It's a sin so egregious that Christians weren't allowed to do it, BY LAW, for centuries! But now? Totally fine. Everybody participates. No big deal at all!

The next time you meet a Bible literalist who is certain that you have to follow the laws of the Bible to the letter, but who is also pretty excited about capitalism, ask them about usury, and watch them fall all over themselves to pretend like it's fine. Because MAN, the Bible is just adamant that people shouldn't do that. Like, death penalty adamant.

But what, technically, is usury? Is it just charging too much interest for a loan, or is it charging any interest at all? Who does the Bible allow to engage in usury, and under what circumstances? We're going to find out!

Then we're moving on to one of the most misunderstood, and possibly confusing of Jesus' parables: the parable of the talents. Is it about maximizing your God-given gifts? Is it about money? Who is God in the metaphor? What's really going on?

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HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST *AND SECOND* LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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Anybody want to take a long walk in the desert? Well, this week we've brought in Angela Roskop Erisman to guide us through the wilderness! In her new book, The Wilderness Narratives: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation, Dr Erisman discusses the exodus as you may not have heard it discussed before.

Far from being the actual writings of a literal Moses, Dr Erisman uses genre analysis to propose a far more allegorical explanation for the story. Could it be that the beloved tale of Israel escaping their Egyptian captors was actually written or compiled as a means of serving far more political ends?

Find Dr Erisman's book here:

https://angelaroskoperisman.com/the-wilderness-narratives-in-the-hebrew-bible-religion-politics-and-biblical-interpretation/

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST *AND SECOND* LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

First leg (Chicago, Seattle, Portland, LA):

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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This week, we don't want to make it bad, so we're going to take a sad song and make it better. The book of Jude may only be one chapter, but it's jam-packed with stuff for this show to talk about. Who wrote it, and when? Who was it written to? What grumblers is it mad about? We'll attempt to answer all these questions and more.

Then, speaking of grumblers, we have some of our own to deal with! Whenever Dr. Dan says that the Bible is not a monotheistic book, people come out of the woodwork with scriptures that seem to contradict him. In our final segment, Dan will look at those verses and discuss whether they say what people are saying they say.

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST *AND SECOND* LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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This week we welcome "deep skeptic" pastor Jeremy Steele to the show. Jeremy has spent recent years building an online congregation of people who don't feel seen or understood by the traditional church. He's here to tell us about life as a pastor, how he gathered his flock, and why people who are deconstructing the theologies they were raised with might still need a community like his.

You can find Jeremy on TikTok here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@skeptic.pastor

Or find links to his book How Not to Suck as a Christian, his podcast Unbelief, and other stuff here:

https://jeremy-steele.com/links

----

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the big fight! In the red corner: personal finance guru and guy who makes millions by making poorer people feel bad about their debt, Dave "how's your retirement fund looking?" Ramsey. And in the blue corner: with a much lighter pocketbook but much heavier t-shirt collection, Dan "alright let's see it" McClellan.

What could a Bible scholarship show possibly have to say about a personal finance guy, you might ask. Well, Mr. Ramsey styles himself a Christian personal finance guy, and in that capacity makes some pretty interesting claims. So, while we are not qualified to check him on his finance advice, when he veers into our lane, he's fair game. And boy, did that guy veer!

Then, the Deuteronomist abides. There may be some ten dollar words ahead (words that Dan Beecher may or may not be able to pronounce), but don't let that fool you: the Deuteronomistic history is actually fascinating.

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE NOW ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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Christians have had a missionary zeal since the beginning. From the dawn of Christianity, the mandate to share the "good news" has been a central theme of Christian life. But what is a Christian to do when it is clear that the audience they want to share the gospel with would react poorly to much of what's in the Bible? Well, at least in one case, the solution was just redact the heck out of it.

