Every interview/discussion I've watched with Prof. Stavrakopoulou has been so fascinating and insightful.

This is so fascinating. Francesca is so refreshing and a joy to listen to. Please have her back.

This was a solid episode!

I could watch/listen to her ALL DAY

Prof. Stavrakopoulou is always wonderful and insightful.

Phenomenal interview! Prof. Stavrakopoulou is so up-front about the interpretative difficulties involved here. True to the name of the podcast, she clearly lets the data speak and holds her positions non-dogmatically.

I'm in Britain and I love this podcast! And Francesca is interesting, informed, and charming!

FRANCESCA: you are the kind of scholar I Dreamt to be when I got into Theological Studies in my youth. Im 60 y/o now, and I just discovered your videos, THANK YOU SO MUCH for being who u are, and for doing what you do. Im a follower of thinkers like Luis Alonso Schokel, Hans Kung, Gustavo Gutierrez... all men, I know. Thats why founding you is so important to me, bringing new light, and ideas into a thirsty brain.

Wow. Great questions from Dan Mc, and great answers from Francesca. There was a warm vibe in this interview, which really comes through in the video. I've been a fan of Francesca for a few years now. And I discovered Dan Mc only recently, but he is rapidly becoming one of my favourites. Well done to all concerned.

As a catholic, I enjoyed this interview so much! Thank you💕🫶🏻

THIS IS GOLD!! I appreciate you guys for putting out this valuable information directly from academia to the normal people ❤❤. Sorry for my English

I read her book and it really opened my eyes to how the ancient people viewed divinity in body and not just figurative illusion.

I'm in my third year of university in Aberdeen in Scotland and the strikes have actually impacted my term a few times this academic year so I'm doubly impressed that Dr. Stavrakopoulou is willing and able to make the time for interviews like this :D

She’s my favorite. We need more of her insight!!!

Thank you for this. As an ex JW, I shudder at the thought that at one time I actually would have considered letting one of my kids potentially die for refusing a blood transfusion all in the name of Jehovah.

Such an interesting discussion with Dr. Stavrakopoulou! Dr. McClellan’s understanding of the subject really helped to elevate the interaction and brought out aspects that were overlooked by other interviewers. Very well done! Thank you!!!!

I am glad I am not the only one who lists to listen to podcasts about child sacrifice.

I hope she writes a modern translation with editor's notes. She is amazing.

Interesting and fun. Thank you. After many years of the very amateur) study of religion there is one thing that stands out for me. The isolation of the biblical texts from their location in time and place. In assigning the texts the significance and interpretation insisted upon by the various religious groups, it has become common to see them as almost a world apart and to minimise or even ignore the milieux in which they were created. This began with the editing and collating done anciently but had continued up to today. We should all be grateful to Prof Stavrakopoulou and others of her ilk who work hard to address this serious problem.

Amazing podcast so far, both episodes. Thanks!

The Prof is always good to listen to and learn from

I love the context that Prof. Francesca Stavrakopoulou brings!

Prof Stavrakopoulous is so important in this issue ! Her not dogmatic religius view is needed. I thougt that cientist should not have a bias ? - so thats why believer should may be take a step back. And her feminin view is also very important, and lacking in acedemic - and on KZfaq. So thank you, Francesca Stavrakopoulou. ! Best from Norway

Great podcast, great guest! I loved her book on God's anatomy!

Love every episode that's just the Dans, but also would be super excited to hear from Prof. Stavrakopoulou again if y'all ever convince her back!

This podcast is very instructive and cool. Thanks keep it up!!! 👍🏻

Just getting into the show and going through old eps. Great so far!

I love this interview. Dan & Francesca's scholarships are creating a beautiful blend. Superb! 👌👌

This podcast is so great! Looking forward to many more episodes to come!

I love this podcast so much!!!

Fascinating interview, thank you!

