The Bible Geek Show
by thebiblegeek
Dr. Robert M. Price answers questions submitted to him at [email protected]
Episodes
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-018
If the sodomites did not want to rape the two angels, then why did Lot have to offer up his daughters? What is your opinion of the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs? Is it possible that Luke couldn't narrate the death of Paul (in Acts) precisely because it was the Petrine christians that bumped him...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-017
God tells the serpent he will slither. The assumption is that he lost his legs. The Bible doesn't say how he got around before. So was it was a winged serpent? What gods from Greek mythology are mentioned in the Bible? Are sports mentioned in the Bible? Are there two sets of different ten...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-016
Are there 2 competing versions of Israel crossing over the /red vSea? Does the Bible teach the Trinity? Are the 12 disciples the houses of the Zodiac? Are Levi and Matthew 2 different people? Might Noah's "bow" in the sky have been the Milky Way? Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a single...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-015
Why should we think Bultmann's "Ecclesiastical Redactor" was Polycarp of Smyrna?
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-014
Why do so many people describe the serpent from the Garden of Eden as the Devil? When did people begin to differentiate "religion" from "philosophy"? Why did Paul never write a thorough exposition of his beliefs/theology? Are Genesis chapter 1 and Chapters 2-3 parts of a single story? Or 2...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-013
Do any scholars understand Jesus to have been a philosopher like Socrates? What do you know about Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, and "The Local Church" movement? Why does Gerd Ludemann consider "he appeared to Peter and the Twelve" and "he appeared to James and all the apostles" to have originally…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-011
Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-012
Discussion of more of Paul George's fifty-eight items of evidence that Christianity arose late in the first century and probably as a result of the first Roman Jewish war and the destruction of the Jewish temple: e.g., patristic claims that 2nd century bishops were personally acquainted with...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-010
Why do the gospels refer simply "Caiaphas" instead of the full name Joseph ben Caiaphas? If we ended up with Paul's Christology then why do Christians get circumcised? Any notions among scholars that Paul might have been on drugs, schizophrenic, bipolar or something? Why did Irenaeus think Jesus...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-009
I Septuagint Daniel was translated in the 3rd century BCE, mustn't the predictions of the Hasmonean revolt of 165 have been actual predictive prophecies? If the expression "fishers of men" as used in Habakkuk and Jeremiah denotes oppressors of Israel, doesn't the use of it to mean preachers of…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-008
I was reading Isaiah 43 and came across this passage concerning the return of the exiles from Babylon sounds a lot like Exodus with the safe passage through water and being saved from Egypt. What’s your view on the prophetic works being used to inspire parts of the Exodus story? You speak of why…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-007
Where in your own scholarship do you think you insert yourself--your personality, your religious beliefs, your ethics, your political beliefs, your worldview--most? And how do you, as a scholar, try to avoid falling prey to that common fate? Is there an early form of Christianity that, had it...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-006
I'm curious whether any of your opinions on Biblical or Christian history going from a more rare or fringe view toward a more mainstream or conservative one? Is it not a False Dichotomy to say that the only two possibilities are Inerrant Divine Revelation and Atheism? I'm wondering when and how…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-005
What exactly does Orthodox Christianity understand is happening at the crucifixion regarding the incarnation and death of the Son of God? How can a timeless being die, etc.? Why is the Last Supper/Eucharist associated with Passover and not Yom Kippur? I don't understand how there could be an...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-004
It seems one of the main reasons Christianity was initially attractive was the promise of eternal life. And certainly, going to heaven was always the carrot I saw as a kid a couple thousand years after Christianity began. But isn't that sort of a cheap, crass, or selfish reason to believe in…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-003
THE EARLY DATING AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS: If you find that the swoon theory is not a “far fetched” theory, why don’t you promote it more than say mythicism, docetism, etc.? Do you think in an earlier version Cain’s murder of Abel was actually a human sacrifice? On a recent episode...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-002
What would Friedrich Nietzsche think of the comic book character Superman? I would like to know if you think the New Testament outlines a clear path to salvation. If so, what must a man do to be saved? Can you please describe what you consider to be Christianities greatest contributions to human...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 23-001
