Time for another podcast recommendation!
This time it's for Robert M. Price's show The Human Bible. It's a show where theologian Dr. Robert M. Price discusses topics in biblical criticism and answers listener questions using his vast knowledge of biblical and Christian history. Best of all, he comes from a secular perspective, understanding the text as a human creation, not one inspired by a god. And yet as a former Baptist pastor he has insight into the biblical literalist mindset.
In my formative years I was a great fan of Reginald Finley Sr.'s The Infidel Guy Show. Robert Price's "Bible Geek" episodes of that show were some of my favourites — his great voice, his quiet sense of humour, his breadth of knowledge. His new show here is much the same, though unfortunately without Reginald Finley's irreverent co-hosting.
I've only got an amateur interest in biblical criticism, so I've got no way to assess whether this guy knows what he's talking about or is respected in his field, but he sure sounds like an expert.
Not sure if you're aware, but Dr. Price actually still does the "Bible Geek" podcast (http://robertmprice.mindvendor.com/biblegeek.php). I'm still addicted to it, while very much enjoying the Human Bible podcast as well due to its structure. HB would have been nice when I first started listening to BG because it took me a while to understand the various topics (form criticism, parousia, etc) that come up a lot. HB ends up being a great intro to all that.
If you're a fan of Dr. Price, there's also a listeners "fan" page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebiblegeeklisteners/) which is pretty active.
As far as I know, he is in fact respected as a scholar, even if some of his views are admittedly fringe. Nobody doubts (I assume) is knowledge of the Bible nor understanding of the intent. But I'm a huge fan of his, so perhaps I'm rather biased!
Oh, cool, I didn't know that about the new Bible Geek podcast, thanks for the tip!
Yeah, one of the things I like about the Human Bible is the fact he goes through topics like the different text sources in enough detail that you really feel like you get it, or at least get the point that there's something important and non-obvious to be understood. I'm basically a fan of any smart, educated person who loves their work talking about their stuff in a way I can understand without being patronising. And Robert Price is definitely one of those people.