Episode notes
This week in the Biblical Time Machine, Helen and Lloyd travel back in time to hear and read Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Helping them to uncover the language is world-leading Jesus historian, Bruce Chilton, the Bernard Iddings Bell Profesosr of Religion at Bard College, NY. Professor Chilton is the author of numerous books, including Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography and most recently, Aramaic Jesus: Tradition, Identity, and Christianity's Mother Tongue. On the show, he answers ...
Biblical Time Machine
by Helen Bond & Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones · English · History
Join Helen and Lloyd as they travel back in time (metaphorically… it’s a podcast) to explore the real history of the people, places and events of the Old Testament, New Testament and everything in between.
More from Biblical Time Machine
-
30 Mar 2026 · 41 min
Did Jesus go to Hell?
What happened to Jesus on Easter Saturday? The apostles creed claims that Jesus 'descended into hell', reflecting a wider Christian motif called the 'Harrowing of Hell.' To find out more about this belief, Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones asks our resident expert, Helen Bond, who is currently writing a book on the subject. They explore questions like: Is the 'Harrowing of Hell' alluded to in the gospels? When did Jesus go to hell and what was he doing there? How strong is the biblical foundatio...
-
16 Mar 2026 · 39 min
The Garden of Eden
We have all heard the story of Adam and Eve. But what was the Garden of Eden which they inhabited? In this week's episode, Helen and Lloyd travel back to the dawn of time with Dr Dylan Johnson as their guide to this mythical landscape. Together, they get to the bottom of questions like: Was the Garden of Eden meant to be a real place, or a symbolic vision of paradise?Is Genesis borrowing from older Mesopotamian stories about divine gardens? Was Adam imagined as a king placed in God’s gar...
-
9 Mar 2026 · 42 min
Child Sacrifice in Ancient Religion
We have all heard rumours that ancient religions used children in ritual sacrifice. But did it really happen? To discuss the evidence, Helen and Lloyd are joined in the Time Machine by Dr Eve MacDonald, lecturer at Cardiff University and author of the acclaimed, Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire (Penguin, 2025). Dr MacDonald answers questions like: Did human sacrifice really occur in the ancient world, and what does the archaeological evidence actually show?What happene...
-
23 Feb 2026 · 43 min
God and Israel – A Marriage in Crisis?
This week in the Biblical Time Machine, Prof Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones sits down with Dr Charlie Hadjiev to discuss Hosea, one of the most evocative, troubling and hopeful books of the Hebrew Bible. They cover questions like: When and where was Hosea written?How was adultery viewed in the ancient world? How can Paul Ricour’s hermeneutics shed light on the text? Does Hosea present God as an abusive husband? Dr Charlie Hadjievis a lecturer in biblical studies at St Padarn’s Inst...
-
S4 · 14 Feb 2026 · 33 min
Is Love in the (Biblical) Air?
Is love in the biblical air this Valentine's Day? To find out, Professors Helen Bond and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones take a trip back to the biblical world. They discuss... What is ‘love’ in the biblical imagination? Is there romantic love in the ancient world? Is Song of Songs a wedding Song? How are Heriodas and Antipas anticipated by Ahab and Jezebel? How have we misread David and Bathsheba’s relationship? Why is Paul ‘anti-marriage’? Does same-sex love show u...
-
9 Feb 2026 · 41 min
Roman Faith and Christian Faith
The early Christian world was awash with the language of 'belief' (pistis in Greek, fides in Latin). But what does it really mean to 'believe'? Today, we often use the word refer to an assent to a set of propositions: someone might believe that Jesus rose from the dead, or that he was born of a virgin. But is this what the language of belief meant to the early Christians, within the wider Roman world? To unpack the lexis of 'belief', Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with T...
-
S5 · E4 · 5 Oct 2026 · 36 min
The Bible's Golden Oldies
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 show Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Ti...
-
S5 · E3 · 28 Sep 2026 · 41 min
Alexander – The Man Behind the Bible
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,...
-
S5 · E2 · 21 Sep 2026 · 39 min
The Wisest Book in the Bible
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 To...
-
S5 · E1 · 14 Sep 2026 · 27 min
The Biblical Time Machine Returns – Season 5
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 episode...