Fantastic episode. Thanks. Did anyone else want to reach through the screen and put the volumes of the books in the upper left behind Dr. Stavrakopoulou in order? 🙂

This reminds me I need to get to her book. Thanks for the interview.

getting into this biblical stuff right now, so I am so glad I discovered this podcast! Came via your TikTok channel

I was waiting for this the entire week! And we’re still hoping that Dr. McClellan accepts being our guest on our podcast!

What a fantastic episode guys and such a special guest.

Fascinating discussion. Expanding upon 11:00, I feel it worth noting that charges of "he got the job because of how he dressed/looked/flirted" is common when the people hiring are more likely expected to be attracted to them-straight women, gay men, etc. Suspicion is inherently heightened in competitive fields, particularly when certain people are seen as susceptible to-or capable of wielding-particular forms of power. Plus, "beauty privilege" can be extraordinarily impactful in both everyday life and professional settings. As a gay professional...all this stuff haunts me!

This was a great interview. Please bring Dr. Stravrakopoulou back soon. I am wondering about the relationship between first-born sacrifice and sibling rivalry, clearly another motif in the Hebrew Bible. Could what we're learning about first-born sacrifice shine a light on Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Leah and Rachel, Joseph and his brothers, and Abimelech and his brothers?

Great podcast, really enjoyed both episodes!

Just commenting for engagement you go guys

The most astounding aspect of the story of Abraham and Isaac was for me always the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Didn’t matter that god saved Isaac. Abraham was ready to kill. The song by Leonard Cohen is framing this aspect perfectly. The door it opened slowly My father he came in I was nine years old And he stood so tall above me Blue eyes they were shining And his voice was very cold Said, "I've had a vision And you know I'm strong and holy I must do what I've been told" So he started up the mountain I was running, he was walking And his ax was made of gold Story of Isaac Leonard Cohen.

Really great discussion, good job you three.

So, not only was this awesome, I actually heard a legitimate argument about the gender pay gap and I feel like that's worth getting behind.

Superb episode

Loved it, Franky's great, get her on more.

Awesome lady Francesca.....love from South Africa

Really enjoyed that, thank you.

I like Francesca Stavrakopoulou's enthusiasm for her subject. That she is an atheist suggests that she lacks baggage in studying the history of religion and thus can give an insight into the Abrahamic Religions that is unreliant on faith. I have just bought her book and am looking forward to reading it.

It is so good to hear an interview with a female expert where she isn't interrupted and talked over ever 5 seconds....I didnt wven realize it till halfway through but jesus christ that is noce

I love Francesca!!!!

When she brought the fact Yahweh demanded child sacrifice and how people would “dedicate” (sacrifice) their first born children because it was so normalized, all I kept thinking about was how Christian’s still have baby dedication ceremonies. They symbolically “give their babies to god” and now it just seems like such a creepy thing to do. Is there any connection between the practice of ancient child sacrifice and the symbolic practice of baby dedication ceremonies? If so…yikes!

I love listening to Prof. Francesca Stavrakopoulou. I've been a fan of hers for many years. 😊

Excellent interview.

absolutely love

Thanks!

Love, love, love her.

Wonderfully interesting.

The mutual respect was tangible.

Greetings Francesca stravakapoulou .... U r so good

excellent interview

Awesome conversation! When you have a guest on though, y’all are going to *have* to figure out some signals or procedures to keep from everyone stepping on top of each other. That can be very uncomfortable and distracting to some listeners like me. Thank you!

Fascinating!

In the past Rabbi talked about whether Adam was circumcised. Today we talk about whether he had a belly button. Great minds think alike

wonderful show.

It'd be really nice to listen more to the subject that have to give all our atheist credos for half the time. I get it. How about what her work is.

I must admit years ago Francesca’s (quite sensationalist) documentary was monumental for me as a first stepping stone into the world of historicity and textual criticism (and my eventual atheism:/). Her book God: an Anatomy is incredible

As a Mormon, I enjoyed this…particularly because our religion claims that God is an exalted man. I also appreciate the discussion about male genitalia as it’s been curious to me that a sign of devotion and obedience to God was an alteration of it. The Bible story of of Abraham and Isaac I think should never be referenced/studied by children or youth!

