Biblical Time Machine

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...

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...

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...

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 abo...

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...

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...

" 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 ! Fi...

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 schola...

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...

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 i...

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 &quo...

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 an...

"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 &...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ne...

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  K...

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...

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 thrill...

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 T...

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.  Lea...

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-Ameri...

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...