TIME TRAVELERS CLUB

Access bonus content and ask questions on air!

US$5,99/month

Biblical Time Machine

Helen Bond & Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Join Helen and Lloyd as they travel back in time (metaphorically… it’s a podcast) to explore the real history of the people, places and events of the Old Testament, New Testament and everything in between.

  1. 1 HR AGO

    Roman Faith and Christian Faith

    The early Christian world was awash with the language of 'belief' (pistis in Greek, fides in Latin). But what does it really mean to 'believe'? Today, we often use the word refer to an assent to a set of propositions: someone might believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or that he was born of a virgin. But is this what the language of belief meant to the early Christians, within the wider Roman world? To unpack the lexis of 'belief', Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Teresa Morgan, McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale University. Teresa is the author of Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (OUP, 2015), which suggests that belief is a more relational term than we tend to assume. It refers to a 'loyalty' and 'allegiance', rooted in social practices of trust. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

    41 min

  2. 2 FEB

    From Nazareth to Hollywood

    How are Jesus and early Christianity portrayed on the big screen? To answer this question, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Monica Cyrino, an expert on the reception of the classical world in film. Together, they explore 1950s classics such as Quo Vadis and The Robe, and see how these ‘epic Rome’ films are later parodied in Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. Monica Silveira Cyrino is Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico, specialising in classical reception studies. She is particularly well known for Big Screen Rome (Blackwell, 2005), a foundational textbook on Roman epic cinema. SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

    45 min

  3. 2 FEB • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    BONUS: Anti-Jewish Readings of the Magi

    In this exclusive bonus episode, Helen and Lloyd ask Dr Eric Vanden Eykel about how Matthew's story of the Magi has fed anti-Jewish readings, and how Matthew's own narrative can challenge these readings.

    15 min

  4. 2 FEB • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    BONUS: The Life of Brian – A Mockery of Jesus?

    In this exclusive bonus episode, Helen and Lloyd ask Professor Monica Cyrino about the intentions behind Monty Python’s controversial classic, The Life of Brian.

    16 min

  5. 19 JAN

    What are the Non-Canonical Gospels?

    Many people only know the version of the non-canonical gospels popularised by Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The Church did away these 'lost' texts, and their recovery promises to reveal a more primitive version of Jesus that Orthodoxy suppressed. But how much truth is there to this narrative? What really are the non-canonical gospels? In this episode, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Simon Gathercole to uncover the true story of the non-canonical or 'apocryphal' gospels.  Simon J. Gathercole is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. He is a world leading authority on the non-canonical gospels, and is the author of The Gospel of Judas (2007), The Gospel of Thomas (OUP, 2007), The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary (Brill, 2014) and The Apocryphal Gospels (Penguin, 2021).  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

    43 min

  6. 19 JAN

    Who were the Magi, really?

    We all know the story of the Magi: they were three kings who followed a star to Bethlehem. But what if this common nativity narrative gets it all wrong? To uncover who the Magi really were, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Eric Vanden Ekyel, author of the popular tome, The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered (2022; Fortress Press).  Eric Vanden Eykel is a New Testament scholar and Associate Professor of Religion at Ferrum College. In addition to his work on the Magi, he is the author But Their Faces Were All Looking Up: Author and Reader in the Protevangelium of James (2016; Bloomsbury), a book which explores another early infancy story of Jesus.  SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.  Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

    47 min

  7. 18 JAN · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    BONUS: Canonical vs. Non-Canonical Gospels

    In this exclusive bonus episode, Helen and Lloyd ask Professor Simon Gathercole about whether the canonical gospels can be genuinely distinguished from later non-apocryphal ones.

    13 min

  8. 12 JAN

    The Physical Appearance of Jesus

    The physical appearance of Jesus is more widely known and distinctive than any other. Yet this familiarity can lead us to overlook a curious fact: in the Gospels, it is never described. This week on the Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd ask the show's producer John Nelson about this mystery: is it surprising that the Gospels do not describe Jesus' physical appearance, and what might explain this lacuna?  Dr John Nelson is the researcher and producer of Biblical Time Machine. He earned his PhD at the University of Edinburgh and is the author of Jesus' Physical Appearance: Biography, Christology, Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025). He teaches Theology & Philosophy at Haberdashers' Boys' School, writes and lectures on his substack Behind the Gospels and hosts conversations for Premier Unbelievable? SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE If you enjoy the podcast, please (pretty please!) consider supporting the show through the Time Travellers Club, our Patreon. We are an independent, listener-supported show (no ads!), so please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a monthly subscription. DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. Support the show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

    44 min
See All (218)

Hosts & Guests

About

Join Helen and Lloyd as they travel back in time (metaphorically… it’s a podcast) to explore the real history of the people, places and events of the Old Testament, New Testament and everything in between.

Information

  • Creator
    Helen Bond & Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    218
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Biblical Time Machine
  • Show Website
    Biblical Time Machine
  • Provider
    David Roos

You Might Also Like