Real Bible Rob
I am a Presbyterian USA minister who interprets the Bible in all of its messy and varied voices. I teach and preach spiritual growth to people who want an open and affirming Christianity. My social media tagline is "People say lots of things about the Bible that aren't really there."
My full-length sermons and live stream are available on YouTube: @robchrist8999 and @edmondspresbyterian132
Contact me at: epc-pcusa.org, pastorepc@frontier.com
Episodes
48 episodes
Is Esther the most Romantic Book of the Bible?
Today I have a special guest Maria Hearing. Maria is a dear friend, classmate, teacher, Hebrew reading partner, and leader. Maria has done deep research on the book of Esther, and she has written scholarly papers on the narrative and genres of ...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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50:42
Phony Originalism in Christianity: History or Myth
Do you have an image of a traditional past that was better? Kids respected their parents. People had manners. They respected the law. Neighbors watched out for each other. Not like these wicked times, so the reasoning goes. It seems harkening t...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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38:23
Slavery is still with us, Leviticus 25:42-46 & Colossians 3:22-4:1
Slavery drives Christian thought far more than you realize. It has never left us. Imagine for a moment being on a plantation as a child. Slavery requires the crushing of empathy. Much of what we’ve seen in the last 400 years in the west was the...
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Season 1
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Episode 46
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38:51
Penal Substitution is not the Gospel, Romans 3:9-26
Asking "What is the gospel?" is surprisingly controversial in some quarters. Most people believe the gospel is the radical love of God in the person, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But that’s not enough for many others. They insist that Pena...
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Season 1
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Episode 45
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45:28
The King You Didn't Know, Jeremiah 1:1-19 & 2 Chronicles 35:20-25
"If you know Jeremiah, you know the Old Testament" is something I like to say. Because it is the most political book of the Bible. It is the backdrop of King Josiah's huge political blunder in fighting against Pharaoh Neco in 2 Chronicles 35 th...
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Season 1
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Episode 44
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23:56
Apologetics Can't Prove God Exists, 1 Peter 3:14-16
I said "Apologetics is Circular Reasoning" in a video last year. It garnered a lot of hate, cheers, and hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram. The response was fascinating because what should have been a philosophical argument turned into...
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Season 1
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Episode 43
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44:41
Jezebel Spirit and diminishing women, 2 Kings 9:30-37, Esther 1:10-20
There is no more painful label for women than being called a Jezebel. It contains all the condemning, cursing, and slut shaming you can imagine. "Jezebel Spirit" is a frequently used racial slur in some churches. Jezebel was a foreign woman, li...
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Season 1
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Episode 42
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34:16
Was Jesus Capitalist or Communist? Acts 2:44-45, Leviticus 25
The answer is neither. Economics is all over the Bible, but modern labels have so much historical and cultural meaning that it is dishonest to label anyone in scripture as capitalist or socialist or communist. Instead, we must talk about commer...
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Season 1
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Episode 41
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52:17
Eating the Big Fish of Resistance, John 21:1-17
Many people, especially in America, are waking up to the fact that our freedom is on the line. While this has been the norm for most people in most of history, it is a surprising development for many privileged white people. Our views often mas...
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Season 1
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Episode 40
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31:19
Martha, Mary & Audacious Women, Luke 10:38-42 & John 12:1-8
If you are a woman, you have likely heard the story of Martha and Mary. Martha is hurried and busy in the kitchen at the big party she threw for Jesus. But Mary sits down at Jesus's feet, anointing him with ointment. Martha complains to Jesus, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 39
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23:42
Going to the wall with Hosannas
Have you been puzzled by the dissonance of Palm Sunday? How can people seem so happy at the start of the worst week of Jesus's life? Why do we think Hosanna is offering praise? What made the people throw their cloaks down and wave branches? The...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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29:28
"Woke" Amos might change your life
Correction! Jezreel Valley goes from Haifa to the Jordan River. Kidron Valley is next to Jerusalem. I am sorry for the error!No word is more polarizing than "woke" but the people who get really angry about usually can't define it....
