Biblical World

Episode: In this episode, Kyle chats with Libby Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott about bringing archaeology and theology into conversation—the topic of their recent book, Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that formed Ancient Israel. The conversation starts with the ancient Israelite household (and how it was essential to ancient thinking and theology), stays with the household (and related areas of ancient Israelite life and theology), and ends with the household (and, again, how it was essential to ancient thinking).

Guests: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (Ph.D. Sheffield) is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor University. Her field archaeology experience includes excavations at Tel Halif and Tel Abel Beth Maacah in Israel. She's the author and editor of several books, including Food in Ancient Israel (Sheffield, 2013), The 5 Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant (edited, Sheffield, 2016), and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Libby Backfish) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

Libby Backfish (Ph.D. TIU) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Jessup University. She's the author of several articles and books, including Hebrew Wordplay and Septuagint Technique in the Fourth Book of the Psalter (Bloomsbury, 2019) and the book we're discussing in this episode (co-authored with Cynthia Shafer-Elliott) Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context that Formed Ancient Israel (Baker, 2025).

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Episode: The Gospel of John is often ignored by those interested in archaeology and history. However, John includes more historically verified detail (both archaeologically and topographically) than the other gospels combined. Listen in as Anderson discusses why we need to pay attention to John as a historical source. 

Guest: Paul N. Anderson is Professor of Biblical and Quaker studies at George Fox University. He's the editor of four volumes on John, Jesus, and History, and has written his own book on the subject (The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus). He's written a contextual intro to the NT (From Crisis to Christ) and has written over 400 essays in New Testament and Quaker studies. The book under discussion today is from his latest edited volume, Archaeology, Jesus, and the Gospel of John: What Recent Discoveries Show Us (Eerdmans, 2026).

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Episode: In this episode, James K. Hoffmeier discusses his new book — Israel In and Out of Egypt — an update of his previous books on the subject in light of the latest Egyptological discoveries, as well as the latest developments in Biblical scholarship in relation to the evidence for or against some form of a historical exodus.

Co-hosts: Mark Janzen, Chris McKinny, Oliver Hersey

Guest: James K. Hoffmeier is an Egyptologist and emeritus professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He taught Old Testament and Hebrew for 40+ years. For the last 20 years he has focused on Hebrew exegesis in the prophetic books.

He engaged in archaeological work in Sinai and at the Karnak Temple Complex in Egypt, and presently is part of a team investigating the Cushite cemetery at Nuri, Sudan.

Hoffmeier's published works include The Archaeology of the Bible and the book we're discussing in this episode, Israel In and Out of Egypt: The Archaeological and Historical Background to the Exodus (Hendrickson).  Plus, he's consulted for and appeared in a number of TV programs on Egypt and the Bible for the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, the History Channel, and National Geographic. (adapted from the BAR site).

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Episode: In this episode, Chris McKinny interviews Jason Borges about his latest book — Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City — a unique guide to the foreign sites, sounds, and structures that defined the Biblical World of the emerging early Church.

Guest: Dr. Jason Borges (Ph.D. Durham University) is the Associate Director of the Asia Minor Research Centre in Antalya, Türkiye. He lived in Avanos, Cappadocia 2017–2021, but now lives in Antalya, Turkey and works at the Asia Minor Research Center, doing research and teaching on Christian History. He has published two books—Travel among Early Christians (Brill, 2025) and Christian Life in the Greco-Roman City (Baker, 2026).

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Episode: We're back with the second (of 2) episodes on the best archaeological finds of 2025. They're so significant, we're still talking about them in April 2026. In this episode, hear about Lamassu, Apkallu, and cuneiform, oh my!

Legends of the Lost Ark: To learn more about Chris’ new movie and to find how to buy tickets … https://www.legendsofthelostark.com/

Hosts: Chris McKinny and Kyle Keimer

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