PODCAST · society
Data Over Dogma
by Daniel McClellan and Daniel Beecher
This ain't your pastor's Bible podcast. This is a deep interrogation of the book, and we're bringing receipts. Bible scholar Dr. Dan McClellan and atheist podcaster Dan Beecher team up to discover what the Bible actually says, what it decidedly doesn't say (even if everyone thinks it does), and explore the history of the most popular book of all time.
Episodes
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How Lady Wisdom Became Flesh with Dustin Smith
In the beginning was the Word, but what if the Word was Wisdom all along? This week we welcome Dustin Smith, New Testament scholar at Spartanburg Methodist College and host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast, to talk about his book Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John, which traces how John's...
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Hexegesis and Sexist Jesus?
It's the most spookiest time of the year, so we're debuting a brand-new segment: Hexegesis! Did King James really slip "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" into Exodus because he hated witches, or does the trouble go all the way back to the Hebrew—and why does a Bible that bans divination keep...
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Noah's Ark: 100% Unconfirmed
The Daily Mail says the resting place of Noah's Ark has been "100% confirmed" on a hillside in Turkey, so we're lacing up our hiking boots to check the radar scans, the fundraising pitch, and what happened the last time someone drilled into this very same formation (spoiler: bedrock). Then, what...
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Old Testament God Bad, New Testament God Good?
Open an English Bible and you'll mostly see "God" and "Lord," but underneath is a whole divine vocabulary: El, Eloah, Elohim, the tetragrammaton, and a few choice insults, including gillulim, which likely comes from a word for dung (shit gods, basically). First, we sort out which plural belongs…
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Dan Tells Dan About Tel Dan
This week, Paul finally gets his day in court — several of them, actually, and he spends nearly all of them in custody. We're going chapter and verse through Acts 23 to 26, where Paul lobs the word "resurrection" into a room full of Pharisees and Sadducees like a rhetorical grenade, forty-plus…
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Vancepocalypse Now (and Paul's Spiritual Gifts)
This week we're taking issue with a Vice President! JD Vance recently sat down with a very young podcaster to discuss his lifelong fascination with end-times prophecy, his suspicion that the Antichrist may already be walking among us, and his willingness to shrug if doing "God's work" happens to...
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Help Meet, Not Help Yourself
This week, we're taking issue with Mark Driscoll, who recently explained that a wife is a garden, a husband is the gardener, and — out loud, on purpose — that the finished result is "beautiful property." We dig into where that idea actually comes from: 1 Corinthians 11, the bride-price laws of...
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You Starve ... Glory Be To God?
In three days, the earth opens up and swallows a household whole, fire consumes 250 men, and a plague takes 14,700 more — and then the very next chapter expects us to be impressed by a dead stick growing flowers. This week we're going chapter and verse with Numbers 16, where a rebellion that…
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Rod Almighty!
Get your mind out of the gutter — this week it's Aaron's rod, the staff that sprouted buds, blossoms, and ripe almonds overnight to settle once and for all who was in charge. But the text is oddly insistent that it sat in FRONT of the ark rather than inside it, which raises a fascinating...
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The Grandfather of the Hebrew Bible (and What Is Zion?)
In 1929, a farmer in French-occupied Syria hit a rock with his plow and accidentally uncovered the lost city of Ugarit — and with it, a library of Bronze Age tablets that has been quietly reshaping how scholars read the Hebrew Bible ever since. This week, we're diving into the Baal Cycle: an...
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66 Books, 40 Authors, Zero Contradictions?
You've seen the claim: 66 books, 40 authors, 1,500 years, three continents, three languages — and not one contradiction. This week we take that apologetic apart piece by piece, from the canon that was never fixed, to the authorship traditions nobody can source, to the "three continents" you could...
