Preachers and teachers of Bible are eager to tell us how the Bible "speaks to us today." But does it? How can it speak to us when we are not its addressees? It was written thousands of years ago in a particular place and time for its audience who lived at that time. This kind of talk reveals the way we use and abuse the biblical text to serve ourselves. We do not bring the Bible – an ancient text - to today. Instead, the student of the Bible must go back – must go back to the time, setting and culture in which the Bible was forged.
Andrea shares how city of London guide David Charnick captures this perspective in his study of Dickens’ famous 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.

https://charnowalks.co.uk/
https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/charles-dickens-christmas
https://www.fulltextarchive.com/book/A-Christmas-Carol/
https://a.co/d/jkl2hdU
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/
Illustration, Marley's Ghost by John Leech, first edition, 1843.

Tammy Faye Bakker was an evangelical Christian preacher and teacher who co-hosted television programs with her husband Jim on their PTL network from 1974 to 1987. Her story is told in the 2021 HBO movie “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

There is a scene in the movie which depicts a fundamental biblical theme.

Andrea explains shame unto correction.

“Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos” is a new HBO documentary. In it, show creator David Chase and his creative team reflect on “The Sopranos” and how they came up with and developed certain themes.

There are striking parallels between the crafting of the show & the themes explored and those we find in the Bible.

Andrea discusses man’s impermanence and the Bible’s self-referentiality.

Breaking Bad, the TV series which aired from 2008 to 2013, is a work of creative genius; a tapestry of interweaving characters and storylines. It is modern storytelling at its finest.

I recently re-watched the series and I wondered how it could be that I was enjoying my 3rd re-watch even more than when I’d first seen it. Why am I still enjoying a story that I already know?

It is because it was my 3rd time through. With each watching, more and more of the story revealed itself to me.

As with Breaking Bad, so it is with the Bible. It's the repetition. Hearing the Bible's repetitive story repeatedly is how come to know it & hear its lessons.

We are obsessed with Jesus. He is our hero, our superstar – our divine ideal. We try to follow his example; to imitate him. We not only want to be like him, we want to be him!

In today’s episode, Andrea argues that this obsession is misplaced. It’s a projection of our own desires which we impose on the gospel narratives.

The Jesus that we meet in the New Testament is not to be imitated but to be heard.

If you’re a church-going Christian, you’ve probably attended a Bible study. Bible studies, the way they are conducted today, don’t work.

We’re comfortable with the common approaches but what do we really learn? We either select a few verses of text & then discuss them or we select a popular topic & then use the Bible as a lens. What does the Bible say about money or faith or forgiveness?

These approaches are not Bible “study,” but rather, Bible manipulation. They turn the Bible into a mirror which we use to understand ourselves.

In today’s episode, Andrea proposes a better way.

Translators make errors in their translation choices because they impose themselves onto the biblical text.

In today’s episode, the last in this 4-part series on translations of the Bible, Andrea gives specific examples of translation errors. She distinguishes 3 kinds of errors: (1) euphemisms (2) word choices that force the text to make sense to the translator (3) word choices that impose the translator’s assumptions on the text.

The nativity scene is perhaps the best known visual depiction of the birth of Jesus. It is the emblem of the Christmas season. But it is not in the seeing of this scene that we understand its meaning, but rather, in the hearing of the biblical story. It is from the gospel books Luke and Matthew that we know about the birth of Jesus. In today's episode, Andrea takes a close look at Luke's text - chapter 2 verses 1-20. And she shares the work of 15th century Seinese Renaissance man, Francesco di Giorgio Martini. His Adoration by the Shepherds is a unique portrait of the nativity that conveys Luke's subversive message. In this piece, Rome is laid low.