Episode: In this episode, Dru Johnson talks with Garrick Allen about how paratexts (i.e., all the things around and between the biblical texts) have shaped our notions of canon, Gospel, and our reading practices of the biblical literature. His forthcoming Eerdmans book—Words Are Not Enough: Paratexts, Manuscripts, and the Real New Testament—argues that paratexts might hold the most sway over our biblical reading, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's unavoidable. From titles of anonymous books to cross-reference systems to extensive theologically-driven study notes, the biblical literature has always been entangled with paratexts. Dru and Garrick spend some time talking about the recent "Trump Bible" (AKA Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA Bible) and the ethical contours of paratexts.

Guest: Garrick Allen is Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism (Theology & Religious Studies) at the University of Glasgow. His first book, The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture (Cambridge 2017), was awarded the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise 2019 and his essay "Monks, Manuscripts, Muhammad, and Digital Editions of the New Testament," published also in a chapter in his book Manuscripts of the Book of Revelation (Oxford 2020), was awarded the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship by the Society of Biblical Literature (2018). His most recent book is Words Are Not Enough: Paratexts, Manuscripts, and the Real New Testament (Eerdmans, 2024).

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Episode: Back for the 7th time, Prof. Dr. Ervine Sheblazm is here to speak the hard truth about tuff questions. What happens when culture fails to address its own insidious tendencies? How do we move forward when culture reaches a dead end? What lies around the corner for those of us living on the crusted-over remains of modernity and its evil child, post-modernity? Dr. Sheblazm has thought through each of these questions, and he has answers that left reviewers stunned. Learn about how Abraham's bosom and Pauline passages may hold the key to navigating the troubled waters we live in.

Guest: Dr. Sheblazm is the best tendencies in all of us ... what we wish we were on a good day.

Endorsements:

If you enjoyed this episode … why not check out the good Dr.’s other episodes, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Episode: Beginning with Jesus's kingship, Tom Wright and Michael Bird speak to about the potentials and perils of contemporary politics. Discover a Christian vision for government not as an overbearing nanny or a terrifying bully but as God's servant. Cohosted by Matthew Bates.

The Book: Tom Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (SPCK/Zondervan, 2024). Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?

In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work. (Publisher's description, abridged).

Guests: N.T. Wright is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University.

Mike Bird is Academic Dean, Postgraduate Coordinator, and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia.

OnScript's Review of Jesus and the Powers: The gospel is that Jesus is king. And, yes, this is a political claim. But what should that mean for our politics today? Wright and Bird make a powerful Christian case for liberal democracies as the least worst option, because they protect liberties, curb evil, and create space to love our neighbors well. Discover how Christians can participate wisely in government to help it remain God's servant. -- Matthew W. Bates, author of Why the Gospel?; professor of theology, Quincy University

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