Biblical Time Machine

Christians have long read the 'suffering servant' of Isaiah in reference to Jesus. But how did that connection come about? Was the servant originally a messianic figure who dies for sins? And how have Jews read the servant through history, all the way from Isaiah and Daniel to the present day?  To answer these questions, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Amy Jill-Levine, the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. Her many works include The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (with Marc Brettler, 2020).  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In this Easter special, Prof Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones interviews our resident expert, Prof Helen Bond, on the evidence for Jesus' resurrection. They discuss the data about the resurrection in early Christian literature, whether there was an empty tomb, and various naturalistic attempts to explain the resurrection belief.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. In this week's bonus episode, Professor Helen Bond unpacks a tricky text in 1 Peter which some have read as the biblical basis for the harrowing of hell.   Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What happened to Jesus on Easter Saturday? The apostles creed claims that Jesus 'descended into hell', reflecting a wider Christian motif called the 'Harrowing of Hell.' To find out more about this belief, Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones asks our resident expert, Helen Bond, who is currently writing a book on the subject. They explore questions like: Is the 'Harrowing of Hell' alluded to in the gospels? When did Jesus go to hell and what was he doing there? How strong is the biblical foundation of this idea? How is the Harrowing depicted in the Gospel of Nicodemus? SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. In this week's bonus episode, Professor Helen Bond unpacks a tricky text in 1 Peter which some have read as the biblical basis for the harrowing of hell.      Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

We have all heard the story of Adam and Eve. But what was the Garden of Eden which they inhabited? In this week's episode, Helen and Lloyd travel back to the dawn of time with Dr Dylan Johnson as their guide to this mythical landscape. Together, they get to the bottom of questions like: Was the Garden of Eden meant to be a real place, or a symbolic vision of paradise?Is Genesis borrowing from older Mesopotamian stories about divine gardens? Was Adam imagined as a king placed in God’s garden to rule on his behalf?Is Eve really to blame for “the fall,” or is that a misreading?And who exactly is the serpent, before later tradition identified him with Satan?SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. In this week's bonus episode, Dylan Johnson unpacks whether Eden is a Temple.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

We have all heard rumours that ancient religions used children in ritual sacrifice. But did it really happen? To discuss the evidence, Helen and Lloyd are joined in the Time Machine by Dr Eve MacDonald, lecturer at Cardiff University and author of the acclaimed, Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire (Penguin, 2025).  Dr MacDonald answers questions like:  Did human sacrifice really occur in the ancient world, and what does the archaeological evidence actually show?What happened in the Great Death Pit at Ur, and what does it reveal about ancient burial rituals?Why do ancient myths and biblical stories so often centre on the sacrifice of young girls?Did the Carthaginians really practise child sacrifice, and what does the evidence from the Tophet suggest?How did Greeks and Romans use accusations of shocking religious practices to demonise their enemies—and even early Christians?SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

This week in the Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd travel back in time to hear and read Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Helping them to uncover the language is world-leading Jesus historian, Bruce Chilton, the Bernard Iddings Bell Profesosr of Religion at Bard College, NY.  Professor Chilton is the author of numerous books, including Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography and most recently, Aramaic Jesus: Tradition, Identity, and Christianity's Mother Tongue. On the show, he answers questions like:  What is Aramaic and why did Jesus speak it?Was Aramaic the only language Jesus spoke?Did Jesus have a 'regional' accent?Can we uncover Aramaic sources behind the gospels?How does Aramaic shed light on Jesus' teaching? SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. In this week's bonus episode, Bruce Chilton unpacks whether some of Jesus' teachings were lost in (Greek) translation.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

This week in the Biblical Time Machine, Prof Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones sits down with Dr Charlie Hadjiev to discuss Hosea, one of the most evocative, troubling and hopeful books of the Hebrew Bible. They cover questions like:  When and where was Hosea written?How was adultery viewed in the ancient world? How can Paul Ricour’s hermeneutics shed light on the text? Does Hosea present God as an abusive husband? Dr Charlie Hadjievis a lecturer in biblical studies at St Padarn’s Institute, Cardiff, where he teaches and researches Hebrew Bible, especially prophetic literature. His many publications include ‘“(Not) Her Husband”: Hosea’s God and Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics of Suspicion and Trust’ (Religions, 2022) and Joel, Obadiah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: An Introduction and Study Guide (T&T Clark, 2020).  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Is love in the biblical air this Valentine's Day? To find out, Professors Helen Bond and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones take a trip back to the biblical world. They discuss...  What is ‘love’ in the biblical imagination? Is there romantic love in the ancient world? Is Song of Songs a wedding Song? How are Heriodas and Antipas anticipated by Ahab and Jezebel? How have we misread David and Bathsheba’s relationship? Why is Paul ‘anti-marriage’? Does same-sex love show up in the Bible? SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The early Christian world was awash with the language of 'belief' (pistis in Greek, fides in Latin). But what does it really mean to 'believe'? Today, we often use the word refer to an assent to a set of propositions: someone might believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or that he was born of a virgin. But is this what the language of belief meant to the early Christians, within the wider Roman world? To unpack the lexis of 'belief', Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Teresa Morgan, McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale University. Teresa is the author of Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (OUP, 2015), which suggests that belief is a more relational term than we tend to assume. It refers to a 'loyalty' and 'allegiance', rooted in social practices of trust. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

How are Jesus and early Christianity portrayed on the big screen? To answer this question, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Monica Cyrino, an expert on the reception of the classical world in film. Together, they explore 1950s classics such as Quo Vadis and The Robe, and see how these ‘epic Rome’ films are later parodied in Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. Monica Silveira Cyrino is Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico, specialising in classical reception studies. She is particularly well known for Big Screen Rome (Blackwell, 2005), a foundational textbook on Roman epic cinema. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Many people only know the version of the non-canonical gospels popularised by Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The Church did away these 'lost' texts, and their recovery promises to reveal a more primitive version of Jesus that Orthodoxy suppressed. But how much truth is there to this narrative? What really are the non-canonical gospels? In this episode, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Simon Gathercole to uncover the true story of the non-canonical or 'apocryphal' gospels.  Simon J. Gathercole is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. He is a world leading authority on the non-canonical gospels, and is the author of The Gospel of Judas (2007), The Gospel of Thomas (OUP, 2007), The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary (Brill, 2014) and The Apocryphal Gospels (Penguin, 2021).  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

We all know the story of the Magi: they were three kings who followed a star to Bethlehem. But what if this common nativity narrative gets it all wrong? To uncover who the Magi really were, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Eric Vanden Ekyel, author of the popular tome, The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered (2022; Fortress Press).  Eric Vanden Eykel is a New Testament scholar and Associate Professor of Religion at Ferrum College. In addition to his work on the Magi, he is the author But Their Faces Were All Looking Up: Author and Reader in the Protevangelium of James (2016; Bloomsbury), a book which explores another early infancy story of Jesus.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The physical appearance of Jesus is more widely known and distinctive than any other. Yet this familiarity can lead us to overlook a curious fact: in the Gospels, it is never described. This week on the Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd ask the show's producer John Nelson about this mystery: is it surprising that the Gospels do not describe Jesus' physical appearance, and what might explain this lacuna?  Dr John Nelson is the researcher and producer of Biblical Time Machine. He earned his PhD at the University of Edinburgh and is the author of Jesus' Physical Appearance: Biography, Christology, Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025). He teaches Theology & Philosophy at Haberdashers' Boys' School, writes and lectures on his substack Behind the Gospels and hosts conversations for Premier Unbelievable? SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Gospel of John presents itself as rooted in the testimony of 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. But who was this disciple? Over the centuries, scholars have proposed a baffling range of explanations, from John the son of Zebedee or a 'John the Elder' to Lazarus and Mary Magdalene. Joining Helen and Lloyd in the Time Machine, Dr Hugo Mendez has a different theory: that John is a work of disguised authorship. The beloved disciple was not a real person, but is an idealised literary creation.  Hugo Méndez is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  with particular focus on Johannine literature. He is the author of The Cult of Stephen in Jerusalem: Inventing a Patron Martyr and, most recently, The Gospel of John: A New History (Oxford University Press, 2025), a provocative reassessment that argues the Gospel is a work of disguised authorship rather than eyewitness testimony. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

This week in the Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd travel back to a time when God had a wife named Asherah... or did he? To help them answer decipher the ancient goddess, our co-hosts enlist the help of Dr Steve Wiggins, a world-leading expert on Asherah. Together, they explore how Asherah came to be associated with the God of Israel, discuss inscriptions and figurines associated with the goddess, and consider why the question of God once having a 'wife' remains so controversial today.  Steve Wiggins earned his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 1992 and taught Hebrew Bible at Nashotah House Episcopal Seminary from 1992-2004. His revised dissertation, A Reassessment of Asherah: With Further Considerations of the Goddess, was expanded in 2007 and came out as a paperback version in 2025. It is the only full-length treatment of the Ugaritic source material on Asherah, and combines that with comprehensive examination of textual sources from the Hebrew Bible, ancient Mesopotamia, Epigraphic South Arabian sources, Hittite sources, as well as Hebrew inscriptions that may mention the goddess.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Every Christmas, Christians sing a nativity story shaped as much by hymnody as by the Gospels themselves. In this Christmas special, Helen and Lloyd take a closer look at four of their favourite Christmas carols to ask the question: how do their depictions of Jesus' birth compare with the gospel accounts? For the first time ever, you will also be able to watch the Biblical Time Machine on YouTube. Subscribe to the Biblical Time Machine channel for upcoming content and conversations, including this conversation between Helen and Lloyd.  For more on the 'Plygain' Christmas tradition, see here.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

For decades, scholars have thought that Matthew and Luke composed their nativity stories separately, perhaps drawing on some underlying material. Yet in this special advent episode, Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones interviews his co-host Helen Bond about her proposal that Luke shows an awareness of Matthew's infancy narrative. Together, they unpack the reasons Luke had for 're-writing' Matthew's nativity and explore why Luke composed his birth story in the way that he did.  Helen K. Bond is Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. She is a leading scholar of the historical Jesus and early Christianity, with particular expertise in the Roman and Jewish contexts of the Gospels, especially the trial and death of Jesus. Among her many contributions are Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation, The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed and most recently The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark's Gospel.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