Why is it that the officially sanctioned oracular devices such as the Ephod (Urim and Thummim) are considered acceptable means to discern truth, while those who practice other techniques might earn the death penalty for their efforts? Often the biblical writers don't condemn specific cultural...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-017
I know you think that the criterion of embarrassment is not a valid argument for the historicity of Jesus since what is embarrassing for one generation or group of Christians was not the same for another. However, the following points are startling pieces of evidence where the gospel writers are...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-016
Do you think there are any passages in the "Pauline" epistles that look like they might be written by Simon Magus? What do you make of Valentinus’s claim that he was in the apostolic line of “Paul” and had secret teachings through Paul's disciple Theudas? If this is true, and Paul is Simon, can…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-015
Is the passage in Revelation 11:7-12 about the 2 witnesses somehow related to the Passion and Resurrection narratives of the gospels? How do you think we can discern if a text critical method produces sound (or sound enough) readings and/or artificially constrains the possible meanings of a text?...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-014
Bible Geek Holiday Special Dr. Price reads a sermon about the 1947 movie "Miracle on 34th Street" titled "He Really is Santa Claus"
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-013
Who are Gog and Magog? It seems like angels have been largely written out of the script for fundamentalists. Is that your experience? Do you think this is a way for fundamentalists to avoid seeming Roman Catholic? What happened to the early Jewish Christians? How did your family react to your...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-012
Could you explain the story of Oedipus Rex as a religious figure, who had all the "signs and trappings of a deity" (Alan Dundes) I think I heard you say that the OT doesn't prophesy about a Messiah. Did I misunderstand you or did you say this? Does Matthew 19:13-15 seem to not fit between the…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-011
Do you know if the term "beyond time and space" began to be used to describe God after Einstein's theories were proven? In the Pistis Sophia, there are references to "five trees," from which five divine beings apparently came (with Melchizedek from the fifth). And Jesus is made to say in the…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-010
One topic: Universalism/Universal Salvation
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-009
Birger Pearson argues for a Jewish pre-Christian origin for Gnosticism, but Bart Ehrman says that view is passé. Why do you agree with Pearson? Did some Gnostics use Son of Man as an important title as opposed to the ways Vermes said? Or am I just taking "title" too seriously, since it's on the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-008
In Geza Vermes's Jesus the Jew he says many scholars reject his understanding of Jesus as a Galilean charismatic sage like Honi or Hanina ben Dosa, as well the contention that “son of man” was not a title. Please explain. Do you have any wisdom to impart in the subject of full Holiness? Do you…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-007
Tell us about Bruno Bauer. Do you know whether anyone has made a serious, well researched argument to change the BCE/CE dating scheme to something more centered in the Western/Hellenistic/Enlightenment Eras? Might the Emmaus story be based on a dream? Or the resurrection appearance of Romulus on...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-006
Mark has the crowd hail “the kingdom of our father that is coming,” while Matthew has “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Is it possible that Mark believed Jesus was the Messiah ben Joseph and still expected that Simon bar Kochba would appear as the Messiah ben David? And…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-005
James D.G. Dunn (Unity and Diversity in the New Testament) says that the Ebionite gospel omitted Matthew’s Nativity story because they were adoptionists, implying that their Christology was secondary, not the original. But couldn’t Matthew have added it? Is there any truth to current claims that...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-004
Can you pontificate a bit on the various schools of thought on dating New Testament literature and the Apostolic Fathers? Is there a translation that you can recommend for a first time Bible reader? Was there a Paul in history; how and why did these writings get attached to his name? Has the…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-003
The crucifixion story in all four gospels had to have been based on Josephus’ story of rescuing a friend from crucifixion. All four gospels were written after the Josephus “rescue”, so there is not a problem with the dates. But Paul talks about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection before the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-002
Why do people continue to set dates for the Rapture when they’ve all fallen through? Perhaps the Bible mentions 2 different arks of the covenant, the wings of the cherubim atop one of them forming a triangle through which sun shone, like the Eye of Horus. Do we lack various heretical texts simply...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 22-001
