What if everything you thought you knew about the origins of Christianity was just one version of a much wilder, more chaotic story? In this episode, Megan Lewis and renowned scholar Paula Fredrickson dive into the glorious mess of competing beliefs, hidden gospels, and theological squabbles that shaped the first 500 years of Christianity. From grumpy Church Fathers and outlaw texts to pagans, prophets, and even Kentucky snake handlers (no, really), discover why Christian diversity isn’t a modern problem—it’s the tradition itself. Tune in for a witty, eye-opening journey that will give you a whole new appreciation for the beautiful, bickering family tree of Christian history!

Visions of supernatural beings or places are relatively common in the bible and early Christian writings - from wheels within wheels, to visions of the risen Jesus, to trips to the afterlife, writers record a whole array of fascinating experiences. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me to talk about one of the less flamboyant, but nonetheless intriguing visions - Paul’s trip to the “third heaven”. We’ll get into the role of visions in ancient communities, what exactly a “third heaven” is, and why Paul chose to write about it.

The Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the best-known speeches of Jesus, and if you’ve spent any time in a church service, then the odds are that you’ve heard at least part of it. It contains the beatitudes - “blessed are the meek” - the Lord’s Prayer, and a whole host of teachings that are held sacred by Christians the world over. But… did the writer of Matthew fabricate the whole thing? Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman joins me to talk about this amazing sermon, whether anything like it exists elsewhere in the New Testament, and whether Jesus is likely to have uttered a word of it.