The Bible For Normal People

The Bible For Normal People

A weekly podcast talk show having serious talks about the sacred book. Hosted by Peter Enns and Jared Byas.

Episodes

[Bible] Episode 336: Pete Enns - Pete Ruins Everything on Lamentations

September 7, 2026 • 45 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete explores the book of Lamentations and what it can teach us about faith in the midst of suffering. He examines the book’s historical setting in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction, its raw and unsettling portrayals of grief, anger, and God’s apparent absence, and the ways its carefully structured poetry gives shape to experiences of trauma and l...
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[Bible] Episode 335: Phillip Lasater - The Self & Personal Agency in the Hebrew Bible

August 24, 2026 • 47 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Phillip Lasater about how ancient Israelite and Jewish writers understood the self, personal agency, emotion, and human flourishing in ways that can be very different from modern assumptions. They explore how concepts like fear, the heart, and individuality function in the Hebrew Bible, how texts such as Ruth and Genesis 22 invite readers to engag...
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[Bible] Episode 334: Rony Kozman - The Weird Ways the NT Interprets the OT

August 10, 2026 • 50 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Rony Kozman about how the New Testament interprets the Hebrew Bible, and why the apostles’ approach to Scripture often looks very different from the historical-grammatical method many readers have been taught. They explore how Matthew creatively reads the story of Jesus alongside Israel’s story, how Paul rereads Scripture in light of h...
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[Faith] Episode 73: Ciarra Jones - Who Gets to Decide What The Bible Means?

July 27, 2026 • 50 mins
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with theologian and ethicist Ciarra Jones about who gets to decide what the Bible means and how our identities, experiences, and social locations shape the ways we interpret Scripture. Drawing on her own journey from Pentecostal Christianity to Black, queer, womanist, and liberation theology, Ciarra explores how dominant interpretations of the Bible have b...
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[Bible] Episode 333: Nathan MacDonald - The Messy History of the Priesthood

July 13, 2026 • 47 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Nathan MacDonald about the origins of Israel’s priesthood, the role of the Levites, and why the Bible’s accounts of priests are far more complex than they first appear. They explore how biblical texts often function less as straightforward historical records and more as theological interpretations that seek to explain, shape, and recon...
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[Bible] Episode 332: Pete Ruins Everything with Dale Allison

June 29, 2026 • 64 mins
In this week’s episode of Pete Ruins Everything, Pete talks with Dale Allison about the strengths and limits of biblical scholarship. They explore what historical research can and cannot tell us about Jesus, the Bible, and the ancient world, while reflecting on the value of expertise, intellectual humility, and the challenges of interpreting the past. Together, they discuss why scholars often disagree, how new evidence and pe...
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[Bible] Episode 331 : Jared Byas - 10 Aha Moments in Biblical Scholarship: Part 2

June 15, 2026 • 70 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Jared continues his tour through the history of modern biblical scholarship, exploring five (or six) more “aha moments” that transformed how scholars understand the Bible. From Rudolf Bultmann’s challenge to interpret ancient texts in a modern world and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, to new insights about editorial shaping, literary criticism, an...
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[Bible] Episode 330: Bruce Longenecker - The Vision of Galatians

June 1, 2026 • 50 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Bruce Longenecker about Galatians, Paul’s understanding of the Torah, and the kind of community he believed the gospel creates. They explore how Paul reframes identity around participation in Christ rather than ethnic or religious hierarchy, and why Galatians is less about individual salvation and more about transformed relationships in a fr...
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[Faith] Episode 72: Roberto De La Noval & Jordan Wood - How the Early Church Read the Bible (Reissue from Bonus)

May 25, 2026 • 66 mins
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared talks with Roberto de la Noval and Jordan Wood about the church fathers, the development of doctrine, and how early Christians approached the Bible. They explore how figures like Augustine and Origen understood Scripture as something meant to transform people rather than simply provide literal answers, and why “problem passages” were often seen as invitation...
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[Bible] Episode 329: Jared Byas - 10 Aha Moments in Biblical Scholarship: Part 1

May 18, 2026 • 58 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Jared takes listeners on a tour through the history of modern biblical scholarship, tracing key “aha moments” that changed how scholars understand the Bible. From source criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis to oral tradition and the rise of fundamentalism, he explores how new questions about the Bible’s origins reshaped both academia and the church. ...
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[Bible] Episode 328: Vanessa Lovelace - Is Deuteronomy History?