How did ancient biographies narrate the births of their subjects? In this episode, Helen and Lloyd are joined in the Time Machine by Dr Caleb Friedeman, who has set out to explore how biographers described their subject’s infancy. Contrary to modern readers, who often read birth account in ancient lives as works of myth and theology rather than history, Friedeman argues that ancient biographers described the births of their heroes with serious historiographic intent. As we approach Christmas, Helen and Lloyd ask Caleb what this might mean for how ancient readers viewed the stories of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke.  Caleb T. Friedeman is David A. Case Chair of Biblical Studies at Ohio Christian University. He is the author of The Revelation of the Messiah: The Christology Mystery of Luke 1-2 and Its Unveiling in Luke-Acts (SNTSMS 181) and his new book is Gospel Birth Narratives: Reopening a Closed Case (Baylor University Press, 2025) which explores historiographical elements in ancient birth stories.   SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

At the beginning of advent, Helen and Lloyd sit down with Dr James Tabor to discuss the best-known and least-known woman in history: Mary, the mother of Jesus. They explore how second-century Christians reshaped Mary’s story and obscured the historical woman behind the traditions. They also unpack the rumours surrounding Jesus’ paternity, the emergence of Mary’s perpetual virginity and the long-debated identity of Jesus’ brothers and sisters.  Dr James Tabor is a retired Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught from 1989 until 2022. He is well known for his 2006 book, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, his Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity and his most recent book, which Helen and Lloyd discuss on this episode, is The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In this episode, Helen and Lloyd step into the fascinating world of women’s health in the New Testament world. With help from Professor Laurence Totelin, they explore who provided care, how medicine related to magic, and what medicinal recipes a first-century woman might employ. Along the way, they revisit the woman with chronic bleeding in Mark 5, asking what ancient medical assumptions stand behind her treatments.  Laurence Totelin is Professor of Ancient History in School of History, Archaeology and Religion at the University of Cardiff, specialising in Greek and Roman medicine, particularly women’s health, reproduction, and botanical knowledge. She is the author of Hippocratic Recipes (2009), the co-author of Ancient Botany (2018), and is known for her public scholarship on ancient reproductive and cosmetic practices. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In this episode, Lloyd fires up the Biblical Time Machine with Professor Nicholas Baker-Brian, and they travel back to third-century Persia to meet one of antiquity’s most fascinating and misunderstood figures: Mani, the visionary behind the global religion we now call Manichaeism. They ask: who was Mani, what are the sources for his life, and what do we know about the ancient faith which bears his name?  Nicholas Baker-Brian is Professor of Late Antique Studies in School of History, Archaeology and Religion at the University of Cardiff. He has published widely on religion in late global antiquity, and is one of the world’s leading experts in the study of Manichaeism. Today on the show Lloyd discusses Professor Baker-Brian’s 2011 book, Manichaeism: An Ancient Faith Rediscovered, which is a scholarly yet accessible introduction to Manichaeism, published by T&T Clark in 2011. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What happened when the laws of Moses were translated into Greek? In this episode, we journey from Sinai to Alexandria with Dr Joel Korytko, whose book The Death of the Covenant Code uncovers how Jewish translators in the third century BCE re-imagined Israel’s laws for a Greek-speaking world. Together with Helen Bond and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Joel reveals how death penalties quietly disappeared in the Greek Exodus, and what these changes reveal about Jewish life under Greek rule. This is a story of law, language, and the authority of Scripture in a fast-changing world.  Dr Joel Korytko is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Northwest College | Seminary. He completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, where his research explored how Jewish translators adapted biblical law for a Hellenistic audience. His book, The Death of the Covenant Code (Brill, 2022), examines how the laws of Exodus were reshaped in the Old Greek translation in light of Graeco-Egyptian legal traditions. Joel is also co-authoring a forthcoming commentary on Exodus for the Society of Biblical Literature Commentary on the Septuagint series. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What if the earliest Christians believed the world around them was teeming with invisible forces waiting to invade the human body? This Halloween, Biblical Time Machine delves into early Christian ideas of demons with Dr Travis Proctor, Associate Professor of Religion at Wittenberg University. His book, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Discourse (OUP, 2022) reveals that demons were not just ghosts or spirits—but embodied, contaminating presences that could bring sickness, impurity, and spiritual ruin. In the Time Machine, they explore how Christians imagined demons, what they believed demons were made of, where demons lurked, and how demonic contamination shaped ancient understandings of purity, health, and the human body. Along the way, Travis reveals why haunted houses aren’t just a modern Halloween invention—and which early Christian writer had the strangest ideas about demons. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

How did Persian mythology seep into the texts of the Hebrew Bible? In this week's Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Professor Mark Leuchter, who has recently argued that the 'dynastic myth-making' of the Persian Achaemenid rulers left its mark on Second Temple Jewish texts. Drawing on cognitive science, postcolonial theory, ancient letters and iconography, Mark guides us through the complex world of Persian myth-making and its effects on the Hebrew Bible.  Mark Leuchter is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism and Director of Jewish Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. His publications include The Levites and the Boundaries of Israelite Identity (Oxford University Press, 2017) and more recently An Empire Far And Wide: The Achaemenid Dynastic Myth and Jewish Scribes in the Late Persian Period (Oxford University Press, 2024). He is one of the editors of the New Oxford Bible Commentary and is an executive board member of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies.  If you would like to gain a sense of the ancient Persian empire – the largest of its time – check out this map from our friends at SBL Bible Odyssey.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What did it mean to call a king “divine”? In this episode, Helen and Lloyd travel back to the ancient Near East — where kings were not just rulers but sacred figures and “sons of God.” They are joined by Dr Dylan Johnson, who explores how ancient peoples blurred the lines between human and divine authority, and how lawgiving, wisdom, and kingship became intertwined in their understanding of the cosmos. Dr Dylan Johnson is Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern History at Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion. His research explores how law, power, and divinity intertwined in the ancient world. He is the author of Sovereign Authority and the Elaboration of Law in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (Mohr Siebeck, 2020), and his forthcoming book, Lawgiving in the Ancient Near East (Cambridge University Press), continues his investigation into how divine and royal authority shaped early legal traditions. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Since the mid-twentieth century, it has been routine for scholars to see John as independent of the Synoptics – Matthew, Mark and Luke. Yet a recent book by Professor Mark Goodacre suggests that John should be read as the fourth and final 'Synoptic' gospel which knew and used all of the Synoptics. Join Helen and Lloyd in the Biblical Time Machine as they explore Goodacre's case. Learn about John's dramatic transformation of the Synoptics, the way his Gospel 'presupposes' the earlier texts, and the payoff of Goodacre's argument for John's authorship and date.  Mark S. Goodacre is Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins in the Religious Studies Department at Duke University, North Carolina. He is the author of the classic volumes: The Case Against Q (2002) and Thomas and the Gospels (2012). His most recent book, fresh off the press, is The Fourth Synoptic Gospel: John's Knowledge of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Eerdmans, 2025), For more from Goodacre, check out his previous appearance on the Biblical Time Machine on SBL's Bible Odyssey and his own incredible NT Pod.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Esau's hairiness, David's ruddiness, Saul's great height. We tend not to pay much attention to these details, but small bodily features in the Hebrew Bible can reveal a character's whole narrative arc. Join Helen and Lloyd in the Biblical Time Machine, as they explore what it meant to look like a hero in ancient Israel. Their guest this week is Brian R. Doak, Professor of Biblical Studies and Vice President of George Fox Digital at George Fox University. A specialist in the Hebrew Bible and the cultures of the Ancient Near East, his research explores how ancient texts, archaeology, inscriptions, and iconography illuminate the world of Israel. He is the author of Ancient Israel’s Neighbours (OUP, 2020) and Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel (OUP, 2019).  For more on biblical bodies, check out SBL's Bible Odyssey entry on bodies.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE  If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Exorcisms on the big screen are terrifying – but what did exorcisms mean in first-century Palestine? Join Helen and Lloyd in the Biblical Time Machine as they uncover the strange world of Greek magical papyri, the Dead Sea Scrolls and charismatic figures viewed as magicians. Joining them in the Time Machine is Professor Graham Twelftree, a leading Jesus historian, who argues that Jesus was perceived in his own lifetime as an exorcist.  Graham H. Twelftree is Professor Emeritus of New testament Theology and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity, Regent University in Virginia, and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the London School of Theology. His many works include Jesus the Exorcist: A Contribution to the Study of the Historical Jesus (1991), Jesus the Miracle Worker and Paul and the Miraculous, and edited volumes such as The Nature Miracles of Jesus: Problems, Perspectives and Prospects and The Cambridge Companion to Miracles.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE  If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What does it mean to read the New Testament through the lens of disability and mental health? In this episode of Biblical Time Machine, Helen Bond is joined by Professor Louise Lawrence (University of Exeter), whose groundbreaking 2018 book Bible and Bedlam explores how the ancient world understood “madness” and how modern interpretations can carry ableist and sanist assumptions. Together, they discuss different models of disability, whether Jesus’ healings reinforce or subvert stigma, and how metaphors of disability shape the language of the New Testament. Louise also reflects on “sane privilege” in biblical scholarship, how autism has been read into Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus, and what we might learn from Africana writer Bessie Head.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE  If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

From the royal courts of Babylon to the Acts of the Apostles, eunuchs appear in some of the most intriguing corners of the biblical story. But what did it really mean to be a eunuch in antiquity? Were they trusted chamberlains at the heart of ancient empires, symbols of inclusion at the edges of faith, or even 'angel'-like beings transcending the ordinary categories of gender? In this episode, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Shaun Tougher to explore the lives of eunuchs in the ancient world and their reception in early Christianity. Shaun Tougher is Professor or Late Roman Byzantine History at Cardiff University and the author of The Roman Castrati: Eunuchs in the Roman Empire (2022). He is a world-leading expert in the study of eunuchs.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Can modern historians really talk about Jesus’ miracles? Did Jesus expect the imminent end of the world? Was he a new Moses figure? And if memory is so unreliable, how can historians claim to know anything about him at all? There’s no one better to wrestle with these questions than this week’s guest: Dale C. Allison Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He joins Helen and Lloyd to discuss his latest book, Interpreting Jesus (2025), a fresh collection of essays from one of the world’s leading historical Jesus scholars. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Time Machine is back... with some changes!  Join Helen and her new co-host, ancient history Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, as they discuss what they're working on at the moment: everything from ancient Babylon, the Hittites and Persia's first lady to ancient 'lives' and the historical Mary.  They are also joined by the show's new researcher and producer, Dr John Nelson. They explore John's research on the absence of a physical description of Jesus in the Gospels, and ask how Jesus came to acquire the familiar appearance he has today.  This episode also offers a glimpse into what is coming up on Season 4: Dale Allison on Interpreting Jesus, Sean Tougher on Eunuchs in the Bible & Beyond, and Louise Lawrence on Disability and the Gospels, among many others!  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