I have a question about “washing of the feet” in the OT vs NT. I saw a biblical documentary stating that in the OT, that refers to intercourse. It struck me that when Jesus, as a Jewish man, participated in “washing of the feet”, would that be a reference to intercourse? Thank you.

Very interesting. The Isaiah 6 passage in the Septuagint says that his δόξης fills the temple.

YES!!!

Thank you for the interview. I was brainwashed with Christianity, I’m glad to be free of it. Facts, lógic, reason. All helped me go wake up.

With rates of infant/baby/child mortality, possibly this offering or sacrifice was a Post Mortum concept.

15:21 After reading through a synopsis of the Baal Cycle and then seeing what the scholarship had to say about Anat, this tendency was really frustrating. “Oh yeah, she’s a fertility goddess. Wife of Baal. Athtart is also a fertility goddess too. And Athirat is their mom and she’s also a fertility goddess.” It’s like… which Baal Cycle did they read to come to that conclusion? That Anat, this amazing violent gremlin that takes no crap from anyone, not even El or Mot, and probably was the only reason Baal ever accomplished anything, was ever a fertility goddess instead of a warrior goddess?

In the Old Testament there is a story where the Hebrew women are preparing for a holy festival and they are baking special cakes for the Queen of Heaven. The prophet comes along and throws a fit. For how many years had this festival been held, and these special cakes for the Queen of Heaven been baked and offered?

Just noticed how Data over Dogma, DD, also fits Dan & Dan, DD, mayby there is capability for a great logo ; )

Another book on this is The Hidden Goddess by Laurie Martin-Gardner.

It's unfortunate that judgement is passed for appearance and how someone dresses. She is a beautiful woman, but that doesn't mean anything about her achievements or capabilities. She's insanely intelligent.

And now I'm looking forward to articles on child sacrifice. Which is very weird to say.

In regards to child sacrifice, John's gospel turns Jesus into God rather then being the Son of God . Could John be a response in someway to coming away from child sacrifice?

Forgive me for commenting before I watch the video, I'll have to watch it later. Based on the title though, I wanted to come offer Margaret Barker's theory for consideration; Ashratah (the word that appears on the inscription) is the name of the goddess. The other idea is that Ashratah means "his Asherah", which gives the impression Asherah was YHWH's wife. According to Dr. Barker, her name was Ashratah and she was YHWH's _mother,_ and the wife of El. Evidently, this interpretation is natural to Hebrew grammar, and it certainly makes more sense of Orthodox Christianity as we have it. Forgive me if I misrepresented somebody's theory, and make sure you check out Margaret Barker. You won't regret it 😊

This talk is a great example of how progressive scholars structure power, in this case by doing progressive politics and activism through biblical scholarship. Its telling that the first thing that she says with respect to the Bible's cultural relevance is "you know they also use these texts to beat people over the head with." We get right into modern social issues from the start. 10 mins in, and we're still talking about identity politics, w/particular focus on institutionalized power asymmetry around the female gender within Biblical studies. From there we launch into the Biblical erasure of the goddess from Israelite religion, the feminine aspects of God within the Bible. She finds it interesting that people don't like the idea that "God had a wife", she has a close eye on current debate within religion about gendering god, and she is "excited" by the prospects of vestiges of the divine feminine within the Bible. This is how she makes the text "more meaningful and useful to her", by centering aspects of a powerful "cultural icon" that challenge the current power structures. And that's not to say there's anything wrong this. Dan repeatedly says that "everyone" does this. What he and scholars like him will never tell you though, is how and when they do it, though its a consistent theme that they call others out for doing so. Both Dan and Professor Stavrakopoulou use the Bible as a tool to promote their socio-political agenda as much as anyone else, and that's important to bring attention to, especially given their role within the hierarchy of power that revolves around this particular cultural icon. They are perceived and present as an objective voice speaking truth from the lofty tower of academia.

