Faith Lab

Lydia McGrew, a New Testament scholar who defends a reportage model of the Gospels. She discusses why historical evidence matters and defines 'high reliability' versus general reliability. Short segments explore undesigned coincidences, internal and external checks, and how small details across accounts support eyewitness-proximate reporting.

Most Christians quietly carry a question they rarely say out loud: after the apostles died, what happened? There's a gap in the story, and in that gap, a worry lives.One man fills it. He was born 35 years after Jesus, personally knew people who personally knew Christ, and his own words still survive on paper. His name was Polycarp, and the chain connecting him to the eyewitnesses is shorter than you think.🔓 Faith Lab premium members get full unedited interviews with every guest episode, plus early access and bonus content. Support the show at https://faithlabshow.com/premium ★ Support this podcast ★

Most Christians assume the end of the story is leaving earth for heaven. N.T. Wright says that is not the story the New Testament is telling. (Listen to Part 1 here, and the full interview here.)If Christian hope is really resurrection and new creation, then death, salvation, and the church's mission all start to look different.🔓 Get the full unedited interview with N.T. Wright, including his unused answer on why Paul carries so much weight in Christianity and why he sees Paul as a trophy of grace, at https://faithlabshow.com/premium ★ Support this podcast ★

The resurrection isn't a theological idea. It's a historical claim. And most people have never heard the actual evidence historians evaluate. (Listen to Part 2 here, and the full interview here.)NT Wright, one of the world's leading scholars on early Christianity, walks through the case, and explains why the standard skeptical alternatives keep falling apart. Get Surprised by Hope and God's Homecoming🔓 Members get the full unedited conversation with NT Wright, including his extended breakdown of what the New Testament actually says about the afterlife. faithlabshow.com/support ★ Support this podcast ★

Scholars compare Matthew and Luke against 95 ancient biographies to rethink why their birth narratives differ. They examine why the gospels were written soon after events and how that affects reliability. The discussion highlights Jewish genealogical practices, possible ways royal and nonroyal lines could both be true, and whether Luke's census and other details plausibly fit ancient sources.

Caleb Friedeman, a New Testament scholar who studies ancient biographers, examines whether gospel birth narratives were meant as history. He compares Matthew and Luke to Plutarch, Suetonius and others. He highlights genre norms, source use, transparency, and how Luke signals eyewitness roots. He argues these birth stories show clear historiographic markers worth taking seriously.

Tim Mackie, Co-founder of The Bible Project and biblical scholar, explains how Scripture uses deliberate gaps, layered narrative patterns, and riddles that unfold across books. He traces connections from Noah and Ham to Sodom and Leviticus. He reframes marriage, translation limits, and why the Bible functions as an epic narrative pointing to a person.

Tim Mackie, Biblical scholar and co-founder of The Bible Project, explains how the Hebrew Bible works as crafted literature. He explores repetition, narrative “hyperlinking,” and patterns from Genesis that echo throughout scripture. Short, clear lessons show how stories mirror and teach across books. Careful reading, not rules, reveals the Bible’s design.

Rebecca McLaughlin joins Faith Lab to confront Christianity’s hardest objections and ask whether Christian faith can actually stand up to serious scrutiny.In this conversation, Nate and Shelby talk with Rebecca about the historical reliability of the Gospels, eyewitness testimony, women in the early Christian movement, moral critiques of Christianity, and the problem of suffering. Rather than treating faith as a blind leap, Rebecca explains why Christianity has always made public and testable claims about reality, claims that invite investigation rather than shut it down.They explore why Jesus continues to provoke resistance, how modern skepticism often relies on values Christianity helped introduce, and why deconstruction so often happens when questions are postponed rather than engaged. From the resurrection accounts and the presence of embarrassing details in the Gospels to the role of women as primary witnesses, this episode walks through why the Christian story may be far more historically and intellectually resilient than many assume.This episode is for skeptics, deconstructing Christians, and anyone wondering whether Christianity can survive honest doubt in a pluralistic world by facing hard questions directly rather than avoiding them. Become a premium member: faithlab.supercast.com ★ Support this podcast ★

For most people, faith means believing without evidence. A leap. A feeling. Something you are told to accept rather than question.But what if that is not what faith meant at all?In this conversation, Nate and Shelby sit down with Shane Rosenthal to explore why the New Testament idea of faith was rooted in trust, eyewitness testimony, and public events rather than blind belief. They unpack how faith slowly became detached from evidence, why that shift matters, and how it helps explain why so many people deconstruct today.This is not about winning arguments or turning Christianity into an academic exercise. It is about recovering a version of faith that expects questions, invites investigation, and gives real reasons to believe.You can find Shane’s work at humbleskeptic.com, and be sure to check out this recent video he released on whether archaeologists have discovered biblical Bethsaida⁠.If you have ever wondered why doubt feels inevitable, or why you were never taught this side of the story, this conversation is for you. Become a premium member: faithlab.supercast.com ★ Support this podcast ★