Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchA Second Look at Mary, Mother of Jesus
Season 2 Episode 45
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 mot…
2 years, 5 months ago
Hanukkah History: The Maccabean Revolt
Season 2 Episode 44
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 b…
2 years, 5 months ago
Biblical Blackness: Cush, the "Curse of Ham" and the Queen of Sheba
Season 2 Episode 43
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 i…
2 years, 5 months ago
Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?
Season 2 Episode 42
Starting in the 1st century CE, there was an explosion of Christian literature — dozens of gospels, letters, apocalypses and more — but only a fracti…
2 years, 6 months ago
What Ancient Coins Can Teach Us About the Bible
Season 2 Episode 41
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 li…
2 years, 6 months ago
Everything We Get Wrong About Jesus and Jewish Impurity Laws
Season 2 Episode 40
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…
2 years, 6 months ago
Halloween Special: God's Monsters
Season 2 Episode 39
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 th…
2 years, 6 months ago
Did the Author of John Know the Other Gospels?
Season 2 Episode 38
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…
2 years, 7 months ago
Is Jonah the Weirdest Book in the Bible?
Season 2 Episode 37
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 proph…
2 years, 7 months ago
Childhood in Ancient Israel—What Can We Know?
Season 2 Episode 36
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…
2 years, 7 months ago