History in the Bible

None of the gospels recount the resurrection. They tell of the discovery of the empty by Mary Magdalene and some other women, and then move to Jesus post-resurrection appearances. The resurrection happens off stage. The Gospel of Peter is the only document that describes the actual moment of resurrection. The gospels present differing accounts of Jesus' appearances after his death. Did he appear in spirit, like an angel, or as real fleshly human? How many people did he appear to, and when, and where?

What solid statements can we make about the life of Jesus? Who did Jesus think he was? We can never know, but we can make some guesses. Certainly, he thought he was like an Old Testament prophet. He believed that God's kingly rule was about to intervene. Jesus believed that his mission was to prepare the Jews for God’s imminent intervention in the world. Did Jesus intend to found a new religion? I doubt it.

I introduce the book of Acts. The book tries to harmonise the deeds of the two great apostles: the pro-Jewish Peter and the pro-gentile Paul. Paul's letters say that Acts is telling porkies. The first third of the book is centred on the Jerusalem Jesus club. The book of Acts describes the disciples' earliest Jesus club as a golden age, a hippie commune, but a commune with a dark side. The disciples are arrested, but keep escaping from prison. The authorities eventually give up, letting them go after a light flogging. The Saducees appear in a rare cameo.

The first chapters of Acts describe the perfect community of the Jerusalem Jesus club. Events take a dark turn after the first five chapters. The club is beset by tribulations. The disciples decide to appoint a set of deacons, middle-managers. That turns out not so well for the deacon Stephen. Stephen is accused of blasphemy, and delivers the longest speech in the book. He is the first to die for his faith after Jesus. Wemeet Simon Magus. Peter converts Cornelius, a pagan Roman. In his last major appearance in Acts, Peter is arrested, released by an angel, and disappears for parts unknown. And the disciple James the son of Zebedee, brother of the Beloved Disciple, is killed by King Herod Agrippa I.

Paul is the major protagonist in the Book of Acts. His letters comprise almost half the books in the New Testament. After Jesus, Paul dominates the New Testament. His letters are the earliest Christian documents we possess. But that is only thanks to the accidents of history. The overwhelming personality of Paul tramples that of the disciples into the dust. Not even Peter and James, brother of Jesus, can withstand the force of nature that is Paul. Paul is the first to launch a systematic campaign to bring Jesus to the pagans, in the face of opposition from the Jerusalem Jesus club. Paul accidentally constructs a theology of sin and death, and invents the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. Yet Paul seems to know almost nothing about the life of Jesus. What gives?

Paul's letters are puzzles. Why do we have so few? Paul loved to write. We should have 90 or more letters, not the scant dozen we have. And why don't we have letters from Paul's contemporary missionaries? How do we reconcile the vast differences between the three Pauls shown in his letters?

Paul's letters say that he spent 17 years in Arabia Nabatea, in Damascus, and in what is now southern Turkey. In all those long years, he met the disciples precisely once, and then only Peter and James the brother of Jesus. I call this Paul's lost mission. The Book Acts ignores it. The chronology of Acts is impossible to reconcile with Paul's letters.

Paul’s 2nd mission is much more extensive than his first. He starts from his base in Antioch. Before he even begins, Paul has a face-off with Peter in Antioch, and Paul’s first backer and friend Barnabas. Paul acquires Timothy as a companion. He then gallivants across the province of Asia. Paul takes ship to Thrace in Europe, where he establishes a church at Philippi. After an unfortunate misunderstanding with the local authorities, he treks down through Macedonia, where he establishes a church at the capital of the province, Thessalonica. Paul travels south into Achaia, modern Greece. A grand speech fails to impress the Athenian philosophers. He has better luck at Corinth, settling there for eighteen months. Again he falls afoul of the Jews, who bring him before the Roman governor. Thankfully, the governor has no interest in petty squabbles and dismisses the case. Paul arrives back at his base in Antioch, after a whirlwind three years.

This is a repeat of part of an earlier episode. I imagine a curious pagan's reaction to hearing Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.

