History in the Bible
220 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 569 ratingsA guide to the history presented in the Bible, for people of all faiths and backgrounds, presented by an independent podcaster, and biblical studies buff. I explore the religion of ancient Israel, the beginnings of Christianity, then finally the evolution of the heirs of Abraham to the year 200. I discuss every single book in every Bible (there are more than you think!). Lightly garnished with a dash of drollery, a soupçon of scrutiny, and not one ounce of objectivity. Not one ounce! The main narrative will conclude in January 2024. Bonus episodes will continue indefinitely.
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Episodes
2.40 Jesus' Disciples I: The Cabinet of Three
June 02, 2019 05:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBKeynote ep: Jesus had an inner cabinet of three disciples: Simon Peter; and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Only they have significant speaking parts. The often appear together at many significant moments, such as the Transfiguration. The rest of the disciples are ciphers. Peter is by far the pre-eminent disciple, named more often in the New Testament all the other disciples put together. He is Jesus’ devoted wombat, an impulsive, exuberant, and eminently likeable individual. But he fai...
2.39 Conflict and Transfiguration
May 12, 2019 05:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBJesus' mission to Galilee does not go as well as hoped. The Pharisees and scribes attack him for teaching and working wonders on the sabbath. Jesus spars with the Jewish factions many times. Jesus attacks the Pharisees for their petty legalism. Modern interpretations of these accounts hold them to reflect the situation when the gospels were written, projected back into the time of Jesus. Jesus' Galilean ministry concludes with his Transfiguration, where he stands between Moses and Elijah, an...
2.38 Miracles and Healings in Galilee
April 21, 2019 05:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBMost of Jesus ministry was conducted in Galilee. This time is stuffed to the brim with miracles and parables. Jesus exorcizes demons, raises people from the dead, and cures the sick. He feeds thousands, walks on water, and calms the storm. He teaches parables about old wine into new skins, mustard seeds, pearls, and weeds amongst the wheat. He meets Mary Magdalene. Jesus predicts his own death. Peter professes him the Messiah and Son of God.
2.37 Jesus All Over the Place
March 31, 2019 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBIn John's account of the early ministry, Jesus flies all over the place. He steals the disciples Simon Peter and Andrew from the Baptist while in the Perea. In his first great sign, he turns water into wine at Cana, then finds the disciples Philip and Nathaniel. He cleanses the temple and debates Nicodemus. He is first recognised as Messiah by a Samaritan, a people derided by the Jews. Jesus gives us his first theology lesson. None of this is in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
2.36 Jesus in Galilee
March 10, 2019 05:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBThis episode presents Jesus' earliest ministry as the synoptic gospels tell it. Straight after his baptism by John, Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness near the Dead Sea. He passes with flying colours. You know that quote "Get the behind me Satan"? It's not here. When Jesus learns that the Baptist has been arrested, he flies back to Galilee. According to Mark and Matthew, Jesus summons two sets of two brothers as his first followers. Mark and Luke describes Jesus first act as a sermo...
2.35 Prologue to Jesus' Ministry
February 17, 2019 05:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBKeynote ep: An introduction to the geo-political world of Jesus. I also discuss the many problems we have when attempting to reconcile the chronologies of the gospels. The synoptic gospels differ in the details. The big problem is with the gospel of John. We simply cannot reconcile the chronology of John with the synoptics.
2.34 The Problem of John the Baptist
January 27, 2019 05:00 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBJesus' identity as Son of God is revealed at his baptism by John, an old-style prophet who promotes Jewish ritual washing. Did John recognise Jesus at this event or not? The gospels differ. They regard the Baptist as a problematic figure, and treat him enigmatically. The synoptic gospels downplay him. The gospel of John (the apostle, not the Baptist) takes him over.
2.33 We Three Kings: 2019 Epiphany Special
January 06, 2019 05:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBMy Epiphany special relates the story of Christmas as told by the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew, the story is told from Joseph's point of view, not Mary's. Matthew has wise men, the infamous massacre of the innocents, and the flight to Egypt. No angels and no shepherds. He does not mention Mary's relative Elizabeth, and her son John the Baptist. If you read Matthew carefully, he says nothing of the day of Christmas, but he has a lot to say about the day of Epiphany, 6th January, the day the ...
