In Sept. 2021, two professors in the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies, Rony Kozman and Will Kynes, released the first episode of their podcast, “The Two Testaments.” This podcast is “a guided journey through Scripture with leading experts on the Bible,” according to their website, thetwotestaments.com.
In many of the episodes, Kozman and Kynes are joined by other biblical scholars from colleges and seminaries like Westmont College, Southern Seminary, Duke Divinity School and Covenant College.
“Dr. Kozman and I are biblical scholars. We think careful study of the Bible is vitally important, but we know it can sometimes be dry and go over people’s heads,” Kynes said. “We started ‘The Two Testaments’ to make biblical scholarship engaging and accessible, so that a broader audience can understand the Bible better.”
Kynes said this was the main reason he and Kozman decided to create a podcast, but it was not easy to begin.
“We realized that starting a podcast is like launching a new business,” Kynes said. “We’ve had to do branding and marketing, web design and social media engagement, along with the practicalities of booking guests, researching topics, preparing interview questions and doing audio and video editing.
“We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from Samford, the Department of Biblical and Religious Studies and the Samford students who have joined our team.”
The hosts have recorded “The Two Testaments” primarily on Samford’s campus, in the Faculty Success Center’s studio on the fourth floor of Dwight Beeson Hall. Kynes mentioned that in addition to these pre-recorded episodes, the pair have also recorded live episodes across campus this season. The most recent of these was Tuesday, Oct. 5, in Dwight Beeson Hall.
“We use the podcast in our classes to provide another way for the students to engage with the subjects we’re teaching,” Kynes said.
Since the beginning of the show in 2021, Kozman and Kynes have followed the books of Romans and Job, though they hope to eventually cover the entirety of the Bible.
“Our goal is to create an audio commentary on our website, where people can find episodes on key passages in every book of the Bible,” Kynes said. “However, we’re currently only doing two books a year, so that would take 33 years! We plan to go through several shorter books in a single season soon, which will accelerate our progress, but we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
For more information on the show, visit https://twitter.com/The2Testaments, https://www.instagram.com/thetwotestaments/ or search for the show on any podcast platform.
Arts & Life Editor