The three synoptic gospels are markedly different from John. It is clear that both Matthew and Luke used Mark. But Matthew and Luke have much material in common. Most scholars think they have a common source, the mysterious "Q". Others think one evangelist copied the other. Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I tackle the issue.

Paul has been on the road for 20 years. In his third and final mission, Paul travels from his base in Antioch in Syria through his earlier foundations in Turkey and Greece. He re-unites with Priscilla and Aquila. He spends a few years in the great city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. We meet Apollos, who is spreading the word of John the Baptist. As usual, Paul is violently ejected from Ephesus. This time, the pagans are to blame. Paul tells all and sundry that he has the monopoly on religious trinkets. That really upsets all those making a fortune selling relics of the great goddess Artemis. Paul barely makes it out town with his skin intact. He travels through Macedonia and Greece, then back to Asia Minor. He delivers a melancholy speech at Miletus, and reluctantly turns toward Jerusalem. I finish the episode with a letter Paul wrote during the mission, his angry letter to the Galatians, where he denounces the circumcision party of James and Peter.

In 1st Corinthians, Paul struggles to impose his authority on his foundation. He denounces other preachers. He attacks the Corinthians for tolerating sexual immorality, and for favouring the rich members.He has to explain the resurrection. 2nd Corinthians is believed to be a composite of at least two other letters. In the first part of the letter, Paul buries the hatchet, and makes nice with the previously rebellious Corinthians. In the second part, Paul turns into Mr Hyde, and lashes into the Corinthians for listening to others, others who say that Paul is no apostle. In his letter to the Romans, Paul introduces himself, sets out some theology, and ass for help for his Spanish mission.

After decades preaching to the gentiles in Asia Minor and Greece, Paul returns to Jerusalem for a final time. James the Just humiliates Paul by demanding Paul demonstrate his adherence to the Jewish law. The story is unlikely. James suddenly vanishes from the narrative when the Romans save Paul from a Jewish lynching. They place Paul into protective custody. Paul surprises the Romans when he declares his Roman citizenship. In a confusing series of trials, Paul is dragged before the Jewish council, defends himself against charges that no one has laid against him, is rescued by his nephew, and is tried twice by Judean procurators. He is dispatched to Rome for trial on vague charges.

The final chapters of Acts are a rollicking adventure where Paul endures storms and shipwreck on his way to trial in Rome. Paul spends two years in Rome, insulting the local Jews to their faces. So abruptly ends the Book of Acts. In his letter to the Phillipians, Paul changes his mind about the afterlife. According to the 2nd letter to Timothy, Paul spends his last days embittered and abandoned. The Acts of Paul fabricates an account of Paul's life after Italy.

Of all the apostles, the New Testament only describes the fate of James the Just. For all the others, we have only stories written decades or even centuries after the deaths. I also discuss the letters 1st Peter, James, and Jude.

I finish season two and invite you to season three, which will launch early in 2021. The third season will explore the tumultuous history of the two children of Second Temple Judaism: the rabbinic movement, and Christianity. Both were sent spinning into the void after the cataclysm of the destruction of the Temple and the annihilation of the age-old religious and political structures of the Jewish state.

This is a bonus episode for season two. Bernie Maopolski from the Fan of History podcast and I have fun with the book of Deuteronomy. And jellyfish.

A brief update about season three, launching in the second quarter of 2021.

In this bonus episode I am joined by Steve Guerra of the podcast History of the Papacy. We introduce our latest mini-series, the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament. We will cover Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

In this bonus, I have a jaunty conversation with the Rev. W. Scott McAndless, author of the Retelling the Bible podcast. Scott has a ripping show for you, which I heartily recommend. We talk about how his show sprang from a book he wrote, and venture into various Biblical topics.

In this bonus episode, Steve Guerra and I continue our series on the twelve minor Old Testament prophets. Here we tackle Obadiah and Jonah. Obadiah is the least read book in the Bible, for very good reason. Everyone thinks that Jonah is a story about a fish. That is the least part of the story

An overview of the whole season. I introduce the ancient literary sources we have, and the modern archaeological discoveries that transformed our understanding of the period. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

Bernie Maopolski from the Fan of History podcast and I have fun discussing how the Judeans ended up in exile in the Babylonian empire.

