We are so freaking back. We're joined by Seattle University professor emeritus Wes Howard-Brook, author of works like Come Out My People: God's Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond, to discuss:

• King Solomon wasn't actually all that wise ...
• ... and the cutting-a-baby story isn't about what a great guy he was.
• In fact, the Bible's authors meant for us to view Solomon as just another Exodus pharaoh!
• How the David-Solomon story is The Godfather.
• And a whole bunch of other stuff about the Bible's overarching theme of love vs. imperialism.

Thank you for listening! Support this show by GIVING US A REVIEW ON YOUR PODCAST APP PLEASE OH PLEASE, joining our ⁠Patreon⁠ (where we post monthly episodes, usually on "fun" stuff), and following our ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Twitter⁠, and ⁠Bluesky⁠ accounts. Also, here's where to get Jason's novel.

Hello! Let's sprint through a big (but action-packed) portion of the Book of Samuel and then focus on the story of King David and Bathsheba.

• Almost everything you've ever heard about this story has nothing to do with what's actually in the Bible, but what else is new?
• Around the 40-minute mark, we're joined by creator April Ajoy (of TikTok, Instagram, the Evangelicalish podcast, and more) to discuss the way this story constantly gets argued about by the internet's angry Christian men. Plus we talk Rapture trauma, childhood persecution fantasies, and other fun stuff!!! To be clear, this is the fun part of the episode.
• Let's also mostly wrap up the story of David, a boy who became a kingpin seemingly parodied by his own propaganda and just about the weirdest guy ever to pick as a supposed model for Jesus. His story's not quite done, but next time, we'll turn toward the original Finance Instagram bro: King Solomon.

Intro song: k.d. lang's cover of "Hallelujah"

Thank you for listening! Support this show by GIVING US A REVIEW ON YOUR PODCAST APP PLEASE OH PLEASE, joining our Patreon (where we post monthly episodes, usually on "fun" stuff), and following our Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky accounts.

We're back in the Book of Samuel, starting in chapter 18, where giant-killer David meets Israel's other war hero, Prince Jonathan. To quote Taylor Swift, sparks fly. Platonic sparks, your Sunday school teacher assures you.

• There's a case these two were just extremely affectionate political allies. That case has been made, and we're not very interested in it. 
• Interpret this story however you want. We're completely convinced this was the Bible's first great romance. Thanks. 
• We're also joined by popular YouTuber, podcaster, and theologian Mason Mennenga to discuss how this story is just one of many examples that show scripture reflects how we view it.
• Support this show, if you like, by joining our Patreon, where we post monthly episodes on related stuff (CCM cringe/nostalgia, explaining Christian-ese language, ranking '70s Rapture movies, what the Bible *actually* says about abortion, etc.). Joining will also get you into our Discord. We're also on Instagram and Twitter!

Pre-intro: "The More I Seek You" as performed by Maple City Worship

Samuel chapter 17!

• We've reached a Bible story everybody PRETTY MUCH knows, though there are still lots of fun details. It wasn't a slingshot, for one thing!
• Goliath is the Statue of Liberty of Michael Jordans, David is Mr. Have It Both Ways, and King Saul's descent into madness ramps up right now! 
• Emily is mostly concerned with whether this Philistine-Israelite war is cruelty-free toward animals.
• We're excited to be joined by Andrew Whitehead, author of numerous works explaining the dangers of Christian Nationalism. Yep, this relates to how the David and Goliath story gets taught in church!
• Is there praise for Five Iron Frenzy? Friend, this is an episode of the Vacation Bible School Podcast. Of course there's praise for Five Iron Frenzy.

As always, thank you for listening! You can support us on Patreon for bonus episodes and stuff, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

Samuel 7-16!

• The Bible contains a LOT of genres. Uh-oh, you're now in the middle of a Machiavellian historical novel about Derek Zoolander! 
• Time for our regular installment of Which Part Of This Story Will White Christian Americans Try To Contort Into Propaganda For White Christian America? 
• Does this episode include weird math, exaggerated war stuff, confusing prophet behavior, confusing food rules, weird animal stuff, baffling arguments, the total eradication of tribes clearly not eradicated, and women hanging out by a well? It's a Bible episode, so duh! 
• Know how you've been told you have to believe the Bible is perfect, inerrant, and handed down directly from God? Well, we recently dug some of this section's missing portions out of the ground, and half the translations disagree on how old its protagonist is, so maybe not! 
• Samuel is the ... ... ... ... ... ... good guy in this story? Really? 
• Meet David, simultaneously a humble Cinderella boy and a breathtaking Mary Sue warrior-poet! 

As always, thank you for listening! You can support this show on Patreon for bonus episodes and stuff, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

We're entering a whole new chunk of the Bible, and it might be a surprise chunk!

