Biblical Time Machine

Christians have long read the 'suffering servant' of Isaiah in reference to Jesus. But how did that connection come about? Was the servant originally a messianic figure who dies for sins? And how have Jews read the servant through history, all the way from Isaiah and Daniel to the present day? 
To answer these questions, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Amy Jill-Levine, the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. Her many works include The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (with Marc Brettler, 2020). 
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

In this Easter special, Prof Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones interviews our resident expert, Prof Helen Bond, on the evidence for Jesus' resurrection. They discuss the data about the resurrection in early Christian literature, whether there was an empty tomb, and various naturalistic attempts to explain the resurrection belief. 
SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE
If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription.
In this week's bonus episode, Professor Helen Bond unpacks a tricky text in 1 Peter which some have read as the biblical basis for the harrowing of hell.  
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

What happened to Jesus on Easter Saturday? The apostles creed claims that Jesus 'descended into hell', reflecting a wider Christian motif called the 'Harrowing of Hell.' To find out more about this belief, Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones asks our resident expert, Helen Bond, who is currently writing a book on the subject.
They explore questions like:
Is the 'Harrowing of Hell' alluded to in the gospels? 
When did Jesus go to hell and what was he doing there? 
How strong is the biblical foundation of this idea? 
How is the Harrowing depicted in the Gospel of Nicodemus? 
SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE
If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription.
In this week's bonus episode, Professor Helen Bond unpacks a tricky text in 1 Peter which some have read as the biblical basis for the harrowing of hell.  

  
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

Are the resurrection stories in the gospels fact or fiction? To find out, Helen and Lloyd are joined in the Biblical Time Machine by Dr Richard C. Miller, author of Resurrection and Reception in Early Christianity (Routledge, 2017), who argues that the gospel resurrection accounts are similar to ancient 'translation fables.'
SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE
If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription.
In this week's bonus episode, Dr Richard Miller unpacks parallels between Jesus and Romulus in early Christian literature. 
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

We have all heard the story of Adam and Eve. But what was the Garden of Eden which they inhabited? In this week's episode, Helen and Lloyd travel back to the dawn of time with Dr Dylan Johnson as their guide to this mythical landscape. Together, they get to the bottom of questions like:
Was the Garden of Eden meant to be a real place, or a symbolic vision of paradise?
Is Genesis borrowing from older Mesopotamian stories about divine gardens? 
Was Adam imagined as a king placed in God’s garden to rule on his behalf?
Is Eve really to blame for “the fall,” or is that a misreading?
And who exactly is the serpent, before later tradition identified him with Satan?
SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE
If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription.
In this week's bonus episode, Dylan Johnson unpacks whether Eden is a Temple. 
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.