On the cusp of the Great Revolt in 66, the little province of Judea had spent centuries under Hellenistic influence. Under this influence, Jewish thinkers produced a luxuriant literature in modes and genres unknown to the Tanakh/Old Testament. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

In this bonus episode, Steve Guerra and I continue our series on the twelve minor Old Testament prophets. Here we tackle Amos and Hosea. Amos is the perfect pocket prophet. Amos gives you everything you want in a prophet, in a easily digestible form. On the other hand, his near contemporary Hosea is barking mad. Hear all about them in this episode.

The Jews living in the Roman empire had many privileges that allowed them to practice their religion in peace and security. They were even allowed to avoid their patriotic duties of service to the state. The Romans favoured the province of Judea under the House of Herod, appointing it the peacekeeper and Roman proxy in the region. Why then did they revolt? I also introduce the synagogues. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

In this show I discuss the state of the Christians on the verge of the Great Revolt in 66 CE/AD. The Seleucid empire created a new way of conceptualising time. This provided the Jews with the intellectual tool to create a new body of literature, the apocalypse. The apocalypses solve a vexing theological problem. Why are the Jews suffering under the Seleucids, when the Jews have done everything that the old prophets told them to do? The apocalypses explain that the Jews are pawns in a cosmic struggle. Christianity was born as an apocalyptic movement. I also cover the earliest Roman references we have to Christians, by Suetonius and Tacitus. I think some of these are misinterpreted. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

The backstory and background of the first of the three Judean revolts, the Great Revolt of 66 AD/CE. This revolt destroyed the Temple, extinguished the ancient religion of the Tanakh/Old Testament, and relegated the Jerusalem Jesus club, the foundational church of Christianity, to the margins. Both Christianity, and Judaism had to re-invent themselves. I introduce the dramatis personae of the revolt, also available on my website www.historyinthebible.com, if you can't keep track. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

In this bonus episode I am joined by Omri Harel and Gil Kidron of the rambunctious podcast “A Podcast of Biblical Proportions” for a rambling discussion about things biblical.

The Great Revolt of 66 AD/CE began as a protest against Rome's failure to protect the Judeans from their ancient foes. The Judeans proved to be effective fighters, easily dispatching the initial Roman response. The Romans withdrew and regrouped. That gave Judea seven months to prepare for Roman retaliation. During that interlude, Judea instead erupted into a vicious civil war. Judean militias and warlords attacked and betrayed each other. They acted as though the Romans were the least of their problems. They murdered countless numbers of their countrymen in Jerusalem, and starved the rest. The Great Revolt ended up as a self-inflicted catastrophe. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

I'm joined by Steve Guerra as we continue our series on the twelve minor Old Testament prophets. Here we tackle Micah and Nahum. Micah is the chirpiest of the prophets, a favorite amongst both Christians and Jews. No one loves the frothing ravings of Nahum.

The rabbis now make their appearance: the heroes ben Zakkai and more Gamaliels than you can shake a stick at. Scholars grudgingly hold they are rebranded Pharisees, but they are willing to change their minds. The Romans diverted the old Temple tithe paid by the diaspora into a new tax, the fiscus Judaicus. As the Romans tried to work who was a Jew, and hence liable for the tax, they accidentally created the first formal distinction between Jews and Christians. We also see the writing of the last apocalypses and testaments.

I look at the two earliest Christian communities we know about: the Judean clubs run from Jerusalem by James and Peter, and the pagan clubs founded by Paul and others. I also have excursions into why women lost their positions of authority in Paul's clubs, the gospel according to the Hebrews, and how Paul transformed the message of Jesus, into a message about Jesus. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

The earliest Christians had three theological problems to tackle. First, what exactly happened at the resurrection of Jesus? Was his physical body brought back to life? Or was he transformed into an immortal spiritual body? Perhaps he never had a mortal body in the first place. Second, how was Jesus related to God? Perhaps he was a good man adopted by God. Eventually Christians came to believe he was no mere man, but an eternal divine being. Third, what happens to people after they die? Jews knew that nothing happened to them. They were not in heaven or hell because there was no heaven or hell. In the world to come, God would eventually resurrect the dead back on earth. After many years, Christians decided that people possessed immortal souls, that went to heaven or hell immediately after death. The idea of the resurrection of the dead faded into the background.

