[Bible] Episode 340: Pete Ruins Everything with Bill Schniedewind
The Bible For Normal People

[Bible] Episode 340: Pete Ruins Everything with Bill Schniedewind

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 12, 202655 min
  • Interview
  • Religion

In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete talks with biblical scholar Bill Schniedewind about where God is located in the Hebrew Bible and how different understandings of divine presence developed throughout ancient Israelite religion. They explore the archaeological and biblical evidence surrounding temples, sacred spaces, the Ark of the Covenant, and the centralization of worship in Jerusalem, challenging the idea that Israelite religion followed a simple progression toward one centralized system. Together, they consider the Bible’s competing visions of God’s presence, the tensions surrounding political and religious authority, and how those unresolved tensio...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

.

This is Pete ruins the news

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B24:12
  • B26:37
  • B217:28
  • C120:34
  • B231:46
  • B233:44
  • C142:42
  • B245:58

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 39%A2 33%B1 18%B2 9%C1 1%
  • 90% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 140 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 203 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

This is Pete ruins everything where assumptions come to die and nobody leaves happy. I'm Pete Enns This is Pete ruins the news All right So there is an evangelical argument for supporting Donald Trump that I think deserves to be taken more seriously than it often is and it

0:27

Goes something like this Look, we know who Trump is. We know about his character. We know about the sexual misconduct, the lying, the narcissism, the cruelty, the pardoning of criminals, the obsession with himself. We're not pretending he's a saint. We're not even necessarily pretending he's a particularly good Christian, if one at all. But none of that means God can't use him. God can use deeply flawed people to accomplish God's purposes.

0:55

It's even in the Bible. Cyrus was the king of ancient Persia. He wasn't an Israelite, he wasn't a worshiper of Yahweh, but he served God's purposes by releasing the Judean exiles and allowing them to return home. And in Isaiah chapter 45, get this, God calls Cyrus his anointed. That's the Hebrew word

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (54 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy