Biblical World

Episode: In this episode, Kyle chats with Libby Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott about bringing archaeology and theology into conversation—the topic of their recent book, Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that formed Ancient Israel. The conversation starts with the ancient Israelite household (and how it was essential to ancient thinking and theology), stays with the household (and related areas of ancient Israelite life and theology), and ends with the household (and, again, how it was essential to ancient thinking).

Guests: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (Ph.D. Sheffield) is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor University. Her field archaeology experience includes excavations at Tel Halif and Tel Abel Beth Maacah in Israel. She's the author and editor of several books, including Food in Ancient Israel (Sheffield, 2013), The 5 Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant (edited, Sheffield, 2016), and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Libby Backfish) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

Libby Backfish (Ph.D. TIU) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Jessup University. She's the author of several articles and books, including Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter (Bloomsbury, 2019) and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

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Episode: The Gospel of John is often ignored by those interested in archaeology and history. However, John includes more historically verified detail (both archaeologically and topographically) than the other gospels combined. Listen in as Anderson discusses why we need to pay attention to John as a historical source. 

Guest: Paul N. Anderson is Professor of Biblical and Quaker studies at George Fox University. He's the editor of four volumes on John, Jesus, and History, and has written his own book on the subject (The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus). He's written a contextual intro to the NT (From Crisis to Christ) and has written over 400 essays in New Testament and Quaker studies. The book under discussion today is from his latest edited volume, Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John: What Recent Discoveries Show Us (Eerdmans, 2026).

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Episode: In this episode, James K. Hoffmeier discusses his new book — Israel In and Out of Egypt — an update of his previous books on the subject in light of the latest Egyptological discoveries, as well as the latest developments in Biblical scholarship in relation to the evidence for or against some form of a historical exodus.

Co-hosts: Mark Janzen, Chris McKinny, Oliver Hersey

Guest: James K. Hoffmeier is an Egyptologist and emeritus professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He taught Old Testament and Hebrew for 40+ years. For the last 20 years he has focused on Hebrew exegesis in the prophetic books.

He engaged in archaeological work in Sinai and at the Karnak Temple Complex in Egypt, and presently is part of a team investigating the Cushite cemetery at Nuri, Sudan.

Hoffmeier's published works include The Archaeology of the Bible and the book we're discussing in this episode, Israel In and Out of Egypt: The Archaeological and Historical Background to the Exodus (Hendrickson).  Plus, he's consulted for and appeared in a number of TV programs on Egypt and the Bible for the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, and National Geographic. (adapted from the BAR site).

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Episode: In this episode, Chris McKinny interviews Jason Borges about his latest book — Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City — a unique guide to the foreign sites, sounds, and structures that defined the Biblical World of the emerging early Church.

Guest: Dr. Jason Borges (Ph.D. Durham University) is the Associate Director of the Asia Minor Research Centre in Antalya, Türkiye. He lived in Avanos, Cappadocia 2017–2021, but now lives in Antalya, Turkey and works at the Asia Minor Research Center, doing research and teaching on Christian History. He has published two books—Travel among Early Christians (Brill, 2025) and Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City (Baker, 2026).

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Episode: We're back with the second (of 2) episodes on the best archaeological finds of 2025. They're so significant, we're still talking about them in April 2026. In this episode, hear about Lamassu, Apkallu, and cuneiform, oh my!

Legends of the Lost Ark: To learn more about Chris’ new movie and to find how to buy tickets … https://www.legendsofthelostark.com/

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

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Episode: Back by popular demand is our Best Archaeological Finds series, and this one for 2025 (we’re well into 2026, we know, but if you listen, it'll all make sense!). Enjoy this first of our series on these 2025 finds, where we discuss some really cool discoveries!

Legends of the Lost Ark: To learn more about Chris' new movie and to find how to buy tickets ... https://www.legendsofthelostark.com/

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

Give: Visit our Donate Page if you want to help Biblical World and OnScript continue by becoming a regular donor.