We believe there were four distinct early Christian communities: the gentile clubs of Paul, the Jewish clubs of Peter and James, the clubs who followed the writings of Thomas, and clubs attached to the disciple John. In this episode I tackle the first three. The letter to the Hebrews is the most vigorous exposition of Paul's views and denigration of his own people, the Jews. But the letter never claims Paul as its author. And its not even a letter. Various books try to harmonise Paul and Peter. In Acts, Peter sounds like Paul of the letters, and Paul sounds like Peter of the gospels. Acts may conceal a hostility to Paul in its depiction of Simon Magus. The pastoral letters move Paul closer to Peter's views. The two letters of Peter move Peter closer to Paul. The gospel of Thomas and Acts of Thomas show that some communities were attracted to early Gnostic views. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

Alongside the Jerusalem Jesus clubs, the clubs founded by Paul and others, and the Thomasines, scholars believe there was a fourth primitive Christian community: the Johannines. This community produced the gospel of John, the letters attributed to John, and Revelation. They traced their foundation to John the Belove Disciple. I investigate this community, and introduce the fantastical book of Revelation. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

I finish my discussion of Revelation, cheekily asking if the book implies that only gays will go to heaven. The Greek East only grudgingly accepted the book. The book sulked in the shadows of Christianity until the 19th century, incomprehensible and unwanted. British Protestants re-interpreted the book as the veriest key to the whole Bible. That obsession took root in North America. I also peruse the amusing Acts of John, and the intriguing three letters attributed to John. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

I'm joined by Steve Guerra as we continue our series on the twelve minor Old Testament prophets. Here we tackle Zephaniah and Habakkuk. Both are short. Zephaniah ranted during the last decades of the kingdom of Judea. Zephaniah is doom, doom, doom. Habakkuk tackles with a fundamental problem about God's goodness: why is God about to let the wicked Babylonians overcome Judah?

Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are the three post-exilic prophets. In Jewish tradition, they are the last of the prophets. After them, prophecy ceased. Haggai is a pragmatic man relaying God's words to the Jewish leadership. Although contemporary with Haggai, Zechariah is his polar opposite. Zechariah is off his nut, with the trippiest imagery outside of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation.

In this bonus episode, Gil Kidron and Rutger Vos graciously invite me on to their long-running show Pod Academy. This show is dedicated to applying a critical intellect to popular media, especially movies or TV series. In this bonus we discuss the 2014 movie Noah, staring Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, and Emma Watson. With a special appearance by Ray Winstone, doing what Ray Winstone always does: being himself.

By the year 70, all of the disciples save perhaps John, were dead. Their inheritors are traditionally known as the Apostolic fathers, although many scholars would object to that appellation. I explore the fathers in this and the next episode. In this show I present the very earliest: Bishop Clement of Rome, and the anonymous author of the Didache, a fascinating look into earliest Christian practices. Along the way I speculate about the relationship between Jewish and Christian practices of the time. Who took what from whom? I finish up with the earliest Christian commentator, Papias of Hierapolis; and with Ignatius of Antioch. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

My second ep about the apostolic fathers, those who followed the disciples. Here I discuss the anonymous authors of the epistle of Barnabas, the gospel of Peter, and the Shepherd of Hermas. All of them were candidates for inclusion in the New Testament. We should be grateful that the virulent anti-Jewishness of the epistle of Barnabas never made it. The gospel of Peter was a best-seller, more popular than the gospel of Mark. It gives an account of the actual resurrection, which none of our canonical gospels do. And what a whacky account it is! The Shepherd was often referred to by the fathers, and is to this day popular with Christians. The Shepherd brims with homely homilies and sermons. The final father is the famously long-lived Bishop Polycarp. It is said that he was mentored by the disciple John, and corresponded with Ignatius. He may have known the great Christian figures of the mid-second century: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Marcion, and Montanus. If that is so, Polycarp was the man who joined the disciples to the fathers of the imperial church.