2.33 We Three Kings. 2019 Epiphany Special
January 06, 2019 05:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBMy Epiphany special relates the story of Christmas as told by the gospel of Matthew. In Matthew, the story is told from Joseph's point of view, not Mary's. Matthew has wise men, the infamous massacre of the innocents, and the flight to Egypt. No angels and no shepherds. He does not mention Mary's relative Elizabeth, and her son John the Baptist. If you read Matthew carefully, he says nothing of the day of Christmas, but he has a lot to say about the day of Epiphany, 6th January, the day the ...
Bonus 20 The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity
December 30, 2018 05:00 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBSecond Temple Judaism (530 BC-70 AD) was a lush forest of beliefs, factions, and sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Sicarri, Zealots, the Fourth Philosophy and more. All were swept away in the First Roman-Jewish war that ended with the destruction of the temple. From this forest, two new religions emerged: Rabbinic Judaism, and Christianity.
2.32 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: 2018 Christmas Special
December 16, 2018 05:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBMy Christmas special tells the story of Christmas as related by the gospel of Luke. With lots of canticles and shepherds. My forthcoming Epiphany special relates the gospel of Matthew's version of the nativity.
2.32 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. 2018 Christmas Special
December 16, 2018 05:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBMy Christmas special tells the story of Christmas as related by the gospel of Luke. With lots of canticles and shepherds. My forthcoming Epiphany special relates the gospel of Matthew's version of the nativity.
2.31 The Many Names of Jesus
December 02, 2018 09:18 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MBKing of the Jews, Saviour, Son of Man, God, Son of God, Messiah and Christos, and Lord. The New Testament has many titles for Jesus. Let's investigate them.
2.30 John's Gospel of Knowledge
November 18, 2018 05:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBThe gospel of John reads nothing like the other gospels. John defines Jesus as a cosmological figure, not the man adopted by God at his baptism that the other gospels talk about. John has a quite different biography of Jesus. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus travels to Jerusalem once in his life, to meet his destiny. The gospel of John has Jesus travelling to Jerusalem several times, and places the cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus' career, not at the end. John's gospel is clea...
2.29 The Gospels of Matthew and Luke
October 28, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBThe gospel of Matthew is the most Jewish of the gospels. He insists that his readers must follow Jewish law. Yet his gospel contains the infamous blood cry. Matthew's community might have been Jews who went to synagogue, and believed that what we call Christianity was the right way to be a Jew. Or they might have been outside the synagogues. Matthew today is understood as a factional writer, one who contended against the emerging rabbinical community. The gospel of Luke is part of a package,...
2.28 The Gospels of Mark and Matthew
October 07, 2018 05:00 - 34 minutes - 23.9 MBMark is the earliest, shortest, and least popular gospel. We don't know if Mark was a Jew or a gentile. Mark's audience is assailed by the powers that be. He has an especial dislike of the Pharisees. His Greek is rough, but punchy. Mark expects the return of Jesus any day now. Mark's Jesus was a man adopted by God at Jesus' baptism. His Jesus is forever telling people shut up about Jesus' true identity. In Mark, Jesus is Clark Kent, not Superman. In Mark, the reader always knows more than th...
2.27 What We Know About the Life of Jesus
September 16, 2018 05:00 - 34 minutes - 23.8 MBOur earliest pagan sources for the life of Jesus - the historians Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius - tell us almost nothing about Jesus. The letters of St Paul are uninformative, as are rabbinic sources. We have to rely on the four gospels. These have their own agendas. In this episode I explore the relationships between the synoptic gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Today, we believe that Mark was the first gospel, and that both Matthew and Luke drew upon Mark. But Matthew and Luke have mat...
2.26 Christianity's Earliest Witness: Paul Writes to the Thessalonians
August 26, 2018 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBPaul's first letter to the Thessalonians is the earliest surviving document of Christianity. I drop in on the Thessalonian Jesus-club to discover how a pagan newcomer would have reacted to the club and the letter. The newcomer is befuddled by the strange words used by club members, and confused about Paul. I also dissect the letter, and discover that Paul knew almost nothing about the life of Jesus.
2.25 Quest for the Historical Jesus
August 05, 2018 05:00 - 35 minutes - 24.6 MBKeynote ep: Since the Enlightenment, three great academic attempts have been made to make sense of the life of Jesus: the first, second, and third quests for the historical Jesus. I follow the Third Questers.
2.24 Battle for the New Testament IV: Modern Times
July 15, 2018 05:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBThe discovery of the ancient Codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus in the 19th century revealed that the New Testament circulated in three different textual traditions: the Byzantine, the Alexandrian, and the Western. It became clear that the Textus Receptus was based entirely on Byzantine manuscripts, all written in the high Middle Ages. Modern Protestant and Catholic bibles rely on the much older Alexandrian manuscripts, represented by Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, and on modern papyrus discoveries.
