The Bible For Normal People

In the final Pete Ruins episode of 2025, Pete Enns speaks to everyone who has ever read Song of Songs and wondered “why the heck is this in the Bible?” Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-313-pete-ruins-song-of-songs/  Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/FmFfQL2ahqc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete is joined by Liz Charlotte Grant to talk about using the Bible as a springboard for curiosity, inquiry, conversation, and community. This episode explores how art, imagination, and the practice of midrash can open up new ways of engaging scripture when literal readings don’t speak to what we see in the world today. Show Notes → https://thebib...

In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Jared sits down with Sarah Emanuel to discuss the concept of “Messiah” from a Jewish theological perspective. Sarah explores what post-exilic Israelites might have thought and meant when they talked about a deliverer, what shapes those beliefs took near the time of Jesus’s life, and what sorts of misconceptions people have today when they use...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared sits down with media psychologist Dr. Angela Patterson to discuss the trends she studies in the spiritual lives of Gen Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012. Angela explains how the typical timeline of faith progression has become much less linear with Gen Z, and encourages parents, church leaders, and older generations to create a space for youn...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Chauncey Diego Francisco Handy to discuss the conquest narrative in the book of Joshua. Delving into what the themes of empire, displacement, a “promised land,” and identity meant to ancient peoples throughout Israel’s history, the conversation offers insight into what the preservation of these narratives can mean for peo...

In this reissue of The Bible for Normal People episode 56, Pete gets to the heart of the somber book of Ecclesiastes. He cautions against an optimistic reading as the author intends to question everything, even God; and explains why Ecclesiastes is his favorite book of the Bible. This episode originally aired in June of 2018. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-310-pete-enns-p...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with lawyer, lecturer, and author James Kimmel, Jr. about our primal desire for revenge against the people we feel have wronged us. James shares the science behind the belief that revenge is an addiction tied to gratification, and offers alternative strategies to break the revenge cycle and move towards a forgiveness-oriented approach...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Elizabeth Shively show some love to the shortest gospel and tell us why it shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to understanding the Messiah. Walking through the book’s literary framing of apocalypse, suffering, and discipleship, Elizabeth presents Mark’s gospel as an invitation to get to know the human Jesus. Show Notes → https://thebi...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Drew G. I. Hart and Jarrod McKenna to talk about rethinking power and nonviolence. Through practices inspired by Anabaptism, the Black church, and the teachings of Jesus, Drew and Jarrod explore how Christians can contribute to social change through their own nonviolent resistance as individuals and communities. Show Notes →...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Nerd-in-Residence Cynthia are joined by Bill Schniedewind to discuss who really wrote the Bible. Bill explains how different scribal communities each left their own mark on the texts they were writing, and how the diversity of the Bible’s human authors reflects the beauty and richness of the text itself. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornorma...

In this reissue of The Bible for Normal People episode 36, Pete works through some big-picture issues that help us see what Proverbs is all about, such as the complexities of wisdom, the nature of folly, and how this ancient text is supposed to help us navigate life in the present day. This episode originally aired as “7 Things You Need to Know about How the Book of Proverbs Works” in February 201...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared and Jennifer Garcia Bashaw sit down with Mariko Clark to explore how adults can help kids encounter the Bible in ways that move beyond rigid rules and binaries. Together they discuss practices that cultivate curiosity, imagination, and a more expansive vision of God and faith. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-63-mariko-clark...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete is joined by our Nerds-in-Residence to tackle some of your biggest questions about the Old Testament. They discuss contradictions in Ecclesiastes, the influence of ancient Near Eastern literature, the meaning and function of sacrifice, and the formation of the Hebrew Bible. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-306-pete-enns-t...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Zach Lambert to talk about the journey from biblical literalism to a more liberative approach to scripture. They explore four harmful interpretive lenses—literalism, apocalypse, hierarchy, and moralism—and offer four healthier alternatives focused on Jesus, context, flourishing, and fruitfulness. Show Notes → https://thebible...

The book of Revelation is just plain weird. In this reissue of episode 180 of The Bible for Normal People, Rev. Dr. Brian K. Blount joins Pete and Jared to discuss how to read and understand the book of Revelation.  Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-305-brian-k-blount-revelation-for-today-reissue/  Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/-K8lPK2ygHs ********** This...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete takes a deep dive into the Psalms—who really wrote them, how they were edited, and why they’ve endured for thousands of years. He explores how these ancient prayers reflect the full range of human experience with God—raw lament, joyful praise, and everything in between.  Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-304-pete-enns-pete...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with David P. Gushee about what it means to take seriously the moral teachings of Jesus. They dig into how Jesus’s teachings are anchored in cultural context, yet still speak to real-life questions about freedom, forgiveness, status, and what it looks like to live well and love others.  Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared take on a central question: Is the Bible still relevant—and if so, how? They explore how modern views, especially the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, have shaped people's expectations and often led to disillusionment. Drawing from church history, ancient reinterpretations, and personal experiences, they offer insight into how the Bible...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Beau Underwood and Brian Kaylor join Pete and Jared to explore the history of how mainline Protestants have contributed to Christian nationalism in the United States. They explain how patriotic worship practices, uncritical support for the state, and assumptions about the nation’s “Christian” identity have shaped the movement—and how churches today can b...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Dr. Julie Faith Parker joins Pete and Jared to reexamine the story of Eve through a feminist lens, challenging the long-held belief that Eve is the source of original sin. She unpacks how patriarchal interpretations have shaped cultural attitudes toward women for centuries—often in ways the biblical text doesn’t actually support.  Show Notes → https:...

In this reissue episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with the late Walter Brueggemann to reflect on how the Bible can be reclaimed in the mainline church after generations of historical criticism. He challenges both liberal and evangelical tendencies to reduce Scripture to rigid certainties, instead offering a vision of the Bible as a dynamic, imaginative script meant to...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Malcolm Foley to explore the connection between racism and greed in American history, and the calling of Christians to live differently. Drawing from his book The Anti-Greed Gospel, they discuss how economic self-interest has fueled racial injustice, how the church has been both complicit and resistant, and what it means to p...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Caroline Blyth and Emily Colgan to dive into the many forms of violence in the Bible, including violence attributed to God. They discuss how ancient context, gender dynamics, and structural power inform these texts, why confronting them matters, and how faith communities can engage these difficult passages with honesty an...

In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Adis Duderija to discuss the rich diversity of belief within Islam. Adis outlines various expressions of the faith, challenges the idea of Islam as monolithic, and explores some of the history behind how these iterations came to be.  Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-58-adis-duderija-the-diversity-of-is...

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Garrick Allen about the concept of paratexts—elements like chapter numbers, footnotes, titles, and formatting that surround the biblical text—and how these often-overlooked features significantly shape how we interpret Scripture. Together they explore how the Bible is a dynamic, evolving tradition influenced by centuries of h...