Ben and Matt discuss the question of Biblical authorship and offer a quick crash course on contemporary Biblical scholarship.  They also dig into some theological questions related to the nature of Scripture.

While We're Here spent the night out on the town and recorded a live podcast at Commune Cafe in Newburyport, MA. "Know Your Neighbor" is both the name of this episode and also the name of a documentary film project that the Newburyport Human Rights Commission is working on throughout the year.

We brought you the first part of this conversation on the night before Hanukkah began. Here is part two on the night before Christmas. Matt and Ben shift focus to Christmas as we continue to explore our winter festivals.

Ben and Matt talk about the winter festivals of their faith traditions. In part one of this conversation, we get to hear Ben explain the real meaning of Hanukkah.

Ben and Matt talk about ghosts, spirituality, and religion. They also have a less than academically rigorous discussion of Halloween and the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with some questionable dates and facts (by Matt especially.. ie.. St. Patrick definitely did not go to Ireland before Constantine's legalization of Christianity). 

all sounds on this episode used with permission

© http://www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/

Ben and Matt pick up the conversation where they left off in part 1. The focus now shifts from the machines to what life will look like for us humans.

Ben and Matt prepare for the rise of the machines as they discuss strong AI, weak AI, and what it means for both us and the machines.

Ben and Matt talk about drugs and spiritual experience both through the lens of their own experiences and as the topic appears throughout the history of various religious traditions.

Special guest, Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky from Park Avenue Synagogue, joins us for a journey through Religion and Game of Thrones. Ben and Ethan take a deep dive and geek out over this fantastic topic, while Matt runs tech and closes his ears to spoilers. By the way, there aren't any major spoilers in case you're worried about that.