In this bonus episode of Cunningcast, Tony Robinson is joined by biblical scholars John Barton and Francesca Stavrakopoulou to explore the Dead Sea Scrolls and what they reveal about the origins of the Bible and early Christianity. From their dramatic discovery in the late 1940s and recent AI-led re-dating, to the startling variety of ancient Jewish and Christian texts—including lost gospels and strange infancy stories of Jesus—they uncover a world of belief far more diverse and surprising than the Bible alone suggests. As Francesca says, “these texts show the sheer variety of early Christian belief and stories about Jesus that were in circulation.”

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg

With

Professor John Barton | theology.ox.ac.uk/people/john-barton

John is a British Anglican priest and biblical scholar. From 1991 to 2014, he was the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College. In addition to his academic career, he has been an ordained and serving priest in the Church of England since 1973. His research interests and extensive publications have been in the areas of the Old Testament prophets, the biblical canon, biblical interpretation, and Old Testament theology. He is the author of numerous books on the Bible, co-editor of The Oxford Bible Commentary and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation.

A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths was shortlisted for the 2020 Wolfson History Prize and won the 2019 Duff Cooper Prize. It was adapted for radio and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2020.

Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou | experts.exeter.ac.uk/1365-francesca-stavrakopoulou

Francesca is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter. She is an internationally renowned scholar and award-winning author, specialising in material religion, death studies, and the ancient religious cultures in which the Bible emerged. Actively engaged in public scholarship, her media work includes writing and presenting the BBC TV documentary series Bible's Buried Secrets, and narrating the serialisation of her most recent book on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week.

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