She is my idol ,like a goddess!

Maklelan had a great Doktormutter!

IN CALIFORNIA

I'm one of the people who find the nonreligious research on the Bible & theology as an exercise in pointlessness. And I'll give you my reasons: - I agree with the idea that there's an ongoing cultural negotiation between the sacred texts and the society, and the concepts societies find acceptable and fashionable at certain times. But the academics more often than not act as if that's the be all and end all of the religious phenomenon. That's just the outmost strata of the experience of the sacred. It's the experience of the sacred which is the center and purpose of the religious life of human beings. It is also the measuring stick by which we could determine what some practices might have developed into at certain times in history, and for what reasons. The mental and cultural manifestations adjust according to the sacred pole of the equation, to the point that some religions prefer to end up anachronistic and die out, than to compromise and wash out on the shores of the profane. Without an experiential map of the sacred, it's easy to gloss over certain essential principles, and in fact attribute mostly cultural importance to things which from a sacred experience were, are, and will be unchanging. There's one thing I find extremely important to your work: for individuals whose cultural upbringing was codified using biblical references and stories, it is extremely important that they are able to deconstruct the concepts and stories, if, reaching maturity, they decide they want to evolve intellectually in a different direction. Religious programming is deep, because it's supposed to be like that, in order to access the Deepest parts of us. But everyone should have a choice, that's why your work, to me, shouldn't be underestimated, even by people who chose to live through, inside religious mythology.

Are we able to purchase Data over Dogma sweatshirts?

YEAH whooooOoOOooO

I'm not sure the question is so much one about parents as it is; what does this say about Yahweh? I would love to get your feedback on that Francesca. That is; if you ever see my comment; I don't know how this operates.

That’s because there qre not quotas that require so many women, so many minorities, etc…. So, that opens people up to these criciisms as to wherhter or not they got a job on merit or vecacuse of a quota.

"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."-Dion Fortune

How can I get the blue cover version of Professor Stavrakopoulou book? When I ordered mine, I thought I was getting the blue cover, but the red cover showed up instead. I was just wondering if it was because I ordered the hard back version?

Looking forward to starting my masters in sept in Exeter! However, I do question that cultural reservations to acknowledge asherah’s existence in relation to Yahweh reflects our own cultural reservations regards to women and the divine. Similarly to Islam, abrahamic religions have a long precedence for being monoliths for some form of monotheism. Also, the cosmological and ontological implications of conceding multiple gods has nothing to do with gender. As soon as you concede numerous gods you are often challenged to maintain the main tenets held for centuries about god’s immutability, irreducibility and supremacy. I also think there may be some reticence for accepting non-gendered language for God, not only because of the long standing tradition to refer to God as he, but also this move to change things may be perceived to be a political ploy of gender ideology, especially as many who go to church may not share those political views. I think it’s a multifaceted and nuanced issue.

What does Dan's hoodie say about his scholarship?

YES HU RUN.