2.23 Battle for the New Testament III: the Reformation
June 24, 2018 05:00 - 25 minutes - 17.2 MBUnlike the Jews, Christians preserved many versions of their scriptures. The invention of printing spurred European scholars to revisit ancient Greek manuscripts in an attempt to create one single version of the sacred books. Over a century, Erasmus, Beza, Stephanus and the Elzevirs produced Greek editions. Their collective efforts are known as the Textus Receptus, the text behind the King James bible.
2.22 Battle for the New Testament II: Against Marcion
June 03, 2018 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBThe Jesus-clubs reacted against Marcion's tiny list of sacred works. The invention of the codex, the book, brought the issue of the canon to the forefront. Melito, Tatian, Irenaeus, Eusebius, and Athanasius made the first attempts to list a sacred canon. The Christians struggled against Marcionites, Montanists, and Gnostics to define what they believed. I introduce the Shepherd of Hermas.
2.21 Battle for the New Testament I: Earliest Times
May 13, 2018 05:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBChristians in the first two centuries did not have a sacred canon of books. In this first of four parts, I discuss what the earliest church fathers Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp and Papias were reading. Marcion spurred the Jesus-clubs into action.
Bonus 19: Samson on Trial
May 06, 2018 07:40 - 37 minutes - 26.1 MBWe all know of the biblical hero Samson, known to his friends as Shimshon ben Manoah, and to his enemies as “that bastard”. Samson of the long hair, Samson who was seduced by Delilah, Samson who brought down the Philistine temple. In this bonus episode, three award-worthy history podcast writers and producers bring Samson to trial for mass murder.
2.20 Herod's Heirs
April 22, 2018 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.8 MBHerod’s kingdom was divided. The Romans took their own chunk. His sons Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip received portions. Their success was mixed. Judea was never easy to rule, often breaking out into brigandage, even when run by Jews. Race riots between Greeks and Jews were common. Philip does not play a role in the New Testament story. Archelaus has a cameo part. Herod Antipas figures in the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist. Herod’s grandson Herod Agrippa I appears in the story of ...
2.19 What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us?
April 01, 2018 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22.6 MBRome created an efficient economic system that enabled even middle-strata Judeans to buy goods from far-distant places. Rome introduced new social structures, the patron-client system, and the household headed by the pater familias. The Jews created their own system of governance under the Roman rulers. They also created the synagogue. Jewish religion transformed itself. God became more numinous, while Satan turned into a person. Jews came up with a definite concept of a life after death.
2.18 Modern Debates: Scandal of the Dead Sea Scrolls
March 18, 2018 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22 MBThe Biblical find of the century, the Dead Sea Scrolls, were turned over to an international committee for study. Bad idea. The cabal refused to let the wider scholarly community examine the documents, and forced their own interpretations on the world. The cabal bamboozled first the Jordanian authorities, then the Israelis. The cabal's stranglehold was only broken by a bunch of academic freedom-fighters in the 1990s.
Bonus 18: Yochi Brandes' novel 'The Orchard'- Judaism and Christianity after the fall of the Temple
March 11, 2018 09:32 - 59 minutes - 40.6 MBDan Libenson of the Judaism Unbound podcast returns to the show. This time we discuss best-selling Israeli author Yochi Brandes' novel 'The Orchard'. Dan translated the book into English. The novel centres on Rabbi Akiva, the man who forged rabbinic Judaism after teh fall of the Temple. Along the way we encounter a host of other rabbis and Paul of Tarsus. We also ponder the difficulties of translation and working out what actually happened in history.
2.17 Recovering the Bible: A Century of Revelations
March 04, 2018 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MBSo much to cover: the discovery of the oldest Jewish bible, the Leningrad Codex; and the oldest Christian bible, the Codex Sinaticus. At the Cairo Geniza, finds revealed another thousand years of manuscripts. The Didache was recovered, and another bunch of books discovered in an obscure tomb in Egypt, revealing a Christianity hitherto unknown. The Dead Sea Scrolls then showed that Judaism was not the dessicated religion that the New Testament described.
2.16 Meet the Neighbours: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes
February 18, 2018 05:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MBAs the Tanakh tells it, the Jewish nation comprised a united body-politic from the fall of the kingdom of Israel right through the return. The only division in Judaism was between those who followed God’s laws, and those who strayed. From the time of the Seleucids on, the people fragmented into factions and religious renewal movements. Prime amongst these were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes: maybe.