It's been a while, but there are some big changes in the works for Biblical Time Machine! For more details, check out our post on Patreon. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Sadly, the origins of many antisemitic tropes and prejudices can be traced back to the New Testament, in which "the Jews" are cast as the religious "other" against which the Jesus movement is self-defined. As a result, Christians carry around a lot of un-historical and anti-Jewish assumptions are repeated in Sunday School classes and even the halls of academia. Let's fix that!  Our guest Meredith Warren just co-edited an excellent book called Judeophobia and the New Testament. Meredith joins Helen and Dave to dig into the origins of the Bible's anti-Jewish rhetoric and discuss new ways of reading these texts without belittling or condemning Judaism.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Cyrus II was the founder of the Persian Empire, arguably the greatest empire of the Ancient Near East. Cyrus wasn't only a hero to the Persians. In the Hebrew Bible, Cyrus is the only non-Jew that God calls His "anointed one" or "messiah." But does Cyrus really deserve his reputation as the "liberator" of the Jews from Babylon or is it all a piece of ancient propaganda?  The incomparable Lloyd Llewelyn-Jones joins Helen and Dave to discuss the glory of the Persian Empire and how Cyrus was interpreted by biblical authors. For more great stuff from Lloyd, check out his latest books: Persians: The Age of the Great KingsThe Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of EgyptAncient Persia and The Book of Esther: Achaemenid Court Culture in the Hebrew BibleSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The laws and punishments meted out in the Bible sound pretty harsh. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth—not to mention all of the commandments that are punishable by death! Ancient law expert Bruce Wells joins Helen and Dave to answer the question: were biblical laws really enforced? How did they compare with other law codes from the Ancient Near East like Hammurabi? And if they weren't enforced, why do laws play such a central role in the Hebrew Bible?  Check out Bruce's books: Everyday Law in Biblical IsraelThe Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew BibleSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

According to The Da Vinci Code, all sorts of wild things happened at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, chose the books of the New Testament. The role of women in the Church was suppressed. And most importantly, a bunch of powerful bishops decided (by a slim margin) that Jesus Christ was actually divine.  As our guest Sara Parvis explains, the Council of Nicaea was indeed a momentous meeting, but for very different reasons.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Matthew Novenson is back and he's brought some exciting (wild, even) new ideas about our old friend Paul. In his latest book, Paul and Judaism at the End of History, Matt argues that Paul believed he was living through the end of the world. Paul wasn't "against" Judaism or the law—he simply believed that Jesus's death and resurrection had ushered in a new reality with new rules.   SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

With Easter in the rear view mirror, we take a long-overdue look at the next chapter in the story of Jesus: the Second Coming. Scholar Tucker Ferda is making waves with some compelling new ideas about the origins of Second Coming prophesies. He joins Helen and Dave to discuss what Jesus himself might have believed about the End of Days and His role as the prophesied Son of Man.  We highly recommend Tucker's new book, Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The enigmatic figure of Barabbas appears in all four gospels as a "bandit" or "insurrectionist" who is released from prison by Pontius Pilate instead of Jesus. In this special Easter episode, Helen and Dave explore the (many) theories about Barabbas' backstory and what he may have represented to the gospel authors.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What does the Bible really say about controversial topics like slavery, abortion, homosexuality, Satan and the Apocalypse? Everybody has their take, but few have the ability to interrogate the texts and their ancient origins with as much insight as our guest, Dan McClellan.  Dan McClellan is a public scholar of the Bible and religion with a PhD in theology & religion from the University of Exeter. Since 2023, Dan has dedicated himself full-time to combating misinformation about the Bible and religion and increasing public access to scholarship. Dan is co-host of the terrific Data Over Dogma podcast with his buddy Dan Beecher.  Pre-order Dan's new book, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues which hits bookstores on April 29, 2025.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Before it was called Christianity, the "Jesus movement" was born in 1st-century synagogues. In today's episode, Anders Runneson joins Helen and Dave to talk about the important role of ancient synagogues of both civic and religious institutions, and how a better understanding of synagogues can shape our reading of the New Testament.  You can download a full PDF of Anders' book for free: Judaism for Gentiles: Reading Paul Beyond the Parting of the Ways Paradigm SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The books of the Hebrew Bible known as "wisdom literature" — Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes — are a strange fit for the biblical canon. They're ahistorical (not interested in Israel's history) and areligious (not interested in God, covenants, the temple or any other pillars of Israelite religion). So where did these funky books come from and how did they find their way into the Bible?  Our guest Stuart Weeks is here with some answers! Stuart is a scholar of ancient Israelite wisdom literature and recently published an impressive, two-volume study of Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes 1-5: A Critical and Exegetical CommentaryEcclesiastes 5-12: A Critical and Exegetical CommentarySUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What can Bible stories about animals tells us about power dynamics in the ancient world? A lot, it turns out! Suzanna Millar joins us to talk about the fascinating new field of Animal Studies and how the Hebrew Bible can open windows into studying human-animal power dynamics 2500 years in the past. For more on this emerging field of biblical studies, check out Suzanna's book, co-edited with Arthur Walker-Jones, Ask the Animals: Developing a Biblical Animal Hermeneutic.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Jewish sabbath (Shabbat), observed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, is one of the oldest continuously observed holidays in existence. At first glance, the sabbath seems pretty straightforward; it's a "day of rest" that God commanded his people to observe on the 7th day. But when you read the Hebrew Bible really closely—like our guest Jon Levenson does—you run into all sorts of intriguing questions.  Was the "7th day" the same as the sabbath? Was the sabbath a day or rest or a day of bad omens? What does shabbat even mean in Hebrew?  If you're fans of this podcast, you will love Jon's new book, Israel’s Day of Light and Joy: The Origin, Development, and Enduring Meaning of the Jewish Sabbath.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

This is a Biblical Time Machine first—a historical reenactment of how the gospel writers wrote (and rewrote) the books of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Our guest James Barker made his own scrolls, wax tablets and ancient writing implements to see what the gospel-writing process was really like. It gave him all sorts of fascinating new insights into how the gospel authors worked and how they used and reused each other's material.  You really have to check out James' terrific new book, Writing and Rewriting the Gospels: John and the Synoptics.  JOIN US FOR THE BTM BOOK CLUB The next meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Saturday, February 22 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK. We'll be discussing a fascinating scholarly article by Nathanael Vette, who was the guest on our episode about Judaism and the Gospels After 70 CE. To join us live, become a member of the Time Travelers Club! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Why were certain foods "forbidden" in the Hebrew Bible? And how did the pig attain ultra-non-kosher status among ancient Jews? Guest Jordan Rosenblum joins Helen and Dave as they try to pinpoint the origins of Jewish dietary laws and how they've been interpreted over time.  Check out Jordan's terrific new book, Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig.  JOIN US FOR THE BTM BOOK CLUB The next meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Saturday, February 22 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK. We'll be discussing a fascinating scholarly article by Nathanael Vette, who was the guest on our episode about Judaism and the Gospels After 70 CE. To join us live, become a member of the Time Travelers Club! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Josephus will always be our pal, but it's time to meet another super-important ancient Jewish writer: Philo of Alexandria.  Living in the vibrant intellectual hub of 1st-century Alexandria, Philo applied Greco-Roman philosophical ideas to the Hebrew Bible and wrote some of the first books about biblical interpretation.  Today Helen and Dave Learn all about Philo and the remarkable city of ancient Alexandria with guest Maren Neihoff, author of Philo of Alexandria: An Intellectual Biography. MORE FROM BIBLE ODYSSEY "Alexandria""Alexandria and Allegory""Philo, Clement & Origen"JOIN US FOR THE BTM BOOK CLUB The next meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Saturday, February 22 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK. We'll be discussing a fascinating scholarly article by Nathanael Vette, who was the guest on our episode about Judaism and the Gospels After 70 CE. To join us live, become a member of the Time Travelers Club! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

