Robert M. Price
Scholar, Author

Host -
The Bible Geek
Host - The Lovecraft Geek
Founder and Editor,
The Journal of Higher Criticism

Founder and Editor, Crypt of Cthulhu

Fellow,
The Jesus Seminar

 

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The God Who Wasn't There

Featuring
Robert M. Price

The God Who Wasn't There - documentary
 


Robert M. Price is guest on Truth Driven Thinking



Think or Die
MINDVENDOR


 

 


 

 


Robert M. Price
 presents theology with a twist but without the spin

 

Visit our Patron Acknowledgement Page, Coming Soon!


Reasons you should read, listen to and support Robert M. Price:

"I know of no better way to tell you about what I do than to let my readers and listeners do it for me!  It is a joy to serve these wonderful colleagues and students." ~ Robert M. Price
---------------------------------------------

Since reading The Case Against the Case for Christ I have become enthralled with your work and read many of your other books. I value the great amount of research you have undertaken to provide your readers with informed viewpoints. Furthermore, I appreciate your respectful approach toward Christians and their beliefs in your writings and when being interviewed.

Roger Hawke
An Australian living in China


Wow, this is a beautiful piece of writing of yours I just came across this morning:

"... [O]ne cannot possess the beauty of a landscape. And one soon forgets the self, lost in wonder. Presented from possessing, the ego withers away for the moment, and the beauty shines unobstructed. Self no longer stands in its way, blocking the view" (The Reason-Driven Life, p. 141).

My compliments!

I trust it helps you to know that you have fans. The hundred-thousand year old relationship-management structures of my brain have accepted you as something of a virtual wise uncle after having listened to you hold forth for dozens of hours on fascinating topics and even answer a few direct questions. So, let's continue to sit in the (virtual) den and chat while the rest of the family cleans up the thanksgiving mess and laughs about how young Theo soaks up all that arcane stuff from weird uncle Bob.

Theophobius


Wow! Your talk rocked the house. I have received a multitude of emails expressing uproarious approval with your talk. Your generosity with your time and your personality helped make this event a much greater success than any of us could have imagined. We would love to have you back for Skepticon III if you'd be willing.

JH


I love listening to you mop up the floor with your opponents in debates and I really enjoyed your part on The God Who Wasn’t There. I sure wish I had your command of biblical knowledge so I could put people in their place. I also listen to the Bible Geek episodes on the Infidel Guy over and over again. Keep up the good work.

Curt Underwood

Columbus, OH


"Hi Bob,

When I started to listen to your Point of Inquiry podcast, I must admit that I was inclined to turn it off. It is not an area that I normally pay much attention to. But I let it run for a minute or two, and alas, I was hooked. You did an amazing job and I could not stop listening. When I got to my parking space, I had to sit for 10 minutes to finish the show. Now I can't wait for the next one. Great job.

[?]


Bob

I love your work on Bible Mythology. I think what you are doing is meaningful; there are few critical scholars of your stature willing to speak their minds in the midst of the Sanhedrin! If it weren't for people like you, many of us would still be squirming as worms before the high priests of piety, being led as zombies to the sacrificial altars of credulity. There are many here among us, and we are coming... with tough questions.

Stephen Wright


Just wanted to thank you for writing Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?, The Reason-Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? and Inerrant the Wind: The Evangelical Crisis of Biblical Authority. You have played a key role in my search for truth.

Sazib Mahmud Bhuivan


I am an extreme fan and student of your books and philosophy wherein Jesus Christ is concerned. Now I did have a disagreement in a paltalk chatroom with folks who do not know or believe such thing as a "Christian Atheist" can exist. They, as it where, are denying your existence and think such a stance is oxymoronic. I do not, though.

Antoine Mason


commented on Facebook wall post:

I have really appreciated Dr. Price's voice in all of these debates. I'm am an avid student of both Bart Ehrman and the Westar/Jesus Seminar crew, and have truly enjoyed the debates between the various camps, and have always appreciated Dr. Price's willingness to go his own way, where the evidence leads him. He doesn't seem to think he has to always line up behind one "side" or the other.

