The Bible For Normal People

By Peter Enns and Jared Byas

Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's The Bible For Normal People about?

The Bible for Normal People is hosted by Peter Enns and Jared Byas.

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Episode 184: Heather Macumb...

10.25.2021

What comes to mind when you think about monsters? In this episode, Heather Macumber joins Pete and Jared to discuss monster theory and how monsters are more prevalent in scripture than most people realize. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...

The Bible For Normal People episodes:

10.25.2021 Episode 184: Heather Macumber - Monsters in the Bible What comes to mind when you think about monsters? In this episode, Heather Macumber joins Pete and Jared to discuss monster theory and how monsters are more prevalent in scripture than most people realize. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...
10.18.2021 Episode 183: Jennifer Bashaw - What Did the Crucifixion Do? In this week’s episode, Jennifer Bashaw joins Pete and Jared to discuss how various atonement theories attempt to explain Jesus’s death. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
10.11.2021 Episode 182: Pete & Jared - The Evolution of Adam Can Christianity and evolution coexist? In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared discuss a path forward for Christians who accept evolution and want to take the Bible seriously. Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
10.04.2021 Episode 181: Kate Bowler - The Prosperity Gospel & a Theology of Suffering In this week’s episode, Kate Bowler joins Pete and Jared to discuss how suffering can cause us to adjust what we think God is like and how harmful the prosperity gospel can be. Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
09.27.2021 Episode 180: Brian K. Blount - Revelation for Today The book of Revelation is just plain weird. For this episode, Pete and Jared sit down with Brian K. Blount to discuss how to read and understand the book of Revelation. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations ...
09.20.2021 Episode 179: Paul Deal - Integrating Faith and Psychology On this episode, Pete and Jared sit down with Paul Deal to discuss the intersection of mental health, psychology, and faith. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
09.13.2021 Episode 178: Pete Enns - Pete Ruins Isaiah In this episode of the Bible for Normal People, Pete Enns continues his habit of ruining things for everyone. Today’s topic is the book of Isaiah, and Pete shares five fun facts that biblical scholars like to talk about that ...
09.06.2021 Episode 177: Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. - Social Justice & the Radical Gospel For this episode, Pete and Jared are joined by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., who walks us through pervasive biblical evidence for social justice. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
08.23.2021 Episode 176: Jared Byas - The Making of the Modern Mindset, Pt. 1 For this episode, Jared Byas takes a deep dive into the origins of the modern mindset and how understanding our own context impacts our study of the Bible. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
08.09.2021 Episode 175: Jodi Magness - The Jesus of Archaeology In this episode, Pete and Jared sit down with Jodi Magness to discuss what archaeology can teach us about Jesus in his Jewish context. And also - quiches, frittatas, and toilets. Oh my! Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
07.26.2021 Episode 174: Brian McLaren - The Four Stages of Faith In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Brian McLaren to discuss stages of faith, the prevalence of doubt, and what paths to faith after doubt might look like. Show Notes → Support ...
07.12.2021 Episode 173: Cheryl B. Anderson - The Ethical Impact of Biblical Interpretation Can biblical interpretation have an ethical impact? Our guest this week, Cheryl B. Anderson, combines her background as a practicing attorney with her Ph.D. in Biblical studies to create a compelling discussion on ethics, law, and how we read our ...
06.28.2021 Episode 172: Pete Enns - A Whole Different Way of Reading Genesis In this episode, Pete looks at Genesis from an angle we’re guessing will be new to many of you. We’re going to focus on the big picture. What is Genesis as a whole about? For what purpose was it written? ...
06.14.2021 Episode 171: Ted Lewis - The Origins of God The word of the day is "complicated" and the nerd-o-meter is set to the max. Join us on this week's episode as Pete & Jared explore the messiness of history and the origins of Yahweh with Dr. Ted Lewis. Show ...
06.07.2021 Episode 170: Kristin Kobes Du Mez - A Modern Church History of Toxic Masculinity Where did white Evangelical support for men like Donald Trump come from? Pete & Jared sit down with Kristin Kobes Du Mez to discuss toxic patterns of masculinity and patriarchy that have surfaced over the past seventy years in the ...
05.31.2021 Episode 169: Pete & Jared - The Bible and the "Problem of History" What do you do when you notice something in the Bible that doesn’t pass the muster of historical research? In this episode, Pete & Jared discuss the problem of history found within the pages of the Bible and the implications ...
