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
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...
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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...
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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
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This episode is brought to you by Sk...
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July 21, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete takes a deep dive into the Psalms—who really wrote them, how they were edited, and why they’ve endured for thousands of years. He explores how these ancient prayers reflect the full range of human experience with God—raw lament, joyful praise, and everything in between.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-304-pete-enns-pete-ruins-psalms/
Watch this episod...
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July 14, 2025 • 60 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with David P. Gushee about what it means to take seriously the moral teachings of Jesus. They dig into how Jesus’s teachings are anchored in cultural context, yet still speak to real-life questions about freedom, forgiveness, status, and what it looks like to live well and love others.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-61-david-p-gushee-living-...
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July 7, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared take on a central question: Is the Bible still relevant—and if so, how? They explore how modern views, especially the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, have shaped people's expectations and often led to disillusionment. Drawing from church history, ancient reinterpretations, and personal experiences, they offer insight into how the Bible can remain meaningful—through trad...
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In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Beau Underwood and Brian Kaylor join Pete and Jared to explore the history of how mainline Protestants have contributed to Christian nationalism in the United States. They explain how patriotic worship practices, uncritical support for the state, and assumptions about the nation’s “Christian” identity have shaped the movement—and how churches today can begin to untangle faith from nationa...
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June 23, 2025 • 46 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Dr. Julie Faith Parker joins Pete and Jared to reexamine the story of Eve through a feminist lens, challenging the long-held belief that Eve is the source of original sin. She unpacks how patriarchal interpretations have shaped cultural attitudes toward women for centuries—often in ways the biblical text doesn’t actually support.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/epis...
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In this reissue episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with the late Walter Brueggemann to reflect on how the Bible can be reclaimed in the mainline church after generations of historical criticism. He challenges both liberal and evangelical tendencies to reduce Scripture to rigid certainties, instead offering a vision of the Bible as a dynamic, imaginative script meant to be performed. With insights on aut...
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June 9, 2025 • 54 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Malcolm Foley to explore the connection between racism and greed in American history, and the calling of Christians to live differently. Drawing from his book The Anti-Greed Gospel, they discuss how economic self-interest has fueled racial injustice, how the church has been both complicit and resistant, and what it means to practice economic solidarity rooted ...
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In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Caroline Blyth and Emily Colgan to dive into the many forms of violence in the Bible, including violence attributed to God. They discuss how ancient context, gender dynamics, and structural power inform these texts, why confronting them matters, and how faith communities can engage these difficult passages with honesty and care.
Show Notes → https://thebi...
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May 26, 2025 • 63 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Adis Duderija to discuss the rich diversity of belief within Islam. Adis outlines various expressions of the faith, challenges the idea of Islam as monolithic, and explores some of the history behind how these iterations came to be.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-58-adis-duderija-the-diversity-of-islam/
Watch this episode on YouTu...
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May 19, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Garrick Allen about the concept of paratexts—elements like chapter numbers, footnotes, titles, and formatting that surround the biblical text—and how these often-overlooked features significantly shape how we interpret Scripture. Together they explore how the Bible is a dynamic, evolving tradition influenced by centuries of human interaction and editorial choi...
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May 12, 2025 • 55 mins
In this reissue of The Bible for Normal People Episode 133: The Book of Job, Pete takes us on a provocative journey through Job, challenging traditional interpretations of suffering, divine justice, and the nature of God. Rather than seeing Job as a lesson in patient endurance, Pete explores the book as a complex, layered critique of transactional theology—and even a possible parable of Israel’s exile.
Show Notes → https://thebibl...
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May 5, 2025 • 64 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete Enns and Anna Sieges Beal talk with theologian Janet Williams about apophatic theology, a tradition that emphasizes the mystery of God by acknowledging the limits of human language and understanding. Janet explores how describing God by what God is not—rather than what God is—can open up a deeper, more expansive experience of the divine.
Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople....
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April 28, 2025 • 55 mins
Please note: this interview does include mention of assault and sexual abuse in the context of the Hebrew Bible. In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and co-host Cynthia Shafer-Elliott talk with Alexiana Fry about reading the Hebrew Bible through the lens of trauma, gender, and migration. Reflecting on texts like Hosea and Judges 19, Alexiana challenges traditional interpretations and highlights the importance of re...
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This is a teaser of our April 2025 bonus episode! Jared Byas, Angela N. Parker, and Jennifer Garcia Bashaw answer supporter questions all about the New Testament. Want to hear the rest of the episode? Join our online community the Society of Normal People and you'll get monthly bonus episodes; livestreams of guest interviews; Q&As with Pete, Jared, and the Nerds; and an all-access pass to our classes and courses. Head to www.thebib...
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April 21, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, nerds-in-residence Anna Sieges-Beal and Dr. Angela N. Parker talk with Dr. Wylin D. Wilson about the intersection of faith, justice, and healthcare through the lens of womanist bioethics. They explore how Black women’s lived experiences reveal deep ethical gaps in the medical system and how centering the most vulnerable offers a path toward collective healing and solidarity.
Show Notes → ...
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April 14, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Jared again sit down with Richard Rohr, who returns to discuss the biblical prophets—not as predictors of Jesus or future events, but as truth-tellers who confronted the moral failures of their time. Drawing from The Tears of Things, Rohr highlights how prophets spoke to collective injustice—systems of power, wealth, and religion gone wrong—not just individual sin.
Show Note...
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April 10, 2025 • 58 mins
In the last episode of All the Buried Women, co-hosts Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke explore the story behind a confidential letter in the SBC’S archives that leads to a pastor’s wife named Maria. They also look at the Southern Baptist Convention's decision to expel churches that ordain women, critiquing the rhetoric of unity and biblical authority used to justify the exclusion of women from leadership roles Last, the episode...
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