To the authors of the Hebrew Bible, King Nebuchadnezzar was a grade-A jerk. In the 6th century BCE, he and his army sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple and carried the Judahites into exile in Babylon. All of that stuff actually happened, but things really start to get wild in the book of Daniel. In that much later text, Nebuchadnezzar goes mad, grows feathers and eats grass for 7 years. Where did that colorful story come from and does it have any basis in reality? Today's guest Peter Atkins has some pretty intriguing theories! Peter is the author of The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4: Reading Across the Human-Animal Boundary. JOIN US FOR THE BTM BOOK CLUB The next meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Saturday, February 22 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK. We'll be discussing a fascinating scholarly article by Nathanael Vette, who was the guest on our episode about Judaism and the Gospels After 70 CE. To join us live, become a member of the Time Travelers Club! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Did Roman roads have rest stops? How bad were the snacks on a sea voyage across the Mediterranean? Did Paul get frequent sailor miles? On today's episode, we answer all of your questions about travel in the ancient world. Our guest (live from an Egyptian desert) is Robert Cioffi, who wrote a terrific article titled "Travel in the Roman World." You can also check out Rob's latest book, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Greek Novel: Between Representation and Resistance. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Today's guest, historian Steve Mason, has called Josephus's The Jewish War "perhaps the most influential non-biblical text of Western history." And he's got a point! Read alongside the Bible, The Jewish War tells the "rest of the story" — specifically, how the Romans came to destroy the Temple in 70 CE. The trouble is, The Jewish War isn't "history" in the modern sense. It's a narrative written to make moral arguments about "good" and "bad" leaders in both Jerusalem and Rome. In today's episode, Mason explains how historians like himself try to reconstruct the past from a wide variety of sources, not just narrative. To learn much (much) more, check out some of Steve's excellent books: A History of the Jewish War, AD 66-74 (2016)Josephus and the New Testament (2002)Jews and Christians in the Roman World: From Historical Method to Cases (2023)SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Of course Helen and Dave have a fully functioning, very real Time Machine. But if you can't wait your turn (the line is ridiculously long), check out "documentary papyri." These scraps of ancient writing — letters, legal documents, shopping lists — offer a firsthand glimpse into everyday life in the 1st century CE. Even better, scholars like our guest Christina Kreinecker use clues from these ancient everyday texts to illuminate thorny passages of the New Testament. Check out Christina's book (co-edited with John S. Kloppenborg and James R. Harrison) Everyday Life in Graeco-Roman Times: Documentary Papyri and the New Testament. SUBSCRIBE AND GET A FREE MUG! Dave's mom has another holiday gift for BTM listeners! The first 5 people to subscribe to the Time Travelers Club will receive a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug courtesy of Arlene Roos. Subscribe today! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th century BCE, yet his writings are quoted throughout the New Testament and especially around Christmas. Who was the historical Isaiah? And who (or what) was he writing about when he prophesied the birth of a king 700 years before Jesus? For this special holiday episode, Helen and Dave are joined by Daniel Stulac, a Christian scholar of the Hebrew Bible who approaches the book(s) of Isaiah in both their historical and theological contexts.  SUBSCRIBE AND GET A FREE MUG! Dave's mom has another holiday gift for BTM listeners! The first 5 people to subscribe to the Time Travelers Club will receive a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug courtesy of Arlene Roos. Subscribe today! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and a very pregnant Mary travel to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus has ordered a census of the entire Roman Empire. But does Jesus's birth story in Luke align with what we know about censuses in the ancient world? How were people counted? Who conducted these censuses? And did people really need to travel back to their ancestral homes to register with Rome? For this special holiday episode, Helen and Dave are joined by Andrew Whitby, a data scientist and author of The Sum of the People: How the Census Has Shaped Nations from the Ancient World to the Modern Age.  GIVE (& RECEIVE) THE GIFT OF BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE Dave's mom has a Hanukkah gift for all of our listeners! The first 5 people to email us will receive a free, 2-month subscription to the Time Travelers Club. And if you're looking for the perfect gift for a Bible history nerd, you can buy them a membership with a Biblical Time Machine Gift Card. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Hanukkah celebrates a miraculous event, when the eternal light of the temple burned for 8 days without being extinguished. In this special holiday episode, scholar Gregg Gardner tells Helen and Dave all about ancient oil lamps, including the magnificent and mysterious 7-branched menorah of the Second Temple. If you'd like to make your own potato latkes for Hanukkah, try this recipe. Don't forget the apple sauce and sour cream (and crack a window). GIVE (& RECEIVE) THE GIFT OF BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE Dave's mom has a Hanukkah gift for all of our listeners! The first 5 people to email us will receive a free, 2-month subscription to the Time Travelers Club. And if you're looking for the perfect gift for a Bible history nerd, you can buy them a membership with a Biblical Time Machine Gift Card. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Most biblical scholars — including us! — are quick to dismiss the Nativity stories in Matthew and Luke as later theological additions. But what if there are important cultural and even historical memories handed down through these well-worn Christmas stories? According to our guest Joan Taylor, there may be much more to the Nativity stories than we ever thought. Joan's new book, Boy Jesus: Growing Up Judaean in Turbulent Times,  will hit the shelves in February 2025, but you can pre-order your copy now. It's a fascinating read and an important addition to historical Jesus studies. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Every good churchgoer knows that after we die the faithful will be welcomed into a heavenly paradise and the baddies will be consigned to eternal damnation. But don't go looking for any of that stuff in the Bible! As our guest James Tabor explains, ancient people had very different conceptions of the afterlife, including the authors of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. For more great stuff from James, check out his blog, JamesTabor.com and his YouTube channel. Here are some articles and books mentioned in today's episode: What The Bible Really Says About Death, Afterlife, and the Future (Part 1)What the Bible Really Says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future (Part 2)The Book of Genesis: A New Translation from the Transparent English BibleSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Mary Magdalene is one of the most intriguing figures in the New Testament. She clearly held a special place in Jesus's heart and in his ministry, but that popularity also made her controversial. In today's episode, scholar Elizabeth Schrader Polczer presents compelling evidence that someone in the early Church tried to erase (and replace) Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John. Check out Elizabeth's eye-opening journal article, "Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?" SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Scholars have been searching for the Historical Jesus for centuries, but have they been looking in the wrong places? Chris Keith and James Crossley think it's high time to reimagine and reinvigorate the "quest" for the Historical Jesus, opening up the field to entirely new and exciting lines of inquiry. Check out their new edited volume (featuring a chapter by Helen) The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

You're in for a treat. Israeli archeologist Oded Lipschits knows more than anyone about the archeology of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. In this episode, Dave and Helen travel back to the 8th century BCE and learn how the biblical authors interpreted (and reinterpreted) historical events to fit their changing theological and political realities. If you like what you hear, check out Oded's podcast The Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Marriage is between one man and one woman. Adultery is bad. (Prostitution is worse.) And divorce should be avoided at all costs. The Bible is perfectly clear on these and other moral topics, right? Ha! As our guest Jennifer Knust explains, the Bible is a product of the ancient world, where laws about sex, marriage, adultery and divorce had more to do with property than morality. Check out Jennifer's terrific book, Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire.  NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Just in time for Halloween, we're talking magic, incantation bowls and a pinch of necromancy with Gideon Bohak, author of Ancient Jewish Magic: A History. NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen! SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Across the Ancient Near East, it was common to offer food and sacrifices to appease dead ancestors and "hangry" ghosts, but the Hebrew Bible is largely silent on interactions between the living and the dead. Our guest Kerry Sonia pieces together archeological evidence with clues from the Bible to paint a picture of what she calls the "cult of dead kin" in Ancient Israel. If you like today's episode, check out Kerry's book Caring for the Dead in Ancient Israel. NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen!  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December! DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the 1st century, very few people "read" the Hebrew scriptures. Instead, they were "heard" — read aloud (or performed) in the synagogue and other spaces. In this episode, Catrin Williams joins Helen and Dave to discuss "ancient media culture," the different ways that people consumed biblical texts in the time of Jesus, and how literacy, orality and "aurality" were in constant conversation. If you're curious, here's the mysterious Greek/Hebrew amulet that was found near Caernarvon fort in Wales. Catrin will get to the bottom of it. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. BTM BOOK CLUB The next book in the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist by James McGrath. James will join the members of the Time Travelers Club for a live Zoom discussion in December. Date TBD!  DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

From the "Last Temptation" to "Life of Brian," so many filmmakers have tried their hand at portraying the greatest story ever told, with mixed results. Matthew Page — author of 100 Bible Films and the creator of the Bible Films Blog — joins Helen and Dave to discuss the best and worst Jesus movies.    Here are trailers and clips from some of the films discussed in today's episode: Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) filmed in Leeds!La Vie du Christ (1906)Son of Man (1969)Il Messia (1975)Life of Brian (1979)The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) The Passion of the Christ (2004)BBC’s The Passion (2008)Mary Magdalene (2018)The Chosen (2019)Assassin 33 AD (2020)SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The 3 endings of the Gospel of Mark present a real "choose your own adventure." Scholars think that the original text ended at Mark 16:8 with Mary Magdalene and the other women running in terror from the empty tomb on Easter morning. So why do most Bibles continue for 12 more verses? Helen explains why ancient scribes felt the need to tidy up the messy original ending of Mark's gospel. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

It's time to re-think the Documentary Hypothesis — the prevailing theory about the authorship of the Torah. Guest Angela Erisman has a fresh take on the literary history of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, showing how these creative texts reflect ancient political realities. Angela's forthcoming book is The Wilderness Narratives in the Hebrew Bible: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation. Look for it in November 2024. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 12pm EDT and 5pm UK. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Written in the 2nd Century CE, the non-canonical "Gospel of Mary" gives us a taste of the wild diversity of Early Christianity. Religious historian Sarah Parkhouse joins Helen and Dave in the Time Machine to explain the significance of this mysterious Gnostic tribute to Mary Magdalene.  For more, check out Sarah's book, Eschatology and the Saviour: The Gospel of Mary among Early Christian Dialogue Gospels. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

People have lived in Jerusalem for 5,000 years. Archeologist Jodi Magness hops in the Time Machine to give Helen and Dave a tour of Jerusalem's long and fascinating history. Buy Jodi's book — it's fantastic! Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades (2024) SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE was a cataclysmic event for the people of Judaea and the Galilee. Our guest Nathanael Vette argues that all four New Testament gospels were written after 70 when Jewish communities were grappling with the loss of the Temple and an uncertain future under harsh Roman rule. Nathanael has found remarkable evidence in Mark that times the first gospel's authorship during the Jewish-Roman Wars. Check out Nathanael's full article: "The Son of Man and the Sea: Hydromachy and Conquest in Mark’s Sea Voyages." Nathanael is also the author of Writing With Scripture: Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark and the co-editor, with Mona Siddiqui, of A Theology of Gratitude: Christian and Muslim Perspectives. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Bottoms up! In today's mildly alcoholic episode, we talk with guest Elaine Goodfriend about the role of wine in Ancient Israel, and why the Israelites weren't big beer drinkers like their Egyptian and Mesopotamian neighbors.  For more info, check out Elaine's excellent articles: Wine in Ancient IsraelBeer in Ancient IsraelShekhar: Is it Wine or Beer?And here's a link to the Jezreel Winery in the Galilee that Elaine mentioned. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The authors of the New Testament were playing with genres, philosophies and themes that were well-known in Greco-Roman literature. Guest Robyn Faith Walsh teaches us how to read the Bible for what it was in the 1st and 2nd centuries — part and parcel of a wider literary world. Robyn's eye-opening new book is The Origins of Early Christian Literature and we can't recommend it highly enough. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

