Biblical Time Machine

Nathanael Vette, a New Testament lecturer at King’s College London, explores Matthew’s chilling tale of resurrected saints. They discuss ancient omens, ghostly warnings before Caesar’s assassination, portents surrounding Jerusalem’s destruction, and how Matthew transforms Roman propaganda into a Christian story of blood guilt, divine abandonment, and judgment.

Leslie Baynes, a New Testament scholar and Missouri State professor, explores C.S. Lewis’s complicated relationship with Scripture. They discuss Lewis’s views on inspiration, Gospel harmonization, Jesus’s divinity, Rudolf Bultmann, and the clues hidden in his annotated library. The conversation also uncovers biblical allusions in Narnia and why Lewis’s imaginative fiction may outshine his theological arguments.

'O Assyria, the rod of my anger!' So declared the prophet Isaiah of one of the most feared and imposing empires of the ancient world. But who were the Assyrians, and how did they become the world's first empire? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Professor Eckart Frahm of Yale University, the author of Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire (2023, YUP). From warfare and imperial ambition to religion and everyday life, they discover together what made Assyria such a formidable civilisation, and how its history sheds new light on the world of the Hebrew Bible.Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

Travel through the Bible’s golden years, meeting figures whose age brings wisdom, vulnerability, resilience and sometimes surprising moral complexity. Explore Abraham and Sarah’s extraordinary longevity, Naomi’s widowhood, Caleb’s enduring strength, and the frailty of Eli and Job. The journey also visits Luke’s older witnesses, Paul’s uncertain age, and the intriguing question of how old Jesus may have been.

Stephen Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Classics at Swansea University, explores the elusive Alexander the Great and the sources that shaped his legend. They discuss his conquest of Persia, the rise of the Hellenistic world, Seleucid religious diversity, and the local tensions behind Antiochus IV’s intervention in Jerusalem and the Maccabean revolt.

Ryan O’Dowd, a Cornell scholar of the Old Testament, explores the Book of Proverbs. They discuss its poetic structure, royal compilers, and connections to ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian wisdom. The conversation examines apparent contradictions, righteous suffering, Woman Wisdom and Dame Folly, and Proverbs’ vision of whole-person wisdom. O’Dowd also reflects on humility, wonder, and imagining a meal with Augustine.

Season five looks beyond familiar biblical narratives to the empires and societies that shaped them. Explore how imperial power influenced ancient texts, discover the Hittites’ multicultural world and dramatic collapse, and examine fresh demographic clues about Mary’s family. The conversation also defends scholar Amy-Jill Levine against antisemitic harassment and previews investigations still to come.

A celebratory recap of journeys through ancient empires, early church contexts, and everyday life in biblical times. Conversations revisit bodily themes, reception in film and art, and debates about Jesus’ divinity and kingship. Listeners get previews of season five topics like Aramaic, authorship puzzles, and neglected Hebrew Bible books.

Paul Foster, Professor of New Testament language, literature, and theology at the University of Edinburgh, brings sharp historical and literary expertise. He probes authorship debates and ancient letter-writing. He explores Colossae's archaeology, the majestic Christology in Colossians 1, the nature of the alleged hymn, the syncretistic false teaching, and how everyday practices and household codes reflect ethical transformation.

Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones, Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff and author of Babylon: The Mother of All Cities, guides a lively tour of Babylonian origins, law, religion, and daily life. Short stops cover Gilgamesh, Hammurabi's laws, Nebuchadnezzar's rebuilding, the Tower of Babel link, the Hanging Gardens debate, processional rituals, cuneiform domestic records, and Babylon's later decline.