May 11, 2026 • 45 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Vanessa Lovelace about the Deuteronomistic history and why Deuteronomy plays such a central role in shaping Israel’s story. They explore how biblical writers interpreted Israel’s history through the lens of covenant, exile, and identity formation, and how these themes continue to influence modern readings of the Bible. Together, they i...
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[Bible] Episode 327: Douglas Campbell - Ripping Up the Romans Road

May 4, 2026 • 49 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Douglas Campbell about rethinking the “Romans Road” and what Paul is really doing in his letter to the Romans. They explore how common readings have turned Romans into a step-by-step plan of salvation, often missing its original context and ethical focus. Together, they invite listeners to see Romans as a vision of God’s radical ...
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[Bible] Episode 326: Chris Keith - How do Scholars Reconstruct the "Historical Jesus?"

April 27, 2026 • 52 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Chris Keith about the historical Jesus, and how scholars approach the gap between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of the Gospels. They explore why the Gospels themselves raise questions about modern ideas of history, how different methods have tried to reconstruct Jesus, and why certainty can be elusive. Together, they invite listeners to appro...
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[Bible] Episode 325: Pete Ruins Everything with Amy-Jill Levine

April 20, 2026 • 59 mins
In this week’s episode of Pete Ruins Everything, Pete talks with Amy-Jill Levine about supersessionism and its impact on how Christians understand Judaism and the New Testament. They explore how ideas like “replacement theology” show up in biblical texts, why these interpretations have caused harm, and how readers can engage the Bible more honestly and responsibly. Together, they invite listeners to wrestle with d...
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[Bible] Episode 324: Pete Enns & Jared Byas - A City on a Hill: A Ten Year Retrospective

April 13, 2026 • 50 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared reflect on ten years and over 400 episodes of the podcast, revisiting what they thought they were doing and what they now see more clearly in hindsight. They explore themes that have emerged along the way, including the shift from certainty to wisdom in reading the Bible and the move from information to personal and communal formation. They also discuss how...
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[Bible] Episode 323: Andrew Tobolowsky- The Myth of the Twelve Tribes

April 6, 2026 • 53 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Andrew Tobolowsky about what scholars mean by “myth” and how that idea applies to the Bible. They explore the origins of the 12 tribes of Israel, examining the historical and textual evidence and why this tradition may be less straightforward than it seems. Together, they discuss how these stories developed over time and how they helpe...
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[Bible] Episode 322: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott - Where Archaeology Intersects with the Bible

March 30, 2026 • 58 mins
On this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete talks with archaeologist Cynthia Shafer-Elliott about what archaeology can—and can’t—tell us about the Bible. Cynthia explains how archaeologists excavate ancient sites, highlights key discoveries like the Tel Dan Stele and the Lachish reliefs, and explores what everyday artifacts reveal about life in ancient Israel and Judah. Together they discuss ...
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[Bible] Episode 321: H. Daniel Zacharias and T. Christopher Hoklotubbe - Native American Biblical Interpretation

March 23, 2026 • 61 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias about biblical interpretation through an Indigenous American perspective. They explore how cultural identity, history, and social location shape the way people read Scripture, and why Indigenous perspectives challenge assumptions many Christians take for granted. Together, they invite listeners to read the Bibl...
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[Bible] Episode 320: Pete Ruins Everything on Jeremiah

March 16, 2026 • 54 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete has another go at ruining something. This week, he’s unpacking the book of Jeremiah and its interlocking themes of anguish, confusion, and hope. Along the way, Pete picks out some of the iconic Jeremiah verses commonly quoted in churches and Facebook posts and puts them back in the context of the text. It might make those verses less applicable to a high school graduation c...
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[Bible] Episode 319: Matthew Vines - The Bible Isn't Against Gay Marriage

March 9, 2026 • 52 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared welcome back Season 1 favorite Matthew Vines to discuss how conversations about the Bible and same-sex relationships have shifted over the past decade. Matthew revisits common biblical arguments against same-sex marriage and offers thoughtful counterpoints grounded in Scripture and church history. The conversation explores how a deeper understanding of the ...
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