Naked Bible 224: The Falling Away and the Restrainer
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2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 contains two enigmatic features. In the first four verses Paul takes on the false teaching, circulating in the Thessalonian church, that the Day of the Lord had already come to pass. In the process Paul tells the believers “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the apostasia comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” It’s clear that the man of lawlessness is the antichrist, but what is the apostasia? Some translations render the Greek term “falling away,” but others have “rebellion”? Just what event is Paul talking that must occur before the revealing of the antichrist? Later in the chapter Paul mentions an impersonal “restraint” and a mysterious figure who is the “restrainer” that are holding back the events leading to the second coming. What or who could do that? This episode tackles both these difficulties.
Naked Bible 222: Trees and Kings with Rusty Osborne
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How ancient Israelites thought about the institution of kingship is deeply rooted in the ancient Near Eastern ideology of kingship. Kings were viewed as extensions of the rule of deities, the providers of life and welfare and order. Kings ensured that life for the people under his (and the deity’s) rule went along as it was intended. Trees were emblematic of these ideas, as they spoke of the fertility of the land, the presence of life in an otherwise arid, hostile environment, and a metaphorical connection between heaven and earth. In this episode of the podcast we interview Dr. William (“Rusty”) Osborne, an expert in this kingship metaphor, to help us navigate these concepts.
Book: Trees and Kings: A Comparative Analysis of Tree Imagery in Israel’s Prophetic Tradition and the Ancient Near East
1 Corinthians 15:29 is one of the more enigmatic verses in the Bible. Scholars have long struggled with the meaning of Paul’s questions: “. . . What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” Just what was going on at Corinth that involved baptism for the dead? Is this literal (water) baptism or something else? Who are the dead – believers or unbelievers? Does baptism help dead unbelievers in the afterlife? If not, what’s the benefit? How does this verse fit the wider context of Paul’s discourse on the resurrection?
Article resource:
James E. Patrick, “Living Rewards for Dead Apostles: ‘Baptised for the Dead’ in 1 Corinthians 15.29,” New Test. Stud. 52 (2006): 71–85