Rex Burks


I wonder if it will ever be possible to compile all of your writings and radio programs? I haven't been keeping up since the early days when I tried to read whatever new article or book you were working on. You read so widely and have heard so many different interpretations and arguments and discovered so many interesting connections between things, it's like your brain is constantly crunching info, rotating it in 3D, noticing parallels and analogies. I also see that a collection of your fiction has appeared.

“Brummbar"


When I first heard about the Bible Geek from friends listening to Reggie Finley's Infidel Guy, I winced inwardly and thought "Oh brother, another smug atheist debunking biblical inerrancy with tired quips about who Cain married and how we know what Jesus said when he was alone..." I could not have been more wrong. Thank you for making biblical study fun again - interesting and alive. Thank you for combining respect for the cultural impact and richness of scripture with unblinking, principled skepticism and integrity.

Thank you for all you have taught me.

George Heingartner


Bob, as a reader, and someone who has had the pleasure of your company at one conference, I know you are a great teacher and a great writer who has done much for the betterment of mankind.

Rodrigo Neely-Recuero


I just wanted to thank you again for your work. Your books have been life changing for me. Thank you!

David Scull


Hearing an interview with Dr. Price back in like 2005 or 2006 was my first step out of the quasi-spiritual/theist life for me.

Pradeep Satyaprakash


I earned my BA in Philosophy from Westminster College in Salt Lake City at the age of 56. Had I but had your book The Reason Driven Life sooner! Your tabula rasa comments made me think that we are, as you said, a product of time, space and genetics. We do stand before the canvas of our lives adding and subtracting from the art of our lives accompanied by the music of the spheres. All of your books are a must for me.

[?]


I wanted to let you know how much I admire your line of thinking. I, too, am an atheist who studies religion. I have listened to a few of your debates and I've also seen you in The God Who Wasn't There. Thank you for weighing in on theology and religious studies.

[?]


Do you do private consulting? I am developing a serious case of cognitive dissonance over what I am reading in the Bible as compared to my Christian faith and need to come to some sort of resolution before I go absolutely nuts. I understand you are not a mental health counselor, etc. But you have the kind of mental grace, wisdom, and respect for the religious impulse that I think would help me more than anything merely theological or psychological.

Theophobius


I am 100 pages into Inerrant the Wind and finding it to be one of the best books I've ever read! Certainly the best on the subject!! Highly recommended!!!

[?]


I just heard your Point of Inquiry talk on Pop Mysticism and found it
interesting. I thought I'd drop a note thanking you for the interesting
presentation, and particularly for the effort to get skeptics to
realize there is a positive side to spirituality.

Greg


I would just like to say that I have been enjoying your works this past year, having heard about you through a friend of mine. I have read Jesus is Dead and The Reason-Driven Life, and I am looking forward to owning the rest of your books as well. I just wanted to thank you not only for your scholarly insight, and putting out the fruits of your research, but also for the fact that you admit atheism. I look forward to reading more of your excellent works, and thank you for your efforts. They are greatly appreciated.

Ryan


I truly love your show, having listened to nearly every episode, and intend to continue listening as long as I have the ability to do so. I probably listen to you more than anyone right now.

Marshall Bass


You know I disagree with 99% of the things you say (and the other 1% is just peripheral). But you are my favorite person to disagree with! I love listening to your lectures and debates. Your rhetoric is like poetry! I hope I can be as good a speaker as you some day...minus the whole Atheist thing ;)

[?]


Just a short note of appreciation for your website at mindvendor.com. I visit it often and learn much. Your scholarship shows thru.

Peter G. Roode, M.D.


You gave me some pretty decent advice once. It spoke to me, and that's a good thing. From what I could tell, it reflected on you pretty well. Live long and prosper.

