PODCAST · religion
Strange New World
by Matthew Myer Boulton - SALT Project
Welcome to “Strange New World,” a show about understanding the Bible, the world’s most influential, misunderstood book - a podcast tailor-made for skeptics, believers, and everybody in between. Hosted by SALT’s own Matthew Myer Boulton, who’s spent twenty years teaching the Bible and theology to students at Harvard Divinity School and seminaries in New England and the Midwest, “Strange New World” will take a fresh look at the world’s bestselling book of all time, the ancient community library we call “the Bible.” The show’s title, “Strange New World,” is borrowed from an essay written by a Swiss theologian a hundred years ago, in which he wrote of “the strange new world within the Bible,” a world so ancient, so different, so familiar, so strange that it presses us to think new thoughts from new points of view, “to dare and to reach,” and ultimately “to grow out beyond ourselves.”
Episodes
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The Bible and Climate Change - Part Two: Jesus
Part Two of our two-part series, “The Bible and Climate Change” - exploring what Jesus has to do with climate change, zeroing in on his last public teaching, the final words he wants ringing in our ears. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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The Bible and Climate Change - Part One: Genesis
Rethinking the Bible from the ground up, in the face of the greatest global challenge in human history. In this episode, we start with Genesis, and uncover how "climate change" - though it's never mentioned in the Bible - is on virtually every page. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Understanding Easter - Part Seven: Rethinking Easter
Rethinking the holiday from the ground up, with help from Mary Magdalene and one of the most harrowing, fascinating stories in scripture: the story of Rizpah.
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part Six: Holy Week
What’s the greatest work of art in Christian history? And how can Berry’s Sabbath poems and Matisse’s Chapel of the Rosary, which Matisse himself considered his masterpiece, help us understand the many mysteries in the holiest week of the Christian Year?
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part Five: Cross
Why was Jesus, an unarmed, peasant rabbi, seen as such a threat to the powers that be (including the mighty Roman Empire) that they had him killed? The prophet Ezekiel gives us a clue, and Berry’s poem about resurrection and Matisse’s transformative painting shed light on the deep meanings of the...
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part Four: Sight
The story of the cross, and many of the stories leading up to it, contain a kind of trap – and if we’re not careful, it’ll catch us unaware. The story of Jesus and the man born blind is no exception, and as we explore it, Wendell Berry and Henri Matisse can help us “see.”
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part Three: Lines
Guided by Wendell Berry’s poems and Henri Matisse’s line drawings, a romp through time, eternity, “eternal life,” the Sabbath - and the often overlooked way many of the Bible’s books, including the Gospel of John, generate meaning.
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part Two: Light
A deeper dive into Henri Matisse’s luminous vision of the artist, Wendell Berry’s meditations on divine joy, and one of the most famous (and misunderstood) verses in the New Testament, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…”
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Jesus, Wendell, and Henri - Part One: Trust
In this episode, we explore how both Wendell Berry’s practice of Sabbath walking (and writing) and Henri Matisse’s approach to “realism” can shed light on Matthew’s famous story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
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The Poetry of Christmas - Part Four: The Question
It's a question at the heart of everything: What is love, anyway? It’s nothing less than the key to understanding God, Jesus’ teachings, and Christmas itself, and yet we rarely explore what it really means. With E. E. Cummings and Mary Oliver as our guides, we set out to find an answer.
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The Poetry of Christmas - Part Three: Heaven and Nature
An exploration of Jesus' puzzling answer to John the Baptizer's question, Mary Oliver's fascinating response to the question, "What is a poem?", and E. E. Cummings' dazzling meditation on the cosmic, intimate, joyful dimensions of Christmas.
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The Poetry of Christmas - Part Two: The Way
A deep dive into baptism, "the wheat and the chaff," whether poetry can be “true,” and how E. E. Cummings, Mary Oliver, and the wonder of creation can help us understand “the Way” at the heart of Advent and Christmas.
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The Poetry of Christmas - Part One: The Dawn Chorus
How the Bible is made of poetry, and how Mary Oliver, E. E. Cummings, and the wonder of creation can help us hear Jesus’ call for this Advent and Christmas season: “Keep awake. Be ready.”
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Understanding Church - Part Five: Humility
An exploration of how, for Jesus, humility is the key to the mission of the church, the essential stance without which mercy, faith, praise, and justice can become distorted and dangerous.
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Understanding Church - Part Four: Justice
In this episode, we take on one of the most controversial and perplexing questions when it comes to “justice”: should the church be mixed up in politics? Jesus’ answer might surprise you.
