The relationship between Judaism and the New Testament has often been clouded by misinterpretation and bias. On the new episode of Committing Faith in Public, Phillips Theological Seminary President Doug Powe welcomes New Testament scholar and faculty member Dr. Warren Carter to discuss his new co-authored Baker Academic volume, Early Judaism and the New Testament: Troubling Misunderstandings.

Warren Carter (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is the LaDonna Kramer Meinders Professor of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the author of many books, including Seven Events That Shaped the New Testament World and The Roman Empire and the New Testament.

Ariel Feldman (PhD, University of Haifa, Israel) is the Rosalyn and Manny Rosenthal Professor of Jewish Studies at Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he also directs the Jewish Studies program. He has published several books and articles, most of which deal with the literature of Early Judaism.

BOOK OVERVIEW (from the publisher)

The relationship between Early Judaism and the New Testament is a major issue in biblical studies, one that has impacted Jewish-Christian relations for centuries. This impact has often been negative due to troubling misconceptions of both the New Testament and Jewish writings contemporaneous with it. Misunderstandings have arisen from inaccurate information, religious traditions, and anti-Semitism.

Warren Carter and Ariel Feldman address and correct these misconceptions by engaging with the New Testament and major writings from Early Judaism, including the Apocrypha, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Philo and Josephus. The authors emphasize various interactions among these traditions for the purpose of better interpreting the New Testament and, importantly, avoiding anti-Jewish bias.

This is an ideal supplemental textbook for students of the New Testament as well as interested clergy and laity. The text is straightforward and readable, and unlike other books on the topic, it does not assume prior knowledge of Early Judaism or of New Testament engagement with it. Each chapter recognizes troubling misunderstandings that people often have about the interactions between Early Judaism and the New Testament and includes discussion prompts.

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Before his retirement from Phillips, Gary Peluso-Verdend met with several faith leaders for a series of interfaith conversations. On this episode, Gary talks with the Rev. Barbara Prose, who until recently served at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s All Souls Unitarian Church.

Email Kurt Gwartney with your questions, comments, or possible guests for this podcast.

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It has become cliché to note that America is highly polarized. Polarization has become something like the weather: something to complain about rather than act on. Braver Angels is an organization dedicated to depolarize America and to revive the spirit of our democracy.

One cannot imagine a more important contribution to reviving civic faith of America and in America than helping citizens of opposing views to know each other. Here in Oklahoma, we have a Braver Angels alliance. In this episode of Committing Faith in Public, senior vice president at Oklahoma State University (Tulsa) Chris Benge and All Souls Unitarian Church pastor Barbara Prose talk about the alliance to which they give leadership.

Mr. Benge has given decades of service to Oklahomans and is a Republican. The Rev. Prose pastors a progressive congregation, is a social justice advocate, and identifies as a Democrat. How many places can you hear a civil and honest conversation between persons who identify with different parts of the political spectrum? Join host Gary Peluso-Verdend and listen in to this special episode of the podcast. To learn more about Braver Angels in Oklahoma, email bprose@allsoulschurch.org or chris.benge@okstate.edu.

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What does one do with the master of divinity degree these days? The answer is not necessarily simple! In this episode of committing faith in public, the Rev. Loren Richmond (MDiv 2013) talks about his journey after seminary. He has been a church pastor, a church planter, a hospital chaplain, and a student in an MBA program specializing in nonprofit management.

In this very challenging era for the institutional church, Loren is trying to equip himself and, through his podcast, prepare others to face challenges with knowledge, courage, and humility. Loren relates lessons learned through experience and often as a result of things not going as expected. Before the end of the podcast, Loren is joined by his young son. Thus, we the audience experience one of the other challenges of post-seminary, bi-vocational ministry: parenting.

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Marcia McFee, PhD, is one of the speakers and is worship designer for this year’s Remind and Renew, January 25-27, at Phillips Seminary and online. She is a visiting professor at Redlands University where San Francisco Theological Seminary finds its home.

With a PhD in Liturgical Studies and Ethics, and related work in cultural anthropology, she brings a rich perspective on the intersection of liturgy, ethics, culture, and both ecclesial and public life. About halfway through the interview, podcast host Gary Peluso-Verdend set aside the script and spent the remainder of the time talking with Dr. McFee about the rituals and public displays on January 6 this year.

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The Rev. Dr. Chelsea Yarborough is one of the speakers this year at Phillips’ Remind and Renew event, January 25-27, in Tulsa and online. She is assistant professor of liturgical studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL.

Dr. Yarborough recently completed her PhD at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She is a professor and minister known for exploring liturgy in the context of black theology and preaching outside the pulpit. In her wide-ranging conversation with Committing Faith in Public host Gary Peluso-Verdend, she talks about ritual as protest, social reimagining as distinct from social repair, and coupling repentance with penance as genuinely difficult work.

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Victoria Loorz, MDiv, is one of the speakers at this year’s Remind & Renew Conference at Phillips and online, January 25-27. Rev. Loorz is a "wild church pastor," an "eco-spiritual director" and co-founder of several transformation-focused organizations focused on the integration of nature and spirituality.

After 20 years as a pastor of indoor churches, she launched the first Church of the Wild, in Ojai CA and began to meet others with the same sense of call to leave building and expand the Beloved Community beyond our own species. She then co-founded the ecumenical Wild Church Network and Seminary of the Wild.

The Rev. Loorz and Committing Faith in Public Life host Gary Peluso-Verdend talk about her extraordinary work around ritual and communities seeking connection with God, among themselves, and with the particular places in creation, e.g., marking Ash Wednesday in the ashes of a California wildfire. She also muses about ritual work toward social repair and species repair. (And GPV apologies for mispronouncing Ojai, California).

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