05.24.2021 Episode 168: Xavier Pickett - When Did White Christian America Lose Its Mind? (Reissue) In this reissued episode, Pete & Jared converse with Xavier Pickett about ways in which the Bible and the church have been shaped by hundreds of years of systemic racism and white privilege. Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
05.17.2021 Episode 167: Joshua Harris - A Story of Public Deconstruction On this episode, Joshua Harris discusses his public deconstruction and how he has wrestled with questions of accountability for harmful ideas while also making room for grace. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
05.10.2021 Episode 166: Matthew Paul Turner - Teaching God to Our Kids How should we talk to our kids about God and the Bible? On this episode, Matthew Paul Turner discusses the importance of allowing children the space to explore spirituality and ask questions about God. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...
05.03.2021 Episode 165: Stephanie Tait - Disability Theology is for Everyone We invited Stephanie Tait to discuss the cultural lens of ableism and how disability theology shapes the way she views God and the Bible. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
04.26.2021 Episode 164: Pete Enns - Where Did Our Bible Come From? On this episode, Pete talks about where our Bible comes from, its messy history, and what that means for us today. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
04.19.2021 Episode 163: Tripp Fuller - Thinking About Jesus Today We brought in Tripp Fuller, host of the podcast Homebrewed Christianity, to share his perspective on the Jesus of history and the Christ of theology and its relevancy in our lives today. Show Notes → Support this podcast at — ...
04.12.2021 Episode 162: Jared & Sarah Byas - Parenting in a Faith Transition Wondering how Jared and his wife, Sarah, have navigated parenting amidst their transitions of faith? They cover what they tell their kids about Christianity, the Bible, and how their parenting is different because of it. Show Notes → Support this ...
04.05.2021 Episode 161: Amanda Mbuvi - Finding Ourselves in the Stories of the Bible Why were the stories of the Bible written down? On this episode Amanda Mbuvi shares about how the Bible plays a role in identity formation and how that affects how we read it. Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
03.29.2021 Episode 160: Pete and Jared - The Risk of an "Errant" Bible Why is Bible inerrancy so hard for people to give up? Pete and Jared dive into some possible explanations and take a look at the history of the belief that the Bible is inerrant. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...
03.22.2021 Episode 159: Richard Elliott Friedman - Who Wrote the Pentateuch? We love a good discussion on the formation of the Bible. Listen in as we talk to scholar Richard Elliott Friedman about the various texts that make up the Hebrew Bible, what clues we have to date them, and what ...
03.15.2021 Episode 158: Maria Doerfler - Reading the Bible in Times of Crisis There’s many difficult stories the Bible but one people struggle with the most are those dealing with the death of children. On this episode, we are joined by Maria Doerfler who shares rich perspectives on the stories of Jephthah’s daughter, ...
03.08.2021 Episode 157: Nadia Bolz-Weber - Being a Christian in the Messiness We had a great conversation with Nadia Bolz-Weber about what is compelling about Christianity, why we all need to stop trying so hard, and what in the world there is to be hopeful about. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...
03.01.2021 Episode 156: Pete and Jared - Your Questions About Prayer, Marriage, White Jesus, an Angry God, and a Murky Bible In this episode we are answering some of the most asked questions on our Ask Pete page. We get into a lot of topics like how other cultures interpret Jesus, how normal people can study the Bible on their own, ...
02.22.2021 Episode 155: Sarah Bessey - Why Bother Praying? Praying can feel difficult during hard times and especially after a faith deconstruction. Sarah Bessey joins us on this episode of the podcast to talk about what inspired her to write a book on prayer and shares what has been ...
02.15.2021 Episode 154: Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler - How Jews & Christians Read the Bible Differently It shouldn’t be a surprise to us now that people can read the same text and walk away with vastly different meanings. On this episode of the podcast, we’re talking with Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler who share some reasons ...
02.08.2021 Episode 153: James Kugel - Shifting Perspectives on God in the Bible James Kugel is back on the podcast sharing about how people during the biblical period understood God and how their views changed overtime. How does their understanding of God influence our understandings today? Show Notes → Support this podcast at ...
02.01.2021 Episode 152: Pete Enns - What Makes Christianity Different? We’re back with Season 5! On this episode, Pete shares what makes Christianity distinct for him. He discusses the beginning of the Jesus movement, explains how New Testament writers probably understood their faith, and how first century Christians made sense ...
