Bible and Archaeology

Why do historical Jesus scholars skip the Gospel of John? This week, Dr. Paul Anderson joins the podcast to explore why John has often been dismissed as "too theological," what archaeology and topographical details reveal about the Gospel, and whether John preserves independent historical traditions alongside its theology. Can historians afford to ignore John, or is it time to rethink our approach to this text?

📚 Reading Recommendations
Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John: What Recent Discoveries Show Us Edited by Paul N. Anderson

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Paul Anderson
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

Why does Jesus repeatedly tell people not to reveal who he is in Mark? For over a century scholars have explained this through the “Messianic Secret.” But what if we’re missing a key piece?
This week Robyn Walsh joins the podcast to place Mark in the context of Greco-Roman literature. Comparing Mark to Homer’s Odyssey and other ancient texts, she argues Jesus’ hidden identity may reflect familiar literary conventions rather than something unique to Mark.
👉 We discuss:
–What the Messianic Secret is
–Why it shaped New Testament scholarship
–How Homer and Greco-Roman authors help us understand Mark

📚 Reading Recommendations
“The Miracle-Mongers: The Gospels at the Edges of Empire,” Judaica: Neue digitale Folge, special issue Nature Miracles and Paradoxography in Biblical Reception of the First Centuries CE, ed. Monika Amsler, Bd. 7 (2026): 1–20.
“City and Country,” The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus, eds. James G. Crossley and Chris Keith (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2024), 324–342.
“IVDAEA DEVICTA: The Gospels as Imperial ‘Captive Literature,’” Class Struggle in the New Testament, ed. Robert Myles (London: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, January 2019), 89–114.
William Wrede, The Messianic Secret, trans. J. C. G. Greig
William Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien: zugleich ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Markusevangeliums
Teresa Morgan, Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds
Dennis R. MacDonald, The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark
Marianne Palmer Bonz, The Past as Legacy

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Robyn Walsh
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

How did the New Testament become the New Testament? This week, we are exploring the long process of canon formation with Ian Mills. From the myth of a single moment at Nicaea, the impact of authority, popularity, councils, and empire, to the role of figures like Marcion and Jerome, we'll unpack the gradual standardization that shaped the New Testament canon (or as much as we can).

📚 Reading Recommendations
The Hypothesis of the Gospels: Narrative Traditions in Hellenistic Reading Culture by Ian N. Mills

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Ian Mills
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

After the death of Alexander the Great, a new imperial power emerged across Western and Central Asia: the Seleucid Empire. But how did it actually hold such a vast territory together, and how much of its “history” was carefully constructed after the fact?
This week, we explore how Seleucid rulers shaped memory, built cities, minted propaganda on coins, and even influenced dating systems to legitimize their rule with Ben Abbott. Were they inheriting empire, or inventing it as they went?

📚 Reading Recommendations
Forging the Anchor: Antiochus I and the Creation of the Seleucid Empire by Benjamin Abbott

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Guest: Dr. Benjamin Abbott
Hosted and edited by Dr. Jordan Jones
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.

In 2 Kings 3, Israel appears to lose a battle after the king of Moab performs a child sacrifice on the city wall. Why would the Hebrew Bible preserve a story where a foreign god seems to defeat Israel’s armies?
This week, Jordan and Mary Kate break down the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone), ancient warfare, divine conflict, prophecy, propaganda, and the strange ending of one of the Bible’s most debated battle stories.

📚 Reading Recommendations
King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice: Biblical Distortions of Historical Realities by Francesca Stavrakopoulou
"Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings" by Thomas Römer
North Israelite Memories of the Transjordan and the Mesha Inscription by Prof.Israel Finkelstein and Prof.Thomas Römer

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✉️ Send us your questions: bible-archaeology@uiowa.edu
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🎙️ Credits
Ft. Mary Kate Lichty and Dr. Jordan Jones
Edited by Mary Kate Lichty
Bible & Archaeology is a University of Iowa Office of Innovation production. The views and opinions expressed on Bible & Archaeology belong solely to the individuals who share them. They do not represent the positions of the University of Iowa or the State of Iowa.