According to the general consensus of scholarship *(even critical Christian scholars),* YHWH was originally incorporated into the Canaanite pantheon as a son of the Canaanite high god El before inheriting the top spot in the pantheon and El's wife Athirat (Asherah) before religious reforms. If you want to see if El is fictional, just read his mythology in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts. "I should add here that it is very clear from the grammar that the noun nachalah in v. 9 should be translated “inheritance.” *Yahweh receives Israel as his “inheritance” (nachalah), just as the other sons of El received their nations as their inheritance (nachal, v. 8).* With this verb, especially in the Hiphil, the object is always what is being given as an inheritance. Thus, Israel is given to Yahweh as his inheritance. ((Here I’m indebted to Dan McClellan.)) It would make no sense for Elyon to give himself an inheritance. Moreover, as I’ve argued elsewhere, it is not just the Gentile nations that are divided up according to the number of the sons of El. It is all of humankind, i.e., “the sons of Adam.” This clearly includes Israel. And the sons of Adam are not divided up according to the number of the sons of El, plus one (i.e., plus Elyon). They are divided up, according to the text, solely according to the number of the sons of El. *Thus, that Yahweh receives Israel as his inheritance makes Yahweh one of the sons of El mentioned in v. 8. Any other construal of the text would constitute its rewriting."* *"The Most Heiser: Yahweh and Elyon in Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 - Religion at the Margins"* based on the *majority scholarly consensus.* (Written by Thom Stark who is a Christian) *"Michael Heiser: A Unique Species? - Religion at the Margins"* (A second response to Michael Heiser) *"Excerpt from “Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan” by John Day - Lehi's Library."* *"The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10 - TheTorah.com"* (Excluding the short narrative on Nimrod (vv. 8-12), which appears to be a later addition, Genesis 10 contains *70* names of nations or cities, a number that was symbolic of totality. Similarly, the descendants of Jacob were *70* in number (Gen 46:37; Exod 1:5), *as were the sons of the supreme Canaanite god El, with whom YHWH became equated.)* *"Mark Smith: Yahweh as El’s Son & Yahweh’s Ascendency - Lehi's Library"* (Mark Smith is a Catholic) *"02 | December | 2009 | Daniel O. McClellan - Psalm 82"* (Daniel McClellan is a Mormon) *"Elohim | Daniel O. McClellan"* (Refer to the article "Angels and Demons (and Michael Heiser)") *"God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost."* (Pay attention to whose wife Asherah (Athirat) is in the Ugaritic/Canaanite texts and how she became the wife of YHWH/Yahweh) *"Yahweh's Divorce from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden - Mythology Matters."* *"Married Deities: Asherah and Yahweh in Early Israelite Religion - Yahweh Elohim."* *"Asherah, God's Wife in Ancient Israel. Part IV - theyellowdart"* *"The Gates of Ishtar - El, was the original god of the bible."* *"The Gates of Ishtar - Anath in the Elephantine Papyri"* (It appears in addition to Asherah (Athirat) being the consort of Yahweh it also appears some Israelites also viewed the Canaanite goddess Anat(h) as Yahweh's consort) *"Canaanite Religion - New World Encyclopedia"* (Refer to the section "Relationship to Biblical Religion") *"The Syncretization of Yahweh and El : reddit/AcademicBiblical"* (For a good summary of all of the above articles) Watch Professor Christine Hayes who lectures on the Hebrew Bible at Yale University. Watch lecture 2 from 40:40 to 41:50 minutes, lecture 7 from 30:00 minutes onwards, lecture 8 from 12:00 to 17:30 minutes and lecture 12 from 27:40 minutes onwards. Watch *"Pagan Origins of Judaism"* by Sigalius Myricantur and read the description in the video to see the scholarship the video is based on. Watch *"How Monotheism Evolved"* by Sigalius Myricantur and watch up to at least 21:40. Watch *"Atheism - A History of God (The Polytheistic Origins of Christianity and Judaism)"* (By a former theist) Watch *"The Origins of Yahweh"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica.

A question? .. in Francesca’s long lost past, psychologically speaking, who told her she had great teeth? Well.. she will know!!

As a man, I fall in love with that woman, literally.

Poor are all those who enslaved themselvs ti an outside mighty God, instead of finding him in their heart abd be free!!!!

23:13 Church of England wants to debate changing pronouns from He to they or Father to parent. Aren't biblical scholars supposed to champion the unadulterated texts? Early Christians helllenized the texts and progressive Christians want to fit the text to into modern gender sensitivities. It never ends. I find it interesting to see the texts through different paradigms but let's not take an ally position as that would indicate that we are projecting our worldview on the texts.

DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 33 VERSE 24 TO CHAPTER 34 ASHER...I AM who !!