2.15 The Rise and Ruin of the Maccabeans
February 04, 2018 05:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBThe Maccabeans reach their apogee under John Hyrcanus I, and his sons Aristobulus and Alexander Jannaeus. Alexander's widow, Alexandra Salome, became known as a ruler of wisdom and moderation. Her incompetent children and successors John Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II blew it all in a fratricidal civil war. The Romans stepped in, ditched the Maccabean ditzes, and installed more reliable bureaucrats: Antipater, and his son Herod.
2.14 Grappling with the Greeks V: Jubilees Reconstructs Judaism
January 21, 2018 05:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBThe Book of Jubilees was preserved by the Ethiopian Orthodox. Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was held to be a parody of Jewish thought. Now we know the book was immensely popular with Jews and Christians until the early Middle Ages. The book re-writes Genesis and Exodus. Jubilees claims a higher authority than those books. It creates a new sacred calendar, and invents the figure we call Satan. I also have something to say about that odious book written at the same time, the ...
2.13 Grappling with the Greeks IV: Daniel and the Book of Parables
January 07, 2018 05:00 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBThe book of Daniel is one-half comfy folktales, and one-half crazy. It was the only one of the many Jewish apocalyptic books to make it into the Old testament because it was the only book to talk of the resurection of the dead. It gets every historical detail wrong. Nonetheless, it can claim to be the founding document of the USA. Daniel's use of a common Hebrew idiom, "son of man", has created huge theological problems. That part of 1 Enoch called the Book of Parables re-creates the idiom f...
2.12 Grappling with the Greeks III: The Maccabeans Revolt
December 24, 2017 05:00 - 30 minutes - 20.9 MBRival high priests Jason and Menelaus plunge Judah into turmoil. Many Jews thought that both Jason and Menelaus were too Greek for their own good. Antiochus IV over-reacts and attempts to quash the civil strife. The Maccabeans stage a nationalistic rebellion. Judas Maccabeus reclaims the temple and creates Hanukkah. After Judas' death, his brother Jonathon transforms from insurgent to high-priest.
2.11 Grappling With the Greeks II: Jerusalem Against Athens
December 10, 2017 05:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBThe Judeans spent 120 happy years under the Hellenistic rule of the Egyptian Ptolemies. They chafed under the rule of the Hellenistic kingdom of the Seleucids, who faced severe geopolitical challenges. The social and economic tidal wave of international Hellenism challenged every aspect of Judean life and thought. A country Jewish priest called Mattathias revolted against this globalisation: Make Judea Holy Again!
2.10 Grappling with the Greeks I: Josephus and the Books of Maccabees
November 26, 2017 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBFirst in a mini-series on the history of the Jews and the province of Judea under the Hellenistic empires, and under the Maccabees. I start with a summary of the history I will expand on in the next few episodes. Then I present our sources for that history, Josephus and Maccabees. I conclude with a few notes about the oddities of the Ethiopian orthodox biblical canon.
2.9 The Apocalypse to End Them All: 1 Enoch
November 12, 2017 05:00 - 20 minutes - 13.8 MBApocalypses were popular reading amongst Jews in the centuries they spent under Roman rule. Rabbinical Judaism blotted the apocalypses from its collective memory. Christianity incorporated them into its very soul. I cover the greatest apocalypse of them all, 1st Enoch. The book of Tobit is my special guest star.
2.8 Lost Books of the New Testaments
October 29, 2017 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MBJews produced a vast number of religious books in the centuries before the birth of Jesus. They had no influence on later Judaism, but profoundly influenced Christianity. We call them parabiblical or pseudipigraphical. Their significance was not appreciated until the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
2.7 Under Persia: Farewell to the Tanakh
October 15, 2017 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.6 MBThe Jews have a placid existence under Persian rule, and create Judaism. They reconstruct their religion, one now without kings and prophets. From on, the Law is all. I discuss the last of the books of the Tanakh: the romances of Esther and Judith, the hateful but mercifully brief prophet Obadiah, and the funniest book in the canon, Jonah.
2.6 Leaving Babylon IV: Nehemiah and Ezra Stand Against Ruth
October 01, 2017 05:00 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBGovernor Nehemiah and priest-scribe Ezra finally bring the Jews back home from Babylon. Modern scholars reverse the Biblical order of the two, and so do I. The two institute a tax-payer-funded theocracy. Ezra rejects the old Hebrew religion and founds modern Judaism. Intermarriage is forbidden. Against that stance is the Book of Ruth.
