Part 1: Johnny Cisneros – Bible Study Apps for Word Studies in Colossians
What are some of the best Bible study apps today? And how can you use those study apps to gain meaningful insights into the key words in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians? In this episode, Dr. Heiser interviews his long-time friend and colleague, Johnny Cisneros. With his training in biblical languages and his doctoral studies in technology-enhanced learning, Johnny Cisneros is the ideal person to help you apply simple and powerful strategies to study the Bible. The discussion centers on introducing you to some popular Bible study apps, walking you through several examples of Greek word studies from Colossians, and finally, a special offer to the Naked Bible audience for video courses designed by Johnny Cisneros.
Part 2: Joe Fioramonti – Anno Domini
Joe Fioramonti is a long-time friend of Mike and the podcast. He’s an artist, a professor, and an entrepreneur. His new business, Anno Domini, designs and hand-produces unique but traditional art prints. One-third of the proceeds goes directly to ministries that focus on persecuted pastors and Christians in dangerous parts of the world.
The subject of honor and shame-based cultures is familiar to anthropologists, but a foreign topic to most people interested in biblical studies. Nevertheless, it is an important aspect of New Testament interpretation. In this episode we chat with Dr. David de Silva, a recognized expert in this area of Second Temple period / New Testament study. As he wrote in The Dictionary of New Testament Background, “Honor refers to the public acknowledgment of a person’s worth, granted on the basis of how fully that individual embodies qualities and behaviors valued by the group. First-century Mediterranean people were oriented from early childhood to seek honor and avoid disgrace, meaning that they would be sensitive to public recognition or reproach. Where different cultures with different values existed side by side, it became extremely important to insulate one’s own group members against the desire for honor or avoidance of dishonor in the eyes of outsiders, since only by so doing could one remain wholly committed to the distinctive culture and values of the group. This struggle is particularly evident in the NT, as church leaders seek to affirm the honor of Christians on the basis of their adherence to Jesus while insulating them from the disapproval they face from non-Christian Jews and Gentiles alike.”
David A. deSilva, “Honor and Shame,” Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 518–519.
Important Resources:
David de Silva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (IVP Academic, 2000)
David de Silva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Baker Academic, 2018)
David de Silva, The Letter to the Galatians (New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT; 2018)
Our preceding three episodes in large part set the table for the remainder of Colossians 2. Paul revisits some familiar themes: the superiority of Jesus to Jewish mystical teachings about angels (stoicheia), food laws, and the Sabbath. The new element here, and focus of this episode, is Paul’s link between the cross event (in particular the resurrection) and the defeat of the powers of darkness. Because of the cross, the rule of the gods over the Gentile nations, set up by God himself as a punishment at Babel (Deut 32:8-9; cp. Deut 4:19-20; 17:1-3; 29:23-26) has been nullified and de-legitimized. This is the underpinning of Paul’s mission to reclaim people among the nations for God’s everlasting family.
These two verses are (in)famous in New Testament study. Paul’s comments about baptism and circumcision, and a “circumcision made without hands” have been an interpretive battle ground every since they were written down. How does baptism relate to our receiving and being rooted in Christ (Col 2:6-7)? Does baptism complement salvation? Does it propel us toward salvation? How does water baptism relate to circumcision at all—if indeed Col 2:11-12 is even about water baptism? What if Paul is talking about Spirit baptism (1 Cor 12:13)? What then?
As we saw in our previous episode, a lot of theology can be packed into just a handful of verses. Colossians 2:6-8 leads to the focus of this episode, Colossians 2:9-10. These two verses are the pivotal content for Paul’s response to the Colossian heresy, the Jewish-mystical elevation of supernatural beings (“angels”) as spiritual authorities and points of reference for reverence.
