History in the Bible

Keynote ep: 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 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.

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

Keynote ep: 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 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.

Keynote ep: 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.

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

Keynote ep: 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. Re-recorded to provide much better audio quality. Theme music "Inspiring Teaser" by Rafael Krux, https://filmmusic.io/song/5672-inspiring-teaser, license https://filmmusic.io/standard-license.

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 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.