Daniel Sandoval


I am so thankful for having been directed to your site. I have spent 67 years upon this earth and for the vast majority I have been a prisoner of absurd Catholic dogma and doctrine. The insidious brainwashing was so ingrained in my persona that I felt "guilt" even thinking about turning away from the Church. I want only to thank you for having this site. It truly is an oasis of logic, reason and intellect, traits sorely lacking in any "religions." Hopefully I am not "too far gone" to be redeemed!

[?]


Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you in person how much your work has meant to my family. A few years ago I left an oppressive religion (Jehovah's Witnesses) because it no longer made sense to me. I really never looked back, but my wife & daughter who recently followed were often plagued by guilt. After discovering your podcast & doing a little research to confirm that you were speaking from a position of authority & honesty (I was at first delighted & then burned by Zeitgeist), I began to share points with them that helped them to understand that it is simply impossible to build a firm defensible dogma from the Bible. I could go on at this point, gushing about their joy as they began to see the Bible for what it is, allowing the chains to slip from their minds. I could also grovel in gratitude for the sleepless nights you have eliminated and the clarity of vision you have encouraged, and it would all be true. What I will do is say that whatever compensation you receive for your work, it is not enough. So please add to that the fact that you have helped three people in a very real way and for that we thank you.

Curious Thomas


I tried to flirt with Liberal Christianity for a while by reading Marcus Borg and John Spong and briefly attended a Liberal Catholic parish. Nothing seemed to gel with me. It all seemed so hollow, so empty, so meaningless. I eventually started a brief dialogue with Robert M. Price who really helped me with some of my less rational fears about “walking away.” Bob said something like, "If God really existed then he wouldn't be fooled. If you don't believe then you don't believe. Admit it and get on with your life." So, in 2005, I came to a place where I was finally able to say I did not believe anymore. I was also able to say that I had, in fact, not believed for years and had been kidding myself.

Cliff Thomas


Mr. Price, it is an honor to have the opportunity to write you and let you know how much your podcasts have meant to me, both The Bible Geek and your work on Point of Inquiry. I was brought up Catholic, then was born again and joined a Friends church, followed by Buddhism, and finally I find myself firmly planted in the atheist camp. For many years I was very angry towards what I saw as a false faith built on a false book and practiced by small-minded idiots. But over the past few years I have softened some of my views on this, and at the same time I started finding your name popping up on podcasts I listen to, and then from Point of Inquiry I found your website and podcast. In a nutshell, I would like to thank you for giving me back the Bible as a valuable piece of literature, not just a dogmatic tool for the church. It makes me think of the shirt “Guns don’t kill people, I kill people.” The Bible did not kill my faith, people killed it.

Rick Sirl


I have been a practicing Christian since I was about 19 years old; first within Evangelical Protestantism, which did give me a love for the Bible. Yet the more I read the Bible, the more questions I had. As I read Church history I couldn't find any of the doctrines that I had been taught, like "the sinner's prayer." I began to realize such things were not only not a part of the early Church, but were not even in the Bible! Eventually I went seeking a more historical and liturgical form of Christianity, joining the Eastern Orthodox Church. Yet as the years have gone by I seem to have traded one crisis of faith with another. Over the last couple of years I slowly faded away from the zealous commitment for Church I once had and, as I've become more familiar with Church history, I have come to realize there never was "one true Church." I slipped into agnosticism and began reading all of the New Atheists’ books and listening to their talks. I began to actually hate the Bible. The murder, the evils, and all the rest people like Dawkins harp on all the time.

It was about this time that I first encountered your work. I thought to myself, "Oh no, not another one of these Jesus myth people!" Yet after listening to you on that show I found that you at least knew the scholarship and history of the Bible and early Christianity, and, more importantly, you weren't making some of the outrageous claims that many of the "atheist apologists" make about the issue. These people seem to me no better than Christian apologists like William Lane Craig.