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Understanding Church - Part Three: Praise
In this episode, we explore how the power of “praise” can both divide and connect, and discover Jesus' vision for how the Christian church should relate to people of other religions (and no religion at all).
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Understanding Church - Part Two: Faith
In this episode, we explore what Jesus really meant by “faith” - and how for him, the church is actually a community of “little faith” (or no faith at all).
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Understanding Church - Part One: Mercy
What is the church? What is it for? In this opening episode of a five-part miniseries, we first clarify what the church is not - and then turn to Jesus' provocative parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
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After Easter: Politics, the Bible, and What Comes Next
Is Easter an end, or a beginning? And what difference can it make to our world today, so torn by conflicts over immigration, justice, and injustice?
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Seven: "Wheatfields with Crows"
“Wheatfields with Crows” is Vincent’s last major painting, and as it turns out, it’s a brilliant portrait of the tensions at the heart of Easter morning: sadness and loneliness, restoration and grace. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Swords into Ploughshares: Politics, the Bible, and the Heart of Holy Week
Should the church wade in to political controversies? And if so, when, and how? The stories of Holy Week can help - and in turn, thinking about this thorny question can help us deepen our understanding of Holy Week.
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Six: "Starry Night"
The story of Van Gogh's beloved "Starry Night," and how it can help us see the story of Palm Sunday - and the Bible generally - with new eyes. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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What Shall We Do? Politics, the Bible, and the Power of Tenderness
After the first three months of the new presidential administration and Congress, and in the midst of division, confusion, and controversy - what wisdom, what light can the Bible provide? A story from the Gospel of John gives us a clue…
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Five: "Shoes"
In this episode, we dive into one of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, a still life of an ordinary, worn-out pair of shoes. And the link between that painting and Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet gets to the heart of what life is all about: in a word, tenderness. Drop us a line at...
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Four: "The Sower"
In this episode, we turn to Vincent’s version of “The Sower” he painted in November of 1888, a springboard for exploring two of Jesus’ most famous (and misunderstood) teachings: “The Parable of the Sower,” and “The Prodigal Son.”
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Three: "Almond Blossom"
In this episode, we explore Vincent’s “Almond Blossom” painting, setting his vision of an almond tree alongside Jesus’ parable of a fig tree. Two trees, two parables, each shedding light on the other… Drop us a line at [email protected].
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part Two: "Sunflowers"
In this episode, we dive into Vincent's famous "Sunflowers" paintings, and discover connections to Icelandic fisherman, a woman at a cradle, and Jesus' image of himself as a mother hen. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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The Gospel According to Vincent - Part One: "Still Life with Bible"
The son of a Christian pastor, Van Gogh trained for ministry before becoming a painter - and both his letters and his canvases are full of theological ideas. Can Van Gogh help us understand the Bible? Can the Bible help us understand Van Gogh's work? The answer to both questions, as it turns out,...
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Politics, the Bible, and the 2024 Election
As we approach one of the most polarized, divisive elections in American history, what wisdom, what light can the Bible provide?
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Understanding Jesus - Part Six: Free to Go
Culminating this six-part series, we explore the true meaning of the cross in Mark's Gospel, and what Jesus really had in mind by "a ransom for many." Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Understanding Jesus - Part Five: The Camel and the Needle
It's one of the most controversial, radioactive, personal, pressing topics around: money and wealth, how much we should have and how much we should give away. Turns out Jesus had a lot to say about it, and in this episode, we take a deep dive. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Understanding Jesus - Part Four: How Jesus Reads Scripture
In this episode, we tackle the specific question of Jesus' teaching about divorce (it’s not what you think!), and the general question of how Jesus reads Scripture. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Understanding Jesus - Part Three: Peace is the Way
"Blessed are the peacemakers," Jesus said - and as it turns out, peacemaking is a key to understanding what it means to follow him. Along the way, we explore a famous story about A. J. Muste, the Christian peacemaker sometimes called, "The American Gandhi."
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Understanding Jesus - Part Two: Signature Move
What's the essence of Jesus' mission? What's the "signature move," the choreography at the heart of his work? In this episode, we explore these questions - and along the way, discover his vision for what "true greatness" is all about.
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Understanding Jesus - Part One: Crossroads
It's part one of our six-part series, "Understanding Jesus," a fresh look at the most provocative, influential, and misunderstood figure in human history. In this episode, we introduce the series, and then dive in to his famous, deceptively simple question, "Who do you say that I am?"
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Understanding Easter - Part Six: The Challenge of Palm Sunday
This episode tackles the challenge of Palm Sunday, a story brimming with an ancient idea about how scripture works, and what it’s for.
