The Bible's Golden Oldies

Luke is often presented as one of the most pro-women writers in the New Testament. But is that really the case? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Julia Mayo, whose recent work has complicated this view. They discuss the hidden meanings of female names, how Luke characterises women, and how they are often confined to the domestic space. Julia Mayo earned her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2024. Her thesis was entitled, ‘The Women of Acts: The Ancient Characterization of Tabitha, Lydia, Sapphira, and Priscilla’, and her research interests include the Book of Acts, gender studies and New Testament rhetorical criticism. She has also published on a postcolonial reading of Acts 16:6-18 in Horizons of Biblical Theology. Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

The Amorites were once an age-defining people, but today they have been largely forgotten. So who were the Amorites, and how does Bible portray them? To take us back to the early Bronze era and the rise of the Amorite age, Helen and Lloyd are joined by the well-fared Time Traveller, Dr Dylan Johnson. Dr Dylan R. Johnson is a Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern History at Cardiff University and an expert on all things Mesopotamian. He is the author of Sovereign Authority and the Elaboration of Law in the Bible and the Ancient Near East (2020, Mohr Siebeck) and is writing Lawgiving in the Ancient Near East for Cambridge University Press. Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

As All Hallows' Eve fast approaches, Helen and Lloyd turn their attention to the spookiest episode in the gospel tradition – a story in which the dead are raised and enter Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52-53). The little episode has vexed scholars for centuries and raises many questions: what happened to the saints in between the crucifixion and resurrection? Who were these ‘holy ones’ who went into the city? And how do they fit into Matthew’s narrative as a whole? To find out what this episode really means, Helen and Lloyd are joined by Dr Nathanael Vette, who has a spooky new theory about the 'resurrected saints', and why Matthew includes them in his gospel. In his forthcoming article, 'Noon of the Living Dead' (CBQ), Nathanael proposes that Matthew's saints should be seen against the backdrop of the 'shades of the dead', a Roman omen that preceded several national calamities, including the brutal murder of Julius Caesar. Dr Nathanael Vette is Lecturer in New Testament, Gender and the Arts at King's College, London. He is the author of Writing with Scripture: Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022) and co-editor of A Theology of Gratitude: Christian and Muslim Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

For many contemporary readers of the Bible, C.S. Lewis is looked to as an inspiration and authority. The 20th century Oxbridge don, Christian essayist and author of The Chronicles of Narnia wove the Bible into all of his works. But was Lewis a good reader of the Bible? How did Lewis respond to the challenges of New Testament scholarship? And in what ways did Lewis put the Bible to use in his legendary chronicles? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with New Testament Professor, Leslie Baynes, whose recent book, Between Interpretation and Imagination: C.S. Lewis and the Bible (Eerdmans, 2025) is the first full-length treatment of how C.S. Lewis engaged the Bible. Leslie Baynes is Professor of Religious Studies at Missouri State University and a translator for the Catholic American Bible (CAB, 2027). She earned her PhD at the University of Notre Dame and is the author of The Heavenly Book Motif in Judeo-Christian Apocalypses 200 BCE – 200 CE (Brill, 2012), among many other contributions to New Testament studies.  Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

'O Assyria, the rod of my anger!' So declared the prophet Isaiah of one of the most feared and imposing empires of the ancient world. But who were the Assyrians, and how did they become the world's first empire? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Professor Eckart Frahm of Yale University, the author of Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire (2023, YUP). From warfare and imperial ambition to religion and everyday life, they discover together what made Assyria such a formidable civilisation, and how its history sheds new light on the world of the Hebrew Bible.Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

1st October marks the UN's International Day of Older Persons. So this week, Helen and Lloyd took a trip in the Time Machine to visit the Bible's 'Golden Oldies' –  some of its oldest, wisest and most memorable characters. They consider what the Bible has to say about growing old, unpack theological readings of old age, and raise the age-old question: how old was Jesus when he began his mission? Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

It is impossible to study the Bible without crashing into the word 'Hellenism', the spread of Greek culture across the ancient world by Alexander (the Great). But who was Alexander, and what do his successors have to do with the Bible? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Stephen Harrison, an expert on Alexander the Great. Dr Stephen Harrison is Senior Lecturer in Classics at Swansea University, and a historian of ancient Greece and the ancient Near East, focusing on the sixth to the second centuries BCE, the era of the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kingdoms. He is the author of Achaemenid Kingship, Alexander the Great, and the Early Seleucids (EUP, 2025) as well as a popular life of Alexander, Alexander the Great: Lives and Legacies (Reaktion Books 2025). Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

If there is any biblical book which has something to say about wisdom, it is the Book of Proverbs. But what actually is Proverbs? Who wrote it? And what is its message about what a good life looks like? To get to the bottom of Proverbs, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Ryan O'Dowd.Ryan O'Dowd is Senior Academic Advisor at Chesterton House, Cornell University. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from the University of Liverpool and his many books include The Wisdom of Torah: Epistemology in Deuteronomy and the Wisdom Literature, a commentary on Proverbs, a co-authored volume, Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction, and The Preacher's Hebrew Companion to Deuteronomy. Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

Your favourite time travelling podcast is back – for its fifth season!  Join biblical scholar Helen Bond and ancient historian Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones in the Biblical Time Machine as they travel back in time (not very far... to the summer!) and forward for all that lies ahead in Season 5. Lloyd gives us some hints about what's in store with his upcoming book on the Hittites, and Helen discusses her work on Mary, the mother of Jesus. If you would like to access our bonus episodes and get the chance to be a backstage guest, consider joining our Time Traveller's Club at patreon.com/biblicaltimemachine for just $5 a month (think of it as $1.25 per episode!)Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson. 

Helen and Lloyd have been on many adventures in the Biblical Time Machine this academic year. Season 4 has taken them across the ancient world – from the great Empires of Babylon and Persia to the early Church and beyond. They’ve explored what daily life was really like in biblical times, and waded into some of the biggest debates in cutting-edge scholarship with the help of leading academics. In this special episode, Helen and Lloyd look back on the highlights of the season, revisit some of their favourite conversations – and give a sneak-peak into Season 5! As we take a summer break and prepare for the next season, listen back and share with us your favourite moments from our conversations this year! Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 + 5 produced by John Nelson.