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No Originals, No Mercy
There isn't a single surviving original manuscript for any book of the Bible, so how do scholars decide what the earliest recoverable text actually said? This week, it's a primer on textual criticism: why King James onlyists despise it (despite the KJV being a product of it), what Erasmus did…
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Don't be a jerk...off?
This week it's a "What's That?" double feature! First, we take on the Great Commission. Does Matthew 28 really command every believer to accost strangers on airplanes and by the baggage carousel, or is "make disciples" a whole lot narrower (and quieter) than the modern evangelists think? Then…
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A Trickster God and the Worst Wedding Ever
This week, Christian nationalist Joel Webbin says the quiet part out loud: lie to voters about your theocratic goals until you've got the power to enact them. It's grotesque and profoundly un-American — but is deception, weirdly, the one piece of the playbook that's actually biblical? Then we...
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Lean Not on Your Own Understanding (and Other Conversation-Enders)
This week we're taking on the thought-stopping cliché to end all thought-stopping clichés: "trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding." Is "reading with the Holy Spirit" a special line to God that us dirty scholars just can't access, or is it John Lennox's red Ferrari parked right...
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Faith vs. Works vs. Chaos Monsters
This week we crack open the Epistle of James — a letter that may claim to come from none other than James the brother of Jesus — and wade into one of Christianity's oldest arguments: faith versus works. Does James contradict Paul on how a person is saved, and is that why Martin Luther dismissed…
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The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Give or Take)
This week the Dans try to count to twelve — and find that the number matters a lot more than the names. We dig into the twelve tribes of Israel: how Levi quietly drops out and Joseph splits into Ephraim and Manasseh to keep the total at twelve, why the Song of Deborah seems to remember only ten...
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Moloch, Mormons, and Mike Lee
Senator Mike Lee keeps accusing his opponents of sacrificing children to Moloch, so this week we ask who — or what — Moloch actually was, why abortion and child sacrifice are not the same thing, and the uncomfortable places child sacrifice really does turn up in the Hebrew Bible. Then, after the...
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Sins of the (Grand)father
The sins of the fathers! It's a phrase you've heard a thousand times, but did you know it comes straight from the Bible? This week it's Bible versus Bible, and the topic is generational punishment: God visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation. It's...
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Inside purity culture and Christian nationalism with Monte Mader
What happens when you're raised to be a militant Christian nationalist Supreme Court justice, but you decide to actually study church history instead? This week, we are thrilled to welcome social media powerhouse, educator, and musician Monte Mader to the show! You probably know her from her…
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Let's Get Weird!
Most parents think their kids are pretty great. That makes sense. But if your son is the messianic savior of the world, the bragging rights are kind of through the roof. And that's what we get in Hebrews 1. The claim here is that God told the prophets about Jesus, and now all those awesome...
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C. S. Lewis and the Bible with Leslie Baynes
Beloved novelist Clive Staples Lewis (Jack to his friends)(?) went through an atheist phase in his life. But that didn't last, and when he came back to Christianity, he came back HARD! Everyone who knows his work beyond life in a wardrobe is well aware of his obsession with the Bible and...
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The Queen of Heaven?
Just when you think you have biblical theology figured out, they throw you a curveball! In this case, the curve in question is the character explicitly referred to in Jeremiah as the queen of heaven. "Wait!" you might be saying to yourself, "I know heaven has a king, which is God, but what's all...
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Even Heretics Deserve Rituals! With Jeremy Steele
For as long as there have been humans, there have been rituals. Every religion and spiritual practice has developed its own set of practices and rites, and attached sacred meaning to them. But behind the theology and mysticism, is there something happening that even the non-religious could…
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America (Almost Never) Reads the Bible
Brace yourself, because your favorite Bible scholarship show is going to talk politics. It's not that we're veering out of our lane, though. Unfortunately, the politics have come careening out of their lane, and smashed headlong into us. It's not our fault! So yes, we're going to talk about the...
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Is the KJV Crap?