12.14.2020 Episode 151: 2020 - Let's Not and Say We Did 2020— What a year. We’re wrapping up the year and the fourth season of the podcast with a look back onto what we learned from this season and from the year as a whole. Show Notes → Support this podcast ...
12.07.2020 Episode 150: Christopher Rollston - Where Does Hebrew Come From? This episode features linguist and professor Christopher Rollston who helps us understand the importance of studying languages when it comes to dating and understanding the Bible. We talk about other ancient Near Eastern languages, biblical manuscripts, inscriptions, and more! Show ...
11.30.2020 Episode 149: Dan Koch - The End Times & American Christian Culture Many of us have encountered a type of Christianity that preaches an impending rapture and a call to repent of our sins as soon as possible. But where did that interpretation of Christianity come from? On this episode we ask ...
11.23.2020 Episode 148: Pete Enns - Adam, Evangelicalism, & the Metanarrative of Evolution How has theology developed alongside the findings of science? On this episode, Pete is sharing his reflections on what quantum physics and the theory of evolution tell us about the Bible and how we should interpret it light of scientific ...
11.16.2020 Episode 147: Benjamin D. Sommer - Does God Have a Body? Benjamin D. Sommer is back on the podcast telling us all about his work on a biblical understanding of God’s body. He takes us through the history of thought on God’s body, the material God’s body is made out of, ...
11.09.2020 Episode 146: Jared Byas - Rediscovering Jonah - Part 3 Jared has been breaking down Jonah for us on his solo episodes this year and this is his last segment! He delves into what the over all message of Jonah is, what questions it leaves us with, and what it ...
11.02.2020 Episode 145: Emilie Townes - The Wisdom of Hope We invited Emilie Townes on the podcast to talk about womanist ethics but our conversation morphed into so much more. We touched on the role of the Bible in ethics, the relevance of the Bible in our lives today, and ...
10.26.2020 Episode 144: Austen Hartke - The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians (REISSUE) In this reissued episode, Pete and Jared sit down with Austen Hartke to discuss what the Bible has to say about transgender people. They get into unexamined Bible passages, mysterious Hebrew words, and how to make your church a welcoming ...
10.19.2020 Episode 143: Martha Himmelfarb - Second Temple Judaism & Apocalyptic Literature Getting into the Halloween spirit? Don’t miss this spooky episode talking about all things apocalypse in Second Temple Judaism! Our guest Martha Himmelfarb is an expert on the subject and she tells us all about the key features of apocalyptic ...
10.12.2020 Episode 142: Jared Byas - Rediscovering Jonah - Part 2 This episode is the second installment of Jared’s deep dive (no pun intended) into the book of Jonah. In this episode, Jared gives us a taste of how rich this book is in metaphors and how a fuller understanding of ...
10.05.2020 Episode 141: John Franke - God Is On a Mission and So Can You John Franke joins the podcast to discussing his new book, Missional Theology. John shares some key components of missional theology and discusses how to overcome plurality, what evangelizing looks like through a missional lens, and why the church needs the ...
10.01.2020 BONUS Episode: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott - What Archaeologists Do & Why it Matters We are so excited about the Everyday Life in Ancient Israel class Cynthia is teaching for us we just had to reissue her podcast episode from back in season 2. Cynthia talks with Pete and Jared about what she does ...
09.28.2020 Episode 140: Paula Fredriksen - When Christians Were Jews 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 ...
09.21.2020 Episode 139: Pete Enns - You Have Questions, Pete Has Answers This episode of the podcast is filled with listener question from our Ask Pete and Jared page on the website. Pete answers questions about Job, ancient Egyptian letters, the world of biblical scholarship, shifting faith views, and much more! Show ...
09.14.2020 Episode 138: Pete & Jared - How Love Changes the Meaning of the Bible What does it mean to “speak the truth in love?” On this episode we’re taking about Jared’s new book Love Matters More and what it should actually look like for Christians to interact with people they disagree with. Show Notes ...
09.07.2020 Episode 137: James Kugel - Challenging Our Assumptions About the Bible Ancient interpreters made all sort of assumptions about the Bible much like we do today. What do their assumptions tell us about how to interpret the Bible today? James Kugel breaks down the function of the Bible throughout history and ...
08.24.2020 Episode 136: Ariel Sabar - Telling the Truth About Jesus' Wife Just because someone claims to hold the truth doesn't mean they actually do. On this episode, investigative journalist Ariel Sabar tells us the fascinating story of how a Harvard professor was duped into believing she made a discovery that would ...