However, you seemed to have a balanced opinion on the topic, and I have come to learn a great deal from your talks and from the Bible Geek program itself. While I do not adhere to the Christ myth theory myself, your balanced, historical and thought-out approach to the topic of the historical Jesus has shed new light on the subject for me.

It was around that time that I also happened across two of your works that have been illuminating for me, the first was reading a copy of The Reason Driven Life. Nearly every single page made perfect sense to me. It helped me to reflect upon where I was spiritually, and it was the first step in helping me to become comfortable with the reality that none of us "know" anything for certain.

The second piece of your work that had a fundamental change on me was when I listened to a talk you had given titled "Is the Bible Mein Kampf?" I had developed a hatred for the Bible, yet, deep down, I missed the Bible. This talk made me realize that I was totally overreacting.

Your podcast and archived lectures and writings, along the Reason Driven Life have given me "permission" to love the Bible once again. And I do love the Bible. I find it utterly fascinating, enlightening, full of wisdom at times, and you are a big reason that I have once again began reading the Bible, studying it and learning from it. I consider myself a believer, though as I said, an agnostic believer. I respect your courage for saying what you believe even though it has cost you professionally.

Chuck/Agnostic Christian


I have been a long time fan of yours. Coming from a fundamentalist “Baptist among Baptists” background, I have been wading into the waters of leaving the faith for some time. With that, you cannot know how your insight, wisdom, and experience have truly helped me in probably one of the hardest things I have ever gone through so far in my life. I was “saved” at 19, came up in a household of semi-charismatic/Methodist background (yes, you read that correctly) so I already had a horrible guilt-complex to carry with my new-found faith. I jumped in whole heartedly and head first, ending up in seminary at Mid America under the tutelage of Dr. Mike Spradlin, someone I still admire greatly but no longer agree with in principal. I worked on staff at Bellevue Baptist Church under Dr. Adrian Rogers, the self-avowed “3-point Calvinist” and lived every jot and tittle of the faith. Until my eyes were opened. Working at the church was the best and worst thing that could have happened to me and began my slide down the mountain back to reality. So many unanswered questions that my mind could not comprehend, and my apologist background could not resolve, I began delving into the oh-so demonic “comparative religion studies” and I have never been the same. I am now 35, and am a mega-fan of The Bible Geek and just finished The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man – an amazing read. Anyway, thank you so much for all you do. You just cannot know how much of a “blessing”  your knowledge and wisdom are to those of us both fully out and those of us just beginning to get free. Again, you just can’t know how much you are helping so many of us find the real truth.

Rickey the pro-life, conservative, pro-Israel-for-political-purposes vegan 


Recently, within the past several months, I've embarked on a still ongoing quest to 'review' my faith. For the longest time, I accepted things virtually unquestioningly, and now I've finally begun to take a rational look at things. I could write for a long while on that subject, but your podcast (as well as the Pre-Nicene NT!) have been incredible sources of knowledge to learn from and broaden my horizons. Kudos!

John Halsey


I just finished listening to your Oct 25th episode of the Bible Geek, in which a listener wanted to know your thoughts about the anger we feel towards those who led us into evangelical fundamentalist thinking. I have to admit, I have those feelings often and share the listener's confusion, and I think you handled the question expertly. Sometimes, the bigotry and ignorance of my former views makes me so frustrated, and when I see my family and former friends still espousing those views, I want to become, as Christopher Hitchens says, an "anti-theist," opposed to all religion in any form. I just wanted to say that your podcast plays a part in helping me overcome that aggression and to look religion with more... shall we say, equanimity? I love reading your thoughts and hearing you speak. I have discovered H.P. Lovecraft because of you and I am forever grateful. My life is enriched because of it.

Chris Kistler


I am a big fan of yours. I am also a christian atheist. I study religion .. argh .. dont know what to say .. but you are cool .. peace.

Lene Svensgaard


After much struggle, I’m happy to embrace my upbringing and to consider myself an enlightened Catholic thanks to your thoughts and references to great Bible scholars such as yourself.