When did this ancient practice begin? Was it unique to the ancient Israelites? And what did Paul really think about circumcision? Helen and Dave cover it all with guest Ryan Collman, author of The Apostle to the Foreskin: Circumcision in the Letters of Paul.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK.  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The gospels claim that John the Baptist was just preparing the way for Jesus, but what if his role was much bigger? In this episode, Helen and Dave are joined by James McGrath, who argues that Jesus started out as John's disciple and only rose to prominence after John's arrest and execution. James has written two new books about John the Baptist! The first book is already out — Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. And the second, more scholarly volume will be released in October — John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer. James is also a science fiction writer! Check out his intriguing short story about a time machine, time travelers and a certain tomb in 1st-century Jerusalem... It's called Certainty. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!) BTM BOOK CLUB We're excited to announce the first meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of Helen and Joan Taylor's book, Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. Grab your copy of the book and we'll see you on Saturday, September 28 at 10am EDT and 5pm UK.  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Thank you listeners for another amazing season of Biblical Time Machine! We couldn't do this without you. EXCITING NEWS FOR SEASON 3 Season 3 is just a few weeks away and we're unveiling some exciting new perks for members of the Time Travelers Club. We're a listener-supported podcast (no ads!), so we rely on our patrons to keep the show going. If you become a subscriber, you'll get all kinds of new perks in Season 3, including: bonus content and extended interviews for every episodemembership in the "BTM Book Club" with live video discussions"Backstage Seats" for live podcast tapingsNEW PATREON TIER It's no fun asking for money. We wish were were stinking rich and could do this for free. But until those lotto numbers hit, the reality of independent podcasting is that we need more listener support. With that in mind, we're introducing a new Patreon tier called the Full Season Circle of Super Supporters! This is for the super fans. We're looking for a few generous folks willing to pledge support for the entirety of Season 3 at $10/month. In return, you will get all of the perks listed above, plus: a free Biblical Time Machine mug an exclusive online hangout with Helen and DaveThanks for your support and we'll see you in a few weeks for the launch of Season 3! Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Eucharist is such a common part of Christian worship that it's easy to overlook how strange it is — drinking wine that represents Jesus's blood, eating bread that represents His flesh. The ritual would have been even more shocking to Jesus's Jewish followers, for whom consuming blood (even metaphorically) was absolutely forbidden. The New Testament says that Jesus himself instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, but earlier writers like Paul describe something more like a communal meal with ritual components. So our question is: where did the Eucharist originate and what did it mean to the earliest Christians? Helen and Dave are excited to have Katie Turner back on the podcast. In addition to being a top-notch biblical scholar, Katie is the cohost of Gods and Moviemakers. For more on the Eucharist, check out this excellent article on Bible Odyssey, our content partner. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Join Helen and Dave as they attempt the impossible — to cover the entirety of biblical history in one fact-packed episode! To help us, we recruited Dan McClellan from the Data Over Dogma podcast to walk us century by century, book by book through the creation of the Bible. It's like listening to a full season of Biblical Time Machine in one sitting. (In a good way!) For a deeper dive into the biblical history topics discussed on today's show, check out these past podcast episodes ---> Biblical Time Machine: How Yahweh Became GodWhy the Bible Was WrittenAre the 12 Tribes of Israel a Myth?How the Babylonian Exile Changed EverythingWho Wrote the New Testament and Why?Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?Did the Author of John Know the Other Gospels?Ancient Manuscripts — The Bible Before It Was the BibleData Over Dogma: In the BeginningThe Genesis of Genesis with Dr. David CarrConnecting with SourceThe End(s) of Monotheism w/David BurnettJesus in History with Helen BondWho ACTUALLY Wrote the New Testament?SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called " Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The "Song of Miriam" is one of the oldest verses in the Hebrew Bible and it's a prayer. What was the nature and role of prayer in ancient Israelite religion? And how can we trace the evolution of prayer into the New Testament period and Jesus's institution of the "Lord's Prayer"? Guest Judith Newman takes us on a fascinating exploration of the history of prayer in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Check out Judy's book, Before the Bible: The Liturgical Body and the Formation of Scriptures in early Judaism.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Finally, Helen and Dave turn to the most important topic of any time period — food! What the heck did regular folks in the Levant eat back in the 12th and 11th centuries BCE? The Hebrew Bible is a lousy recipe book, so we talked to Jacob Damm, an archeologist who specializes in the food and foodways of Ancient Israel. Grab a snack for this one. You're gonna get hungry.  More from our content partner Bible Odyssey: Milk and Honey in Ancient IsraelSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

If Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is accurate, peering inside the fabled Ark of the Covenant will result in mild to severe face-melting and occasional head exploding. In the Hebrew Bible, the Ark doesn't melt any faces, but it does inflict its fair share of divine violence. Guest Rachelle Gilmour explains the fascinating history and lore behind the Ark of the Covenant.  More from our content partner Bible Odyssey: The Ark of the CovenantShilohSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

One of the longest-running debates among biblical scholars is over the existence of a hypothetical "lost gospel" called Q. If you compare the synoptic gospels — Mark, Matthew and Luke — there are similarities and differences that can't easily be explained. Was there an even earlier source about Jesus that these gospels were based on? And if so, who wrote it and why was it lost? Our guest today is Paul Foster, a colleague of Helen's at the University of Edinburgh. Paul is a passionate Q supporter and shares some strong evidence to quiet the Q critics. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Of all the problematic heroes in the Hebrew Bible, Samson takes first prize. Samson is hailed as a hero of the Israelites — a "Nazirite" consecrated to God with superhuman strength — but he's also a mass murderer, womanizer and all-around menace to society. Helen and Dave welcome Mahri Leonard-Fleckman to the podcast to try to make sense of the wild (and wildly entertaining) Samson cycle. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In 1945, dozens of previously unknown Christian texts were discovered near the Egyptian desert town of Nag Hammadi. Some texts were closely tied to the New Testament, like the Gospel of Thomas, but others were pretty wild, portraying the God of the Hebrew Bible as a demon trickster. All of these texts were labeled "gnostic," but scholars continue to debate what "gnostic" really means and what to make of these curious works from the early centuries of Christianity. Helen and Dave are joined by Kimberley Fowler, a scholar of early Christianity who spends her days reading cryptic texts like The Second Discourse of the Great Seth.  Learn more at Bible Odyssey: Was the Gospel of Thomas Gnostic?The Gospel of Judas SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Countless things could sicken or injure you in the ancient world, so where did people turn for help? Much like today, there were no shortage of healthcare options: herbs, drugs, surgery, saliva — even a literal hole in the head! Helen and Dave welcome historian Jared Secord to discuss what passed for medical care in the ancient Mediterranean and why Jesus fits the profile of a faith healer. Check out Jared's cool new book, co-authored with Kristi Upson-Saia and Heidi Marx, Medicine, Health, and Healing in the Ancient Mediterranean 500 BCE–600 CE: A Sourcebook. More from our content partner Bible Odyssey: Medicine and the Hebrew BibleMagic in the 1st-Century WorldDivine Power in Mark 8Barrenness in the BibleSUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Every Passover, Jewish families gather to recount the miraculous story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt. But how much of this age-old tale is true? Helen and Dave welcome Carol Meyers back to the podcast to talk about the limits of Exodus archeology and to put forward some intriguing theories about the historical origins of the Ancient Israelites. For even more from Carol about the Exodus and Moses, check out this terrific interview she did with PBS NOVA and her book Exodus (New Cambridge Bible Commentary). SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE! If you enjoy the podcast, please show your support through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription. (Think of it as $1.25 an episode!)  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

If you thought everyday life in the 1st century was disgusting, wait until you step inside a Roman prison. In our very first LIVE episode, we talk with Matthew Larsen, historian of ancient incarceration, about the conditions Paul and other early Christians experienced in ancient prisons — nasty food, nastier smells and what it meant to be sent off to the mines. Members of the Time Travelers Club can watch a video version of the podcast! This episode was recorded LIVE at the 2024 SBL Global Virtual Meeting. Special thanks to Christopher Hooker and the SBL staff for including us in this international showcase of biblical scholarship.  For even more from Matthew Larsen, check out his six-part documentary series "Nobody Liked Paul" on Qava. The first episode is free on YouTube. GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MUG The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the 1st-century Roman world where Christianity was born, 20% of the population was enslaved. Enslaved people were laborers, farmers, artisans, scribes, teachers, servants and sex workers. And as our guest Candida Moss explains, enslaved people also played a critical role in the spread of Christianity, including the authorship of biblical texts. How does it change our understanding of the Bible and Early Christianity when we recognize the influence of enslaved people? Does Jesus's revolutionary message—and his ignoble "slave's" death—make more sense when we think about how many of Jesus's early followers may have been enslaved? To learn more, get a copy of Candida's terrific new book: God's Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible. GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

"The Chosen" is a global phenomenon. The streaming series about the life of Jesus is now in its 4th season, which is building toward Jesus's final week in Jerusalem. Helen and Dave were thrilled to chat with actor Richard Fancy, who plays high priest Caiaphas on "The Chosen." Richard did some serious research to prepare for his role — he even read Helen's book! Find out why Richard  sympathizes with Caiaphas, a biblical "baddie" who was caught between warring political factions. And learn how Richard worked hard to portray Caiaphas without the ugly antisemitic tropes so often attached to Jewish characters in the New Testament. If you missed it, check out our episode "Who Was High Priest Joseph Caiaphas?" from Season 1. GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity, but the reality of the empty tomb is largely a matter of faith, not history. All of the evidence pertaining to the Resurrection is found within the New Testament. So how can anyone definitively prove that the Resurrection did or did not happen?  If anyone can do it, Dale Allison can. Dale is a committed Christian and unblinking scholar who isn't satisfied with either the apologetic or skeptical arguments around the Resurrection. In today's Easter episode, we dive into the mysteries and inconsistencies of this remarkable story as it's told in the Bible, and walk away with more questions than answers.  For a  deep dive into all of the arguments and theories about the Resurrection, check out Dale's exhaustive and fascinating book, The Resurrection of Jesus: Apologetics, Polemics, History. GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Jesus's mortal life ended on a Roman cross,  one of the cruellest execution methods known to man. But how common was crucifixion in the Roman world and how accurate was the New Testament's portrayal of Jesus's agonizing end? In this fascinating (and somewhat gruesome) episode, we dive into the debate over the true shape of Roman crosses,  whether Jesus carried his entire cross, and the ultimate cause of death from crucifixion. Special thanks to our expert guest John Granger Cook, author of Crucifixion in the Mediterranean World. For images of Roman graffiti and other ancient depictions of crucifixion, visit the Academia site of Yale historian Felicity Harley-McGowan.  GET YOUR BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Capernaum is known as "the Town of Jesus," since so many of Jesus's miracles and preaching happened in this small town on the Sea of Galilee. In the centuries after Jesus's death, Capernaum transformed from a Jewish fishing village into a Christian holy site. Thanks to archeology, we can learn more about Jewish-Christian relations in Capernaum during  this much-debated period in the history of the Holy Land. Helen and Dave are joined by Wally Cirafesi, an archeologist and New Testament scholar who has spent years excavating in the Galilee. At first glance, Capernaum feels like a village with clear divisions between Jews and Christians, since the most visible archeological remains are a large synagogue and church facing off in the center of town. But in his research, Wally paints a much messier picture of ancient Capernaum in which Jews and Christians (and Jewish Christians) lived "cheek by jowl" in multi-family dwellings and may even have worshipped in each other's houses of prayer. BUY BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE MERCH The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug. Everything tastes better when it's biblical. WIN STUFF Join the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site, and you'll be automatically entered in two cool giveaways: 1. We're giving away a free pass to the SBL Global Virtual Meeting scheduled for April 1-4, 2024. Join hundreds of biblical scholars from around the world for 4 days of research presentations and talks. Helen and I will also be recording a "live episode"! The winner will be announced soon, so join today. 2. We're also giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. For legal reasons, the SBL Study Bible giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The history doctor is in! Helen and Dave welcome Dr. Ricky Shinall — an MD with a PhD in biblical studies — to help us diagnose leprosy in the ancient world. Did biblical leprosy have anything to do with modern Hansen's disease? Were lepers considered "untouchable" pariahs? And what does all of this have to do with ritual impurity? For more, check out Dr. Shinall's article "Skin Disease and Social Exclusion" at our content partner Bible Odyssey. BREAKING NEWS The Biblical Time Machine Store  is open! Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." Or get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug. Everything tastes better when it's biblical.  WIN STUFF Join the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site, and you'll be automatically entered in two cool giveaways: We're giving away a free pass to the SBL Global Virtual Meeting scheduled for April 1-4, 2024. Join hundreds of biblical scholars from around the world for 4 days of research presentations and talks. Helen and I will also be recording a "live episode"! The winner will be announced soon, so join today. We're also giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts.For legal reasons, the SBL Study Bible giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the 6th Century BCE, on a tiny island in the Nile River, once stood a Temple to Yahweh. Far from Jerusalem, the ancient Jews of Egypt's Elephantine Island worshipped a mighty god they called "Yaho" in one of the first diaspora Jewish communities outside of Palestine. How they got there and who they became is a fascinating and little-known story.  On today's episode, Helen and Dave talk with historian Karel van der Toorn, professor of ancient religion at the University of Amsterdam and author of Becoming Diaspora Jews: Behind the Story of Elephantine. Win an SBL Study Bible! We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource. For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

