Demons and ghosts have specific, sometimes ambiguous, places in the modern imagination - demons tempt people to wickedness, but their incredible power can be harnessed by someone brave (or stupid) enough to bargain with them. Ghosts envy the living and can haunt and harm you, but can also be the comforting presence of a long-dead loved one. What role, though, did demons and ghosts take in early Christianity, and are those roles linked at all to our modern understandings of them? When you get right down to it, just who is Satan, and is God's adversary really a fallen angel? Dr. Travis Proctor joins me today to talk about all of this, and so much more!

With Easter fast approaching, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are on the minds of many Christians. While it has been a lynch-pin in Christian theology since the formation of the religion, Christians - both early and modern - disagree on how it happened, why it happened, and the implications it has for human life after death. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman elucidates us all on early debates around the resurrection, why these debates happened, and what pagan authors thought about the whole thing.

Unless you have sworn off social media, you’re probably familiar with the existence of “tradwives” - women who live their lives according to traditional, conservative gender roles. They often describe themselves as living biblically, or having a biblical marriage, celebrating that they are subservient to their husbands. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman provides insight into what the New Testament actually says about gender roles and marriage. Is this style of patriarchal living actually biblical, and how would women at the time have been expected to live?

It’s not every day that you get to talk about an exciting new discovery in biblical studies - the ravages of time mean that it’s rare for a text to survive, especially a complete text! Even rarer is a complete text that records an entire sermon given by Jesus. Well, I’m excited to say that today is one of those days! Dr. Bart Ehrman is with me to talk about his take on a fascinating new text discovered recently in Egypt!

If you ask any Christian about the life of Jesus, you’re likely to get a version of one of the gospels of the New Testament - 90% of the story would concern the final few years of Jesus’ life, with a brief mention of his birth in Bethlehem to a virgin and the subsequent flight to Egypt. Historians don’t often talk about what Jesus’ childhood and adolescence may have looked like, but my guest today is a welcome exception to that rule! Dr. Joan Taylor joins me to talk about her new book, “Boy Jesus: Growing Up Judean in Turbulent Times”.

Early Christian writings from outside the New Testament contain some pretty unexpected material - a giant walking, talking cross and Jesus’ childhood pastime of bringing clay birds to life are both examples that we’ve discussed before. But do these additional documents also contain authentic sayings of Jesus that are overlooked by Christians because they’re not contained within the New Testament?

Picture this: a man in his 80s trying to cross the street, but the traffic doesn’t pause for long enough for him to cross. A young woman notices his difficulty, and runs over to help. Does the young woman get any kind of benefit from her action, or is it entirely thankless? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman and I are talking about altruism. Is it possible to do a good deed without experiencing some kind of benefit?

The apostle Paul went from being a devout Jew, one of God’s chosen people, to an enthusiastic missionary for the Jesus movement. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman and I look at Paul’s writings to consider whether this shift also changed his self-identification as a Jew, and if he believed that God no longer favored the Jewish people.