History in the Bible
Summary: A layman's guide to a 150 years of research into the history presented in the Bible. I explore the religion of ancient Israel, and the development of Christianity through to the death of Paul. I discuss every single book in every Bible (there are more than you think!) Lightly garnished with a dash of drollery, a soupcon of scrutiny, and not one ounce of objectivity. Not one ounce! Episodes are released every third Sunday.
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- Artist: Garry Stevens
- Copyright: Creative Commons 4.0 BY-NC-SA International License
Podcasts:
In the 1970s, scholars demolished the credibility of the Biblical stories of the patriarchs. In the decades following, archaeologists threw out the Biblical history of Joshua and Judges.
The Book of the Rescuers was the heroic story of the northern Israelites. The later editors of Judges were all southern Judeans.
Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I talk about Gnosticism and its origins in the Jewish apocalyptic literature. We have a few rants.
I wrap-up the Book of Joshua, and rush right into the dark times of the Book of Judges. I start with the central and oldest chapters, called the Book of the Rescuers, the heroic epic of the northern kingdom of Israel.
The book of Joshua recounts the conquest of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. For a few short years, the Israelites achieve a perfect relationship with their god.
In 1970 most scholars thought that Genesis and Exodus were reliable guides to the history of the Israelites. Today, even the most traditionalist of archaeologists agree that the narratives of the Israelites' history told in Genesis and Exodus are just stories.
Modern scholars have identified a single school behind all the books from Deuteronomy to Kings.
Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I discuss the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, and try to work out how he figures in the Jewish and Christian priesthoods.
In this co-released episode, Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I conclude our discussion of James the Just.
In the last half of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out laws on family matters. I compare these to the Mesopotamian law codes.
Deuteronomy is the last book of the Torah, the Pentateuch, the books holiest to Jews. I discuss how Deuteronomy was modeled on Assyrian vassal treaties.
While the Israelites are stuck in the wilderness they meet Balam and his talking donkey. They defeat King Og and the Midianites, and will never stop talking about it.
It should have been but a few days march from Mt Sinai to the promised land. But the Israelite's kvetching annoys God so much he condemns them to spend 40 years in the wilderness.
The first half of Leviticus is preoccupied with the priests and the Tabernacle. The second half of Leviticus radically extends the idea of holiness to the whole people of the Israelites.
Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I continue our discussion of James the Just, and talk about blood pudding.