John Sinnott
Australia


I wanted to, first off, let you know that I stumbled upon your action figure sermon a few years ago and it's one of the most brilliant things I've ever read about the subject. Not that there is a flood of information out there on figure collecting, but this was extremely insightful. I've been collecting since I was old enough to spend my meager allowance on one figure every week. Yet I have never been able to put into words the "reason" as you have done, so eloquently in this sermon.

Kurt Derheim


Your work and your approachable nature are both fantastic. Thank you for what you do.

Jon from Massachusetts


I wish I had you as a prof when I did my Religious Studies degree. I am continuously amazed by your knowledge of scripture which reaches, shall we say, biblical proportions.
I love your Bible Geek show! Brilliant!

Seán Chinery


I'm determined to meet you in person someday. You were a big influence on me and my family as we were leaving Christianity.

Philip Malaby


Absolutely love your show, I love hearing you sing and have fun. You often give me a good laugh with your brilliant humor and jovial style, and it is not uncommon for me to crack a big grin or burst out laughing in public places while listening to you through headphones. I am absolutely loving your Pre-Nicene NT, your essays in The Empty Tomb and your book The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man.

Cameron Spiers


Thanks for your amazing podcast! No other scholar out there takes the time to answer questions and put out such a wealth of alternative ideas to us plebes that can't afford college. You are always giving me new lines of research and interesting books to check out.

[?]


Robert Price, I'm a Christian but I still think you're the coolest theologian ever!!!

Joseph Olivares


I have just finished reading your magnum octopus (or is it magnum opus?) The Reason Driven Life, and let me say that it relegates Homer and the entire canon of western literature to mere toilet paper. I recommend it to all Bible Geeks who are former fundamentalists. It has a nice 'food for thought' approach. It articulates the mind of the fundamentalist in ways that only one who was a fundamentalist can do. I also appreciate that it is not a mere polemic against Rick Warren, but is primarily a book full of encouragement, wisdom and reason.

I posted a quote from The Reason Driven Life yesterday, and received favorable responses from both atheists and evangelicals alike! You rock, Bob.

Derreck Bennett


I got to know Bob Price around about 1982, I think. I'd heard somewhere about Crypt of Cthulhu -- he was maybe doing issue 6 at the time, as hard as that might be to imagine now -- I asked for a copy, thanked him, he wrote back, I replied. Over the next five years, the stack of letters from that sweet, busy, talented, funny man probably swelled past four inches. No one could possibly have been more engaging or more supportive. All us schmoes who were writing Bob in those days -- I'm certain that each and every one of us felt that Bob would have given us the shirt off his back. I probably would never have written a word on Clark Ashton Smith, if Bob hadn't been so encouraging. Folks, let's face facts: our little subculture suffers from more than its fair share of poseurs, swelled egos, and creeps. Bob Price stood apart from all of that. And the work he was doing stood apart, too. Right from the first, Bob made sure his magazine was a haven for Lovecraftians of all stripes, a warm and welcoming and inclusive playground of ideas and artwork, a rollicking and fun-packed message-board for our oddball little community. No viperous fannish cliques ever ruled his Editorial Board (which consisted of Bob Price, Robert Price, Robert M. Price, and the enigmatic "RMP"), no one was forced to toe a line; a splendid genealogical treatise on Lovecraft's Rochester ancestors would rub elbows with a bad sketch of Godzilla trashing Providence. The real watchwords were quality, creativity, playfulness. And that was enough. Enough to be remembered fondly for quite a long time, I predict. For me, and I know for many others reading this now, Bob Price succeeded in putting a very human -- and very likeable -- face on The UnNameable. Thank you, Bob.

[?]


Fantastic job on the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. Hilariously entertaining and educational; a perfect combination.