Older episodes

The Bible For Normal People

What's The Bible For Normal People about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Bible For Normal People episodes:

Episode 184: Heather Macumber - Monsters in the Bible

Episode 183: Jennifer Bashaw - What Did the Crucifixion Do?

Episode 182: Pete & Jared - The Evolution of Adam

Episode 181: Kate Bowler - The Prosperity Gospel & a Theology of Suffering

Episode 180: Brian K. Blount - Revelation for Today

Episode 179: Paul Deal - Integrating Faith and Psychology

Episode 178: Pete Enns - Pete Ruins Isaiah

Episode 177: Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. - Social Justice & the Radical Gospel

Episode 176: Jared Byas - The Making of the Modern Mindset, Pt. 1

Episode 175: Jodi Magness - The Jesus of Archaeology

Episode 174: Brian McLaren - The Four Stages of Faith

Episode 173: Cheryl B. Anderson - The Ethical Impact of Biblical Interpretation

Episode 172: Pete Enns - A Whole Different Way of Reading Genesis

Episode 171: Ted Lewis - The Origins of God

Episode 170: Kristin Kobes Du Mez - A Modern Church History of Toxic Masculinity

Episode 169: Pete & Jared - The Bible and the "Problem of History"

Episode 168: Xavier Pickett - When Did White Christian America Lose Its Mind? (Reissue)

Episode 167: Joshua Harris - A Story of Public Deconstruction

Episode 166: Matthew Paul Turner - Teaching God to Our Kids

Episode 165: Stephanie Tait - Disability Theology is for Everyone

Episode 164: Pete Enns - Where Did Our Bible Come From?

Episode 163: Tripp Fuller - Thinking About Jesus Today

Episode 162: Jared & Sarah Byas - Parenting in a Faith Transition

Episode 161: Amanda Mbuvi - Finding Ourselves in the Stories of the Bible

Episode 160: Pete and Jared - The Risk of an "Errant" Bible

Episode 159: Richard Elliott Friedman - Who Wrote the Pentateuch?

Episode 158: Maria Doerfler - Reading the Bible in Times of Crisis

Episode 157: Nadia Bolz-Weber - Being a Christian in the Messiness

Episode 156: Pete and Jared - Your Questions About Prayer, Marriage, White Jesus, an Angry God, and a Murky Bible

Episode 155: Sarah Bessey - Why Bother Praying?

Episode 154: Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler - How Jews & Christians Read the Bible Differently

Episode 153: James Kugel - Shifting Perspectives on God in the Bible

Episode 152: Pete Enns - What Makes Christianity Different?

Episode 151: 2020 - Let's Not and Say We Did

Episode 150: Christopher Rollston - Where Does Hebrew Come From?

Episode 149: Dan Koch - The End Times & American Christian Culture

Episode 148: Pete Enns - Adam, Evangelicalism, & the Metanarrative of Evolution

Episode 147: Benjamin D. Sommer - Does God Have a Body?

Episode 146: Jared Byas - Rediscovering Jonah - Part 3

Episode 145: Emilie Townes - The Wisdom of Hope

Episode 144: Austen Hartke - The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians (REISSUE)

Episode 143: Martha Himmelfarb - Second Temple Judaism & Apocalyptic Literature

Episode 142: Jared Byas - Rediscovering Jonah - Part 2

Episode 141: John Franke - God Is On a Mission and So Can You

BONUS Episode: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott - What Archaeologists Do & Why it Matters

Episode 140: Paula Fredriksen - When Christians Were Jews

Episode 139: Pete Enns - You Have Questions, Pete Has Answers

Episode 138: Pete & Jared - How Love Changes the Meaning of the Bible

Episode 137: James Kugel - Challenging Our Assumptions About the Bible

Episode 136: Ariel Sabar - Telling the Truth About Jesus' Wife

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