BEN: I was pretty surprised by your take on Sheol in the OT. It seems to me it is simply the land of the dead at least in Israel, not the domain of wicked humans and evil spirits. For example, the prophet Samuel seems to be summoned up from there by a medium, and the very phrase ‘gathered to one’s ancestors’ in conjunction with talking about death and the grave surely conjures up the place of the dead in the... Read more

BEN: Let’s talk for a minute about what I will call the spiritual universe as opposed to the material universe. If I’m understanding your first chapter in the new book aright, you are suggesting that there are created beings in the spiritual universe or realm, as well as in the material realm. Indeed, the only uncreated being seems to be God, though we could debate with the church fathers about what ‘only begotten Son’ (monogenes) actually means. A related matter... Read more

BEN: While this question might better suit the Unseen Realm discussion, still it’s relevant here. I entirely agree with you that Eden was a particular place on earth, not the whole earth. From my viewpoint, in addition the story of Adam and Eve is basically the story of the origins of the group of people who became God’s chosen people, not everyone. The Bible is about God’s relationship with a particular people, and others enter the picture only insofar as... Read more

BEN: It’s ironic, but it seems clear that even very conservative Protestants don’t just stick to the Bible and its literal interpretation. They have their own traditions that muddy the waters— for instance the Christian Church tradition that the NT rules out using musical instruments in worship, or the Pentecostal tradition that Acts 2 is about speaking in angelic tongues, or the tradition that Ephesians 6 is authorizing deliverance ministries, rather than ‘standing’ and defending against devilish onslaughts. Why do... Read more

BEN: Recently, I’ve spent many weeks working through the long history of exegesis of the Lord’s Supper with my Sunday school class, and explaining where the notion of transubstantiation came from. The underlying message was that later Christian traditions, like kudzu in the South overrun and cover up the actual meaning of Biblical texts like ‘this is my body, broken for you’. It seems to me that your M.O. is much the same in these books. Misunderstanding comes from later... Read more

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First of all, it should go without saying that: 1) looting and destruction of property is not a Christian response to anything at all. It should be repudiated always; 2) It is time for statues of Confederate soldiers and leaders to be put where they belong, in history museums. They should not be in public squares, in front of public buildings as supposed positive examples of our Southern heritage. They should also not be destroyed. ‘Cancel culture’ is not a... Read more

The following is a small segment of an interview the NY Times recently conducted with Bob Dylan: (see https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/arts/music/bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage) Why didn’t more people pay attention to Little Richard’s gospel music? Probably because gospel music is the music of good news and in these days there just isn’t any. Good news in today’s world is like a fugitive, treated like a hoodlum and put on the run. Castigated. All we see is good-for-nothing news. And we have to thank the media... Read more

BEN: Your discussion of unclean spirits in Chapt. 10 is fascinating. But I wonder if any of the hearers or readers of the NT could have possibly known to associate that terminology with the spirits of the dead Nephilim? Or for that matter could Mark’s audience, even the Jewish Christian ones, in Rome really be expected to know all the ANE and 2nd temple speculations about evil spirits and demons? It seems unlikely. And we have to remember there was... Read more

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