Footnote Famous
Footnote Famous features conversations with leading scholars of the Bible and Christian origins, exploring historical and theological questions. The show brings academic expertise to a broader audience through in-depth interviews. It focuses on topics related to biblical scholarship and early Christianity.
Episodes
1.23 - Best of Season 1
Over the first season of Footnote Famous I interviewed 22 Bible scholars, and I read every one of their books cover to cover before we spoke. Some of what I heard confirmed things I already suspected. Five ideas genuinely changed how I read the New Testament — and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since.In this season one roundup I walk through all five: why the "gospel comm
1.22 - John Kloppenborg - Does Luke's Geography Expose His Methods
WATCH VIDEO OF INTERVIEWDid the author of Luke's Gospel actually know the geography of first-century Palestine? In this interview, biblical scholar John Kloppenborg — my own PhD supervisor at the University of Toronto — breaks down the evidence that Luke's geography is full of errors, and explains what those mistakes reveal about Luke's sources. Kloppenborg identifies three levels of g
1.21 - Laura Nasrallah - Archaeology and the Letters of Paul
In this interview, I sit down with biblical scholar Laura Nasrallah to discuss her book Archaeology and the Letters of Paul. We explore how archaeological evidence — from manumission inscriptions to ancient toilets — complicates our understanding of slavery, hospitality, grief, and ethnicity in Paul's world, while challenging popular misconceptions about "biblical archaeology." The c
1.20 - Alan Garrow - The Didache Discoveries
What if one of early Christianity's most mysterious documents has been hiding two completely different texts — side by side — for nearly 2,000 years?WATCH INTERVIEW LIVE HEREThat's exactly what New Testament scholar Alan Garrow argues in his groundbreaking new book The Didache Discoveries. In this interview, we dig into his stunning findings: buried inside the Didache is what he believes i
1.19 Dan McClellan - The Bible Says So
Fake Bible Scholars Are Going Viral. Real Scholars Need to Step Up Child sacrifice, God's wife, & how Bible editors "fixed" themWATCH INTERVIEW HEREI sat down with Dan McClellan — one of the most followed actual biblical scholars online — to talk about how we got here, why it matters, and what real scholarship looks like when it finally shows up to the fight.We cover:→ Why "
1.18 Teresa Morgan - Roman Faith and Christian Faith
In this interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Professor Teresa Morgan (Oxford) about her landmark book Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (2015). WATCH INTERVIEW HEREWe explore how the Greek word pistis and Latin fides — both rooted in the concept of trust — were used across the ancient Mediterranean world, and how early Christ
1.17 Hugo Méndez - The Gospel of John
For John, Jesus divine. And makes his followers divineWhat does the Gospel of John actually claim about Jesus — and about everyone else?WATCH INTERVIEW HEREIn this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Hugo Mendez (UNC Chapel Hill) to talk about his new book The Gospel of John: A New History (Oxford University Press), and the result is one of the most genuinely surprising readings of John I've enc
1.16 Bart Ehrman - Jesus' Revolutionary Teaching
Bart Ehrman — one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and a self-described agnostic — makes a surprising argument: the West owes more to Jesus than it realizes. Not for salvation. Not for atonement. For something hiding in plain sight.Watch This Instead📖 Love Thy Stranger by Bart Ehrman: (Affiliate Link)🎙️ Bart Ehrman's channel: In this conversation we explore Ehrman's new
1.15 Markus Vinzent - Was a Resurrection a Fringe Early Christian Belief?
What if the resurrection wasn't the foundation of early Christianity — and most early Christians never even heard of it?Watch This Instead!That's exactly what New Testament scholar and historian Professor Marcus Vinzent argues in his groundbreaking research on Christ's resurrection in early Christianity. And in this conversation, he changed my mind.In this interview, Professor Vinzent
1.14 Tucker Ferda - Did Jesus predict his second coming?
Did Jesus actually predict his own second coming — or did the early church invent it? I sat down with Dr. Tucker Ferda (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) to talk about his book "Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins" — and what I found was one of the most honest and challenging historical arguments I've encountered.Watch this interview instead📖
1.13 John Nelson - What did Jesus look like?
Why don't the Gospels describe what Jesus looked like?Every ancient biographer described their subject's physical appearance — except the Gospel writers. Want to watch this instead?In this interview, we explore:- Why the silence on Jesus' appearance is MORE surprising than you think- What ancient "physiognomy" reveals about how Greeks and Romans read bodies- The suffering ser