Did early Christians associate the trumpets of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year festival, with the Last Trumpet of the Rapture? What do you think about that last seventh chapter of the book: "Jesus for Sceptics" where a list of hardcore atheists is given, who under numerous and solid evidence changed...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-020
In a Gospel about, and supposedly written by, Nicodemus why would it not state that he assisted with the burial? I was wondering what examples we have of textual reconstructions, created through the methods of textual criticism, that match subsequent discoveries of texts. What do you make of the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-019
In which gnostic work can one find the myth of the sacrifice of the primal man of light, whose shattered divine sparks give life to the whole creation? What was the role of women in early Christian formation such as the Johannine gospel being written by female hands? Have you seen the documentary...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-018
How does Adoptionism fit into the evolution of historic Christology? My question is about the range of meanings that adelphoi can take. Can it mean ‘brothers in Christ’ which could be understood as ‘believers’ (regardless of gender)? There are various examples of Matthew ‘cleaning up’ Markan...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-017
In Acts 1:13-14 “certain women” are mentioned alongside the disciples. Who were they? Was it intentional that Mark has a stand-in appear inside Jesus’s tomb instead of Jesus himself? Also, that Mark had the stand-in notify a group of women first about Jesus’s resurrection? What is your...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-016
Assuming that Luke and Matthew we copying large parts of Mark, and that books were extraordinarily rare, what kind of people were Luke and Matthew? Were they respected scribes? Low level bishops of some sort? For those who consider the Bible inerrant or infallible, what does this mean in the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-015
In biblical times, how could one distinguish a Jew from a Samaritan by outward appearance? Where did Paul derive the information we read in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26? What do you think of the recent introduction of inclusive language in the New American Standard Bible? Might Thomas have been the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-014
Do you think that back in the times at the beginnings of Christianity, there was an organization or brotherhood similar to the modern day Masons that ran parallel to Judaism, and later to Christianity, that served as an incubator for the kinds of syncretic ideas that seemed prevalent in the...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-013
What do you make of Matthew 27:52? I Corinthians 2:8 mentions the “archons,” usually translated as rulers of this world. Are archons necessarily celestial or can they be earthly? Why would a celestial being be crucified by celestial beings? Occurrences of “12” in Homer. In the Book of Revelation,...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-012
Tell us about Bruno Bauer. Do you know whether anyone has made a serious, well researched argument to change the BCE/CE dating scheme to something more centered in the Western/Hellenistic/Enlightenment Eras? Might the Emmaus story be based on a dream? Or the resurrection appearance of Romulus on...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-011
I think the Jesus ben Ananias account in Josephus is actually about the Gospel Jesus as an old man. If this Ananias is the high priest of the Gospels, then Joseph Caiaphas was his son in law, and Jesus was his grandson. I'm curious about the origin of the idea found in many religions that pain…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-010
My understanding is that "Paul" means something like "humble" or "small." Is that the idea? That this character goes from being the powerful persecutor Saul to the small and humble little Paul? Or is it more likely that there was some vague historical memory of a Paul who played into Jewish or...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-009
Christians often criticize atheists for believing that the universe was created from nothing. How do they square this with their belief that God created the universe ex nihilo? I wondered if you've been following the story of "the Shapira document." What is your general take on Strobel and his…
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-008
What was that parallel Bible you said you liked so much? Is there any reason to believe that the Q character from Star Trek was named after the Q source from Bible scholarship? How widespread is the belief that OT theophanies were appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ? What’s wrong with Joseph...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-007
Do we know why Jesus declares woes upon the “unrepentant” cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum in Matthew 11 and Luke 10? Which is more likely authentic: Luke 6:20 (“you poor”) or Matthew 5:3 (“the poor in spirit”? Is Luke redacting Matthew, or is Matthew redacting Q? In the Odyssey, only...
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The Bible Geek Podcast 21-006
Is there a work that gives a good overview of the different models of how Christianity could have started? Genesis and Exodus use the term "Pharaoh" as if it's a proper name, while also referring to the "King of Egypt." Ezekiel refers to "Pharaoh King of Egypt," again like 'Pharaoh' is the name,...
About this show
Dr. Robert M. Price answers questions submitted to him at [email protected]
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thebiblegeek
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