Episode: Mark Scarlata's new book Wine, Soil, and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament (CUP, 2025) explores the intricate dance between earth and sustenance. Scarlata argues that wine becomes the unique vessel that contains the culmination of God's blessings on Israel and Israel's responsibilities to the earth, each other, and neighbors. The terroir of wine acts as a kind of metaphor for this nexus and Scarlata shows how wine appears in surprising ways across the biblical literature with this paradigm in mind. Mark also managed to almost sway Dru into becoming a wine drinker. Erin Heim and Dru Johnson hosted this live interview at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

Guest: Rev Dr. Mark Scarlata is Tutor and Senior Lecturer in Old Testament at St. Mellitus College, UK. He's the author of numerous books, including Outside of Eden: Cain in the Ancient Versions of Gen. 4:1-16 (T&T Clark 2012), Am I My Brother's Keeper? Christian Citizenship in a Globalized Society (Wipf & Stock/Cascade), The Abiding Presence (SCM Press, 2018), Sabbath Rest: The Beauty of God's Rhythm for a Digital World (SCM Press, 2019), Journey Through the World of Leviticus: Holiness, Sacrifice, and the Rock Badger (Wipf & Stock, 2021), The Theology of Leviticus (CUP, 2025), and the book of focus for this episode, Wine, Soil, and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament (CUP, 2025). He is also the Vicar-Chaplain at St. Edward, King and Martyr, Cambridge where he serves as a priest in one of the oldest churches in Cambridge that was integral in the English Reformation. He is the director of the St. Edward’s Institute for Christian Thought which seeks to nurture Christian scholars and bring theology to the heart of the church. (an edited version of his St. Mellitus page).

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.

Episode: Did Jesus offer a radical reworking of the law? Did he subvert the Jewish law of his day? Was he exposing legalism, nationalism, or ritualism in favor of compassion? Paul Sloan thinks not. But ... you might be thinking, what about all those critiques and arguments between Jesus and religious leaders of his time? Sloan's book Jesus and the Law of Moses offers a rich and thoughtful reflection on Jesus, the law, and Israel's restoration in the context of Second Temple Judaism (including other NT writings).

Author: Paul Sloan is Associate Professor of Early Christianity at Houston Christian University. He received his PhD in New Testament from The University of St Andrews. His research interests include Leviticus, the sacrificial system, sacred space, and the reception of those motifs in 2nd Temple texts. He's the author of Jesus and the Law of Moses: The Gospels and the Restoration of Israel within First-Century Judaism (Baker Academic, 2025).

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.

Episode: Dru suggests that biblical law is something to think with and not just about. Matt and Dru discuss this idea and its many implications that were articulated in Dru's recent book Understanding Biblical Law: Skills for Thinking With and Through Torah (Baker, 2025). And as a throw-back to an old OnScript interview practice, Dru and Matt cold-call another guest.

Guest: Dr. Dru Johnson is the Templeton senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall (University of Oxford), adjunct professor of religion at Hope College in Holland, MI (previously a professor at The King’s College in New York City), director of the Abrahamic Theistic Origins Project, director of the Center for Hebraic Thought, editor at The Biblical Mind, host of The Biblical Mind podcast, and co-host of the OnScript Podcast. He’s written a bunch of books, including Human Rites, Knowledge By Ritual, Scripture's Knowing, and What Hath Darwin to do with Scripture?

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to join the big leagues and become a regular donor.