I recently did an interview with Preston Sprinkle about UFOs, aliens, and paranormal experiences that people sometimes report. Preston is a great guy, and I had a lot of fun chatting with him about this topic.
Author: Matthew L. Halsted, Ph.D.
Why I think biblical scholars and theologians should talk about UFOs
Let me get straight to the point: I think biblical scholars and theologians should talk more about UFOs. Sounds crazy, right? But I’m not kidding. Admittedly, this topic is a strange one. A person can hardly think of UFOs without hearing the eerie X-Files theme song crawl through their head. It’s a topic often associated with tinfoil hats and quirky…
The Bible Unmuted: Episode 1
I’m happy to announce that my new podcast, The Bible Unmuted, is now live. You can listen to it wherever podcasts are published — Spotify, iTunes, etc (NB: as of today, it hasn’t yet fully propagated on Google podcasts, though). In this inaugural episode (below), I chat about what sort of show this podcast will…
Be careful when you read your Bible
Here’s something you might not have considered before: You will never be able to read the Bible objectively. There will always be some level of bias in play. To read the Bible is to interpret the Bible, after all. That’s why it’s wise to be mindful of the assumptions you bring to the text. The…
What does the Bible mean by “faith”?
Yesterday evening, I gave a talk at my church on the biblical idea of “faith.” These days, that word is often used in ways that are quite foreign to the Bible. In popular culture, for example, “faith” has become a synonym for “wishing” or “positive thinking.” Many Christians misunderstand it as well. In today’s church,…
Are we losing our minds?
I recently started reading Dale Allison’s Encountering Mystery, a book packed with discussions about various religious experiences people sometimes report. It’s been a fun read so far. Toward the end of his chapter on prayer, he cites a study that caught my eye. He writes, “A few years ago, psychologists at Harvard and the University…
Bono and Franklin Graham talk about Jesus
In this article, Bono recounts a conversation he once had with Franklin Graham. It’s kind of funny and reminds me of a couple things: (1) some sectors of evangelicalism don’t quite understand the evangel (the gospel) or how to share it; (2) thank God for the renegade poets who do. Graham: “You … you really…
How to read the Bible
You’re not truly reading Scripture until you allow Scripture to read you. Do you allow the Bible to question your beliefs or do you read it in such a way that it always agrees with you? Do you simply treat the Bible as your personal answer book—a cache of weaponry you can deploy to support…
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How should we interpret the plagues of Revelation?
I recently published an article at Logos about interpreting the plague passages in Revelation. There are a lot of misunderstandings about these texts, and I thought it would be helpful to write up something that would shed some light on how to interpret them. Some people point to modern health crises (such as Covid, monkeypox,…