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Humour in the Bible: Part 1: Introducing Saul

This is the first of what might need to be a long series! Just to do justice to the introduction of Saul in 1 Sam 9 I’ll need at least 2 posts… except the “video”  version is a bumper compendium...

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Humour in the Bible: Part 2: Still Introducing Saul

Here’s a second instalment of Saul’s introduction… if when you are listening you have a Bible handy, open it to 1 Sam 9:11ff. [NB the screencast below includes both parts. Unlike the audio which sticks...

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Cliché Theology: Joshua 11:1-9

Sometimes a good old-fashioned cliché is the best way to achieve your desired effect, and communicate your theological message. I’ll illustrate this using Joshua 11:1-9. The story of how Jabin of Hazor...

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Typescenes and the book of Ruth

Typescene sounds like a typical technical term scholars use make Bible stories dull In this podcast I hope to show you it’s exactly the opposite and that by spending 5 minutes learning about typescenes...

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Ruth is from Moab, but Boaz is from Bethlehem

After looking at Direct speech in biblical narratives and especially how the manner of speaking characterises Boaz and Naomi in the book of Ruth and a side glance at the question of whether Ruth’s...

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E100 week 5: The Law and the Land

Despite its title this five has little about the law, and not enough about the covenant (binding agreement) to which this law belongs. The selection of passages (the first time I have strongly differed...

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E100-23: Joshua 1: Joshua Succeeds Moses

This chapter focuses on Joshua taking over from Moses, now that (at the end of Deuteronomy) Moses is dead and gone (though no one except God) saw him die. In the reading we learn a lot about how the...

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E100-24: Joshua 3:1 – 4:24: Crossing the Jordan

In spring it becomes a torrent, today's river is depleted by water taken by modern pumping stations for cities and irrigation For today’s reading there are historical (standing stones) and geographic...

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E100-25: Joshua 5:13 – 6:27: The Fall of Jericho

The remains of the Bronze Age walls of Tell es-Sultan (Jericho?) are impressively massive. Photo from Wikimedia A great Sunday School story again raises the issue of divinely ordered brutal killing,...

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E100: Week six: Is Ruth also among the Judges?

The book of Judges starts badly and gets worse. The end gets completely censored, never read in church, even the Sunday School stories get their naughty bits covered up! The book ends with a slogan in...

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E100-26: Judges 2:6 – 3:6: A vicious cycle or A divine alarm-clock?

The deuteronomistic cycle described by Richard Martin There’s a nasty cycle that repeats time and again in Judges, and that forms a theme of the history in the books of Samuel and Kings too: Israel...

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E100-27: Judges 4:1 – 5:31: Deborah – a twice-told tale

The story of Deborah, the prophetess and judge, is one of those biblical stories told to us twice, first in a prose narrative and then in a poetic celebration (the Exodus crossing of the sea in Ex 14...

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E100-28: Judges 6:1 – 7:25: Unlikely victors

This story is often used to support testing whether God really wants us to do something we are reluctant to do, just like Gideon. In this podcast, as well as drawing attention to some other thoroughly...

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E100-29: Judges 13:1 – 16:31: Samson a biblical superhero?

It’s certainly hard to find a superhero in the Bible! Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and even Moses – all fail – though some of them look good the way we try to… by comparison with their neighbours, family or...

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E100-30: Ruth 1:1 – 4:22: At last a nice story!

Well, Judges was thoroughly censored for E100, as it is for most church use, the bits we got were the rare good bits, cf. my Twisted tales: or should the book of Judges be censored? (which got me into...

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E100: Week 7: Bible stories for adults

Newspaper photo by Jachin Sheehy If you thought Bible stories were for children, nice little tales with a nice little moral at the end, then you probably have not been following the E100 up to this...

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E100-31: 1 Samuel 1:1 – 3:21: On not missing the voice in the darkness

Three great chapters, full of well crafted narrative, with a stirring  song thrown in! There is too much detail to notice in the way these stories are told, you’ll have to watch for the fun yourselves....

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E100-32: 1 Samuel 8:1 – 10:27: Plus ça change ;(

I'll leave you to work out why I chose this picture for this podcast photo by quapan This is the story in which we hear the interface between Judges, “Everyone did as they saw fit, for there was no...

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E100-33: 1 Samuel 16:1 – 18:16: Slain in the Spirit

Saul the hero close up by donwolf1979 Yes, like some of the Bible writers, I just can’t resist a pun, especially if it really does help carry the message And in this case I think it does, more...

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E100-34: 1 Samuel 23:7 – 24:22: Two noble opponents

"head and shoulders above the rest" by jenny downing Just when you begin to wonder if any Bible story is really suitable for simple Sunday School reading, and have begun to suspect that the Bible has...

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