salvation. Today we hear example of the Matriarch Sarah and how she and Mary the Mother of Jesus share some common characteristics. We also talk about Hannah's song and about a little known figure named Jehosheba. How do these unexpected women play critical roles in the salvation story?
Discover more about Dr. Faro HERE
Dr. Ingrid Faro joins us today to talk about the "highway" that runs through the literary structure of the salvation story. Seeing women as crucial players in moving the story of God forward is not common, but Dr. Faro introduces us to why this is so important for readers of the biblical text. Today we begin a conversation about her new book Redeeming Eden: How Women of the Bible Advance the Story of Salvation.
Brad Nelson and Brad Gray from Walking the Text continue their conversation about the rich theology embedded in every phrase of the Lord's Prayer. How does "Holy be Your name" involve the community of believers? Why is receiving and giving forgiveness so essential? This is only a taster for their new film called "The Lord's Prayer" and their recently released book titled Bringing Heaven Here.
Explore the wealth of resources at Wal...
So many of us memorized the Lord's Prayer. Some congregations quote it together every week. It is so familiar that we don’t always stop to think about the theologically rich statements it is making. Today, helping us slow down to think about the prayer are Brad Gray and Brad Nelson from Walking the Text. They recently released a film called "The Lord's Prayer" and wrote a book titled Bringing Heaven Here.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but that is not the only significant location in the Christmas story. Dr. Jack Beck joins us again to talk about how the geography matters in the way we understand how Luke introduces his readers to Jesus. The origin story continues all the way to Jerusalem where we meet Simeon and Anna. We talk about why the location of this encounter matters and the beauty of the words spoken matter to all of us.
It is Christmas time and we are discovering the fullness of the Origin Story of Jesus. Matthew and Luke tell us so much more than the moment of Jesus' birth. Dr. Jack Beck joins us again to talk about how the geography matters in the way we understand who Mary and Joseph are. This week we start with Nazareth. How big was it? Where was it located? Did the geography influence what people expected from life?
Dr. Nicholas Schaser introduces us to the fascinating world of rabbinic interpretation. Today we talk about how similar Jesus is to his contemporary sages like Hillel and Shammai. What were their views of interpretation? What kind of humor did the sages use?
Find out more about Dr. Schaser HERE
Explore his book: A Ransom for Israel: Jesus and Jewish Salvation in Matthew
Read short articles by Dr. Schaser on Israel Bible Center's webs...
As we set the context for the birth of Jesus, we explore the dominant voices of Jewish thought and practice at the beginning of the 1st Century CE. Dr. Nicolas Schaser from Macalester College introduces us to the sages of Hillel and Shammai - who are they? What were their philosophies? This will lead us into more conversations next week about how these two compare to the teachings of Jesus.
Find out more about Dr. Schaser HERE
We are in the process of exploring the context of the birth narrative of Jesus, and we have arrived at the time of the rise of Octavian. He will lead the Roman Republic into its Empire stage. But how does he do that and how does this change the Judean context of Bethlehem where Jesus is born?
Explore more about all the projects Dr. Smith is involved in:
Great Commission Bible Institute
Christian Travel Study Programs
Outreach Ministry...
Dr. Randal Smith is the Director of Christian Travel Study Program and a virtual encyclopedia about biblical context. We are in the process of exploring the context of the birth narrative of Jesus, and while we assume Roman domination, it wasn't always that way! Today we discuss how Rome emerged from squalor to an empire that dominated the Mediterranean, outmaneuvering the Greeks and innovating military, economic, and political sys...
As we start to anticipate the time of Advent and ultimately the birth of Jesus, what are some of the contextual things we should be aware of? Each historical period had an influence on God's people. To kick off the "Advent of Advent" mini-series, we are going back to a conversation I had last year with Dr. George Athas. He is a professor at Moore College and the author of an excellent book Bridging the Testaments. Today we revisit ...
Today is part 2 of the conversation with Dr. Melesse Woldetsadik. We are following up on the need for discernment when blaming problems on the spiritual realm. In our post-modern world we have a tendency to dismiss spiritual beings to focus on science, and yet there are moments and situations that cannot be solved through the medical world or psychiatry. But others can, right? So how do we hold all these tools and how do we know wh...
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