• Why we're now in Samuel instead of Ruth, the book that's up next according to Christian Bibles! 
• Yet another barren womb! As always, when the Bible reuses a story, the variations are everything! 
• The Bible's first usage of "the messiah" is a fine time to talk about how poorly the average Christian understands the old, complex, ever-evolving concept! 
• Meet the original Typical Preacher's Kids! 
• A war catastrophe leads to the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant, which goes very terribly for the Philistines' genitals! 

If you like this show, please give us a review on your podcast app, follow us on Twitter and/or Instagram, and consider giving us $1/month via Patreon (or $5.77 for bonus episodes, Discord membership, a sticker, and stuff).

It's time to bring on the internet's beloved Jon Bois to discuss:

• The Bible's best story book so far, if you have the non-exploding stomach for it: Judges.
• Meet Ehud, the left-handed sphincter-bursting assassin!
• Homeschool middle school during the end of the world!
• Christian culture stuff like Carman, MxPx, Five Iron Frenzy, James Dobson, Amy Grant, Creed, DC Talk, and comic Bibles!
• Plus Samson, Delilah, Gideon, Deborah, and more Judges stories that get mangled in Sunday school!
• Intro song: "Don't Save Me" by Haim. 

Ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts are highly appreciated, and you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram. We also have a Patreon with bonus episodes, a Discord, and stuff, plus a $1 support option.

WAR DADS AND LADY WAR DADS ASSEMBLE. It's a new Bible section! 

• Joshua is the dude version of LIVE LAUGH LOVE, but also somehow the most feminist book yet. 
• Rahab, the Bible character whose job is most ignored by church, and also a military mastermind. 
• THE WALLS OF JERICHO: pretty cool, but mostly for reasons besides those made up by Sunday school, Carman, and Joel Osteen. 
• How can believers explain this awful book of murder being in the Bible? There's actually a pretty simple way! 
• What we're talking about when we talk about "history in the Bible." 
• And setting up the map for three more books of general Game of Thrones behavior! 

As always, support for this program is greatly appreciated on Patreon, you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and please consider leaving a review on the podcast app of your choice! 

• The final book of the Torah, the one we NEVER talked about in church, actually ... kinda rules at times? 
• In the story, at the edge of Canaan, Moses reframes everything that's happened to this point, retconning the horrors of Numbers and synthesizing the Bible's competing God ideas into one coherent theology that more or less works for everyone on earth (except the despicable Jebusites). 
• Upgraded lore, now including IRON GHOST GIANTS (and way less murder). 
• Talmud rabbis vs. Oprah's collected life advice: who ya got? 
• You want some more weird penis rules? Say less. 
• God and Moses perform their finale duet, VeggieTales-style. 
• There are patriarchal parts that really suck, because this was written ~2,600 years ago by a guy with specific bad ideas, and we'll try to talk context. 
• But for the most part, this is the most coherent and best-written book of the Bible so far. It's also possibly just about the most historically important book in the entire Bible. Yep!  
• Thank you to scholar friends Brad Haggard, Mike Altman, and Jason Smith for taking a look at our notes. Any errors are the fault of Jason (host Jason, not Smith Jason) and nobody else. 
• Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, maybe send us a dollar or few on Patreon (with monthly Discord book club, bonus episodes, and a sticker for offer).

The fourth book of the Bible! As always, remember the Bible has been written, edited, and interpreted by LOTS of people, and we're under no obligation to treat its angriest voices as definitive of the entire thing. 

• The actual story resumes! Things are finally happening! 
• Numbers gives us phrases like "wandering in the wilderness," "land of milk and honey," and "eww girls have cooties!" 
• There's a reason Sunday school teachers steer WAY clear of all Numbers content besides Talking Donkey and Brave Caleb. Meanwhile, other Christians have used Numbers to justify all sorts of horrendous things! 
• Aaron asks God the most pertinent question Aaron could ever ask God! 
• Mommy God and Daddy Moses are fighting again, the Israelites are constantly griping about needing luxuries like food and water, and this is the worst road trip ever! 
• This is a Miriam stan podcast! 

And your support is very appreciated on Twitter, Instagram, and Patreon!

Hi pals! Taking a break from the main Bible storyline to hit some listener questions, such as:

• What's the Protestant holiday calendar like? 
• Which Bible verse most contradicts its own book? 
• There's a Toad the Wet Sprocket song about the apostles being sick of Paul lol. 
• What are the Bible's best name meanings? 
• Every Catholic heresy, given a thumbs up or thumbs down! 
• Do animals have souls? 
• Do Christians, um, like, kinda, you know, wish for death, um, so they can go to Heaven, welp? 
• What's the Bible's scariest verse? 
• A light round of Calvinism vs. Arminianism! 
• Is it fun or bad when Pop Culture makes versions of Bible stories? 
• Well, Jason's making a book, how's that going? 

As always, support is appreciated by following @VBSPodcast on Twitter and Instagram, leaving us a rating/review on your podcast app, and sliding us a $ amount on Patreon!