The Lydia McGrew Podcast

Here I continue the series on the Temple cleansing, defending the conclusion that John reports historically rather than changing the facts. This episode discusses an undesigned coincidence between some dialogue in John's account of the Temple cleansing and the testimony of some hostile witnesses in Jesus' trial. This casual connection provides evidence both that John and the Synoptic authors are reporting accurately and that John's account describes (as he says it does) an event that occurred early in Jesus' ministry. This episode was originally uploaded to YouTube Oct 6, 2020.

In the second part of my series on the Temple cleansing, I discuss what one sometimes hears vaguely referred to as "other" reasons why many scholars reject two Temple cleansings. These reasons consist of the insistence that Jesus would not have been allowed to cleanse the Temple twice or would not have been allowed to continue to live and carry out a ministry for several years as described in the Gospel of John if he really cleansed the Temple early as John reports. I show that this is completely unfounded speculation. The Gospel of John presents a coherent and believable account in itself in which Jesus does just that--cleanses the Temple early and continues his ministry thereafter. The Synoptics all by themselves show that it is false to think of the Temple cleansing, all by itself, as a sufficient cause to determine that Jesus would die within a short time thereafter.   This episode was originally uploaded to YouTube Oct 1, 2020.

In this first episode on the Temple cleansing, I discuss the objection to two Temple cleansings that says that the two accounts in John and the Synoptics are just too similar to describe different events and that therefore such a harmonization is strained and artificial. I point out various differences that make it entirely open and not implausible that these were indeed two different events, just as the evangelists' reporting would normally lead us to believe. This episode was originally uploaded to YouTube Sep 28, 2020.

Today I begin a new series of short episodes on New Testament reliability. These episodes will highlight a concept or issue in this area. This first episode discusses the reporting of time order or chronology. I distinguish four different ways that one might report time. 1) You state or imply a time and get it right. 2) You state or imply a time and get it wrong by honest error. 3) You state or imply a time that you know is contrary to fact. (I call this dyschronological narration.) 4) You don't really intend to state or imply a time, though someone might misunderstand and think you are doing so. (I call this achronological narration.)   I'll be doing a short series on the Temple cleansing in John and in the Synoptics. This discussion of time is intended to be helpful in general and also as a prelude to that. Did John "move" the Temple cleansing, as many scholars say he did? And what would that mean?   This episode was originally uploaded to YouTube Sep 25, 2020. My book, The Mirror or the Mask, goes into these issues in more detail. You can buy it on Amazon either in Kindle or paperback. https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mirror+or+the+mask&qid=1600272214&sr=8-1

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond. If you are interested in more information, please see the fuller discussions of these issues in The Mirror or the Mask and in the accompanying blog posts.  In this final episode of the series I discuss what is at stake in this debate. How do these issues have the potential to affect the work of pastors, Christian counselors, and the individual devotional lives of laymen?  My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series. This episode was originally published on Jul 27, 2020 on YouTube. Associated blog post: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-conclusion-whats-at.html  Bonus blog post on Matthew's use of the Old Testament: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-matthews-use-of-old.html  The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Lydia McGrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydia.mcgrew.5   Michael Licona's book Why Are There Differences in the Gospels?   https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels-ebook-dp-B01MQFWQHD/dp/B01MQFWQHD/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1596112501  Michael Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond. If you're interested in more information on these issues, please see the accompanying blog posts and, most importantly, The Mirror or the Mask itself.  In this episode, I discuss the way that the reportage model--which is just the view that the Gospel authors were trying to report with literal historical truthfulness and were highly successful--deals with some specific Gospel differences. I also discuss how that differs from the way that the compositional device model deals with them.  My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series. This episode was originally published on Jul 24, 2020 on YouTube. Associated blog post: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-gospel-differences.html  The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Michael Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels/dp/0190264268  Lydia McGrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydia.mcgrew.5    Mike Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond.  If you're interested in more information on these issues, please see the accompanying blog posts and, most importantly, The Mirror or the Mask itself.  In this episode I discuss ways in which the reportage model is supported by undesigned coincidences and other confirmed details in the Gospels and how this means that the compositional device model is disconfirmed by that same evidence.  My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series.  This episode was originally published on Jul 20, 2020 on YouTube.  There are two associated blog posts.   https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-methodological.html   https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-does-origen-support.html  The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Michael Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels/dp/0190264268  Lydia McGrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydia.mcgrew.5    Mike Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond. If you're interested in more information on these issues, please see the accompanying blog posts and, most importantly, The Mirror or the Mask itself.  In this episode, I discuss how equivocation on terms creates confusion in this discussion. I also give examples of how the literary device model is even a misguided way to approach secular historical works like the writings of Plutarch.  My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series.   This episode was originally published on Jul 17, 2020 on YouTube. Associated blog post:  https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-equivocation-plutarch.html  The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Michael Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels/dp/0190264268  Lydia McGrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydia.mcgrew.5    Mike Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond. If you're interested in more information on these issues, please see the accompanying blog posts and, most importantly, The Mirror or the Mask itself.  In this episode, I discuss what paraphrase is. I also explain why, contra some recent scholars, ancient Greek exercise books do not support the theory that the Gospel authors felt free to make changes to historical facts in their writings.  My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series. This episode was originally published on Jul 13, 2020 on YouTube. Blog post accompanying this video: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-paraphrase-exercise.html  Extra blog post for more on "Black and White Thinking": https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-black-and-white.html  The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Michael Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels/dp/0190264268  Lydia McGrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lydia.mcgrew.5    Mike Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR

In my recent book, The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices, I argue that the Gospels are historical reportage. This argument involves both positive evidence for literal accuracy and arguments against the views of Michael Licona, Craig Evans, and others that the evangelists felt free to make historical changes due to the literary conventions of their time. Dr. Licona has recently released a video series in which he claims to refute my work in The Mirror or the Mask. In this series, I respond. If you're interested in more information on these issues, please see the accompanying blog posts and, most importantly, The Mirror or the Mask itself.  In this episode, I discuss the genre of the Gospels. What do scholars mean when they say that the Gospels are or "have much in common with" Greco-Roman biography, and is it true? My deepest thanks to Immanuel Fellowship Church for their studio facilities and hard work in helping me to put together this video series. This recording was originally published Jul 10, 2020 on YouTube. Blog post accompanying this video: https://lydiaswebpage.blogspot.com/2020/07/new-licona-series-on-greco-roman.html The Mirror or the Mask: https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070  Michael Licona, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? https://www.amazon.com/Why-Are-There-Differences-Gospels/dp/0190264268 Mike Licona's video series on my work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpPGCP1zKznR06Jxb5RaQYrNIiH7xR7ZR