Chirpings of the Bird

Feb 05 2025 41 ep. 25 mins 19

Chirpings of the Bird Podcast artwork

Some random thoughts on Christianity, biblical studies, faith, and culture

michaelfbird.substack.com

Religion & Spirituality History

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Ordo Amoris?

Feb 05 2025 21 mins

Thank you Ron Ford, Leonard Vander Zee, Beth, Kathryn, Jay McCabe, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.In this video, I talk about:* US VP J.D. Vance’s claim that Americans should immigration policy through the lens of ordo amoris, an Augustian notion of an order of loves, which Rory Stewart called “pagan / tribal.”* What I

Paul in Thessalonica

Feb 05 2025 2 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfbird.substack.comAbove is a video of me giving a five-minute talk about Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica (Acts 17) and his letters to the Thessalonian believers (1-2 Thessalonians) filmed on-site in modern Thessaloniki with some ancient ruins in the background (albeit with a lot of city noise around me).What do

Paul versus the Proselytes?

Jan 25 2025 26 mins

Matthew V. NovensonPaul and Judaism at the End of HistoryOxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.Okay, we are back into Novenson’s book on Paul and Judaism at the End of History, and this time we are into Novenson’s intriguing proposal in his essay “Paul versus the Gentiles.”We are accustomed to thinking of Paul’s opponents as either local Jews or a posse… This is a publi

Reading 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in the Shadow in the Artemision

Jan 15 2025 27 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfbird.substack.comWhat I am going to do now is show what Paul’s argument looks like if you connect it to Ephesus and the cult of Artemis in the first-century.Let me give some props to Rick Strelan’s book Paul, Artemis, and the Ephesians; Sandra Glahn, Nobody’s Mother, Gary H. Hoag, Wealth in Ancient Ephesus

Review of Matt Novenson on Paul and Judaism

Jan 13 2025 18 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfbird.substack.comMatthew V. NovensonPaul and Judaism at the End of HistoryOxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.A good follow-up to Matthew Thiessen’s book A Jewish Paul (reviewed here), is Matthew Novenson’s latest book Paul and Judaism at the End of History, a volume that is rightly getting a lot of attenti

The Nicene Creed and the Hagia Irene

Jan 14 2025 4 mins

During my time in Istanbul, I had the pleasure of visiting the Hagia Irene, the Church of the Holy Peace, which was where the Council of Constantinople was held, and the Nicene Creed was updated, affirmed, and approved as the orthodox creed of the churches of the east and west.In the video above is a short introduction and a brief walk through the Hagia… This is a public episode.

Engaging Mike Winger on Complementarianism

Jan 15 2025 22 mins

Mike Winger is a US pastor with a YouTube channel called Learn to Think Biblically.While he covers a lot of topics, some of it is quite good, he is best known for his massive 80+ hours of videos on Complementarianism. Now Complementarianism, with many variations, is a view that authority and teaching roles in the church such as the offices of pastor and elder are exclusively the re

2025: the year ahead

Jan 03 2025 30 mins

Hi everyone, for those who missed it, here is my preview of 2025, what is happening in writing, substacking, youtubing, and travel!Thank you James Menendez, Patrick Jones, Wes McAdams, Rev. Carmen D. Kampman, DMin, Drew Heurion, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.I will try do at least one of these per month! This is a public ep

Paul in Tarsus

Dec 30 2024 7 mins

Here’s one of my solo videos recording material on location in Tarsus about the significance of Tarsus for the life and ministry of Saul/Paul. Only 7:00 minutes long. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfbird.substack.com/subscribe

Can Prayer Be Prosecuted?

Nov 23 2024 6 mins

Can prayer be prosecuted?Let me give two examples.First, in my home state of Victoria, there is the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 s5.(3).(b) which explicitly criminalizes the use of prayer to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Now I believe that “pray the gay away” is pastorally irresponsible and potentially