Mythologizing the Bible

A Humanistic look at religious texts
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Mythologizing the Bible (MTB) explores the Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.” Each week, we dive into three Bible readings, analyzing these ancient texts to uncover any helpful lessons that don't require belief in the supernatural. Whether you identify as a Christian, a non-believer, or somewhere in between, MTB offers fresh insights and new ways of thinking about stories you may already know well. www.thecodaproject.com

  1. 4h ago

    The Danger of Knowing You’re Right

    Seeking means looking beyond what we already know by paying attention, questioning inherited answers, and staying curious enough to ask, “What am I missing?” Have you ever wondered how much of what you believe is actually true and how much simply feels true because you’ve believed it for so long? We inherit assumptions from our families, religions, cultures, political tribes, and communities, and then naturally gravitate toward information that confirms those assumptions. But genuine seeking asks something much harder of us: What if we’re willing to look beyond what we think we already know, question the answers we’ve inherited, and remain curious enough to discover that we might be wrong? As we reflect on the readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we’ll explore how seeking begins by paying attention, challenges us to question inherited answers, and grows through genuine dialogue with other people. In this episode, we’re asking a deceptively simple question: How willing are we to discover what we don’t already know? Together we’ll explore why seeking requires us to look beyond our own assumptions, why changing our minds can be a sign of intellectual strength rather than weakness, and why some of our most important discoveries happen when we listen to perspectives different from our own! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  2. 6d ago

    True Heroes Live to Fight Another Day

    Honor may require sacrifice, but suffering isn’t automatically virtuous. True honor protects life, strengthens others, and gives us something worth living for. Religious martyrs die for their faith. Soldiers die for their country. Activists die for their cause. We tell their stories because extraordinary sacrifice can reveal extraordinary courage. But somewhere along the way, we’ve blurred an important distinction: sacrificing yourself to accomplish something worthwhile isn’t the same as believing the sacrifice itself makes you honorable. Nature gives us a fascinating way to think about the difference. Cooperation and even self-sacrificing behavior existed long before humans invented religions, nations, or political ideologies. Evolution taught social animals (including us) that sometimes accepting a personal cost helps everyone survive. But humans learned to transform that cooperative instinct into something much stranger: suffering for abstract ideas, promised rewards in another world, or simply to prove how deeply committed we are. So how do we separate honorable sacrifice from the glorification of suffering? Honor may require sacrifice. It should never worship sacrifice. So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  3. Aug 28

    What Is Your Honor Worth?

    Honor means living by values we’ve consciously chosen, especially when they cost us comfort, approval, or belonging. But first, we must know what we value. Have you ever stopped to ask where your values actually came from? We talk about having integrity, standing by our principles, and staying true to ourselves… but true to what? If we’ve never consciously examined what we believe or decided which values genuinely deserve our loyalty, how can we know whether we’re living with honor or simply following the expectations we inherited from everyone around us? As we reflect on the readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we’ll explore how honor asks us to hold firm under pressure, choose conviction over conformity, and recognize that living according to our values will sometimes cost us something. In this episode, we’re asking a fundamental question: What does it actually mean to live with honor? Together we’ll discover why honor isn’t stubbornly refusing to change our minds, why belonging shouldn’t do our thinking for us, and why our values aren’t really tested until following them becomes inconvenient. But before we can defend our principles, there’s an even more basic challenge: we need to consciously decide which principles deserve our loyalty in the first place! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  4. Aug 22

    The Resilience Myth

    Resilience helps us recover from adversity. But when broken systems depend on our endless endurance, maybe it's the system, not the person, that needs fixing. We’re constantly being told to become more resilient. Burned out at work? Build resilience. Struggling financially? Become more adaptable. Your community gets hammered by another crisis? Look how resilient everyone is! And resilience really is valuable. We need the ability to recover from grief, failure, uncertainty, and all the adversity that life inevitably throws our way. But somewhere along the line, we turned a healthy capacity to recover into an expectation that people should simply keep absorbing damage. Let’s call this the Resilience Myth: when systemic failures get redefined as personal deficiencies, and instead of fixing the conditions that are hurting people, we teach people how to endure them more efficiently. Sometimes resilience really does mean bouncing back. But sometimes it means refusing to keep bouncing off the same damn wall. How do we know the difference? And what would happen if we stopped trying to make people unbreakable and started building systems that didn’t keep breaking them in the first place? So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  5. Aug 21