This week we're taking something beloved and ruining it! Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we're definitely going to ruffle some feathers. The King James Version of the Bible is treasured for its poetic, often florid language. Many even believe it to be the most accurate, truest…
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Mysterious Texts
The world of ancient holy texts is shrouded in mystery. Where did texts come from? How were they transmitted? Were they altered, and if so, by whom? First this week, we'll be talking about 1 Esdras. It's a book you won't find in most Bibles these days, yet you will find most of the stories it...
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I Will Have Mercy, Not Dogma
This week we're taking two topics that we've skimmed the surface of, and we're diving deep! First, we're going to figure out what the heck a Maccabee is. That is, we're covering both history and a couple of books in the apocrypha. That's right: we're discussing the Maccabean revolt. What do we…
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In Chains: Slaves and Angels
This week, we're really into bondage, but not in a fun way. First, we're talking about Hagar, the enslaved handmaiden of Sarai (and later of Sarah). Being enslaved is never a good thing, despite what some apologists might have you believe, but Hagar is done pretty dirty in a few ways. We'll…
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Killing in the Name Of
There have been some disturbing things happening in the world lately, and some of the people most heavily involved in those things are invoking even more disturbing parts of the Bible as a rallying call. When world leaders remind us of biblical genocide when they go to war, you know we're in...
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The Legend of the Septuagint
If you've listened to this show for any amount of time, you know what the Septuagint is (if you haven't, don't worry- it's just the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible). But do you know where that name came from? Or the legend of its creation? This episode, we're diving deep into the lore of…
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The Bible Gets Sexy!
Look out, romance novelists, because the Bible is coming for your jobs! That's right: Data Over Dogma is finally covering the Song of Songs, and it's fifty shades of ancient erotic poetry hotness! But wait- isn't it supposed to be read as an allegory for the love between God and Israel? Or…
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Everyone is Wrong About 2 John!
We've talked a lot on this show about issues like scribal errors, where a scribe copying a text gets one little thing wrong, and changes the meaning of something forever. But how can we know when something like that has happened? Especially if it happened almost two thousand years ago, and we…
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Literally Not Literal!
This week we're diving in to some deep controversy, and we gotta say: come on in, the water's fine. First, we're looking at biblical literalism. There are a lot of Christians out there these days who claim that they believe that the Bible is to be taken exactly at face value. It's literally true...
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What Is The Bible?
Most people who talk about the Bible are pretty sure they know what it is they're talking about. But do they? Do you? How sure are you that when you say "the Bible" you're talking about the same thing as the person next to you? Today, we're diving into the surprisingly broad category of books…
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Written in the Stars!
This week, it's a double-feature! Two totally different topics, both coming from the same chapter in Acts. So open your Bibles to Acts chapter 7, and let's dive in. First, we're looking at a fascinating little twist of linguistics that gives us insight into who the author of acts was. Or more...
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Serving Up Scripture With Jennifer Garcia Bashaw and Aaron Higashi
This week we're serving up two of the most charming authors you'll ever meet! Listeners may recognize the brilliant Aaron Higashi from past episodes, but this time he's bringing along the brilliant Jennifer Garcia Bashaw. Together they are the authors of the new book Serving Up Scripture: How to...
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Unforgivable!
Did you know that there is a sin so awful, so egregious, so outrageous that even God would not be able to forgive it? If you answered yes, then we're sorry. That probably means you've been needlessly traumatized. But before we get to that, we're going to introduce you to a book you've almost...
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Hiding God
This week we're talking about showing off your love for God, and whether that might not be a such great idea. And our example of not mentioning God comes straight from the Bible?? First, we're looking at the book of Esther. It's a story with all the twists and turns of a Disney animated movie...
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Jesus is so Fulfilling!
