Denver seminary professor leads Bible study

For its first season, the podcast chose to tackle the book of Mark. (Photo by ConvertKit from Unsplash)

Dr. Scott Powell, a professor of Sacred Scripture at Denver’s St. John Vianney seminary, is the main speaker of a podcast called "Sunday School."

"Sunday School" is a Bible study series podcast by The Pillar, a Catholic media project that is focused on helping the Church in its mission of saving souls.

In the podcast, Powell is joined by The Pillar co-founder and host, JD Flynn. Together, they will establish a conversation about Scripture that can guide listeners through the Bible.

According to Powell, one of the reasons the podcast was made is because they wanted to hand down the body of knowledge with the right context.

He stated in their introductory episode that oftentimes, Christians have the false idea that they can hand down a Bible to someone and expect that individual’s life to change. But that is not the case.

He stated that those who wish to study the Scriptures should be guided in putting the story together.

Flynn also expressed the same views as Powell.

He stated that a lot of Catholics could feel intimidated about going deeper into the Scriptures themselves, despite having access to study materials.

According to Flynn, the podcast would help them retain the context of the Scripture, allowing them to know what to do with it.

Books of the Bible

According to Flynn, the podcast would release an episode each week. To start each episode, co-founder Ed Condon would read the verses going to be discussed.

Each series would then focus on different books of the Bible.

Powell elaborated that the first three books of the New Testament of the Bible are part of a liturgical cycle.

He stated that the book of Matthew is known as "the teaching gospel." After the introductions, the book starts with Jesus’ sermon on the mount, which establishes his role as a Messiah and what he wants to say.

According to the Overview Bible, each chapter of the book of Matthew opens with the story of Jesus’ life and ministry and closes with his teaching, called "discourses."

Mark, on the other hand, was regarded by Powell as "the discipleship gospel."

According to Insight for Living, the book of Mark portrayed Jesus as someone who is constantly on the move.

Powell elaborated that in the book, Jesus often called on the disciples. Whenever he did so, they were called to come "immediately."

According to Insight for Living, the use of the word "immediately" 39 times indicated a sense of urgency since Jesus’ time on earth was short, and there was much to accomplish in the ministry.

Meanwhile, Powell stated that the book of Luke is centered on the concept of mercy and release.

With this, he summarized that the liturgical cycle starts with the book of Matthew, telling Christians about Jesus, followed by the book of Mark, which tells Christians to respond to Jesus’ calling, and then the book of Luke, which tells Christians to pick themselves up, rechallenge themselves, and move forward with the ministry.

Sunday School First Season

For its first season, the podcast chose to tackle the book of Mark.

The episode was released on Oct. 9 and dwelled on the first and second chapters of the book.

According to Flynn, listeners should look forward to a total of five episodes for this season.

The "Sunday School" podcast is being broadcast on Soundcloud. Currently, each episode released, including the introductory episodes, has a total of more than 500 listens.