Image Attribution: Santorini Island, Greece By NASA - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02673Transferred from English Wikipedia ;, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=188759

Episode: It's go time for Amy's favorite tablet, tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh!! It's flood time, or at least, it's time to learn about the great flood, caused by Enlil. This episode will cover the events related to the great flood, as reported by Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh seeks immortality, but ultimately, learns about his human limitations and the need for a good nap. 

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Amy Balogh

Resources: We've been reading from the Penguin Classic edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

Image Attribution: 7th century version of the 11th Tablet. Wikimedia Commons, accessed 1/21/2026 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tablet_XI_or_the_Flood_Tablet_of_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh,_currently_housed_in_the_British_Museum_in_London.jpg

Episode: Jason Staples and Stephen Carlson try to ruin your Nativity! Jason discusses Stephen's essay "The Accommodations of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem: Κατάλυμα in Luke 2:7." They also discuss when and how Mary and Joseph get married, the census in Luke 2:2, and ... (wait for it) ... the Spanish Inquisition. 

Guest: Dr. Stephen Carlson is Associate Professor in the Biblical and Early Christian Studies program at the Australian Catholic University. He's the author of three books, The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith's Invention of Secret Mark (Baylor, 2007), which debunked the "Secret Gospel of Mark"; The Text of Galatians and its History (Mohr Siebeck, 2014), which applied state-of-the-art computer phylogenetic software he wrote himself to produce a family tree of ninety-two manuscripts and witnesses of Galatians; and Papias of Hierapolis' Exposition of Dominical Oracles (Oxford, 2021), the most complete edition of the fragments of Papias of Hierapolis, a second-century Christian commentator. He is also the author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, including his article on the so-called "inn" in Luke's infancy account (under discussion in this episode) and essays on the donkeys in Matthew's triumphal entry:

Stephen C. Carlson, “‘The Jenny and the Colt’ in Matthew’s Messianic Entry, Part 1: Matthew 21:5 as a Reading of Zechariah 9:9 in Light of Mark 11:1-10,” in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, volume 81, number 1 (January 2019), pages 62-84 (link).

Stephen C. Carlson, “‘The Jenny and the Colt’ in Matthew’s Messianic Entry, Part 2: Matthew 21:7 as a Reading of Mark 11:7 in Light of Zechariah 9:9,” in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, volume 81, number 2 (April 2019), pages 235-251 (link).

HERE is a link to the article "Luke 2:2 and the Census."

 

Episode: In this episode, Kyle sits down for a chat with David deSilva about his two new volumes, Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide and Archaeology and the World of Jesus: A Visual Guide (Baker Academic, 2025). The two chat about the importance of material culture for understanding the New Testament, discerning between good church traditions and "other" church traditions, and whether or not it is important to get one's historical details right as a part of one's theology. Kyle also recounts his unique baptism experience, and David gushes about the Via Dolorosa. 

Guest: David DeSilva is is Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary, and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church. He is the author of over 35 books, including Day of Atonement: A Novel of the Maccabean Revolt (Kregel, 2015), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (Oxford, 2012), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (InterVarsity, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (InterVarsity, 2000), A Week in the Life of Ephesus (IVP Academic, 2020), and the two books in this interview here, Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide and Archaeology and the World of Jesus: A Visual Guide (Baker Academic, 2025). He was involved in several major Bible translation projects, serving as the Apocrypha Editor for the Common English Bible and working on the revision of the Apocrypha for the English Standard Version. (Adapted from the ATS website).

 

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Episode: Mary Buck continues her study of the Second Temple period by focusing on the Persian Period, and especially, the Achaemenid Empire. Learn about this incredibly powerful yet lesser-known period of history, and figures like Cyrus, Darius, and others who shaped biblical history.

Host: Learn about Mary Buck HERE.

Image Attribution: Map, By Cattette - CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113179532; Cyrus the Great's Tomb - By Bernd81 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63225153

Previous Episodes. This is our third installment in our Second Temple series hosted by Mary Buck. Listen to previous episodes on the Assyrian Period and the Babylonian Period.

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