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Understanding Easter - Part Five: What Resurrection Is For
This episode zeroes in on the meaning — and the purpose — of resurrection, arguably the greatest mystery of them all.
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Understanding Easter - Part Four: The Great Reversal
The Easter story is full of big, bold reversals — but there’s one in particular that’s hidden under the skin of the story, and it just might be the most subversive of them all.
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Understanding Easter - Part Three: Why Was Jesus Killed?
Why was Jesus killed? Why did the Roman empire, arguably the most powerful force in the world, execute an unarmed, peasant rabbi from Nazareth? Turns out this mystery goes all the way back to the story of Cain and Abel...
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Understanding Easter - Part Two: Ten Ways of Looking at the Cross
The mystery of the cross is like a cathedral with many entrances and side chapels, and exploring it can both enrich the season and deepen our understanding.
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Understanding Easter - Part One: The Beginning
A deep dive into the meaning of Easter, starting at the very beginning (even before the beginning!), with the creation stories, the story of Noah and the ark, and the opening lines of the oldest New Testament Gospel.
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The Night before Christmas: Part Four
Woven through the biblical library is a vibrant tradition of humility, making possible the practice of genuine love — and revealing how the essence of Christmas includes a critique of… Christmas as we know it today!
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The Night before Christmas: Part Three
Isaiah’s legendary proclamation of “good news to the poor,” how Jesus understood scripture as “script,” St. Francis of Assisi’s second conversion (plus the anniversary of one of his inventions!), and more.
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The Night before Christmas: Part Two
How Mark’s quotation of Isaiah’s call to “prepare the way of the Lord” reveals one of the key ingredients the Bible is made of — and how “peace” is at the heart of the Christmas season.
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The Night before Christmas: Part One
How Isaiah’s call on God to “tear open the heavens” points to.an ancient practice central to the Bible, and crucial to Christmas - but often overlooked by Christians today.
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Understanding Christmas - Part Four: Rethinking Christmas
In this concluding episode of the four-part series, we turn to the most well-known stories of the season, from Mary to the Magi to the shepherds and the angels, and find them shimmering with meanings that are often overlooked or misunderstood. Drop us a line at [email protected]. Merry...
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Understanding Christmas - Part Three: Heart of the Matter
In this episode, we arrive at the heart of the matter. Featuring Mary, Hannah, Jael, Judith, Elizabeth - and John the Baptizer. We promise: you’ll never think about “the wheat and the chaff” the same way again! Drop us a line at [email protected].
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Understanding Christmas - Part Two: Silent Night
In this episode, we dive into Luke’s story of John the Baptizer, and explore how it’s both a Christmas story and a war story - all for the sake of God’s peace.
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Understanding Christmas - Part One: Hope Against Hope
It’s Part One of our four-part series, “Understanding Christmas” — a fresh look at the deeper meanings of one of the world’s biggest holidays, and what it says about Jesus, hope, and the ancient library we call “the Bible.”
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Understanding Easter - Part Seven: Rethinking Easter
In the concluding episode of our seven-part series, “Understanding Easter,” we rethink the holiday from the ground up, with help from Mary Magdalene and one of the most harrowing, fascinating stories in scripture: the story of Rizpah. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to “Strange New World,” a show about understanding the Bible, the world’s most influential, misunderstood book - a podcast tailor-made for skeptics, believers, and everybody in between.
Hosted by SALT’s own Matthew Myer Boulton, who’s spent twenty years teaching the Bible and theology to students at Harvard Divinity School and seminaries in New England and the Midwest, “Strange New World” will take a fresh look at the world’s bestselling book of all time, the ancient community library we call “the Bible.”
The show’s title, “Strange New World,” is borrowed from an essay written by a Swiss theologian a hundred years ago, in which he wrote of “the strange new world within the Bible,” a world so ancient, so different, so familiar, so strange that it presses us to think new thoughts from new points of view, “to dare and to reach,” and ultimately “to grow out beyond ourselves.”
HOSTED BY
Matthew Myer Boulton - SALT Project
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Strange New World have?
Strange New World currently has 60 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Strange New World about?
Welcome to “Strange New World,” a show about understanding the Bible, the world’s most influential, misunderstood book - a podcast tailor-made for skeptics, believers, and everybody in between. Hosted by SALT’s own Matthew Myer Boulton, who’s spent twenty years teaching the Bible and theology to...
How often does Strange New World release new episodes?
Strange New World has 60 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Strange New World?
You can listen to Strange New World on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Strange New World?
Strange New World is created and hosted by Matthew Myer Boulton - SALT Project.
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