four cubits and a span
A layperson's conversation about ancient biblical narrative in the life of the modern believer, incorporating the best of biblical scholarship. Also, stories.
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- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Episodes
- 101
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2021
reframing (2019/10/20)
This week, each passage is a reframing a familiar, biblical narrative for a different moment in time. We consider how the Chronicler retells an Egyptian invasion of Judah; how Ezekiel recounts a visi…
Sun 13 Oct 2019
seasons (2019/10/13)
four cubits and a span is back! Jo Kitchen returns to co-host this episode, and we take a look at three passages that make us ask all of the most interesting questions that the Bible invites us to co…
Sun 06 Oct 2019
Of Justice and the Conscience
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. - Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (after Theodore Parker). 1964, Middletown, Connecticut. Something a little different this week! In an …
Wed 14 Aug 2019
In Conversation with Deuteronomy 22 on Sexual Abuse
We're back with a summer hiatus special episode! I was delighted to invite my friend Jo Kitchen to re-record with me a segment on the second half of Deuteronomy 22. We look at how ancient patriarchal…
Sun 28 Jul 2019
ethics and self-awareness (2019/06/02)
This week's episode opens up a conversation about the ethical implications of divinely-mandated violence and genocide in the conquest narrative in Joshua, and the real world danger of a superficial, …
Mon 27 May 2019
conquest and integrity (2019/05/26)
There's an extended Joshua segment today, as we face up to the different versions of the conquest of Canaan presented throughout Joshua and Judges. To help us start framing the right questions to ask…
Mon 20 May 2019
storytelling and Rachel (2019/05/19)
In the Joshua 3-4 segment there are some crucial issues to consider that help to frame this pivotal episode in early Israelite narrative history: entering the land of Canaan. The Isaiah passage on th…
Wed 15 May 2019
lovers and martyrs (2019/05/05)
This week's episode is super-late because I've been ill, but here it is anyway. There's plenty of material in this week's readings to make everybody uncomfortable, and that's without the stuff that I…
Sat 04 May 2019
rhetoric (2019/04/28)
This week on the podcast we're returning to the seventh-year remission laws from last month, and the fascinating character (and book) of Koheleth from last year. We're also facing up to one of the ra…
Sun 21 Apr 2019
appropriation and manifestation (2019/04/21)
What happened at Sinai? This question faces us throughout the Deuteronomy narrative, and this week is our introduction to the Deuteronomist's retelling of the Exodus tradition. In John's gospel we're…
Mon 15 Apr 2019
origin and honey (2019/04/14)
What was the route of the exodus journey, and why does it matter? Can we really learn profound lessons about the Bible by reading a list of place names? (Spoiler alert: we can.) We move away from pit…
Sun 07 Apr 2019
identity and inter-relationship (2019/04/07)
So what happens when the reality of the biblical text crashes against our expectations of biblical reality? We're taking that head-on in the Numbers passage this week, as we consider the choice: expl…
Mon 01 Apr 2019
talking and telling (2019/03/31)
Challenging texts this week, and three important conversations to hold. In Numbers, God is planning genocide again - and we have to ask ourselves whether or not God changes his mind, and how we read …
Mon 25 Mar 2019
oath and wisdom (2019/03/24)
Lady Wisdom and Madam Folly are introduced at the start of Proverbs, and it's appropriate as we look for wisdom in the Law and the Gospel this week. It's hard to know where to go with either, but the…
Tue 19 Mar 2019
land and loyalty (2019/03/17)
In spite of the dreadful audio quality in this episode (sorry about that) I really got sucked into the texts this week. The release and jubilee laws in Leviticus, which are cautiously liberative, are…
Mon 11 Mar 2019
instruction and humanity (2019/03/10)
Three quite different passages this week: a list of sexual "don't"s in Leviticus; part of the astonishing Psalm 119 that puts humanity and God only a Torah's-breadth apart; and the question of whethe…
Wed 06 Mar 2019
minicast: The Holiness Code
The Leviticus segment for the next two weekly episodes takes us into the Holiness Code, a text that is quite distinct from the rest of the Priestly material in Torah. In this minicast we take a look …
Sun 03 Mar 2019
context and confidence (2019/03/03)
How do we read and study the Bible? How hard should we work to pin down the meaning of every last detail, and is that even possible? This is where our thoughts are drifting in this episode, especiall…
Mon 25 Feb 2019
past, present, and future (2019/02/17)
Sometimes the Bible is obscure and esoteric to us, and relies on knowledge that was bound to its culture of origin, as in the instructions for robing the priests in Exodus - and that's OK. Sometimes,…
Mon 11 Feb 2019
words and agency (2019/02/10)
As promised a few weeks ago, we're reading Jesus walking on the water alongside Psalm 89 and asking what it means for a human being to exercise the authority of God. Read transcript Read more »
Mon 04 Feb 2019
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