Data Over Dogma

60:06

Jezebel!

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/08/11

Ooooh MAMA! For a story that's thousands of years old, we sure do hear a lot about Jezebel. Or do we? Pastors and Christian influencers like Mark Driscoll and Charlie Kirk love to invoke the idea of "Jezebel spirit" whenever they don't like what a woman is doing. But is their portrait of the character of Jezebel honest, or are they just looking for a bludgeon to beat up women?Then, we're looking at two groups that get mentioned a lot in the New Testament. Who are the Pharisees and Sadducees

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74:14

At-One-Ment

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/08/04

Atonement! It's one of the central ideas of Christianity, and is absolutely essential to Christian theology... so what is it? You might be surprised to know that throughout Christian history, atonement has meant many very different things. On this week's show, we'll discuss the twists and turns this idea has taken, as influential thinkers have grappled with the idea of the atonement of Jesus. Then, it's time to get lost in translation! Very few of us have put in the effort to actually learn to

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65:25

Sister Wives

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/07/28

It's a lie! This week we're looking at a very odd falsehood in the Bible. And the really weird part is that it's told multiple times, by multiple important biblical people, including the grand-daddy of the biblical lineage himself, Abraham. Then, we'll look an interesting little bit of home decor from biblical times. Teraphim seem to be little humanoid icons that folks kept around the house, but what was the purpose of them? Were they small? Big? Both? Were they decorative art pieces, or

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67:31

Save Me!

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/07/21

What does it mean to be "saved" in that uniquely Christian sense? It makes sense, if you're going to talk about a savior, that you would have people that that savior is saving. But where does this idea come from, and to whom does it apply. Heaven knows, even various Christian sects can't agree on this, but as is our wont here on the Data Over Dogma show, we're going to dig in to the topic, and make a big mess.Then, we dive face-first into Isaiah 6, which is one of those prophecies that reads

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61:30

Problematic Prophecy

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/07/14

Have all of the prophecies about Jesus' death and resurrection already happened? Did the apocalypse come and go, and now we're just coasting? Here's the thing about prophecies: the good ones are never specific enough! Sure, every now and then someone will come along and give exact dates and times for when some apocalyptic event is going to happen, but those guys are inevitably just proven wrong. Then there are the other prophets. The biblical ones. They use heavy metaphors, preferring to

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58:44

Tucker Vs Ted: The Israel Throwdown

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/07/07

Forget the fourth of July- if you want real fireworks, you gotta check out the incendiary interview between Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz. It was... a lot. But when two insufferable gasbags collide that hard, you're going to get a gas giant explosion. Just be glad you couldn't smell it.One of the points of contention had to do with Israel, and Cruz's insistence that the Bible commanded him (and all believers) to take care of it. Ol' Ted might not have known what the exact scripture was, but he was

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64:12

Is Allie Beth Stuckey a Sheep or a Goat?

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/06/30

Ooooh! Dan McClellan has a bee in his bonnet, and her name is Allie Beth Stuckey! This week we're looking at the parable of the sheep and the goats. In it, sheep are good, and goats are bad, and the Lord has some sorting to do. How do you get to be a sheep? Feed, house, clothe, and generally take care of your brothers and sisters. But that presents a problem for Allie Beth: who are her brothers and sisters? Well, let's just say that Ms Stuckey and Dr McClellan do not agree on the best way to

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69:30

Ethnicity and the Bible

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/06/23

What's your ethnicity? Who else is included in that group, and why do you draw those boundaries where you do? Well, this week we're bringing in hired-gun Bible expert Dr Aaron Higashi to walk us through the rich and sometimes confusing concept of ethnicity, and some of the surprising ways ethnic heritage plays out in the Bible (the Israelites ARE Canaanites? Whaaaaa???!) .Then, we're going to delve into Biblical law. There's a lot of debate about which laws of the Bible apply to modern

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65:41

Did the Bible Steal its Stories?

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/06/16

Were the authors of the Bible just writing firsthand accounts of events that actually happened? That's a pretty tough case to make. As a matter of fact, we have very good reason to believe that many of the stories of the bible have shared roots with many other stories/myths of ancient southwest Asia and northern Africa. This week, we'll look at many of those stories, and discuss their parallels and origins from around the region. We'll discuss what evidence scholars use to come to these

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65:58

Pride Month vs. the Bible!

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/06/09

Welp it's June, and that means LGBTQIA+ Pride month! At least that's what it means for many. For a minority of people, June is national grumpy homophobe month.One thing about the grumpy set is that they really love to use the Bible to shore up their dogmatic belief that gay folks (and trans and bi and all the other acronym-represented people) are going against God. So let's talk about it. Our first segment is about pride itself. The word, that is. Is the rainbow community committing the worst

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68:37

Bibliomancy! The Biblical Dance with the Devil?

