Footnote Famous

C.J. Cornthwaite
  • 4.8 (16)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Footnote Famous - Conversations with the world's top scholars of the Bible and Christian origins

  1. Jul 17

    1.22 - John Kloppenborg - Does Luke's Geography Expose His Methods

    WATCH VIDEO OF INTERVIEW Did the author of Luke's Gospel actually know the geography of first-century Palestine? In this interview, biblical scholar John Kloppenborg — my own PhD supervisor at the University of Toronto — breaks down the evidence that Luke's geography is full of errors, and explains what those mistakes reveal about Luke's sources. Kloppenborg identifies three levels of geographic knowledge in ancient texts: place names, relational knowledge (how places connect), and deep local knowledge. Using this framework, he shows that Luke has genuine local knowledge of sailing routes in the Aegean, only relational knowledge of the Levantine coast, and almost no accurate knowledge of the interior of Galilee and Judea — where Jesus's own ministry supposedly took place.We look at specific geographical mistakes in Luke's Gospel: Nazareth called a "polis" (city) when it was a village of a few hundred people, the feeding of the 5,000 near Bethsaida, and the confused travel narrative in Luke 9–19 where Jesus seems to be in two places at once. Kloppenborg argues this points to Luke using an ancient map — possibly a predecessor of the Tabula Peutingeriana — to reconstruct a journey through territory he had never visited. Tabula Peutingeriana Interactive Map 🔗PDF of John's Chapter - “Luke’s Geography: Knowledge, Ignorance, Sources, and Spatial Conception.” Skepe Community Patreon 📱 FOLLOW FOR MORE - YouTube: @cjcornthwaite - Instagram: @cjcornthwaite- Website: cjcornthwaite.com- Email: cjcornthwaite@proton.me

  2. Jul 3

    1.21 - Laura Nasrallah - Archaeology and the Letters of Paul

    In this interview, I sit down with biblical scholar Laura Nasrallah to discuss her book Archaeology and the Letters of Paul. We explore how archaeological evidence — from manumission inscriptions to ancient toilets — complicates our understanding of slavery, hospitality, grief, and ethnicity in Paul's world, while challenging popular misconceptions about "biblical archaeology." The conversation moves through:- Case studies on enslavement in Corinthians and Philemon- The burdens of ancient hospitality- Grief and loss in Corinth- Ethnic tension in Romans- The question of pseudepigraphy and Pauline authorshipLaura's Book (Affiliate link) To watch these interview live and engage with my online community on bible scholarship and early Christianity Consider joining my Community - https://www.cjcornthwaite.com/community FOLLOW FOR MORE- YouTube: @cjcornthwaite - Website: cjcornthwaite.com- Email: cjcornthwaite@proton.me

  3. Jun 19

    1.20 - Alan Garrow - The Didache Discoveries

    What if one of early Christianity's most mysterious documents has been hiding two completely different texts — side by side — for nearly 2,000 years? WATCH INTERVIEW LIVE HERE That's exactly what New Testament scholar Alan Garrow argues in his groundbreaking new book The Didache Discoveries. In this interview, we dig into his stunning findings: buried inside the Didache is what he believes is the actual Apostolic Decree — compiled by James the brother of Jesus and the twelve apostles around 48 CE — and a missing epistle of John referenced in 3 John 9.If Garrow is right, this changes how we read Paul's letters, the Synoptic Gospels, and the Gospel of John. It may even offer solutions to the notorious Synoptic Problem.In this conversation we cover:- What the Didache actually is and why scholars have puzzled over it for decades- How Garrow identified two separate hidden documents within it- The Apostolic Decree: what it says and how it functioned as early Christian Scripture- The Missing Epistle of John — and why its discovery matters for understanding Johannine theology- What this means for Paul, the Synoptic Problem, and the development of the New Testament Alan Garrow's WebsiteAlan's Book - The Didache Discoveries ⁠Get the book here━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Join My Community - SkepeRead My Substack Patreon FOLLOW FOR MORE - YouTube: @cjcornthwaite - Instagram: @cjcornthwaite- Website: cjcornthwaite.com

  4. Jun 5

    1.19 Dan McClellan - The Bible Says So

    Fake Bible Scholars Are Going Viral. Real Scholars Need to Step Up Child sacrifice, God's wife, & how Bible editors "fixed" them WATCH INTERVIEW HERE I sat down with Dan McClellan — one of the most followed actual biblical scholars online — to talk about how we got here, why it matters, and what real scholarship looks like when it finally shows up to the fight. We cover: → Why "biblical" is a political term, not a scholarly one→ How apologists learned to sound credentialed without being credentialed → Why real scholars abandoned the public square — and what it cost us→ The identity politics engine driving Bible misinformation → What it looks like when actual scholarship pushes back → Dan's new book "The Bible Says So" — and what it gets right that apologists get wrong Find Dan McClellan on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram Book: "The Bible Says So" (Affiliate Link) Podcast: Data Over Dogma

