What separated Judaism from the Christian movement during the Second Temple Period? In this episode, Paula Fredriksen breaks down the beginnings of the Jesus movement and how it came to flourish. She gets into what religion looked like in the broader culture, how religion was defined, and what clues people left behind for us to know these things.
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Yesterday
[Bible] Episode 318: Mark S. Smith - The Many Gods of Israel
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Mark S. Smith, a leading scholar of ancient Israelite religion, to explore the polytheistic background of Israel and the gradual emergence of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on biblical te ... Show More
1h 8m
Feb 27
[Bible] Bonus Episode: Jennifer Garcia Bashaw & Aaron Higashi - Nobody “Just Reads” the Bible
This is a teaser of our February 2026 bonus episode! In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by longtime friends of the podcast Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi for a lively conversation about, of all things, interpreting the Bible. Toget ... Show More
13m 7s
Feb 23
[Faith] Episode 71: Jared Stacy - The Evangelical to Conspiracy Theory Pipeline
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with theologian and ethicist Jared Stacy about the rise of conspiracy thinking, especially within American evangelicalism. Drawing on his research, Jared Stacy explains how conspiracy theories tap into fears o ... Show More
57m 43s
Jul 2022
The Holiness Movement | Christian Fundamentalism Series
Can a Christian be holy? Can we go a week, a day, or an hour without sinning?
These are questions that modern Christians struggle with. They have their origin in John Wesley, a hymn writer, preacher, and one of the founders of Methodism. In this episode of Truce, we track how thi ... Show More
21m 29s
May 2018
Acts E3: Global Christianos
<p>This is episode 3 in our series outlining the book of Acts!</p>
<p>In part 1 (0-11:00), the guys briefly discuss the other Jewish messianic sects that were also in the ancient world. Jon comments that in his imagination, there were just two sects of Judaism, the Pharisees and ... Show More
54m 54s