Larry Roberts


Brian Bowman: What a supremely valuable Southern Gentleman: "I have devoted my life to the study of the fantastic creations of the human imagination: religion, philosophy, literary fantasy, and myth. I am a cynic, yet I love people." ~Robert M. Price


"Moved from Mississippi in 1965, and it was only then that I learned that the South had lost the Civil War"... hahaha LOVE THIS PODCAST! You make learning about the Bible truly fun.

Ben Holman


I've long suspected that Dr. Price might be sympathetic to our spiritual outlook. If nothing else, we have some common interests. He is an advocate of Nietzschean philosophy and passionate authority on H.P. Lovecraft (Google "robert price chaosium") as well as Biblical Higher Criticism (which is to say, he knows more about the actual origins and history of the Bible than most entire congregations of fundamentalist Christians combined). He is guided by reason, but holds a deep abiding love for myth, wonder, and the importance of creating one's own meaning amidst the cold inertia of uncaring chaos.

I'm currently reading his book The Reason-Driven Life, a secular response to and rebuttal to pastor Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life. Everything I've read so far only supports my theory; Dr. Price may not be into magic himself, but at the end of the day I think he's one of us, or close enough that it makes little difference.

I was delighted to hear Dr. Price talk to Ipsissimus Webb. Within secularist and humanist circles there remains a lingering hostility - perhaps not unjustified, considering the circumstances - to anything resembling spirituality in contemporary society. But I think the more they are exposed to ideas found in Setian philosophy, the more they will realize that recognizing the unique gift of self-aware human intelligence for what it is need not mean a surrender to wacky faith-based beliefs, arbitrary morality or science denial. This talk will hopefully be a useful step in that direction.

(Name Withheld)

Temple of Set


The story you told last Sunday about the faculty that wanted you to refer to God as male and female with equal frequency made me laugh out loud; as did the image of Moses as a 'serial sex changer'. I am far more interested in the Bible from your show than I ever was going to church with my Pentecostal grandparents!

Ricky James Moore II


I’m a devoted fan of your podcast and although as a layperson, a majority of your content goes well above my head, I love learning about the Bible and all of its puzzles and mysteries. I have to concede that as a self professed skeptic, I used to have a contemptuous orientation towards the Bible and I took selfish pleasure in decrying the beliefs of fundamentalists and admonishing them with ill-concealed and immoderate derision. I viewed most Christians as credulous and glib and I denounced their unwillingness or inability to critically and objectively analyze the text to manifest “truth” rather than simply confirm a previously held bias. I also took great pleasure in giving a laundry list of “contradictions” to Christians and watching them squirm and perspire while they try to explain away the “obvious” incompatibilities and dichotomies. Then one day I heard you say that you felt that agnostics and atheists may be impoverishing themselves of moral and intellectual enlightenment by constantly scoffing at the religious texts rather than trying to comprehend them. Your aforementioned comments and a perusal of your Reason Driven Life made me realize that one not need be a believer in metaphysics, no matter how illogical I may assert them to be, to procure insight and edification from religious texts. I also realized that by being thoroughly ignorant of the Bible yet ceaselessly condemning of it, that I was part of the same hypocrisy as all of those hapless evangelical rubes that I was so fond of admonishing.

Phaedrus


I must say that your scholarship has been a huge inspiration to me and has helped me decide to follow ancient studies, and I may devote my life to it.

Lee Stuart Sianos


I enjoy your originality and humour. You always challenge listeners, whether atheist or theist, to look at both sides of the issue. Many thanks for the wonderful podcasts.

Jonathan Adams


It simply isn't possible to thank you properly with only 300 characters, but thank you for bringing the Bible back to this jaded heretic.

Darrin T Griffin


I just finished up reading The Needletoe Letters! It was utterly delightful! I dare say that nobody understands the Fundamentalist mindset better than you, and I look forward to all your books! Thank you for everything you do, Dr. Price! I've been a fan of yours since I first heard the Bible Geek on The Infidel Guy. Keep up the great work!