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/06/02

For episode 116, we're venturing into the spooky world of divination! Many a Christian pastor has railed against this practice, but what if the medium used for divining isn't a rod or a stick, but THE BIBLE ITSELF!? Does that take the curse off it? Make it worse? Will it work to provide other-worldly guidance in your life? Is it forbidden? We... well, we might answer some of these questions... But first, we take issue with one Mr Charlie Kirk. Ol' Chuck was pretty pleased with himself when he

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53:44

Episode 112: Wash Your Own Feet!

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/05/26

This week we're getting all apocryphal, and diving headlong into Maccabees. Specifically, we're discussing the story of a mother and her sons in 2 Maccabees, chapter 7. This is the inspiring (?) tale of a family defying tyranny by refusing to eat, and all being brutally murdered for their trouble. And while the story itself is quite harrowing (and graphic!), it's small moments along the way that are actually worthy of some fascinating discussion.Then we go to the gospel of John, where there might

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63:54

Episode 111: Just the Tip?

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/05/19

Well kids, this one's a doozy! This week we're talking about a controversial Biblical practice that is still done by many today (and the truth is that it should probably be more controversial than it is). That's right, this week we're talking circumcision!It's such a strange practice, if you think about it, cutting off a piece of your child's flesh. And it leaves us with a load of questions: Where did it come from? Why did God command it? Who was supposed to do it? But before that, we're diving

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65:06

Episode 110: God's Swear Jar

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/05/12

Remember when you were a kid, and your parents told you not to used certain words, but then sometimes THEY would use those words, and you didn't think that was ok because it seemed like a double-standard, but there was nothing you could do because they were big and you were small so you secretly said those words with your friends as a rebellion, but then your next-door neighbor overheard you and said something weird over your fence and you and your buddy got super wide-eyed and really didn't know

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56:52

Episode 109: The Heart of Pharaoh

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/05/05

Have you ever been confused about why Easter happens when it happens? End of March? Mid April? July? And as if it's not already complicated enough, the eastern church celebrates on a different day than the western church. Except the days that they don't... Thank goodness for our phone calendars, because without them, none of us would have any idea when to break out the Peeps and Cadbury eggs! Well, in our first segment this week, we're going to discuss the dating of Easter. Why it happens when

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66:54

Episode 108: "Biblical" Marriage

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/04/28

HEY! TICKETS FOR THE FIRST *AND SECOND* LEG OF THE DATA OVER DOGMA TOUR ARE ON SALE! To get yours, go here:First leg (Chicago, Seattle, Portland, LA): ⁠⁠https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-grand-data-over-dogma-book-launch-tour/⁠⁠ Second leg (Dallas, Atlanta, Philly, DC): ⁠⁠https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-grand-data-over-dogma-book-launch-part-2/⁠⁠ ---- Love and marriage: it's an institute you can't disparage, as the poet once said. There's a lot of talk these days about marriage

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56:45

Episode 107: Immigrant Apocalypse with Yii-Jan Lin

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/04/21

The way many people talk about immigration in the United States, you'd assume that it was an apocalyptic event. And actually, many of the most extreme voices in our society are literally saying as much. But this is not the first time American immigration has been linked to Biblical apocalypse. This week, we're bringing in Dr. Yii-Jan Lin, whose new book Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration chronicles the many twists and turns of the eschatological

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60:56

Episode 106: Usurer Error

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/04/14

It's a sin so egregious that Christians weren't allowed to do it, BY LAW, for centuries! But now? Totally fine. Everybody participates. No big deal at all! The next time you meet a Bible literalist who is certain that you have to follow the laws of the Bible to the letter, but who is also pretty excited about capitalism, ask them about usury, and watch them fall all over themselves to pretend like it's fine. Because MAN, the Bible is just adamant that people shouldn't do that. Like, death penalty

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65:54

Episode 105: Wandering in the Wilderness with Angela...

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/04/07

Anybody want to take a long walk in the desert? Well, this week we've brought in Angela Roskop Erisman to guide us through the wilderness! In her new book, The Wilderness Narratives: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation, Dr Erisman discusses the exodus as you may not have heard it discussed before.Far from being the actual writings of a literal Moses, Dr Erisman uses genre analysis to propose a far more allegorical explanation for the story. Could it be that the beloved tale of Israel

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66:12

Episode 104: Hey Jude

Data Over Dogma ·

2025/03/31

This week, we don't want to make it bad, so we're going to take a sad song and make it better. The book of Jude may only be one chapter, but it's jam-packed with stuff for this show to talk about. Who wrote it, and when? Who was it written to? What grumblers is it mad about? We'll attempt to answer all these questions and more.Then, speaking of grumblers, we have some of our own to deal with! Whenever Dr. Dan says that the Bible is not a monotheistic book, people come out of the woodwork with

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