Malachi writes in Persian times. The rebuilt Temple has not ushered in an ideal age, the governors of Yehuda are not Davidic, and the priests and people have lost their watchfulness about God's coming. Malachi attacks this malaise. The priests are corrupt. The people are unfaithful. All must repent. Joel writes of locusts and famine. An ecological catastrophe is divine retribution for apostasy. He exhorts the people of Judah to repent, fast, and pray to avert these calamities.

On the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE, the Judean state was a prosperous, self-governed, and stable kingdom. It was Rome's best buddy in the Levant, with territories extending beyond the Jordan and into Syria. Thriving Jewish communities could be found from Spain to Egypt. Over a span 70 years, the Judeans launched three insurrections against the Romans. The consequences were catastrophic. 140 years after Herod's death, the Temple and Jerusalem had been razed, the Judean self-governing province crushed, and its people scattered to the winds. Within the empire, the Romans thereafter applied a heavy hand against many diaspora Jewish communities. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

In this bonus episode, Gil Kidron and I discuss Gil's theory that the scribe Baruch was instrumental in writing (or editing or redacting) the book of Genesis, using the life of his master the prophet Jermiah as a model.

The origins of the rabbis, dated to the second century CE, are shrouded in fog, for reasons we do not understand. Why did the Jews cease writing histories after the year 100? Why do we have no histories from the Babylonian Jews. Where did the Mishnah, the foundational document of Rabbinic thought, dome from? I also discuss the evidence that historians of antiquity use, and how they assess that evidence. Especial thanks to Dr. Bret C. Devereaux, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his amusing insights. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

I will be appearing at the Intelligent Speech Conference 2022, on 25 June (US and European time zones). Hear all about it.

The Mishnah is the first great product of the rabbis. Traditionally it was codified around 200 CE by Rabbi Yehuda naNasi. It appears from nowhere. The Mishnah bears no resemblance to anything in the Tanakh/Old Testament, nor in the vast Jewish apocalyptic literature of preceding centuries. 

I will be appearing at the Intelligent Speech Conference 2022, on 25 June (US and European time zones). Get your tickets from https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/

Malachi writes in Persian times. The rebuilt Temple has not ushered in an ideal age, the governors of Yehuda are not Davidic, and the priests and people have lost their watchfulness about God's coming.Malachi attacks this malaise. The priests are corrupt. The people are unfaithful. All must repent.

In this bonus episode, Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I take a look at some of our favourite moments in the Old Testament or Tanakh. First, Steve wonders what the deal is with Melchizedek. Then Garry shows how a single verse about the patriarch Enoch spawned a whole literature. Back to Steve, who finds some surprising verses in Psalm 137. We conclude with the old she's not my wife she's my sister scam, which Abraham and Isaac pull three times

In the second century, there were three groups of Jewish-leaning Jesus clubs: the Johhanines, the Nazoreans, and the Ebionities. These had either vanished or been absorbed into gentile Christanity by the year 200. While that was happening, the Christian movement came to the attention of the imperial authorities. Writing in 110, governor Pliny only knew they seemed to be vaguely seditious, and had depraved practices, such as meeting before dawn. Forty years later, Christians had gained an appalling reputation. They refused to participate in any of the state rituals that bonded the emperor, the people, and the state to the gods. They were unpatriotic. Even worse, they were wicked sexual deviants with barbaric rituals. The Romans viewed them as witches. I finish the episode by introducing the earliest Christian apologies, books written to defend the faith from the calumnies made against it.

In this bonus episode, Gil Kidron of a Podcast of Biblical Proportions and I wade into biblical chronology.

Until the late 19th century, the Gnostic works were known only from their opponents, who regarded them as aberrant and vile Christians.  Discoveries since then have uncovered a wealth of Gnostic literature. The Gnostics are now usually divided into two groups: Sethians and Valentinians. The Sethians are the older. Many scholars hold that their roots are in Second Temple Judaism, not Christianity.

