Episoder

  • 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

  • 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

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  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 tapings

    NEW 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 Dave

    Thanks 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

  • 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

  • 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 Bible

    Data 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