In this episode, we sit down with biblical scholar Dr. Jennifer Bird to explore the Bible’s complex portrayals of marriage and sexuality. Jennifer shares her journey from conservative evangelicalism to a more nuanced, humanistic perspective, and helps us unpack, among other things, Jesus and Paul’s lack of enthusiasm for marriage, the Bible’s limitations as a guide for healthy relationships, and the risks of putting Jesus on a pedestal.
After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Anna Robinson reflect on their own experiences with ‘biblical’ teachings around sex and marriage, and consider whether Jesus really offers an antidote to the Bible’s more problematic stances.
Interview starts at 16m 19s
WEBSITE
SOCIALS
BOOKS
Marriage in the Bible: What Do the Texts Say?
Permission Granted–Take the Bible into Your Own Hands
QUOTES
“Jesus is depicted as being single and as saying you can leave your families and that’s okay. In fact, you get bonus in the next life.”
“The longer I do this, the less I’m attached to the Bible and the less I find it helpful today.”
“Biblically speaking, I haven’t found any advice about sex and marriage that I find to be helpful.”
“I think that there is something bigger and more interesting than the way God is talked about in the Bible…”
3 Responses
Tim to my ears you sound rather down after that interview . I am not surprised. The interviewee I felt represented her very particular takes on the bible as wisdom beyond doubt. An evangelical fundamentalist approach if you will !! You don’t have to agree with people in that mode even though it feels like you are in a bind when you meet it.
There is so much I could say especially around how the bible is so much deeper and multi layered than portrayed in the interview but above all the basic question of was Jesus the son of God is unavoidable. My belief is that he was and is and that all Christian faith hangs on that. An ego only based faith is a hopeless place just as an abandonment of ego to a fundamentalist position is a dead end.
This is off the top of the head so please excuse the rambling but I was energised to respond and went with it.
Hi David,
Thanks for your concern. I was definitely a bit rattled by the interview! I think I’m still coming to terms with the messy complexity of the bible, and a kind of deconstruction of the rather sanitized and angelic image of Jesus I inherited. Nomad episodes don’t really represent where I’ve landed though, just where I’m at on the day!
Thanks for listening.
Tim
Thanks for the reply Tim I think I was a little bit in reaction mode when I posted and apologies to your guest for that. For me Jesus’ presence on this earth is the moment when God meets us as we are, knows exactly what we’re like and shows us the way to really live whilst offering the forgiveness we are going to need (continually) in order to live our life in relationship with God and not go into hiding a la Adam and Eve. I would use “real” and “courageous” and “heroic” before “angelic” as descriptions of Jesus. I appreciate the podcast and I’m glad I found it!
Best wishes