Darrin Griffin


You have been an immense help to me!! The Reason Driven Life is one of the very best books I have ever read--you have touched on so many things from my former fundy life that needed clarification. Keep up the great work!

Scott Friesen


Your books have freed my mind. THANK YOU for the peace. And the loss of fear.

Hugh Edwards


I would like to thank you sincerely for the immense amount of time you’ve put into this podcast. I am not aware of any other biblical scholar who spends an hour or more, nearly every day, to educating the general public; and free of charge, no less! Your thoughtfulness and dedication is inspiring.

[ ?]


I can’t convey how exciting you make the Bible! If only more teachers could learn it needn't be a dry subject.

Ben Holman


Your regular podcasts help me in a very real way. I know for many geeks your podcast is a great source of intellectual nourishment and entertainment, but for some of us coming out of very unhealthy lives damaged by religion your podcast is more like medicine. I hope that notion doesn't dampen anyone's enjoyment of the Bible Geek, or put undue pressure on you, but it is certainly true for me. Before I found your podcast I was really struggling to get past the profound fear and anger left over from fundamentalism, so thank you.

(ag)gnostic Nick


Great podcast show from Robert M. Price. No one knows The Bible like he does. I listen to it all the time.

Rod Yarbrough


I'd like to give some credit to your Lovecraft/biblical scholarship. I first encountered you in a Lovecraft documentary, Fear of the Unknown (I'm a longtime avid HPL reader). You stood out from the other experts with your insight, especially when you claimed the brain cylinder (from “The Whisperer in Darkness”) idea was just a "scam." Such a refreshing, humorous take on HPL merited an investigation. Who was this Dr. Price character? I searched your name on Youtube and found some of your commentaries on the Old Testament. Your analysis was so out of the box and contained a degree of historical rigor that I hadn't ever heard someone employ when discussing the Bible. I'll be damned if you haven't made me more fully appreciate the Bible as a valuable historical document. I didn't think it was possible: after years of Sunday masses which bored me to tears you revitalized my interest in early Christianity. Bravo! I've listened to probably all the Bible Geek podcasts and can't get enough of your original interpretations combined with detailed historical analyses. For further distinction, I strongly recommend the brief essay from my personal pastor and expert on the subject: Robert M. Price, “Agnostic a Gnostic"

Miguel Picanco


I really appreciate your podcast. I'm no scholar (I play music for a living) but you have gotten me interested enough to finally read the Bible cover-to-cover, something I should have done years ago.

Daniel Gianola-Norris


Your Bible Geek podcasts have been so influential in my life these past few years. Thank you for sharing your knowledge using that medium.

[?]


You are one of my favorite writers on biblical studies. I'm a former Lutheran pastor.

David Lintner


I am mesmerized by your ability to pontificate on anything religious and your uncanny ability of total recall.

Pecos Billy


Thank you for all your podcasts. I find them informative and thought provoking. For example, never pondered the concept of moral decency until I heard you talk about it. I also especially liked the podcast where you discussed your ideas of what happens when we die and where life's meaning is derived from (very poignant). I think my father would like to listen to that particular one too. I also love your eclectic range of movie references you draw from when explaining different topics. For example, when you pull a reference from the movie Being There, or from The Sopranos, or when you said "Otisville!" to make a point by pulling a reference from a Superman movie. Great stuff, along with your "A soft answer turns away wrath" style.

Alan from Minnesota


I do appreciate all the work you have done -- I have listened to lots of the podcasts and continue to find them both fascinating and personally very helpful in weeding out a lot of nonsense from my thinking.

David Carter


LOVE your work!! Truly! Your articles and books are amazing, and I have not yet found anything of yours that I did not thoroughly enjoy. I'm reading The Pre-Nicene New Testament, and *loving* it!

Blanche Quizno


Mr Price, I love listening to you on Point of Inquiry, and especially on the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. Also, great job on the H.P. Lovecraft documentary that's been spreading across the internet. Honestly, I could listen to you talk about pretty much anything all day! Thanks for what you do!