"Thou shalt not" miss this episode about the King James Bible, the most-read literary work in the English language! But who was King James? Why did he order a new English translation of the Bible (there were plenty out there already)? And who were the translators tasked with this monumental project (hint: not Shakespeare)? Helen and Dave are joined by Jeffrey Allen Miller, a MacArthur "Genius Grant" winner who made headlines in 2015 with the discovery of the earliest known draft translation of part of the King James Bible.  Jeff's incredible find overturned some longstanding assumptions about how the King James translators did their work.  Win an SBL Study Bible! We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource. For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The New Testament story known as the "Healing of the Centurion's Slave" has been the subject of some intriguing scholarship in recent years. In the Greco-Roman world, the Greek word  translated as "slave" or "servant" in the Bible also meant the younger partner in a same-sex male relationship. So the question is: by healing the Centurion's partner, did Jesus effectively bless a same-sex relationship? The evidence is compelling. Homosexual relationships were common in the Greco-Roman world, especially in the military where power dynamics were reinforced by sex. In this story, repeated in two New Testament gospels, the Centurion clearly cares for his servant, but is he anything more than a concerned commander?  Christopher Zeichmann joins Helen and Dave to analyze how the story of the Centurion's slave would have sounded to 1st-century ears, and why it's been embraced by advocates of a more inclusive Christianity. For a deeper dive into the topic, read Chris's book, Queer Readings of the Centurion at Capernaum: Their History and Politics.  More from Bible Oddysey The Healing of the Centurion's SlaveThe Bible and HomosexualityHomosexuality in the New TestamentWin an SBL Study Bible! We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource. For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small percentage from books purchased through the Amazon links above.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Heroic stories like David and Goliath were told for centuries before they were written down. But the creative storytelling process didn't end there. Written texts were "performed" and improvised upon, creating new variations that made it into later texts. The Bible that we have today was the product of ongoing "conversations" between oral and written traditions. Helen and Dave are thrilled to welcome Jonathan Friedmann back to the podcast to introduce the exciting field of performance criticism. Jonathan uses the example of David and Goliath to show how artifacts of oral storytelling are found throughout the Hebrew Bible, and how texts may have even been written with an eye toward improvisation and performance. To learn more, check out Jonathan's book, Goliath as Gentle Giant: Sympathetic Portrayals in Popular Culture.  Win an SBL Study Bible! We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource. For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small percentage from books purchased through the Amazon links above.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the New Testament, Jesus often teaches through parables — short stories rich in symbolism and ethical dilemmas. "The Good Samaritan." "The Prodigal Son." We've heard these stories so many times it's easy to overlook how challenging and even shocking they would have sounded to 1st-century ears. In this episode, scholar Amy-Jill Levine joins Helen and Dave to explain the Jewish roots of parables and how Jesus wielded parables to shake up his audience. Parables were incredibly effective teaching tools in the ancient world and they're just as powerful today, especially when we understand their deeper historical background. If you enjoy this episode, pick up a copy of AJ's terrific book, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. Win an SBL Study Bible! We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This study Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts. Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource. For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small percentage from books purchased through the Amazon links above.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Ancient authors had no problem writing texts in other people's names, and that includes plenty of biblical writers. If Paul only wrote 7 of the 13 Pauline epistles, for example, who wrote the other 6, and why did they stamp Paul's name on them? The practice is called pseudepigraphy — from the Greek for "false inscription" — and a lot of biblical scholars will tell you it's straight-up forgery. But were ancient authors really trying to deceive their readers? Or were they using a standard literary practice in the ancient world of writing in the name of beloved figures (Paul, Peter, Moses, Enoch) to add new layers of meaning to their texts? Our guest Kelsie Rodenbiker argues that pseudepigraphy in the Bible has more in common with fan fiction than forgery. Winners of the Book Giveaway! Congratulations to the winners of our very first book giveaway. These three lucky members of the Time Travelers Club will receive a copy of Jacob Wright's remarkable book, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and Its Origins. Hellen PauletteTim DaviesJason LaRueSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Hebrew Bible wasn't created by one of the mighty empires of the ancient world — Egypt,  Assyria or Babylon — but written in the rubble of a small, conquered kingdom. So how has this "epic monument to defeat" not only survived for 2,600 years, but spawned three world religions and influenced countless lives? Because the authors of the Hebrew Bible invented something completely new. They created a "people." Helen and Dave were thrilled to talk with Jacob Wright, biblical scholar and author of the mind-blowing new book, Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and Its Origins. Jacob turns the Hebrew Bible on its head, explaining how a group of creative scribes used the power of literature to reinvent a fallen kingdom as God's chosen people. Book Giveaway! Win a Copy of Why the Bible Began We're giving away 3 copies of Why the Bible Began to Patreon members of the Time Travelers Club. One copy will go to a new member who joins this week and the other two copies will be given to existing members. Thanks to all members of the Time Travelers Club for your generous support! More on Bible Odyssey Check out some great articles written by Jacob for our content partner, Bible Odyssey: How Was the Bible Formed?In What Ways is the Bible a Religious Text?How is David a Symbolic Figure? Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

There's so much we get wrong about clothing and dress in the 1st Century. Did Jewish people dress differently than gentiles? No. Did most men have long hair and beards? No. Did Jesus and the disciples rock sandals with socks? Yes! Clothing is an essential component of culture, yet it's been woefully ignored by historians. Today we change all that. Helen and Dave are excited to welcome Katie Turner to the podcast. Katie dispels 1st-Century fashion myths and answers our burning questions about ancient underwear, veiling and yes — socks! To hear more from Katie, check out her podcast Gods & Moviemakers about the best and worst Bible movies.  We know you want to see pics of those ancient sandal socks... Red Socks from Egypt Striped Socks from EgyptFragments of a Linen Sock from Masada (Israel)Leather Sandal from MasadaSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Bible is literally crawling with animals — from the crafty serpent of Genesis to Jesus's parable of the lost sheep. That's because animals (both wild and domesticated) were an integral part of life in the ancient world. In today's episode,  Lloyd Llewelyn-Jones is back to explain what lions, donkeys, doves and dogs really meant to the ancient authors of the Bible (and also what a locust and honey sandwich actually tastes like). For more of Lloyd's fascinating insights, check out the sweeping reference book he co-authored with Sian Lewis, The Culture of Animals in Antiquity: A Sourcebook with Commentaries.  And if you want to dive deeper into some of the animal references from today's episode,  try these articles from our content partner Bible Odyssey: The Creation of the AnimalsShepherds in the BibleAnimal Sacrifice in Ancient IsraelLike Swarming Locusts (Joel 1-2)The Story of BalaamSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Try as you might, you won't find Santa Claus in the Bible. Or Christmas trees, or camel-riding Magi, or even December 25th! In the first centuries of Christianity, Christmas wasn't really a "thing." The birth of Jesus was far less important than his death and resurrection. So how did Christmas evolve from an afterthought into the biggest holiday on the planet? We're thrilled to have Kyle Smith back on the podcast to present a deep-dive cultural history of Christmas. Why do we have so many different dates for Christmas? (12/25, 1/6, even 1/19!) Did the Three Kings have names (and were there actually three)? And how did St. Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop from Turkey, transform into rosy-cheeked St. Nick? Kyle is hard at work on a cultural biography called The Many Lives of Saint Nick, which should be coming out in the next year. In the meantime, enjoy these fascinating articles from our content partner Bible Odyssey: Luke's Nativity and the Battle Over ChristmasThe Nativity (written by Helen!)The Political Significance of Luke's Christmas StorySupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the first of two Christmas episodes, Helen and Dave take another look at arguably the "best-known and least-known" woman in history: Mary, the mother of Jesus. Our guest, the fantastic James Tabor, collects the few breadcrumbs of information about Mary in the New Testament and weaves together a compelling narrative about a Jewish matriarch at the center of the Jesus movement. James Tabor's latest book, The Lost Mary: How the Jewish Mother of Jesus Became the Virgin Mother of God, will be published in 2025 (the French version is available now!).  More on Mary from Bible Odyssey: Mary, the Mother of JesusPortraits of Mary in the GospelsVirgin Birth and What It Means Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is based on real historical events — the Maccabean Revolt of 167-160 BCE. In today's episode, Helen and Dave travel back to a time when Judaea was ruled by the Hellenized (Greek) Seleucid Empire. When a Jewish priest named Mattathias refused to make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, it sparked a violent revolution led by Judah "The Hammer" Maccabee.  Learn More About Hanukkah at Bible Odyssey HanukkahMaccabeesThe Commemoration of War in Early Jewish FestivalsLife Under EmpireSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Bible is largely silent about race. People are identified by their lands of origin and beliefs, not their skin color. Yet centuries of biblical interpreters have read race into the Bible, for good and for ill. As our guest Stacy Davis explains, the biblical land of Cush (sometimes translated as Ethiopia) has long been associated with Black people, a point of pride for African and African-American Christians. And Josephus believed that the legendary Queen of Sheba was Black. But the Bible has also been misused for racist purposes. In the 1800s, pro-slavery forces in America cited a convoluted reading of Genesis 9 and 10 to justify the enslavement of Black people under the so-called "Curse of Ham." To learn more, check out Stacy's excellent book, This Strange Story: Jewish and Christian Interpretation of the Curse of Canaan from Antiquity to 1865. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Starting in the 1st century CE, there was an explosion of Christian literature — dozens of gospels, letters, apocalypses and more — but only a fraction of those texts made it into the New Testament canon. Who decided which books were in and which books were out? For this episode, Helen and Dave welcome New Testament scholar Francis Watson, who introduces us to important figures like Athanasius of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, some of the earliest influential Christian writers to weigh in on which texts were authoritative and which were "spurious." Check out Francis's excellent books on the making of the NT canon: Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective and The Fourfold Gospel: A Theological Reading of the New Testament Portraits of Jesus . To learn more about how the NT canon came together, here are some great articles from Bible Odyssey: Noncanonical GospelsThe New Testament CanonWhy Does the Bible Look the Way It Does?Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

