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
politics of resistance (2019/02/03)
Bit of a different format this week, as we spend (almost) the entire, shorter episode on Romans 13. If we put ourselves in the shoes of an oppressed and colonised people, we find a very different per…
Tue 29 Jan 2019
theology of redemption (2019/01/27)
Redemption for all people in all places is a thread that runs from the Korahite Psalms (such as today's Psalm 49), through the centuries, to the writing of the apostle Paul (as in Romans 1-3). Two sp…
Wed 23 Jan 2019
Untangling Rebekah, Isaac, and Ishmael: A Source Critical Approach to Abraham Stories (Genesis 17-24)
It was supposed to be a few minutes of source criticism; it turned into a minicast; now it's a full special episode! After the minicast on the composition of Torah a couple of weeks ago, I'm testing …
Tue 15 Jan 2019
voice (2019/01/13)
It's a big four cubits welcome back to last-minute co-host Nat Ritmeyer for the Psalms segment this week, as we dive back into the theology of Iron Age Israel through its poetry. We also have a short…
Tue 08 Jan 2019
hubris and lordship (2019/01/06)
Happy new first full podcast of the new year! We dive right in with the iconic Babel story, which reaches forwards and backwards across the narrative of early Genesis, and seems written to resonate p…
Wed 02 Jan 2019
minicast: Compilation of the Psalter
OK, so I did an intro to the book of Psalms while recording episode #45, and... well, you can probably guess. So here it is in minicast #2! Psalms might have an even more interesting textual history …
Tue 01 Jan 2019
minicast: Composition of Torah
As we prepare to get stuck into Torah in 2019, here's the first 4QS minicast! It's a brief introduction to source critical theories of composition, particularly focusing on the modern form of the Doc…
Thu 27 Dec 2018
message, myth, and truth (2018/12/24)
And we're back, with thanks to my friend Jessica for being the podcast's first live-in-person co-host! This week we go to Job, Malachi, and Revelation to talk about biblical literature, history, myth…
Mon 24 Dec 2018
mercy and retribution (2018/12/09)
Mercy is a recurring theme in today's readings, both its lack and its abundance. Maybe the extent to which we show mercy depends to a large extent on what we believe about God, and God's character. W…
Thu 06 Dec 2018
literature and renewal (2018/12/02)
An extended segment on Job dives into the curious framing narrative that opens the book. With a heightened sense of reality and a gathering of divine beings, what's really going on here - and what pa…
Wed 28 Nov 2018
purity and harmony (2018/11/25)
Yes, this week's episode is super-late, but here it is! This week we explore the limits of Nehemiah's strong justice ethic (hint: you don't have to go far to find them), and it's hard not to be disap…
Thu 22 Nov 2018
life and taxes (2018/11/18)
This week, Nehemiah brings some prophetic fire to his governorship of Jerusalem, as he literally lays down The Law on the ruling class. Hope for a better future infuses all three passages for this Su…
Wed 14 Nov 2018
law and vindication (2018/11/11)
Ezra - second Moses, wise as kings, expert in Torah - comes to restore to the people of Judah the true worship and knowledge of the blessed Yahweh, God of their fathers. The pre-exilic setting of Hos…
Mon 05 Nov 2018
reversal and trust (2018/11/04)
Three really literary passages this week, where reversal and revision are the order of the day. Manasseh flip-flops, the names of Hosea's kids are inverted, and Peter does an about-face on Torah obse…
Mon 29 Oct 2018
prophecy and revelation (2018/10/28)
It's a slightly longer episode this week, due to an extra-long segment on Daniel 4. I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into there, but it ended up throwing me a curve ball. I really wanted t…
Mon 22 Oct 2018
imagination and growth (2018/10/21)
Does God delight in the massacre of his people's enemies? In Chronicles this week, he enables the slaughter of towns and tents full of civilians. If that weren't challenging enough: when God will liv…
Sun 14 Oct 2018
Trajectories (Ephesians 5-6)
Another Sunday morning talk for you this week, based in the Ephesians 5-6 reading from the Bible Companion plan on Sunday 7th October. I was addressing a challenging subject from the household code s…
Mon 08 Oct 2018
Gospel to the Marginalised (Luke 8)
We've been calling Luke's gospel 'the gospel to the marginalised', for his consistent focus on Jesus' interactions with people on the edges of society. But what does that mean in practice? It's much …
Sun 30 Sep 2018
judgment and responsibility (2018/09/16)
Continuing our recent theme of the relationship between the Bible and history, King Josiah is front and center for the Deuteronomist this week - though God's response is objectively surprising (if li…
Sun 09 Sep 2018
fate and faithfulness (2018/09/09)
The two Hebrew Bible readings this week are both narratives of fatalism: Kings looks back to the inevitable fall of Israel from the Judean captivity, and Ezekiel looks forward to the inevitable fall …
Mon 03 Sep 2018
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