Jesus fulfilled the law! It says so right there in Matthew. But what on earth does that actually mean? Different people have had vastly different interpretations of that idea, and the consequences of their ideas are significant! Are the old laws still in effect, or did Jesus abolish them? Should…
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The Holy Dunk
What do you know about baptism? Why do Christians do it? Where does it come from? This week, we're exploring the most important baptism of all: that of Jesus. It's clearly a pivotal moment in the narrative of the life of Jesus, but it also presents some pretty important theological problems. And…
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Bring Me the Head of John the Baptist!
John the Baptizer was a fascinating character. More attested to historically than Jesus, John was a genuinely big deal! One of the historically attested facts about John was his execution by Herod. Which Herod? You're going to be sorry you asked. But John's death is fascinating- what do the…
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Shiny Happy People!
Get some sunglasses, because this week we're shining bright like a diamond! That's right, we're diving into all the glowy sparkle that is the transfiguration of Jesus. What is that story really about? What happened on that hill? And why does everyone drag Peter for offering to set up tents? He…
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Not Original, Not Sin
It was a setup, I tell ya! This week, we're focusing on "the fall," and the two poor suckers who were set up to take that fall. First, we're going through the story of Adam, Eve, the tree and the snake, and parsing out exactly what did and didn't happen in Eden. Who lied and who told the truth?…
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Did Jesus Fulfill Prophesy?
The birth of Jesus is obviously one of the most important Christian narratives. Or is it two of the most important Christian Narratives? Either way, one of the great apologetic claims about nativity is that it fulfilled over three hundred prophesies. This week, we're going to look at what Ken…
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Immaculate Apologetics?
Tucker Carlson and Jeremiah Johnston don't know what they're talking about when it comes to history. Johnston recently went on Tucker's show (he still has a show- weird, right?), and claimed, among many other things, that Jesus and his crucifixion are better attested by the evidence than Julius...
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Polygamy!
Look out! 'Cause this week we're looking at a controversial issue, and perhaps strangely for us, the impetus for this has nothing to do with Mormonism. No, recently a Missouri pastor named Rich Tidwell made waves in Christian circles by claiming that the Bible--yes, even the New Testament--is pro...
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Who Deserves to Eat?
Remember when Jesus told the poor to get off their butts and pull themselves up by their bootstraps? I don't either, but lots of people think they remember when Paul said it. This week, we're looking at 2 Thessalonians, 3:10. It's one of those passages that, if someone's bringing it up, you know...
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It's a Jubilee!
Its Jubilee time- and what are we celebrating? A no-longer-canonical book, I guess. Jubilees is a Second Temple rewrite of Genesis that reshapes creation stories, adds angelic narration, and updates the calendar to aaaaaalmost get the number of days in the year right. Then we tackle the viral…
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Close Encounters of the Catholic Kind
Catholics don't read the Bible! Or at least, according to studies most don't read it in their homes. But according to our guest, Michael Peppard, that doesn't mean that they don't have a deep and meaningful relationship with it. This week, we're talking with Dr Peppard about his book How…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This ain't your pastor's Bible podcast. This is a deep interrogation of the book, and we're bringing receipts. Bible scholar Dr. Dan McClellan and atheist podcaster Dan Beecher team up to discover what the Bible actually says, what it decidedly doesn't say (even if everyone thinks it does), and explore the history of the most popular book of all time.
HOSTED BY
Daniel McClellan and Daniel Beecher
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Data Over Dogma have?
Data Over Dogma currently has 184 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Data Over Dogma about?
This ain't your pastor's Bible podcast. This is a deep interrogation of the book, and we're bringing receipts. Bible scholar Dr. Dan McClellan and atheist podcaster Dan Beecher team up to discover what the Bible actually says, what it decidedly doesn't say (even if everyone thinks it does), and...
How often does Data Over Dogma release new episodes?
Data Over Dogma publishes regularly with 184 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Data Over Dogma?
You can listen to Data Over Dogma on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Data Over Dogma?
Data Over Dogma is created and hosted by Daniel McClellan and Daniel Beecher.
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