This wide-access to the texts of scripture, enjoyed by Americans, is a relatively new phenomenon (post reformation). For most of biblical history and the era of the church the vast majority of people were dependent upon the public recitation or reading of scripture. In other words, scripture was something heard and performed – listened to- rather than looked at and studied.

Tom Meyer is trying to resurrect this lost art.

He performs long portions of the biblical text from memory and in so doing, gives others the opportunity to practice the lost art of listening to the public performance of long portions of scripture. I had the pleasure of discussing this topic – the orality of scripture – with Tom last fall. Watch our 15 minute discussion and gain insight into how the ancient practice of hearing scripture can enliven your study of the text.

Interview Highlights:

Tom Meyer has memorized over twelve complete books of the biblical text. He is the founder of The Scripture Cannot Be Broken Ministries and tours the country in association with Wordsower Ministries in order to dramatically perform the biblical text from memory. He also happens to be a professor of Old testament and Bible Memorization at Shasta Bible College in Redding, CA and has two M.A’s from Jerusalem University College.

We talked about:

1. Why hearing scripture so important for our devotional life?
2. ​The importance of the spoken word to the bible’s original audience (both OT and NT audiences)
3. The importance of hearing scripture in the wider church.
4. What is the difference between reading the bible and and hearing the bible performed?
5. Strategies for developing the ancient practice of hearing scripture on a regular basis.

I talked to Dana about his unique project, The Society for Humanitarian Archaeological Research and Exploration (SHARE), in this fourteen minute video.

Note: You will need to be listening to the audio in stereo in order to hear both ends of the conversation.

Dana took a break from his work after just coming home from the field to discuss the current crisis in Israel and Palestine and how he hopes to address it now and in the future. In the interview, I asked Dana five questions:

1. How has the current conflict affected archaeological work in the region?
2. How has archaeology contributed to the conflict?
3. How can archaeological research and exploration play a role in solving conflict?
4. What are the nuts and bolts of the Society for Humanitarian Archaeological Research and Exploration (SHARE)?
5. What is the one thing people can do right now to help?

Dana DePietro is a good friend, all around good person, and a mentor who taught me archaeological field technique as a young volunteer. He has an earned PhD in Near Eastern Art and Archaeology from the University of California, Berkeley.  He has worked on excavations throughout the middle-east including Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Israel/Palestine, and is coming off the field from Acco, along the western coast of Israel. While there, he oversaw and directed fellowship programs for his organization—SHARE.

I love the SHARE program and have been a member almost since its inception. It is important for Christians to come down on the side of peace, rather than a particular political entity. We have never been called to protect or gain any earthly claim through the strength of arms.

You can find out more about SHARE on its website, or see photos from their latest efforts to bring Palestinians and Israelis together by following them on Facebook.

His book takes a new look at the character of Samson from the book of Judges. Using all of the archaeological, cultural and linguistic data available to him, Gray, shows how the writers of Judges meant for us to know a Samson very different than the powerful character we known from Sunday school and popular culture.

Apologies for the delayed and overlapping audio. I am not trying to talk over Brad. I am, however, still learning how to do all of this well. The fault is mine, not Brad’s.

Brad is a fantastic teaching pastor at Central Wesleyan Church in Holland Michigan. He holds an M.Div. from Western Theological Seminary and studied with me at Jerusalem University College. Make Your Mark aligns so well with the mission of Biblical Remains. Not only does it focus on what the ancient context of the story can tell us about Samson, It also points us towards how we can live better today because of that knowledge.

Brad was kind enough to discuss the following five questions:

1. How does the Samson the biblical writers intended us to know differ from the Samson we know from Sunday school and popular culture?
2. Why is the Samson narrative so important for us today?
3. What is your favorite lesson from the life of Samson?
4. What insight did you gain that was only possible with the use of linguistic, cultural or archaeological data?
5. For someone who is not used to studying the text in this way what tools would you suggest they use to get started?

You can get your very own copy of Make Your Mark; Getting Right What Samson Got Wrong here

If your would like to find out more about Brad Gray and his ministry you can find him at Walking the Text.com

Update: Brad is now offering a FREE downloadable study guide for the book along with steep discounts for volume orders for study groups. To learn more and download the free study guide, click here.

Disclosure of Material Connection. I received an Advanced Copy of the book mentioned above for comment and review. Some of the links above are affiliate links. That being said I only promote things which I thoroughly believe my readers will benefit from and that I use myself. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, part 255: “guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”