    The Myth of Standing Alone

    Resilience isn’t about handling everything alone. It grows through strong foundations, flexible thinking, and relationships we can depend on. Have you ever noticed how often we confuse resilience with toughness? We admire the person who handles everything alone, never asks for help, and somehow keeps going no matter how hard life gets. But what if that isn’t resilience at all? What if our ability to recover depends less on becoming unbreakable and more on building strong foundations, learning when to bend, and creating relationships sturdy enough to hold us when our own strength isn’t enough? As we reflect on the readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we’ll explore how genuine resilience grows from dependable foundations, intellectual flexibility, and the human solidarity that allows us to support one another through adversity. In this episode, we’re asking a challenging question: What exactly is resilience and is it something we can build? Together we’ll discover why resilience doesn’t mean having all the answers, why needing other people isn’t a failure of independence, and why the strongest communities aren’t filled with people who never need help, but with people willing to both give and receive it. And before we’re finished, I’ll leave you with one simple question that may challenge the way you think about strength itself. CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  6. Aug 19 ·  Bonus

    The Stewardship of Attention

    Your attention is your most valuable asset. Discover why mindfulness is the radical practice of choosing what truly deserves your focus. Every generation has to decide what deserves its attention. Today, that choice is becoming increasingly difficult because our attention has become one of the world’s most valuable commodities. In this episode, we’re exploring why mindfulness isn’t just about reducing stress or finding inner peace, it’s about reclaiming ownership of your own mind. We’ll look at how the modern attention economy shapes what we think, what we value, and even who we become, and why protecting your attention may be one of the most important acts of personal and civic responsibility in this digital age. French philosopher Simone Weil said that, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” That’s a beautiful thought, but it also raises an uncomfortable question. If attention really is one of the greatest gifts we can give another human being, why do we spend so much of our attention on notifications, endless scrolling, algorithmically curated outrage, and companies whose business model depends on keeping us distracted? Somewhere along the way, our attention stopped being something we intentionally offered and became something that was quietly harvested. Maybe that’s because we’ve been thinking about mindfulness all wrong. We’ve turned it into breathing exercises, meditation apps, and a way to relax after another stressful day. But what if mindfulness is something far more radical? What if it’s the daily practice of deciding who and what deserves the focus of your thoughts? And what if that simple decision ultimately shapes the kind of person—and the kind of society—we become? So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  7. Aug 14

    The Discipline of Paying Attention

    Mindfulness isn’t escaping reality, it’s noticing what matters. Attention, humility, and presence can transform the way you live! Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to truly pay attention? We live in a world that constantly competes for our focus, rewarding quick reactions, instant opinions, and endless distractions. We often think of mindfulness as a way to relax or reduce stress, but what if it’s something much more demanding? What if mindfulness is the discipline of noticing what we’ve stopped seeing: our own blind spots, the quiet injustices around us, and the humanity of people we’ve filtered out through habit, ideology, or just indifference? I’m Brandon Jubar and this is Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.” As we reflect on the readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we’ll explore how genuine mindfulness grows by paying attention to what truly matters: practicing justice, cultivating humility, and becoming fully present to the people right in front of us. In this episode, we’re asking a deceptively simple question: What does it really mean to be mindful? Together, we’ll discover why mindfulness is far more than inner peace, why humility begins with recognizing our own limitations, and why the greatest act of generosity may simply be giving another human being our complete attention. And before we’re finished, I’ll leave you with one question that may change the way you notice the world—and the people in it. CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

  8. Aug 12 ·  Bonus

    Who Invented Your Inner Voice?

    What if your inner voice wasn’t always part of being human? Let’s explore self-awareness, consciousness, and why protecting your mind matters today. Have human beings always been self-aware? I don’t mean, “Have people always been intelligent?” I mean something much more specific. Have we always had that quiet voice inside our heads that reflects, argues with itself, imagines possibilities, and asks, “Is this really what I believe?” We usually assume the answer is “yes, of course.” It feels so natural that it’s hard to imagine any other way of experiencing the world. But what if that inner voice isn’t simply part of human biology? What if it’s a cultural achievement that developed over thousands of years—and one that’s now under attack by social media, political tribalism, and an economy built on capturing our attention? In this episode, we’re going to explore what many believe is one of the most provocative theories in modern psychology, examine what it might reveal about the Bible, and consider why protecting our inner life may be one of the most important challenges of the twenty-first century. So, let’s dive into that... in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe

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Mythologizing the Bible (MTB) explores the Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.” Each week, we dive into three Bible readings, analyzing these ancient texts to uncover any helpful lessons that don't require belief in the supernatural. Whether you identify as a Christian, a non-believer, or somewhere in between, MTB offers fresh insights and new ways of thinking about stories you may already know well. www.thecodaproject.com

Information

  • Creator
    A Humanistic look at religious texts
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    195
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Brandon Jubar
  • Show Website
    Mythologizing the Bible