On this week's show, we're talking about "The Slave Bible," a heavily truncated version of the good book, created for white enslavers to share with the black people they had enslaved. Why did they cut most of the book out? What parts did they see fit to leave in? And why did they want to preach Jesus' message to people whose humanity they clearly didn't honor or even acknowledge?

Then, inspired by a preacher who recently had a lot to say on the subject, we're diving into the question of wealth. Much is said in the Bible about money, and the having of it. Specifically the having of a lot of it. There are famous passages about camels going through the eyes of needles, for example. But maybe that part felt a little ambiguous... Did Jesus really say "blessed are the poor" or did he say "blessed are the poor in spirit"? Is that difference that even makes sense?

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE NOW ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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Have you pre-ordered Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So yet???

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Come celebrate round numbers with us as we embark on our 100th episode of Data Over Dogma! And what, you might ask, are we doing to mark this grand event? Have we carefully crafted a clips show looking back on the best moments of the last 100 weeks? Have we mindfully chosen topics that relate to the number 100? Well, no. No we haven't. It's just a regular show. Sorry.

That said, it's an interesting one! First, we're covering a very interesting letter Paul sent to his buddy Philemon. Aside from revealing (rather casually, really) that he was in prison when he wrote it, Paul seems to speak out for his new helper, runaway enslaved person Onesimus. What does this letter reveal about Paul's view of slavery? What is Paul asking of Philemon? Why is everybody in prison all the time?

Next we cover a topic that you hear about on this show a lot, but may not know much about it. What is the Septuagint? Why is it called that? Where did it come from? And why are we using a Greek text as an early witness to Hebrew scripture?

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HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE NOW ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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Have you pre-ordered Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So yet???

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If you think you had it rough living in your sibling's shadow, just imagine how James, the brother of Jesus must've felt! Well, today James gets his due. We'll discuss who he was, what he did, and what it might mean theologically, that Jesus wasn't an only child.

Then, if you listened to this show for more than a few episodes, you're likely to have heard Dan McClellan mention "the Masoretic text". Well... what the heck is that? Never fear! We're going to get you all up to speed on one of the most important publications ever produced.

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE NOW ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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Hey! Don't forget to pre-order Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So

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Jesus went to hell! Briefly. He gave the place a look-see after he died, and then left to go be resurrected. Or at least that's the claim that some theologies make.

Where did the idea that Jesus visited hell come from? Is it Biblical? I mean, it would have to be, wouldn't it? People wouldn't just make up something like that long after the Bible had been written just because, right? Right?

And speaking of hell, not every part of the Bible treats that place the same. In our second segment, we'll talk specifically about the book of Revelation and it's treatment of the bad place. Ol' John the revelator had some fascination notions and imagery to share, and his ideas about hell are particularly interesting!

----

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE NOW ON SALE! To get yours, go here:

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For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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Hey! Don't forget to pre-order Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So

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Would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor? If you know that song, then you know that at least one person understood Jesus' answer to the lawyer. Far fewer seem to now. But that's in the second half of our show!

First, we're exploring some imaginative pretending that would almost be cute if so many people hadn't taken it seriously. It's the amazing amateur (read: fake) archeology of Ron Wyatt. We've encountered Wyatt's work on the show before, because the man was prolific. This time, we're detailing his incredible "discoveries" having to do with the Exodus. Did Wyatt actually prove that it all happened? Big if true!

Then, we'll dive into one of the most important parables Jesus told. And it's super topical now, because so much of world politics are revolving around the same central question: Who is my neighbor? Well, J.D. Vance knows his answer, but Jesus might disagree. It's the parable of the "good Samaritan", and we all know how it ends, but is it more ambiguous that we might have originally thought? No. No it is not.

----

For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:

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Hey! Don't forget to pre-order Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So

https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGLTkpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQY4Ahs0Hi289IcnsQMh_0OAVf3oGefyUsWkLjhfB8OF8nio1fmroJbXxA_aem_v_4sISp8Zt43zsKfDjx1aA

This episode was sponsored by BetterHelp

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