Listen "O Death, Where is Your Sting? The Biblical Theology of Resurrection"
Episode Synopsis
In his new book, The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection (Intervarsity Press, 2022), Professor Jeff Brannon traces Resurrection and Redemption from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, taking the Bible as a unified whole—not as a library of disparate sources. He is a Biblical scholar and a Protestant Christian in the Reformed (i.e. Calvinist) Tradition. I also asked him to explain our need for salvation and a savior in the first place (which is the same topic I took up in the previous episode with Catholic theologian David Basile).
In his book and in our discussion, Jeff Brannon explains the necessity of the sacrifice of Jesus. “Without Jesus as the suffering servant, we could not be reconciled to God, could not have access to God’s presence, could not be a part of God’s kingdom, and could not inherit eternal life—both new spiritual life in the present and bodily resurrection life in the future” (pp. 103-104). He also explains how, in addition to being the sacrificial Lamb of God and the messiah, Jesus is an example and antecedent for us all: the “firstfruits” (p. 124; cf. 1 Cor 15), “leading the way for his people.”
Jeff Brannon is Professor of Biblical Studies and Chair of the Biblical Studies and Ministries Department at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi.
Department of Biblical Studies and Ministries Faculty webpage.
Jeff Brannon’s new book, The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection, from Intervarsity Press, 2022.
Jeff Brannon’s first book, The Heavenlies in Ephesians: A Lexical, Exegetical, and Conceptual Analysis, from Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
David Basile on Almost Good Catholics, episode 39: Why a Savior? The Theology of Sacrifice and Redemption
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In his book and in our discussion, Jeff Brannon explains the necessity of the sacrifice of Jesus. “Without Jesus as the suffering servant, we could not be reconciled to God, could not have access to God’s presence, could not be a part of God’s kingdom, and could not inherit eternal life—both new spiritual life in the present and bodily resurrection life in the future” (pp. 103-104). He also explains how, in addition to being the sacrificial Lamb of God and the messiah, Jesus is an example and antecedent for us all: the “firstfruits” (p. 124; cf. 1 Cor 15), “leading the way for his people.”
Jeff Brannon is Professor of Biblical Studies and Chair of the Biblical Studies and Ministries Department at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi.
Department of Biblical Studies and Ministries Faculty webpage.
Jeff Brannon’s new book, The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection, from Intervarsity Press, 2022.
Jeff Brannon’s first book, The Heavenlies in Ephesians: A Lexical, Exegetical, and Conceptual Analysis, from Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
David Basile on Almost Good Catholics, episode 39: Why a Savior? The Theology of Sacrifice and Redemption
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More episodes of the podcast Almost Good Catholics
Guidance about the Transgender Question
10/08/2025
Pope Leo XIV (with Christopher White)
15/07/2025
Art and Its Holy Object (with Steve Auth)
08/05/2025
This is the Way (with Cristofer Pereyra)
28/02/2025