  5. May 22

    1.18 Teresa Morgan - Roman Faith and Christian Faith

    In this interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Professor Teresa Morgan (Oxford) about her landmark book Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (2015). ⁠WATCH INTERVIEW HERE⁠ We explore how the Greek word pistis and Latin fides — both rooted in the concept of trust — were used across the ancient Mediterranean world, and how early Christians gradually transformed this everyday language into the rich, complex concept of "faith" we have today. Topics range from Augustine's influential (but limiting) definition of faith, to Paul's "cascade of trust," to the Council of Nicaea's pivotal shift toward propositional belief. Enjoy! Dr. Morgan's books (affiliate links)📖 Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (Oxford University Press, 2015)📖 Trust in Atonement - God, Creation, an Reconciliation (Eerdmans, 2024

  6. May 8

    1.17 Hugo Méndez - The Gospel of John

    For John, Jesus divine. And makes his followers divineWhat does the Gospel of John actually claim about Jesus — and about everyone else? WATCH INTERVIEW HERE In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Hugo Mendez (UNC Chapel Hill) to talk about his new book The Gospel of John: A New History (Oxford University Press), and the result is one of the most genuinely surprising readings of John I've encountered.Most readers know John as the gospel that "makes Jesus divine." That's half the story. The other half — the one Mendez argues we've been missing for centuries — is that John's Jesus extends that same divinity to his followers. The logos becomes flesh, yes. But the logos also draws human beings into oneness with God, gives them the glory he had with the Father, and even tells them in John 10, "you are gods."We get into:- Why John is almost certainly the work of a single author (and where chapter 21 gives itself away as a later addition)- How John knew and creatively reworked Mark, Matthew, and Luke — the Lazarus story is a wild example- John's Philonic logos theology and why it isn't yet 4th-century Trinitarian thought- The deification of believers — what scholars have missed about John 10 and John 17- Mendez's argument that humans in John may also be angelified (John 1:51 and the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man)- Why Mendez calls John the first apocryphal gospel — and how it pioneered the eyewitness-claim playbook later used by Thomas, Mary, and the Protevangelium of James- The Beloved Disciple as a literary device, not John son of Zebedee- How the Johannine epistles and even Revelation may belong to a wider tradition of works imitating the Gospel of John. Dr. Mendez's books (affiliate links)📘 The Gospel of John: A New History (Oxford University Press, 2025) 📘 The Epistles of John: Origins, Authorship, Purpose (Cambridge University Press, 2026)

  7. Apr 17

    1.16 Bart Ehrman - Jesus' Revolutionary Teaching

    Bart Ehrman — one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and a self-described agnostic — makes a surprising argument: the West owes more to Jesus than it realizes. Not for salvation. Not for atonement. For something hiding in plain sight. ⁠Watch This Instead⁠ 📖 Love Thy Stranger by Bart Ehrman: (Affiliate Link)🎙️ Bart Ehrman's channel: In this conversation we explore Ehrman's new book Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West — and the historical case that Jesus invented something the ancient Greco-Roman world simply didn't have: the idea that you should care for strangers, enemies, and the poor not because it benefits you, but because they're human.We also uncover one of the most striking ironies in the history of religion: Jesus almost certainly got crucified for teaching that God forgives freely — no sacrifice required. His followers then turned his death into the very mechanism he was arguing against.In this conversation:- Why C.S. Lewis's universal morality argument doesn't hold up- What the Greco-Roman world actually believed about the poor- How Jesus radicalized Jewish ethics through apocalypticism- Why Jesus taught forgiveness — and Paul taught atonement- How Basil of Caesarea institutionalized altruism into hospitals and orphanages- Why an atheist scholar is saying thank you to Jesus

  8. Apr 3

    1.15 Markus Vinzent - Was a Resurrection a Fringe Early Christian Belief?

    What if the resurrection wasn't the foundation of early Christianity — and most early Christians never even heard of it? Watch This Instead! That's exactly what New Testament scholar and historian Professor Marcus Vinzent argues in his groundbreaking research on Christ's resurrection in early Christianity. And in this conversation, he changed my mind. In this interview, Professor Vinzent walks through the stunning evidence that resurrection belief was not a universal early Christian belief — but a Pauline belief that slowly spread through the Christian movement and eventually became central to the faith we know today.We discuss: - Why major early Christian texts like the Didache and Shepherd of Hermas never mention the resurrection - How Marcion of Sinope may have introduced Paul's letters — and resurrection belief — into mainstream Christianity - Why the canonical gospels may have been written later than scholars assume - How theology shaped the resurrection stories, not the other way around - What "docetism" actually reveals about early Christian controversy If you've ever wondered where the resurrection story came from, why the gospel accounts contradict each other, or what early Christians actually believed — this conversation is for you. More From Markus Vinzent Get the book! Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity (affiliate link) Follow Markus & Team on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Patristica Markus' Academia Page

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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Footnote Famous - Conversations with the world's top scholars of the Bible and Christian origins

Information

  • Creator
    C.J. Cornthwaite
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © C.J. Cornthwaite
  • Show Website
    Footnote Famous

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