Unlike the Sethian Gnostics, the Valentinian Gnostics are clearly rooted in Christianity. They were founded by Valentinus, an Egyptian who may have stood for the bishopric of Rome. Valentinus founded a popular crusade that borrowed from the Sethians and the apostle Paul. The movement produced a copious literature: the apocalypse of Paul, the apocalypse of Peter, the apocalypse of Adam, the gospel of Mary, the gospel of Phillip, and the gospel of truth. All of these books were recovered only in the 20th century. The Valentinians formed a parallel church to the orthodox, one much more inviting to women. They attended orthodox services, but operated separate elite clubs. They were only suppressed in the fourth century, after the Roman state granted a monopoly to the orthodox. 

In this bonus episode, Gil Kidron of a Podcast of Biblical Proportions and I finish our discussion of biblical chronology.

Steve Guerra from the History in the Papacy podcast and I conclude our mini-series on the Twelve minor prophets of the OT. In this episode we have a bit of fun and rank the Twelve using our own entirely ridiculous criteria.

The rest of the show covers the second half of the second century. In this period, the little Jesus clubs evolved into the imperial church incorporate. This and the next few episodes cover the three dominant personalities of that period. In this episode I investigate the ‘heretic' Marcion of Sinope. Marcion shook the church to its foundations when he moved to Rome. He rejected the idea that Christianity was based on Judaism and the Old testament. He constructed the first Christian canon: ten letters of Paul, and a reduced version of the gospel of Luke. Decisively expelled by the imperial church incorporate, Marcion returned to Asia Minor and founded a successful rival to the church, one that persisted for centuries. Marcion forced the church to build its own canon, and to raise Paul from obscure letter-writer and martyr, to pre-eminent apostle. 

Justin Martyr is the second of the great Christian figures of the second century. He is one of the earliest for whom we have a substantial biography from the man himself. He wrote at length and often, creating the largest body of Christian literature to his time. Later Christians quoted from him endlessly, and lauded him as a writer, apologist, philosopher, and intellectual. But he introduced a pronounced anti-Jewish animus into Christianity. He also creates the concept of “heresy”, which would bedevil Christianity for centuries. I also discuss two of Justin's successors: Melito and Tatian.

Steve Guerra from the History in the Papacy podcast and I concluded our series on the Twelve minor prophets of the OT some time ago. That was a fake-out. We managed to rope in a real expert to conclude our mini-series. Let me introduce Prof Kip Swinney.

Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I turn a quizzical eye on Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ.

The imperial church of the late 2nd century was bedevilled by external competitors -- Gnostics, Marcionites, Montanists – and vexed by internal division over the nature of Christ. Was he man, god, or both? The church brought forth fighters to defend its corporate markets. These were the heresy hunters. Justin Martyr and Hegesippus the Holy were early soldiers.  Bishop Irenaeus of Lyon was the greatest of these warriors. His works was enormously influential. For a start, he decisively moved the church away from its reliance on the Jewish holy books as divine authorities, and towards a new holy canon.  In his greatest work, “Against Heresies”, Irenaeus produced an encyclopedia of the church's enemies. He invented the concept of heresy, incorrect belief. This was a concept unknown to the ancient world. Irenaeus used the concept to set up clear borders between the church incorporate and its rivals.

During the middle of the 2nd century, Paul was resuced from the Marcionites and Gnostics. He was elevated from honoured missionary to master theologian. I also discuss the Acts of Paul and his acolyte Thecla.

In this bonus episode, Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I continue our look at some of our favourite moments in the Old Testament or Tanakh. First, Steve investigates the unfortunate incident of Dinah and the Hebites. Then Garry shows a little-known side to Joseph's rule in Egypt.

After Irenaeus rescued Paul from the Marcionites and Gnostics, Paul's letters were honoured and uncontroversial documents, testaments to a great missionary and theologian. Martin Luther weaponised them to attack the established church, and so birthed the Protestant movement. In the 1970s, the New Perspective on Paul movement tried to rescue Paul from Luther. I also finish up my discussion of the Acts of Paul, and make an assessment of Paul's real significance to Christianity. 

An announcement about the future of the podcast.

Gil Kidron and I discuss how a small rural priest called Mattathias started an insurgency against Judea's overlords, the mighty Seleucid kingdom, heir to the empire of Alexander the Great. His descendants became rulers of the tiny region. They are known to history as the Maccabeans. In this period, we see the emergence of two political or social groups. First, the Sadducees, or Tsadokites. Second, the Pharisees. 

