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AWKNG School of Theology with Karla Adcox

Recently David Capes taught a course for the AWKNG School of Theology. 

While in Jacksonville, he sat down with Karla Adcox to talk about the history and mission of the school.  In a few short years they have created some quality courses digging deeply in the Scriptures, and today they have an impressive number of students.

To hear the podcast click here.

Who is Karla Adcox? 

Karla Adcox is the President and CEO of AWKNG School of Theology.  She’s served in ministry for 17 years, but she’s always been hard-wired for business. She’s a mom, a wife, and she works with their family business as an interior designer.

What is the AWKNG School of Theology? 

The AWKNG School of Theology started in 2019 and held its first class in spring 2020.  That was the year the COVID pandemic started, and it changed the business model and delivery model radically. 

Dr. Michael Heiser founded the school.  Tragically, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about this same time.  Also, his provost Dr. John Phelps was diagnosed with another form of cancer. 

Unfortunately, Dr. Heiser died in February 2023 after a long fight.  But even in the midst of his treatments he kept creating content and working to add courses to the menu of offerings. 

Karla tells a touching story of how deeply he remained engaged despite the damage the cancer was doing to his body.  He had this clever idea of putting “Seminary on a Flash Drive.” 

What is the mission of AWKNG School of Theology?

The mission of the AWKNG School of Theology is to awaken Christians to a deeper understanding of the Bible. 

They would like to bridge the gaps between the academy and the church.  And they make getting an education as easy and inexpensive as possible.  They are creating certificates with some of their courses. 

Those courses are being taken by nearly 2000 students around the world, many in the majority world.  And they are growing quickly.

Resources

For the AWKNG School of Theology website click here.

To hear Michael Heiser’s “The Naked Bible Podcast” click here.  

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

What’s more, you can get information on upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library. Just click here.

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Christ among the Messiahs with Matt Novenson

Matthew Novenson joined David Capes on The Stone Chapel Podcasts to talk about his important book, Christ among the Messiahs: Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient Judaism (Oxford University Press).

The book has made a big contribution to the study of Christology in the earliest years of the Jesus movement.  Though it has been out ten years, it is worth sharing with a new audience. 

Who is Matthew Novenson? 

Matthew is originally from Tennessee.  He now serves as the Professor of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. 

Christ among the Messiahs 

For many years some scholars have regarded the word “Christ” as just another name for Jesus in the earliest writings of the New Testament, namely, the letters of Paul.  But Matthew makes a convincing case that the word “Christ” in Paul means “Messiah.”   

This may seem to some only natural, but it is a momentous thing.  It involves a whole new reassessment of Paul’s language and his Jewishness.  

We find messiah language in various places like the Old Testament, Paul’s letters, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other second temple Jewish texts. 

Novenson often employs the word “honorific” as a noun to discuss Paul’s use of “Christ” in his letters.  It comes from the discipline of “classics,” namely, the study of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. 

Honorifics are like titles in a way but they were intended to magnify the name of the person. The most famous is Caesar “Augustus.” 

The idea that “Christos” as it referred to Jesus is not limited to name or title.  There is a third way, an honorific.

Novenson has done a great deal to shape the field of New Testament studies with this and other books.  

Other Books by Matt Novenson

Paul: Then and Now (Eerdmans)

The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users(Oxford UP)

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

To hear the podcast (22 min) click here.

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Announcing the Gospel in Fecund Language with Joseph Dodson: Col 2:15

The grammar, metaphors, background, and possible referents of the Greek wording of Colossians 2:15 make for rich challenges and possibilities for interpretation, translation, and application. As Dr. Joseph Dodson explains in this episode, choosing between options may not always be correct. Dodson is the Dr. Craig L. Blomberg Chair of New Testament at Denver Seminary. In addition to other publications, he co-edited, Paul and the Giants of Philosophy: Reading the Apostle in Greco-Roman Context, and is working on commentaries on Romans (Brill) and Colossians-Philemon (Holman).

To hear the podcast click here and scroll down to the podcast that published July 31, 2023.

“Exegetically Speaking” is a weekly podcast of the friends and faculty of Wheaton College, IL and The Lanier Theological Library. Hosted by Dr. David Capes, it features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—and show how reading the Bible in the original languages “pays off.” Each podcast lasts between seven and eleven minutes and covers a different topic for those who want to read the Bible for all it is worth. Click on the ⓘ symbol below for each episode to read the description.

If you’re interested in going deeper, learn more about Wheaton’s undergraduate degree in Classical Languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) and our MA in Biblical Exegesis. 

You can also hear Exegetically Speaking on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at exegetically.speaking@wheaton.edu. And keep listening. 

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The Divine Warrior Myth and Andy Angel

Andy Angel came to the Lanier Theological Library in Houston and discussed with David Capes some ideas he had about “The Divine Warrior” in Scripture. 

Who is Andy Angel? 

Andy is the Director of Formation for Ministry in the Diocese of Oxford in the UK. 

He arranges and plans for the theological education of the clergy and the lay people in the Anglican Church. 

Andy is an Englishman and an Anglican clergy.  For a time he served as a pastor-teacher in Lima, Peru. He is a husband and father.  And he’s is also an author. 

“The Divine Warrior” What does that mean?

There are passages in the Bible that describe God as a warrior for his people.  When they are defeated, when they are down for the count, God arrives to fight for them. 

And God’s coming is described in amazing pictures and images, such as God coming on the clouds, the falling of the stars from heaven, the mountains melting beneath his feet, the valleys quaking at his presence. 

This is more than metaphor;  it is figurative language, because the truth of it cannot be captured in words. As an example, he talks at length about Psalm 18. 

Jesus as the Divine Warrior

Also in this podcast he turns his attention to an upcoming book about the Divine Warrior occurrences in the book Mark. 

He is exploring how and to what extent Jesus’s conflicts with the demonic forces, diseases, and human power structures picture Jesus as the Divine Warrior. 

If this is what Mark had in mind as he wrote his Gospel, he is operating with a very high Christology.

Andy’s Books

Here are more of Andy’s books:

Intimate Jesus: The Sexuality of God Incarnate

The Jesus You Really Didn’t Know

Playing with Dragons: Living with Suffering and God

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

What’s more, you can get information on upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library. Just click here.

To hear the podcast (about 20 min.) click here.

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Son of David/Son of God with Matthew Novenson

The Greek sentence that opens Paul’s letter to the Romans includes carefully worded claims about Paul’s gospel. Crucially, Paul identifies some of what he means when he refers to Jesus as Christ/Messiah: He is a descendent of David and the Son of God. He is the latter not only as a result of the resurrection but in a special way through that event.

Dr. Matthew V. Novenson is Professor of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. Among recent publications are (author) Christ Among the Messiahs; Paul, Then and Now; and (co-editor) The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies.

To hear the podcast click here.