When we recognize the Bible as a product of the ancient world, we can look for subtle ways that biblical authors incorporated elements of everyday life — including coins! We spoke with historian Michael Theophilos about everything we can learn from ancient coins (politics, economics, visual culture, propaganda), and then we found some fascinating examples of how language and symbols from coins made their way into the Bible. If you want to dive deeper into coins and the New Testament, check out Michael's book, Numismatics and Greek Lexicography.  Here are some cool images of coins Michael described in the episode: A denarius minted by Caesar Augustus with the image of the comet or bright starAn ancient coin from Yehud (Persian-ruled Judaea) featuring a disembodied earAlso, the newly redesigned Bible Odyssey website has some great articles about coins, taxes and the Temple in the 1st Century: MoneyCommerce and the Temple in First-Century JerusalemTaxes in First-Century PalestineSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

It's easy to read the New Testament and come away with the idea that Jesus was in opposition to the Jewish ritual impurity laws. In fact, that's what most Christian theologians have taught for the past 2,000 years. Is it possible that we've (gasp!) been misreading the Bible this whole time?  Our guest Matt Thiessen says, "Yep." In today's episode, we travel back to the 1st century to understand how everyday Jewish people understood ritual impurity, and what Jesus's miracles — healing a leper, curing a woman of a hemorrhaging condition — would have meant in that historical context.  Matt's excellent book on this subject is Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels' Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism. And if you're a fan of funny Twitter accounts — like, actually funny — follow Matt at @MattThiessenNT.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

There aren't any werewolves or vampires in the Bible, but God deploys his own terrifying army of monsters. Have you heard of cherubs? Not what you think! Even angels have some less-than-angelic duties. It turns out that the shepherds abiding in the field had good reason to be "sore afraid." Just in time for Halloween, special guest Esther Hamori joins Helen and Dave to talk about her fantastic new book, God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible.  Maybe next year you'll dress your kid up as a six-winged, snake-skinned seraphim.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

At first reading, the Gospel of John feels a world apart from the other gospels. The language is different, there are new stories (see our episode on "the woman taken in adultery") and Jesus speaks about himself in bolder terms ("I am the resurrection and the life." "I am the light of the world.") That has led some scholars to argue that the author of John didn't know the synoptic gospels and was instead working from other sources, probably oral traditions about Jesus circulating in the 1st century CE. Our guest doesn't buy it. Mark Goodacre, creator of the pioneering biblical studies podcast NT Pod, argues convincingly that the author of John not only knew the other gospels, but wrote his version in direct response to them. Mark is hard at work on a book about John, but in the meantime you can check out some of his other groundbreaking work: The Case Against Q:  Studies in Markan Priority and the Synoptic Problem, and The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Jonah and the whale (fish, technically) is one of the best-known Bible stories, but it's also completely bonkers. It stars Jonah—the worst/best prophet ever—and reads more like a fable or satire than a serious biblical treatise. Were the authors of Jonah trying to be funny? And how the heck did this silly little fish tale become a beloved and meaningful narrative for Judaism, Christianity and Islam? To help unravel the mystery, Helen and Dave welcome back Eckart Frahm, author of the impressive new book, Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire. Eckart shares a convincing theory that the Judaean authors of Jonah may have been inspired by a popular Assyrian legend.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Pop quiz—name a famous kid from the Hebrew Bible. Baby Moses? Teenage David? That's about it. The Bible may be largely silent about childhood, but we can gather clues from archeology and ethnography to piece together a picture of what it was like to be a kid in ancient Israel. Special guest Kristine Garroway from Hebrew Union College joins Helen and Dave to reconstruct family life in ancient Israel: the spiritual anxieties around pregnancy, the rules of ancient adoption, and the chore lists assigned to little Israelite boys and girls. For more, check out Kristine's book, Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

For the first four centuries of Christianity, the famous story of the "woman taken in adultery" was nowhere to be found in the New Testament.  In this moving tale, Jesus forgives a woman condemned  for committing adultery and admonishes her accusers: "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." But why wasn't the story included in the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament? Was it a late addition to the gospels? Or was it an ancient story suppressed by Church fathers? Was "death by stoning" really a punishment in 1st-century Judaea?  In this fascinating episode,  Helen and Dave speak with scholar Jennifer Knust about her book To Cast the First Stone: Transmission of a Gospel Story.   Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

It's easy to read the New Testament and come away thinking that Jesus and his disciples were in opposition to "the Jews." But the first followers of Jesus were all fellow Jews and the early Jesus movement was very much a Jewish movement. Would the first generation of "Christians" have thought of themselves as anything other than Jewish? Our guest Paula Fredriksen says absolutely not.  According to Paula, there was plenty of room in the 1st Century for competing Jewish sects—including the Jesus movement—all arguing over the right way to be Jewish.  (The fact that they were arguing, jokes Paula, is proof enough of their Jewishness.) Check out Paula's excellent book, When Christians Were Jews: the First Generation.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Comedy royalty John Cleese stopped by the podcast to chat with Helen and Dave about Monty Python's inspiration for making Life of Brian, what fascinates and frustrates him about the Bible, and so much more. Members of the Time Travelers Club can listen to an uncut version of our entire, hour-long conversation with John. For $5/month, you can help support the show and receive bonus content and behind-the-scenes extras. Thanks to all those who have joined and special thanks to listener Josh Boldman for submitting an audio question for John Cleese. For our U.S. listeners, John is about to embark on an American tour of his hilarious stage show An Evening with the Late John Cleese, so find out when he's coming to a city near you.  Enjoy the episode!  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Face it — you wouldn't survive two days back in the first century. If the food-borne bacteria didn't kill you, you might keel over from the odors alone! In this episode, Helen and Dave welcome Jodi Magness, biblical archeologist extraordinaire, for a frank and sometimes graphic discussion of what daily life REALLY would have been like in 1st-century Judaea: just nasty! And don't forgot to check out Jodi's book: Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus.  It's terrific.    Bonus Content Members of the Time Travelers Club get access to a bonus conversation with Jodi about how she got into archeology. We also posted a 20-minute behind-the-scenes conversation with Helen and Dave about how they got interested in biblical studies and the origins of the podcast. Subscribe today and check it out!  Related Stories from Bible Odyssey What Does Archeology Tell Us About the New Testament?The Aims of Biblical ArcheologySupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

How did a (lowercase) god named Yahweh from the pantheon of the ancient Edomites become the one and only (uppercase) God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam? It's a fascinating story that calls into question just how monotheistic the ancient Israelites really were... For this episode, Helen and Dave are joined by Francesca Stavrakopoulou, professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, and author of the award-winning book, God: An Anatomy. Join the Time Travelers Club! For $5/month, you can support the podcast (thanks!) and even contribute to the show. Subscribers can ask their very own questions on the air and access special bonus content exclusively for Club members. There's still time to ask a question to John Cleese! Learn more > More on Yahweh from Bible Odyssey, our new content partner: What did Yahweh look like?Worshipping Yahweh outside the province of YehudDivine CouncilBaalSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Thank you loyal listeners for making Season 1 of Biblical Time Machine such a success! In this short recap, Helen and Dave look back on the first 30 episodes and drop some hints about what's to come in Season 2. We'll be taking a short pause to catch up on recordings and make plans for an even bigger and better second season of Biblical Time Machine. But don't fret, we'll be back with new episodes before you know it. In the meantime, keep sending us your emails (we respond to each one!) and please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The existence of the 12 tribes of Israel is central to the narrative of the Hebrew Bible. The tribes were named after the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob and believed to be their direct descendants. As the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt, wandered the desert for 40 years, and eventually conquered and settled the “promised land” of Canaan, they did it all as members of these 12 named tribes. But do we have any evidence outside of the Bible that the 12 Tribes actually existed? Our guest, Andrew Tobolowsky, has studied the history of the 12 Tribes both within the biblical texts and beyond, and has some intriguing theories to how the idea of the 12 Tribes originally took form and why it's endured to this day.  Check out Andrew's book, The Myth of the 12 Tribes of Israel: New Identities Across Time and Space Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Learn how a humdrum Hebrew word for "obstacle/adversary" morphed over the centuries into the goat-hoofed, pitchfork-wielding embodiment of all evil. Our guest TJ Wray traces the biblical and historical evolution of Satan from a side character in the book of Job to the snarling chaos monster of Revelation.  Check out TJ's book, The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots, co-authored with Gregory MobleySpecial thanks to listener Daniel Kline for this episode topic suggestion. Email us with your own ideas for future episodes and we'll shout you out on air. If you're enjoying the show, please rate and review us on your favorite podcasting app. Thanks!Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

For more than 100 years, archeologists have been scouring the Holy Land for tangible proof that the Bible and its accounts are historically true, but they've largely come up empty handed. Still, modern archeology is one of our greatest resources for understanding the ancient societies that wrote these timeless texts — their beliefs, their rituals and their daily lives. We're thrilled to welcome the legendary biblical archeologist Eric Meyers as our guest. Eric and his wife Carol (who joined us for an episode about women in Ancient Israel) conducted digs in Israel and Italy for more than 40 years and may have been the inspiration for Indiana Jones (or maybe not). You can read all about their adventures in Eric's new memoir, An Accidental Archeologist.  Enjoying Biblical Time Machine? Rate and review us on your favorite podcast appEmail us with episode suggestions!Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Finally, an episode about Josephus! Josephus is not only our best source for life in Roman-ruled Judaea, but also our only source. (Much like Dave is his parents' favorite, and only, son.)  Josephus wrote A LOT about the Jewish wars with Rome and Jewish history in general, but scholars usually take his accounts with a grain of salt. As a Jew and a Roman citizen during a period of great tumult, Josephus had his own version of history to tell. We welcome Helen's colleague Kimberley Czajkowski, an expert on 1st-century Judaea, to introduce us to the real Josephus, one of the most important and controversial writers from the ancient world.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament lists dozens of musical instruments, and we know that the Song of Songs was... well... a song, so what role did music play in Ancient Israel? A big one! Special guest Jonathan Friedmann joins Helen and Dave to talk about his favorite ancient instrument (hint: it has strings), why the high priest in the Temple wore bells on his robes, and to settle the argument once and for all what the  psalms originally sounded like. Special thanks to listener Laura Laster who sent us the idea for this episode. If you want to hear your name on the "air," send us an email with your very own ingenious episode idea. And check out Jonathan's new podcast Amusing Jews!  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