Irenaeus died around the year 200. In his final decades, pagan intellectuals first turned their sights on the Christians. The first was Celsus. Christians counter-attacked with more apologies. They also produced homilies, such as the 2nd letter of Clement.  Fans also produced some fanciful acts and gospels of the various disciples, and two biographies of the young Jesus: the Paidika, and the Protevangelium of James. I finish with a look at two accounts of local persecutions during the period, in Lyon and Scillium. Did they actually happen?

In this bonus, John Brooks of the “Pod Only Knows” podcast interviews me about the genesis and making of my show. I think it turned out pretty well.  This episode formed the last show of John's former podcast, “Hard to Believe”. It is published here with his kind permission. With his new podcast, “Pod Only Knows”, John is off to fresh ventures, along with Dr. Kelly J. Baker. They are both from the serious world of religious studies. In their new show, they take a sometimes serious, sometimes irreverent, and always curious, look at the way religion shows up in our world. Kelly and John invite other people from the wide and wild world of religious studies to talk to them about why and how they do what they do and why their work matters to us all.

In this bonus, I launch a new mini-series. My co-hosts are Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy show (https://www.atozhistorypage.com/), and Scott Mcandless of the Retelling the Bible podcast (https://retellingthebible.wordpress.com/). In these bonus episodes, we will discuss one of Scott's re-tellings. In this show we revisit Scott's show on Joshua and the day the sun stood still.

In this bonus, Gregg Gassman of the Popeular History Podcast (www.popeularhistory.com) and and I discuss Peter, Paul, and Clement. Gregg is a Catholic, and I was brought up in the Anglican tradition. So we have some differences about Peter, as you will soon hear. We also try to work out where Clement fits in the papal succession. 

The Temple's destruction also destroyed all the many varieties of Second Temple Judaism, save for the emerging rabbinic movement, and the nascent Christian movement.

The revolt of Bar Kosiva against Rome failed, as had the Great Revolt. The Roman punishment destroyed almost all the many blooms living in the mighty jungle that was Second Temple Judaism. Only two species escaped the immolation: rabbinic Judaism, and Christianity. The imperial punishment also destroyed the Jewish wing of the church incorporate, leaving it free to follow its own path. With a shout-out to the great Rabbi Akiva.

In this bonus, Bernie Maopolski of Fan of History (https://shows.acast.com/history) invites me onto his "Whats New In History" segment. We discuss my ideas about how Bible scholars have it all wrong about the mathematics of the growth of Christinaity in the Roman Empire, and how I have corrected their errors. I also have some announcements about my final episodes, and about my forthcoming book of the show. 

Gil Kidron and I announce a brief course about the prophet Isaiah. This will be conducted in two sessions in January 2024. Emnail me for more information.

This is the first episode in a series of speculations and alternate histories. This time: what if John the Baptist was bigger than Jesus? What if Paul had split ro form his own independent movement?

In this bonus, I continue my collaboration with Steve Guerra of the "History of the Papacy" show (www.atozhistorypage.com/), and Scott McCandless of the "Retelling the Bible" podcast (retellingthebible.wordpress.com/). In this bonus we revisit Scott's show on the Gadarene swine. I also have a reminder of Gil Kindron's and my course on Isaiah, in January 2024. For more information, go to podcastofbiblicalproportions.com/courses.

This is the second episode in a series of speculations and alternate histories. This time:  What if Christian missionaries had never preached to the pagans? Second, what may happened if Christian missionaries had ignored the Roman empire, and proselytised in Parthia, instead? Third, what would have become of Christianity if the Jewish revolts had never occurred, and the Temple stood to the end of the empire?

More speculations and alternative histories! Our first diverges from our own timeline in about the year 35. What if Jesus had not been executed by the Romans, but had lived on to see the Great Judean Revolt of 66 CE. What would he have made of it? Second, let's say that Jesus died when did, a generation before the Great Revolt. What might have happened if his chief apostles Peter and Paul had lived to witness the Roman attack on Judea? And third, let's move on to about the year 100, when Christians first fell under the Roman gaze. Would the church have flourished earlier and more strongly if the Roman state had never persecuted it?

