NT Pod 109: The Last Supper (2025)

In NT Pod 109, Mark goes to the movies! This is a review of The Last Supper (2025), and it is almost 29 minutes long.

NT Pod 109: The Last Supper (mp3)

Key texts: Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matt. 14.13-21 // Mark 6.31-44 // Mark 6.31-44 // Luke 9.10-17 // John 6.1-15); Gospel Passion and Resurrection Narratives (Matthew 21-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; John 13-21).

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Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 108: The Jesus / Joshua Problem

NT Pod 108 continues the series on Bible translation (see also NT Pod 104: The Synoptic Translation Problem, NT Pod 105: What is Translation Inertia?, and NT Pod 107: Why Do We Translate New Testament Names the Way We Do?) and discusses the different ways we translate Jesus's name depending on whether we are looking at the Old Testament or the New: 

NT Pod 108: The Jesus / Joshua Problem (mp3)

Key texts (in the order in which they appear):

Col. 4.11

Matt. 27.16-17

Luke 3.29

Acts 7.45

Heb. 4.8-10

Feel free to leave your feedback below or on my Youtube channel, or on social media (links on the NT Pod web page).

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 107: Why Do We Translate New Testament Names the Way We Do?

NT Pod 107 continues the series on Bible translation (see also NT Pod 104: The Synoptic Translation Problem and NT Pod 105: What is Translation Inertia?), focusing on the phenomenon of translating exactly the same name one way if it is an Old Testament character and another way if it is a New Testament character. The examples discussed are Jacob and James, and Judas and Jude: 

NT Pod 107: Why Do We Translate New Testament Names the Way We Do? (mp3)

Key texts (in order of mention in the episode):

1 Cor. 1.12, 3.22, 9.5, 15.5

Gal. 1.18, 2.7, 2.9, 11, 14

John 1.41-2

Luke 6.16

Acts 1.13

Jude 1

Mark 6.3 // Matt. 13.55

Matt. 1.2-17

Feel free to leave your feedback below, on our Youtube channel, or on social media (links on the NT Pod web page).

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 106: NT Introductions & Johannine Communities with Hugo Méndez

In NT Pod 106, I am in conversation with Dr Hugo Méndez, Associate Professor in Ancient Mediterranean Religions at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Our primary focus is on John's Gospel, and the "Johannine Community", but we also discuss Dr Méndez's new online course, with Bart Ehrman’s Biblical Studies Academy, The New Testament: Exploring the Christian Bible: 

NT Pod 106: In Conversation with Hugo Méndez (mp3)

Here are links to material discussed in the podcast:

The New Testament: Exploring the Christian Bible, with Hugo Méndez [Link temporarily disabled]

This is an online course at Bart Ehrman's Biblical Studies Academy. Note: As an affiliate for Bart Ehrman Courses, the NT Pod may earn a commission (at no additional cost to you) if you sign up for this course.

Hugo Méndez's Homepage

Details of Dr Méndez's research, publications, and activities

Hugo Méndez, "Did the Johannine Community Exist", JSNT 42 (2020): 350–374

Online reproduction of an important article discussed in this podcast 

Bart Ehrman and Hugo Méndez, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (Eighth Edition; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023)

James Barker, Writing and Rewriting the Gospels: John and the Synoptics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2025)

Feel free to leave your feedback below, or on our YouTube channel, or on social media (links on the NT Pod web page).

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 105: What is Translation Inertia?

NT Pod 105, "What is Translation Inertia?" discusses a problem in English translations of the Gospels. The sheer familiarity of famous translations, often dating back to the King James Version of 1611, can prevent us from translating the Bible into accurate contemporary English. There are many examples of this, but this podcast begins with "There is therefore now no condemnation . . ." and "For God so loved the world . . .," and goes on to focus on the terms "stumbling block" and "disciples."

NT Pod 105: What is Translation Inertia? (mp3)

Key texts (in the order in which they appear in the episode):

John 3.16

Romans 8.1

Isaiah 40.1

Matt. 2.17

Matt. 16.23

1 Cor. 1.23

Matt. 9.14 // Mark 2.18 // Luke 5.30

Matt. 14.12 // Mark 6.29

Matt. 11.2 // Luke 7.18

Matt. 22.16

Luke 11.1

Matt. 10.24-25 // Luke 6.40

Matt. 28.19

Feel free to leave your feedback below, on our Youtube channel, or on social media (links on the NT Pod web page).

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 104: The Synoptic Translation Problem

NT Pod 104, "The Synoptic Translation Problem," investigates a problem in English translations of the Gospels. The translations frequently mangle the agreements and disagreements between the Synoptic Gospels, and between the Synoptics and John. This podcast attempts to show how pervasive the problem is by drawing attention to conflicting translations in the NRSVUE (the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition), and proposing a way forward for future translations of the New Testament. 

NT Pod 104: The Synoptic Translation Problem (mp3)

Key texts:

(1) Matt. 27.50 // Mark 15.37 // Luke 23.46; Psalm 31.5

(2) Matt. 26.51 // Mark 14.47 // Luke 22.50 // John 18.10

(3) Matt. 26.6-13 // Mark 14.3-9 // Luke 7.36-50 // John 12.1-8

(4) Matt. 28.10 // John 20.17

Feel free to leave your feedback below, on our Youtube channel, or on social media.

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.

NT Pod 103: The Joy of Textual Variants: In Conversation with Dr Elizabeth Schrader Polczer

NT Pod 103 is a conversation with Dr Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, focusing on her Duke PhD Dissertation, "’Those Who Love Me Will Keep My Word’:  Narrative Variants in New Testament Gospel Stories”, and related topics.

NT Pod 103: The Joy of Textual Variants: In Conversation with Dr Elizabeth Schrader Polczer (mp3)

You can leave feedback on Twitter or on our Facebook page, or on our new Instagram.

Dr Elizabeth Schrader Polczer's homepage

Dr Elizabeth Schrader Polczer on Twitter

“Those Who Love Me Will Keep My Word”: Narrative Variants in New Testament Gospel Stories (Duke University PhD Dissertation)

"Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?" (Open Access via Duke Space; Harvard Theological Review official here)

"Was Salome at the Markan Tomb? Another Ending to Mark's Gospel" (Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin article)

"Apocryphal within the Canonical:  Unorthodox Influence on the New Testament Textual Transmission"

 (forthcoming article)

Mary Magdalene as a “revealer":  translated page from the Syriac Sinaitic palimpsest

Thanks to Ram2000, "Me and You", for the opening theme, released under a Creative Commons agreement.