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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46:44
Pastors and Fascism, Romans 13:1-7 & Jeremiah
Pastors always walk a fine line when it comes to politics and current events. Healthy congregations have people with a variety of political persuasions. Being a true pastor means you should never abuse the privilege of power to push partisan po...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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34:46
Newton, Darwin, and God - Ephesians 1:11 & Jeremiah 10:23
What does Newton and Darwin have to do with God? A whole lot. Newton represents the height and triumph of determinism, the idea that all things have a cause and effect. If you know all the inputs and processes of a system, you can determine eve...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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33:04
Biblical Marriage from Ephesians 5:21-33 & Matthew 19:3-12
What is Biblical Marriage? That is a hard question to answer because there are many biblical marriages. There is Israelite marriage in the time of the Patriarchs, there is Judean marriage in the Second Temple period, there is New Testament Jewi...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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43:43
Recovering Fundamentalist with Author Gabe Gordon
I welcome special guest Gabe Gordon who is the author of his recent book "The Fundamentals of a Recovering Fundamentalist." We went to seminary together and he was my TA for a historical theology class. Now he is a grad student at Marquette Uni...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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40:30
What Born Again Really Means, John 3:3-7, John 3:16
"Born Again Christian" is a label you wear proudly or are very leery about it. This dichotomy is intentional and says a lot about how you see scripture and salvation. Most people think of evangelical Christians being Born Again. So why do some ...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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28:51
Why the Lord’s Prayer is crucial, Matthew 6:9-13
The Lord’s Prayer is a central feature of Christian worship. Why? There’s a long history and it’s part of a bigger question of why the Sermon on the Mount is so crucial. This is critical in today’s Christianity. Many Christians are openly disda...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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35:34
Jesus Broke the Law! John 5:9-18 & Matthew 5:17-20
Wait a minute, I thought Jesus was sinless, in Hebrews 4:15! If you ever want to smoke out religious bullies, this is one of the best ways to do it. Most people understand that strict application of the law and being faithful to the intent of t...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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32:45
Transgender a real issue? Genesis 1:27 & Matthew 19:10-12
It's heartbreaking how transgender people are being targeted as political pawns by Christians. What does the Bible have to say about gender? Is transgender against God's plan for humanity? Why are 1% of the population so threatening to many Chr...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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29:11
Lukewarm is not lukewarm from Revelation 3:15-22
Are you lukewarm? This is one of the biggest insults you can tell a Christian, but it is almost always said by lukewarm pastors who don't know what it means. The rebuke against the Laodicean church is one of the most misused parts of the New Te...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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24:52
Heart, Kidneys and Bad Theology from Jeremiah 17:9-10
This is about Bible translation and the bad theology that can come from it. There are many different ways Jeremiah 17:9-10. It is most often used to say, "Don't trust your heart!" But this is a terrible interpretation. The fundamentalist websit...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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25:45
Freedom in the Spirit from 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 & Hebrews 8:10-13
Learning a new meaning of a favorite scripture is one of the great joys of preaching every week. 2 Corinthians 3 is one of those. When paired with the lectionary readings about Moses on Mount Sinai and the Transfiguration of Jesus, I saw that i...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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25:43
Obsessed with Your Sin from Matthew 12:22-32 & 1 John 3:4-10
Many Christians are obsessed with sin. Especially your sin. There is a common refrain that Jesus talked much more about the condemnation of sin than he did about compassion. This is fallacious. Jesus hardly spoke about individual sin and rarely...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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30:59
Women Priests with Rev. Adina Meyer - Judges 4:5 & Luke 8:1-3
Rev. Adina Meyer is an ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Women Priests International Movement within the Roman Catholic Church. She also leads a UCC congregation in Seattle. She is also a terrific friend of mine. We took classes together in...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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36:44