Show Notes
How did Persian mythology seep into the texts of the Hebrew Bible? In this week's Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Professor Mark Leuchter, who has recently argued that the 'dynastic myth-making' of the Persian Achaemenid rulers left its mark on Second Temple Jewish texts. Drawing on cognitive science, postcolonial theory, ancient letters and iconography, Mark guides us through the complex world of Persian myth-making and its effects on the Hebrew Bible. Mark Leuchte...
More from Biblical Time Machine
For many contemporary readers of the Bible, C.S. Lewis is looked to as an inspiration and authority. The 20th century Oxbridge don, Christian essayist and author of The Chronicles of Narnia wove the Bible into all of his works. But was Lewis a good reader of the Bible? How did Lewis respond to the challenges of New Testament scholarship? And in what ways did Lewis put the Bible to use in his legendary chronicles? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with New Test...
'O Assyria, the rod of my anger!' So declared the prophet Isaiah of one of the most feared and imposing empires of the ancient world. But who were the Assyrians, and how did they become the world's first empire? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Professor Eckart Frahm of Yale University, the author of Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire (2023, YUP). From warfare and imperial ambition to religion and everyday life, they discover together...
1st October marks the UN's International Day of Older Persons. So this week, Helen and Lloyd took a trip in the Time Machine to visit the Bible's 'Golden Oldies' – some of its oldest, wisest and most memorable characters. They consider what the Bible has to say about growing old, unpack theological readings of old age, and raise the age-old question: how old was Jesus when he began his mission? Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Ti...
It is impossible to study the Bible without crashing into the word 'Hellenism', the spread of Greek culture across the ancient world by Alexander (the Great). But who was Alexander, and what do his successors have to do with the Bible? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Stephen Harrison, an expert on Alexander the Great. Dr Stephen Harrison is Senior Lecturer in Classics at Swansea University, and a historian of ancient Greece and the ancient Near East,...
If there is any biblical book which has something to say about wisdom, it is the Book of Proverbs. But what actually is Proverbs? Who wrote it? And what is its message about what a good life looks like? To get to the bottom of Proverbs, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Ryan O'Dowd. Ryan O'Dowd is Senior Academic Advisor at Chesterton House, Cornell University. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from the University of Liverpool and his many books include The Wisdom of To...