We've covered tools to use when doing a word study in past episodes, and this episode is more of a caution when using those tools. We all want to derive meaning from the Bible, but we also need to treat the words appropriately and not make these common mistakes. 

We've all heard it: nothing can beat the "agape" love of God. It is the love unique to him, and we desire it earnestly. The different kinds of love are surely examples of the Greek nuances that get lost in translation, right? If only we knew Greek, then the Bible would come to life and make so much more sense! 

We are here to debunk these beliefs--one, that Greek is a mysterious and deep language, and two, that there are four different types of love in the Bible. Don't believe us? Check out today's episode! 

This week, we speak with James Cuénod, a PhD student at Wheaton College. He made ParaBible to help him search for specific word combinations in the original languages. And while many of us don't know Hebrew or Greek, we can admire his brilliance and appreciate the work he is doing for biblical scholarship. Plus, who knows, maybe ParaBible will come in handy for you! 

STEP Bible is another awesome tool to add to your Bible study toolbox. It gives a platform to compare translations, track words across verses, search words and synonyms with the click of a button, and much more. We have found the best way to get to know this tool is to play around with it, but here is a quick scope of the website to get you started! We recommend watching this episode rather than listening to it.

We have referenced this powerhouse website in previous episodes, but we wanted to take some time and give a tour of BlueLetterBible.org, to lay out all of its key features. We hope you will discover the depths of this website and just how helpful it can be in studying the Bible. Stay tuned for an episode on how to do a word study and other frequently asked questions, but until then, play around with this awesome tool! 
​(Note: it will be helpful to watch this episode rather than listen.)

Don't let this title scare you! We all run into words that puzzle us. Listen to this episode to learn three tools that can help you study words and topics in the Bible. (Note: it may be helpful to watch this episode rather than listen to it.)

"Under faith-seeking understanding, we can embark on all kinds of adventures." 

After Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, his gospel spread like wildfire and the church grew and grew. Copies of the Gospels and Paul's letters were passed to anyone willing to listen. It's no wonder that we have over 5,000 portions of the New Testament today! But, what about the time before Jesus physically arrived on the scene? How were the Torah (the first 5 Old Testament books), history, prophecies, and other biblical literature recorded and preserved? We turn back to Dr. John Meade, who provides answers to these questions. This episode is part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Meade (part 1, episode 21, is available under "Past Episodes" or on any of our listening platforms). 

The Old Testament is one of humanity's oldest documents, recording how God's people began and prospered by His blessing. It was carefully copied by people who wanted to ensure their audience knew what the Holy Scriptures said. And now, thousands of years later, we get to read what they wrote! Listen to part one of our conversation with Dr. John Meade on how the Old Testament was copied and how we can reconcile some differences within various versions of the text. 

How do we know the New Testament is reliable? If there are so many manuscripts, each with their own mistakes and nuances, does our Bible contain what the authors actually wrote? Can I trust my Bible? On this episode, we ask these questions and more to Dr. Peter Gurry, a leading scholar on biblical manuscripts at Phoenix Seminary. Take comfort as you listen to Dr. Gurry's explanation of why we can, indeed, trust all we read in the Bible.