1.12 Richard C. Miller - Are the gospels historically accurate?
Are the Gospels historically accurate? In this conversation with Dr. Richard C. Miller (author of "Resurrection and Reception in Early Christianity"), we examine the evidence that biblical scholars use to evaluate Gospel reliability—and why most historians don't treat them as eyewitness accounts.WATCH THIS INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBEDr. Miller's Book:Resurrection and Reception in Early
1.11 Kipp Davis - Forged Scrolls, Antiquities Trafficking, & Modern Relic Hunting
WATCH ON YOUTUBE Kipp's Book - (affiliate link)Dr. Kipp's YouTube IN THIS EPISODE- How private collectors paid millions for forged fragments-The telltale signs of Dead Sea Scrolls forgeries- Table salt crystals as smoking gun evidence- How Museum of the Bible acquired forged Dead Sea Scrolls- The Daniel Wallace "first century Mark" debacle (turned out to be 3rd century)- Josh McD
1.10 Steve Mason - Josephus, Jesus, and Luke's Sources
Who was Josephus? What does he say about Jesus? And did the author of Luke-Acts copy from Josephus? I sat down with Steve Mason, one of the world's leading Josephus scholars, to investigate the evidence.Watch this interview insteadWhat we uncover is remarkable: the same unusual Greek terminology, the same historical figures mentioned in the same configurations, and historical "mistakes" in Luke th
1.9 Paula Fredriksen - The First 500 Years of Christianities
Paula Fredriksen joins me to discuss her new book "Ancient Christianity: The First 500 Years" - a masterful overview of how diverse early Christian movements evolved into the institutional church.Watch the interview on YouTube instead.Professor Fredriksen (Boston University) is one of the world's leading scholars of early Christianity, Paul, and Jewish-Christian relations. Her previo
1.8 Harry Maier - Finding the stuff Paul didn't write
Why do biblical scholars say Paul didn't write half the letters attributed to him? I sat down with Dr. Harry Maier, from Vancouver School of Theology, to understand exactly how scholars determine authorship of ancient letters—and why some of Paul's letters are considered "disputed."Want to watch this instead? Find the video here!Dr. Maier's Academia page - https://vst.academi
1.7 Anders Peterson - The Bible, Chimps, Human Evolution, & Staying Christian
Anders Petersen (University of Aarhus) bridges evolutionary biology and New Testament studies to argue that religion functions as emotional investment in shared symbolic systems rather than abstract belief. We discuss why humans aren't naturally social (unlike bees or ants), how pistis means "faithfulness" not "faith," why the Gospel texts are myths rather than historical r
1.6 Peter Arzt-Grabner - Ancient Garbage, Letters, and Paul's Writing Tricks
What can 2,000-year-old letters tell us about how Paul actually lived? I sat down with papyrologist Peter Arzt-Grabner to find out what ancient papyri reveal about Paul's real life - and the answers shocked me.Peter's Academia Page Peter's book, "Letters and Letter Writing" - (Sponsored Link)━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📱 FOLLOW FOR MORE - YouTube: @c
1.5 Markus Vinzent - How the NT was Rewritten
Markus Vinzent reveals how the New Testament was actually compiled - and why the Paul's letters we're reading are "third-hand" at best.Want to watch the video instead? - https://youtu.be/dj4_lfRghZo 📚 RESOURCES:- Vinzent's book: "Resetting the Origins of Christianity" (Affiliate Link)- Reconstructed Marcionite Paul - - based on Vinzent's initial reconstructions
1.4 Mark Goodacre - John is synoptic
Prof. Mark Goodacre argues that John knew the synoptics... and it's the key to reading it! Mark Goodacre is Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Duke University and author of "The Case Against Q." His research focuses on the synoptic problem, Gospel of Thomas, and Gospel of John.Want to watch this instead? - https://youtu.be/pzm5C1nAM04🔗 Mark's YouTube Channel: htt
1.3 James McGrath - John the Baptist and Jesus' Origins
I interview Prof. James McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. Watch this episode on YouTube insteadJames' Books (sponsored links)"John of History, Baptist of Faith" - https://amzn.to/41O9WCA "Christmaker" - https://amzn.to/4gkAuRWLink to the Protoevangeliun of James - https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0847.htmJames McGrath's Reconstru
1.2 Robyn Faith Walsh - Origins of Early Christian Literature
In this episode, I talked with Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh about her book, The Origins of Early Christian Literature. Watch This Episode on YouTube InsteadGet the book on Amazon Sponsored LinkDr. Walsh's Academia.edu page SUPPORT THE CHANNELPatreon - https://www.patreon.com/FootnoteFamous YouTube Memberships - C. J. Cornthwaite - YouTubeAbout: Robyn Faith Walsh is an Associate Professor of New Testa
1.1 Helen Bond - Mark, First Biography of Jesus
📚 The First Biography of Jesus: What Mark's Gospel Really Is (with Prof. Helen Bond)Prof. Bond's Links 👇👇👇 👉 Biblical Time Machine (Helen's Podcast) - https://www.biblicaltimemachine.com/ 👉 The First Biography of Jesus (Book) https://amzn.to/4m4phqh (Sponsored Link)Professor Helen Bond from Edinburgh University reveals groundbreaking insights about the Gospel of Mark that challenge traditional int
Trailer - Season 1
Footnote Famous - Conversations with the world's top scholars of the Bible and Christian origins.
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