Four more speculations.  I argue that an important element of Christianity's success was that it quickly transformed itself into what I call the imperial church incorporate. Would Christianity have succeeded had it not done so?  Second, could Mithraism have triumphed over the church?  Third, could the Gnostic variants of Christianity come to dominate?  Finally, the Jewish arm of the church vanished after the Bar Kosiva revolt of 132. What might have happened had that group survived and thrived?  

The last episode in the show. I give a big thank you to all my listeners, and a brief biographical sketch. Then I finish the series with three more speculations. First, what if Marcionism had become the orthodoxy of the imperial church incorporate? Second, could Manichaeism have swallowed up the church? And finally, could the church have survived and prospered had it not become the state religion of the Roman empire?

Announcing the publication of the first volume in the History in the Bible Podcast Companion set of books, “Essential Resources”. You can get it from these Amazon marketplaces: https://www.amazon.com/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950726/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950726/ https://www.amazon.ca/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950726/ https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Garry-Stevens-PhD/dp/0645950726/ https://www.amazon.fr/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950726/

Announcing the publication of a new volume in the History in the Bible Podcast Companion set of books, “Genesis to Babylon”. This contains the complete scripts of the first season of the show. You can get it from these Amazon marketplaces: https://www.amazon.com/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Genesis/dp/0645950734 https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Genesis/dp/0645950734 https://www.amazon.ca/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950734 https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Garry-Stevens-PhD/dp/0645950734 https://www.amazon.fr/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Essential/dp/0645950734 ttps://www.amazon.com.au/History-Bible-Podcast-Companion-Genesis/dp/0645950734

Announcing the publication of a new volume in the History in the Bible Podcast Companion. It contains the complete scripts of the second season of my podcast. This is the Age of the Second Temple. It covers the books in the Old Testament written after the return from Babylon.  The volume explores the history of Judea from Persian to Roman times. It investigates in depth the rich apocalyptic literature of the time. Then the book examines all the books of the New Testament to see what we can reliably know of the history of Jesus and the disciples, and the great apostle Paul. You can get it from these Amazon marketplaces: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645950769 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0645950769 https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/0645950769 https://www.amazon.de/dp/0645950769 https://www.amazon.fr/dp/0645950769 https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0645950769  

In this Afterlife episode, Bernie Maopolski of Fan of History (https://shows.acast.com/history), Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com), and I discuss why we love ancient history.

In this Afterlife episode,  I introduce the New Testament to Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com). There are currently three published books in the History in the Bible Podcast Companion collection. Here the Amazon US links: Vol 1 Genesis to Babylon https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645950734 Vol 2 Age of the Second Temple https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645950769 Vol 4 Essential Resources https://www.amazon.com/dp/0645950726

In this Afterlife episode, Steve Guerra of History of the Papacy (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-of-the-papacy-podcast--4899207) and I discuss history podcasting.

In this Afterlife episode, Bernie Maopolski of Fan of History (https://shows.acast.com/history), Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com), and I discuss some of our favourite crazy theories.

Announcing the publication of the final volume in the History in the Bible Podcast Companion series of books. The book contains the entire scripts of the show's third and final season. It follows the history of the two heirs of Abraham, rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, to the year 200. By that year, the rabbis had formed their foundational document, the Mishnah;, and Christianity had created the imperial church incorporate. The volume also discusses Gnosticism at length, the many books that almost made into the New Testament, and the early years of the rabbinic movement. All the information you need is at https://www.historyinthebible.com/books.html  

In this Afterlife episode, Bernie Maopolski of Fan of History (https://shows.acast.com/history), Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com), and I discuss some of the miraculous births to be found in the world's religions, including the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.

In this Afterlife episode, Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com), and I try to figure out where the rabbis came from.  

In this Afterlife episode, Gil Kidron of A Podcast of Biblical Proportions (https://podcastofbiblicalproportions.com) explains to me the origins and customs of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Then I explain what Easter is about, and how it is intimately connected to Passover.