2.5 Leaving Babylon III: The Enigma of Zerubbabel and Joshua
September 17, 2017 06:00 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBAfter Sheshbazzar's failure, the second wave of returnees are led by the enigmatic figures of the supposed Davidic king Zerubbabel and the high-priest Joshua. Those returning spurn those who stayed behind, implying that the only real Jews are those who were exiled. Zerubbabel inexplicably disappears from the narrative at the moment of his triumph. The book of Esdras Alpha rehabilitates him. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah are sources for the period. Zechariah writes the first apocalypse...
2.4 Leaving Babylon II: Cyrus and the Mystery of Sheshbazzar
September 03, 2017 06:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBThe Babylonian empire is rendered helpless when its king Nabonidus goes on a ten year holiday to Arabia. The best-ever benevolent autocrat, Cyrus the Great of Persia, has no trouble mounting a friendly takeover of the empire. Cyrus urges the Jews to return home under the mysterious Sheshbazzar. Cyrus is applauded by Second Isaiah, who introduces the Age of Aquarius, and some new theology.
2.3 Leaving Babylon I: The Ezra Muddle
August 20, 2017 06:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBOur most important sources for the Return are the books known as Ezra and Nehemiah in Catholic and Protestant bibles. The Jews have a single book, called Ezra. There a whole bunch of other books of Ezra, many to be found in Russian and Greek bibles. 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Latin Esdras, Esdras Alpha, the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, the Latin Vision of Ezra, the Questions of Ezra, the Revelation of Ezra. What a muddle! Colombus used 4 Esdras to discover America.
2.2 In Babylon II: Ezekiel and Job
August 06, 2017 06:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MBIn the book of Ezekiel God transforms from furious father to jealous husband. The prophet is commanded to protest against the Judeans with performance art. He has a few passages no-one can make head nor tail of. I also reluctantly tackle the book of Job, that most difficult of books.
2.1 In Babylon I: The Exile
July 23, 2017 06:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MBIn the first episode of series two, I begin with the Judeans in exile in Babylon. We move from the prophet Jeremiah to the prophet Ezekiel, and his crazy imagery, imagery that has inflamed Christian iconography for centuries. But not only Christians. Ezekiel is the father of Jewish mysticism, a movement which the rabbis only quashed in the early Middle Ages.
Bonus 17: A Conversation with Dan Libenson of Judaism Unbound
June 13, 2017 06:00 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBMy special guest is Dan Libenson of the Judaism Unbound podcast. We talk about the Bible, the history of the Jewish religion, the difficulties of translation, how Jews and Christians think about God, and many other matters. All good fun!
1.57 Modern Debates: End of an Era
May 21, 2017 06:00 - 34 minutes - 23.7 MBIn the final episode of series one, I explain why I am leaving the remaining books of the Old Testament to my second series. I introduce the lush literature of the Second temple period, and describe in detail the nature of Judean religion as it was at the destruction of the kingdom of Judah. I reflect on what I have learnt making this series, and what is coming in series two.
1.56 Modern Debates: Into Exile.
May 07, 2017 06:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MBScholars are divided about the Babylonian destruction wrought on Judah. The Biblical sources tell different stories. How many were deported to Babylon, and how many stayed behind? Was Judah left utterly desolate, as the Book of Chronicles says, or just reduced, as the Book of Kings says? We find out what happened to the prophet Jeremiah, and encounter the book of Lamentations; and the book of Baruch, one found in Catholic and Orthodox bibles, but not Protestant.
1.55 Four Prophets of the Babylonian Crisis
April 23, 2017 06:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MBFour prophets lived in the last decades of the kingdom of Judah. In his short and miserable book, Zephaniah rails about the destruction to come. Jeremiah is a foreign policy advisor, and spreader of doom. We are all going to die! Surrender to your new overlords: Babylon! In a short and nasty work, Nahum gloats at the fall of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, a victory he did nothing to accomplish. Habakkuk is a contemplative philosopher, with an important question for God.
1.54 The Babylonian Conquest of Judah
April 09, 2017 06:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBThe Egyptians kill Josiah, who is acting on behalf of Babylon against Egypt. They remove his pro-Babylonian son Jehoahaz from the throne, replacing him with the pro-Egyptian Jehoiakim. After the Egyptians are defeated, the Babylonians capture Jehoiakim and the city of Jerusalem, placing on the throne Jeconiah. King Nebuchadnezzar soon tosses him aside, settling on Zedekiah as the Babylonian puppet king. In a bad move, Zedekiah rebels. Nebuchadnezzar destroys Judah. The Jewish exile has begun.