All Episodes
Are You Rich?
This week, Fr. Marc and Richard reflect on the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19. Why was it wrong for the young man to call Jesus "good?" Beyond the obvious p...
Live from St. Cloud
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the way in which St. Paul uses the categories "weak" and "strong" to undermine human judgment in 1 Corinthians. Th...
Not Before the Time
What is the biblical response to poverty, violence and suffering in the world? How does the biblical commandment to love the neighbor differ from progressive ideas of ...
Stay as You Are
In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the painful but critical role that slavery and hierarchy play in St. Paul’s epistles. Reflecting on the same teach...
(#29 Republished) Our Daily Bread
Fr. Marc interviews Richard about a sermon he recently presented on Matthew 14:14-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. Richard explains how in both readings, the American obs...
(#28 Republished) Jesus Goes to High School
According to a 2014 study published by the National Education Association, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. In many cases, the ex...
Our Daily Bread
Fr. Marc interviews Richard about a sermon he recently presented on Matthew 14:14-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. Richard explains how in both readings, the American obs...
Jesus Goes to High School
According to a 2014 study published by the National Education Association, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. In many cases, the ex...
Do Not Heal Thyself
In the gospel of Luke (4:22-30) Jesus warns his own people that "no prophet is accepted in his own country." Hearers of the story usually equate this with the demeanin...
Thy Kingdom Come
Fr. Marc and Richard lament the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of the biblical teaching. The episode begins with a special prayer recited by the children of Eph...
Countless Teachers?
Fr. Marc and Richard reflect on the primacy of loyalty for the discipline of biblical wisdom. In a culture where information flows freely, why do we suffer from a defi...
Jacob's Folly
Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Hosea's reading of Genesis, exploring the biblical concept of antiheroism as expressed in Hosea's critique of the Patriarch Jacob. Along t...
No Place to Lay Your Head
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the function of circumcision in Galatians and it's implications for human identity. What is the purpose of circumc...
Interview with Dr. Greg Paulson
In this week’s episode, Richard and Fr. Marc interview Dr. Greg Paulson, a biblical scholar and text critic who was recently invited to work on the 29th edition of Nes...
Push the Text
Is a paralytic just a paralytic? Why did the priest in Luke walk down from Jerusalem and not up? What is the significance of being half dead, or left for dead on the s...
You Say You Wanna Teach?
In this week's episode, Richard and Fr. Marc reflect on Jesus' famous declamation against the Scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23. It is commonly assumed that by c...
Can These Bones Live?
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard review Fr. Paul Tarazi's exegesis of the healing at Bethesda, (John 5:1-15) reflecting on the function of weakness in the ...
Interview with Fr. Sergius Halvorsen
In this week's episode, Richard and Fr. Marc interview Fr. Sergius Halvorsen, Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Rhetoric at St. Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood, N...
Shame on Who?
In this week's episode, Richard and Fr. Marc contrast biblical and worldly shame, reflecting on the central role that shame plays in the biblical tradition and the var...
Who is the King of Glory?
According to a 2014 survey published by The American Bible Society, the number of people who consider the Bible just a book “written by men” has doubled in just three ...
The Wrong Side of the Law
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard reflect on John 12 and how the dialogue between Jesus and Judas illuminates an uncomfortable tension between Scripture and...
Follow the Storyline
In this week's episode of the Bible as Literature podcast, Richard and Fr. Marc reflect on Fr. Paul Tarazi's discussion in episode 12 of a biblical storyline, elaborat...
Interview with Fr. Paul Tarazi
Fr. Marc and Richard welcome their teacher and professor, Fr. Paul Tarazi, who discusses his understanding of the Bible as literature and its implications for Biblical...
The Merciful Father
In this week's episode Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the parable of the Merciful Father, a story commonly (and unfortunately) known by the name of its secondary charact...
Harlotry and Loyalty
Richard elaborates on the concept of "harlotry" in the Book of the Twelve, explaining how this metaphor is used to highlight the disloyalty and ingratitude of God's pe...
Destruction of Jerusalem
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss a dominant pattern of judgment in the Bible, sometimes referred to as the "Destruction of Jerusalem." This topic w...
Suffer Little Children
Richard and Fr. Marc discuss their experiences reading Ezekiel with children and teens, dispelling the assumption that younger audiences are unable to wrestle with unc...
It's Functional!
Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the concept of "function" in biblical studies; its application in word analysis, where it is used to help uncover the meaning of words, bu...