As much as 80% of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament was written during and immediately after the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BC. As our guest Anja Klein explains in this fascinating episode, the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC was an inflection point in the history of the Jewish people. In Babylon, the exiled elites of the Kingdom of Judah had to forge a new identity. And out of that trauma (and resilience) came a compelling story of a chosen people and their one true God.  Email us with your episode topic ideas. We love to hear from you!Rate and review us on your favorite podcasting app. Thanks! Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Stephen was stoned to death. Peter was crucified (upside down). For early Christians, the highest form of devotion was to suffer and die like Jesus. Those martyrs became the first saints, and their bones and other "relics" were venerated throughout Christendom as part of a "cult of the dead," explains our guest, Kyle Smith.   Read Kyle's fascinating book, Cult of the Dead: A Brief History of ChristianityEmail us with your episode topic ideasRate and review us on your favorite podcasting app. Thanks!Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

When  Charles III is anointed with Holy Oil and enthroned as the God-appointed King of the UK, he'll take part of a tradition that dates back to Old Testament times. Ancient Israelite kings weren't gods like their neighbors in the ancient Near East and the prophets  blamed them for the Babylonian invasion and exile. But as our guest Madhavi Nevader explains, the Hebrew Bible presents many competing versions of Israelite kingship, some that are downright anti-monarchy and others that present the king as a shadow of a future messiah.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Ancient harems were about much more than sex. They were the powerful realms of royal women — wives, consorts and concubines — where favored sons were positioned as future kings. What can the biblical account of David and Bathsheba tell us about the reality of ancient harems? A lot! says  return guest Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones.  Bathsheba, a victim of King David's lust, rises to become "queen mother," the most powerful position in the royal courts of the ancient Near East. Lloyd explains how David and Bathsheba's famous story is at once the product of ancient literary motifs and the real-life exploits of harem life.  Attention British listeners (and world travelers)! Visit the British Museum in London from May 4 - August 13 to see an amazing exhibit that Lloyd helped curate called Luxury and Power: Persia to GreeceRead Lloyd's latest book, Persians: The Age of the Great KingsEmail us with your episode suggestionsSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

For our final Easter episode, Helen and Dave tackle the biggest Easter "baddie" of them all, Judas Iscariot. Everyone knows that Judas betrayed Jesus, but... did he? The gospels, as usual, each put their own twist on Judas, and there's compelling evidence that the character of Judas may have been borrowed from an earlier betrayal tradition involving King David. To clear it all up, we welcome special guest Paul Middleton, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chester.  Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMachPlease rate and review Biblical Time Machine on your podcast app — it helps more listeners find usSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

For centuries, historians have been trying to pinpoint the exact date of the Crucifixion, but biblical math is tricky! As Helen and Dave explain in today's third Easter episode, the gospels aren't in agreement on when Jesus died. Did different  traditions about Jesus's death and resurrection exist in the ancient world? Or do the different dates reflect different theological messages that the gospel authors were trying to send? As usual, we get to the bottom of it (or at least come to some moderately satisfying conclusions).  Read Helen's great article: "Dating the Death of Jesus"Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMachPlease rate and review Biblical Time Machine on your podcast app — it helps more listeners find us Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the second of four Easter episodes, Helen and Dave investigate the historical Pontius Pilate (or "Ponty P" as Helen calls him). What was Pilate's job in Roman-ruled Judaea? Was Jesus the only controversial messiah figure that Pilate had to contend with? And most importantly, how did Pilate end up buried at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland?  Read Helen's excellent book: Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation See if you can catch the BTM debut of Helen's dog, Tessa, who briefly barks her approval in the background. Thanks, Tessa...Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

This Easter season, Helen and Dave are doing a series of episodes on the fascinating figures that appear in the Passion narratives of Jesus's trial, crucifixion and resurrection.  First up is Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple who — according to two of the gospels, at least — presided over the Jewish council that handed Jesus over to Pontius Pilate. What was the role of the High Priest in the 1st century? Why would Caiaphas have perceived Jesus as a threat, religiously or politically? Helen will explain it all! To learn even more, read Helen's excellent book, Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The modern Bible on your bookshelf is the product of centuries of human engagement with really (really!) old texts. Some of the oldest Greek manuscripts of individual books of the New Testament contain "scribbles" in the margins — commentaries, corrections and the occasional doodle.  Garrick Allen is fascinated by these "paratexts," all of the extra stuff in  manuscripts that show how ancient readers have shaped the scriptures we have today. We're thrilled to have Garrick as our special guest for this installment of Biblical Time Machine.  Read Garrick's book: Manuscripts of the Book of Revelation: New Philology, Paratexts, ReceptionFollow Garrick on TwitterEmail us with your episode suggestions. (We've already received some great ones!)Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is nearly silent on the lives of ordinary women in the ancient world. Thankfully, we have intriguing clues from archeology and ethnography that help piece together  women's lives more than 3,000 years ago.  Special guest Carol Meyers doesn't think that Ancient Israelite society was a strict patriarchy — despite troublesome verses like the so-called "curse of Eve" — but that women exercised important economic, social, and ritual functions in home and village life.  Read Carol's book: Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in ContextEnjoying Biblical Time Machine? Rate and review us on your favorite podcast appEmail us with episode suggestions!Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Return guest Matthew Novenson drops some absolute bombs in this eye-opening episode about messiahs.  Pretty much everything you've been told about ancient beliefs about the messiah is wrong (in varying degrees). As Matt patiently explains, many things got lost in translation (and transliteration) from the Hebrew mashiach to the Greek khristos to the English messiah/Christ. But a close reading of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament in their original languages reveals some stunning insights. Don't miss it! While you're here, check out Matt's two excellent books about messiahs: Christ Among the Messiahs:  Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient JudaismThe Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its UsersHey loyal listeners! If you like the podcast, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It will help other people find us. Also, we'd love to hear your ideas for future episodes. Send us an email or reach out to us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

It's easy to read the New Testament and think that Jesus's ministry and message ("grace, forgiveness, love") was somehow in stark opposition to Judaism ("the law, justice, purity"). In today's episode, guest Amy-Jill Levine explains how Jesus's teachings, actions and miracles fit squarely within 1st-century Jewish beliefs and practice, and why understanding Jesus's Jewishness is imperative for healing the centuries-old rift between Jews and Christians.  Excellent books by Amy-Jill Levine: The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish JesusThe Jewish Annotated New TestamentShort Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial RabbiSupport the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Discovered in 1946 in abandoned caves in Israel, the Dead Sea Scrolls are by far the oldest copies we have of books from the Hebrew Bible. The ancient horde of scrolls — more than 1,000 — also sheds light on the mysterious community called the Essenes who retreated to the Dead Sea wilderness around the time of Jesus. Helen and Dave are joined by Dead Sea Scroll expert Charlotte Hempel, who challenges some of the conventional assumptions about the Essenes and explains why the millennia-old scrolls are still a really big deal.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Everybody knows what Jesus looked like—the beard, the flowing locks, the tunic, and of course, the sandals! But incredibly, the Bible doesn't include a single physical description of Jesus... So where did the standard Western image come from, and is any of it historically accurate? Dave and Helen welcome back guest Joan Taylor, who makes a strong case that Western art painted a distorted picture of the real Jesus. Read Joan Taylor's excellent book: What Did Jesus Look Like? Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Book of Genesis is packed with iconic stories: the Creation, Adam & Eve, Noah's Ark... but where did those ancient tales come from? Yale Assyriologist Eckart Frahm joins Helen and Dave as they set the time machine all the way back to the "Beginning" to explore the intriguing connections between ancient Mesopotamian myth and the "Primeval History" recorded in Genesis. Did ancient Israel borrow some of its origin stories from Babylon? Hear the evidence and decide for yourself.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Magi and mangers and murderous kings — it must be Christmas! The New Testament tells two very different stories of Jesus's birth, but why? Helen and Dave set the Biblical Time Machine to December 25, Year 1 to discuss why the authors of Matthew and Luke chose to write their own particular versions of the Nativity story, each with important theological and political undertones. And was Jesus even born in Year 1? We'll answer all your Christmas questions.   Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

With Christmas just around the corner, Helen and Dave piece together a  picture of the woman who was there from the start — Mary, the mother of Jesus. Betrothed at 12 or 13 to a much older man, what would life have been like for a Galilean peasant woman and mother (and widow, perhaps?) in the 1st century? And what did Mary make of her unusual son and his radical mission?  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

In the Bible, Herod is a power-hungry, paranoid King who orders the execution of all boy babies in Judea. But did any of that really happen? Join Helen and Dave as they discuss Herod's historic legacy and catalog the people that he definitely did kill (including his favorite wife).  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

According to the Bible, Paul was once Saul, a Christian-persecuting zealot who "converted" to Christianity. But did Paul, the earliest author in the New Testament, see himself as anything other than Jewish? Special guest Matthew Novenson joins Helen and Dave to discuss which of Paul's letters are legit, and what life would have been like for a diaspora Jew like Paul in the 1st century.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Did you know there's not a single mention of God, prayer, or prophets in the Book of Esther? So how did this entertaining tale of beauty contests, banquets, and impaled bad guys make it into the Hebrew Bible? Special guest Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones joins Helen and Dave to discuss the ancient Persian origins of the Book of Esther.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The Second Temple in Jerusalem was a wonder of the ancient world and the center of Jewish life. In this episode, Dave and Helen describe the grandeur of the Temple complex after a major upgrade under Herod the Great, how Temple sacrifices worked, and why money changers played an important role (even if Jesus wasn't a fan).  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

What were the Jewish origins of baptism? Did people really wear camel hair and eat bugs? According to Josephus, was John the Baptist a "bigger deal" than Jesus? Special guest Joan Taylor joins Helen and Dave to discuss how John the Baptist fits into the 1st-century world of the New Testament.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Women played a hugely important role in Jesus’s inner circle and in early Christianity, but the New Testament only gives us a few tantalizing clues. In this episode, Helen and Dave fill in the forgotten stories of Jesus’s female disciples.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

The New Testament wasn't handed down from on high as a complete and fully formed text. The books of the NT were written by different individuals at different times to meet the spiritual needs of different communities. Join Dave and Helen as they explore the historical roots of the "Good Book" and the people who wrote it.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Dave and Helen dive into the biggest Bible history question of them all — who was the real Jesus? Lucky for us, Helen wrote a whole book about it, so there's plenty of fascinating clues to discuss.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.