Topic: Gospels

The hosts introduce the episode's focus on Joseph Atwell's work examining the origins of the Gospels, exploring alternate perspectives and motivations behind their existence, and recap the previous episode's key questions about the Bible's origins and Jesus's identity.

The segment argues that the figure of Jesus is a literary creation, not a historical one, drawing from various messianic figures and Roman influences, and that its value lies in its metaphorical wisdom rather than literal interpretation.

The segment discusses Joseph Atwell's theory that the Flavians influenced the Gospels and examines Jesus' prophecies about the Son of Man, particularly focusing on the idea that these prophecies have already been fulfilled and questioning interpretations of the second coming.

The segment discusses Flavius Constantine's role in establishing Christianity as Rome's state religion and explores the Flavian dynasty's use of typology, a literary code, in the Gospels to embed historical context and meaning.

The segment discusses Hebraic typology as a method of encoding messages within the Gospels and how the consistent use of typology suggests a deliberate construction of the narrative, while also touching on misinterpretations and modern parallels.

The segment discusses parallels between the Gospels' Jesus narrative and the actions of Titus and Josephus, highlighting similarities in locations, concepts, and language, such as the "fishers of men" motif and the interpretation of "devils" as rebels against Rome.

The segment discusses parallels between events described in the Gospels and historical accounts by Josephus, particularly focusing on the story of the Gadara swine and crucifixions, suggesting potential influences and interpretations by Gospel writers.

The segment explores parallels between Josephus's account of a woman eating her son during the siege of Jerusalem and the Christian Eucharist, drawing connections to cannibalistic themes and conspiracy theories about "lizard people."