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
December 8, 2025 • 57 mins
At the close of Season 9 of The Bible for Normal People, Pete & Jared set out on their annual holiday quest: taking questions that people have been asking for centuries and attempting to answer them in an hour-long podcast episode.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-316-pete-enns-jared-byas-is-the-bible-the-word-of-god-other-easy-questions/
Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/X3aLlmohjQY
Lear...
Mark as Played
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Diana Butler Bass to talk about the Christian calendar. Diana walks through the history of how the Christian calendar came to be, what levels of importance different traditions give it, and how the Christian calendar can serve as a symbol of resistance against other timelines that might be dominated by capitalism and imperialism.
Show Notes → https://...
Mark as Played
November 24, 2025 • 48 mins
On this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Kent Sparks to unpack the early religious history of ancient Israel. Kent explores how ancient Israelites first gave God the name Yahweh, how Israelites understood Yahweh in relation to other ancient Near Eastern deities, and how the roots of monotheism emerge from a far more diverse and evolving set of beliefs than many assume.
Show Notes → https:...
Mark as Played
November 17, 2025 • 56 mins
In this episode of Faith For Normal People, Pete and Jared revisit a conversation with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of the bestselling book Jesus and John Wayne. The conversation explores the history of “toxic” masculinity in both the church and American pop culture, and how Christians in 2025 can be part of the resistance efforts against harmful cultural structures. This is a reissue of The Bible for Normal People Episode 170 from...
Mark as Played
November 10, 2025 • 54 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete Enns and Anna Sieges Beal sit down with Shayna Sheinfeld to talk about the Second Temple period, spanning from 586 BCE to 70 CE. Shayna presents texts from that time that illuminate events glossed over by most Bibles, and explores the often-overlooked roles played by women wielding power in those communities.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-314-sh...
Mark as Played
November 3, 2025 • 48 mins
In the final Pete Ruins episode of 2025, Pete Enns speaks to everyone who has ever read Song of Songs and wondered “why the heck is this in the Bible?”
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-313-pete-ruins-song-of-songs/
Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/FmFfQL2ahqc
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
October 27, 2025 • 51 mins
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete is joined by Liz Charlotte Grant to talk about using the Bible as a springboard for curiosity, inquiry, conversation, and community. This episode explores how art, imagination, and the practice of midrash can open up new ways of engaging scripture when literal readings don’t speak to what we see in the world today.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-67-l...
Mark as Played
October 20, 2025 • 50 mins
In this week’s episode of The Bible for Normal People, Jared sits down with Sarah Emanuel to discuss the concept of “Messiah” from a Jewish theological perspective. Sarah explores what post-exilic Israelites might have thought and meant when they talked about a deliverer, what shapes those beliefs took near the time of Jesus’s life, and what sorts of misconceptions people have today when they use the word “Messiah.”
Show Notes → h...
Mark as Played
October 13, 2025 • 67 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared sits down with media psychologist Dr. Angela Patterson to discuss the trends she studies in the spiritual lives of Gen Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012. Angela explains how the typical timeline of faith progression has become much less linear with Gen Z, and encourages parents, church leaders, and older generations to create a space for young people to ask tough questions, wr...
Mark as Played
October 6, 2025 • 51 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Chauncey Diego Francisco Handy to discuss the conquest narrative in the book of Joshua. Delving into what the themes of empire, displacement, a “promised land,” and identity meant to ancient peoples throughout Israel’s history, the conversation offers insight into what the preservation of these narratives can mean for people today navigating their own comp...
Mark as Played
September 29, 2025 • 72 mins
In this reissue of The Bible for Normal People episode 56, Pete gets to the heart of the somber book of Ecclesiastes. He cautions against an optimistic reading as the author intends to question everything, even God; and explains why Ecclesiastes is his favorite book of the Bible. This episode originally aired in June of 2018.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-310-pete-enns-pete-ruins-ecclesiastes-reissue/
...
Mark as Played
September 22, 2025 • 67 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with lawyer, lecturer, and author James Kimmel, Jr. about our primal desire for revenge against the people we feel have wronged us. James shares the science behind the belief that revenge is an addiction tied to gratification, and offers alternative strategies to break the revenge cycle and move towards a forgiveness-oriented approach to living.
Show Notes → https://t...
Mark as Played
September 15, 2025 • 58 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Elizabeth Shively show some love to the shortest gospel and tell us why it shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to understanding the Messiah. Walking through the book’s literary framing of apocalypse, suffering, and discipleship, Elizabeth presents Mark’s gospel as an invitation to get to know the human Jesus.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-309...
Mark as Played
September 8, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Drew G. I. Hart and Jarrod McKenna to talk about rethinking power and nonviolence. Through practices inspired by Anabaptism, the Black church, and the teachings of Jesus, Drew and Jarrod explore how Christians can contribute to social change through their own nonviolent resistance as individuals and communities.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.co...
Mark as Played
September 1, 2025 • 53 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Nerd-in-Residence Cynthia are joined by Bill Schniedewind to discuss who really wrote the Bible. Bill explains how different scribal communities each left their own mark on the texts they were writing, and how the diversity of the Bible’s human authors reflects the beauty and richness of the text itself.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-308-bill-schni...
Mark as Played
August 25, 2025 • 53 mins
In this reissue of The Bible for Normal People episode 36, Pete works through some big-picture issues that help us see what Proverbs is all about, such as the complexities of wisdom, the nature of folly, and how this ancient text is supposed to help us navigate life in the present day. This episode originally aired as “7 Things You Need to Know about How the Book of Proverbs Works” in February 2018.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefo...
Mark as Played
August 18, 2025 • 55 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared and Jennifer Garcia Bashaw sit down with Mariko Clark to explore how adults can help kids encounter the Bible in ways that move beyond rigid rules and binaries. Together they discuss practices that cultivate curiosity, imagination, and a more expansive vision of God and faith.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-63-mariko-clark-helping-kids-grow-an-expansive-fa...
Mark as Played
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete is joined by our Nerds-in-Residence to tackle some of your biggest questions about the Old Testament. They discuss contradictions in Ecclesiastes, the influence of ancient Near Eastern literature, the meaning and function of sacrifice, and the formation of the Hebrew Bible.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-306-pete-enns-the-old-testament-nerds-ask-a-scho...
Mark as Played
August 4, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Zach Lambert to talk about the journey from biblical literalism to a more liberative approach to scripture. They explore four harmful interpretive lenses—literalism, apocalypse, hierarchy, and moralism—and offer four healthier alternatives focused on Jesus, context, flourishing, and fruitfulness.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-62-zac...
Mark as Played
July 28, 2025 • 50 mins
The book of Revelation is just plain weird. In this reissue of episode 180 of The Bible for Normal People, Rev. Dr. Brian K. Blount joins Pete and Jared to discuss how to read and understand the book of Revelation.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-305-brian-k-blount-revelation-for-today-reissue/
Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/-K8lPK2ygHs
**********
This episode is brought to you by Sk...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com