Chris Dunigan


Thanks for all you do Dr. Price! We LOVE your work.

Brian Gayle Dowling


I admire his integrity and courage of conviction, yet willingness to respect well researched and plausible opposing views.

Grandpa "Tiresias"


I have been listening to your show regularly now for about 6 months and have devoured most of the back catalogue as well as several of your books. You have firmly convinced me of the credibility of the Christ Myth Theory. But, more importantly, you have convinced me to crack open my Bible again, something I thought, as an atheist, would never happen again. Heck, I've even been inspired to turn on my critical thinking and go to a few church services, Hallelujah! I've turned it into a warped form on entertainment, wherein I make little notes about each point in the sermon, counting up the instances where the pastor clearly (at least in my view) doesn't understand the historical or literary nature of the text. You probably wouldn't be surprised that sometimes I end up with a rather lengthy list of grievances. Anyhow, I wanted to thank you for awakening an interest that I was sure was dead. As a result, I've really made great progress in feeling less bitter or disdainful towards religion, as a skeptic and nonbeliever. So thanks again!

J.B. McNerny
Lawrence, KS


I love your work. Since my atheism started in Bible College your work has been especially liberating for me.

Bill McElree


I am writing you because of the strange circle which seems to have come around in my life. I had first heard of you by means of your contribution to a Lovecraft compilation and more recently through the wonderful H.P.Podcraft podcast. Your insight and candor regarding dear old H.P. delighted me. Upon hearing you describe yourself as a Christian Atheist, I became intrigued and began investigating your host episodes on Point of Inquiry. Then, after much trepidation, tuned into The Bible Geek... and I was delighted; far more than delighted, actually, I feel like I can open my mind again to topics and interests I have shut out for several years. Thank you.

Now here's the backstory: I had been an active evangelical for over twenty years in a "progressive" non-denominational church. In that time, I had risen into roles of teaching the bible and pastoral leadership in one of the institution's so-called "home groups". I had given a big chunk of my life to the church and studied quite enthusiastically. Progressing through the church's own curriculum and a few courses sponsored by an established seminary, I felt I had a pretty sophisticated apologetic. However, I believe my perspective remained just a crack wider than my fellow "evangelists" since I had more than a rudimental understanding of eastern religions from my formal degree in East Asian Language and Literature. Things never sat as neat and cleanly as the church leadership seemed to prescribe. And as things played out, through a convergence of personal issues and dissent in the ranks, I left the church. Then over the course of the past few years, so left my belief in a personal, capital "G" god, and eventually, my belief in most things metaphysical. I suppose I stand now as an agnostic with a desire to build meaning out of the tangible things in this world.

I hadn't thought much about all the biblical study I had done all those years...until I listened to the Bible Geek. Perhaps I was ashamed or afraid? I don't know. I DO know, however, that the critical perspectives and scholarship you so kindly dish out are inspiring. Not in a "ha ha, you Christian dupes" sort of way, but in a "there's some very interesting and useful stuff in the Bible to inform us about HUMANITY".

Scott


I was recently introduced to your podcast as I stumbled around iTunes, as I looked around the religion section, trying to find something different from the usual tired apologetics I'd been brought up on. As an avid fan of H.P. Lovecraft, your name sounded familiar to me, and I had heard of you before in that context, mentioned alongside Lin Carter and S.T. Joshi. Needless to say, I was hooked after the first episode and have passed the past week or two wading through the backlog of past episodes; your perspective and style are exactly what I was looking for—and you have found in me a most willing and devoted disciple. I cannot begin to tell you how helpful your work has been to me, where I am now, struggling to figure out what to do next. Coming out of a difficult time in my life, your podcast has proved a great comfort to me, coming to terms with life after Faith. Thank you for all that you do.

J.D. Boller


Although I have read it, I still prefer to listen to the gospel according to Robert M. Price. Sometimes I suggest his podcast to people whom I am "politely debating" with about the Bible. The look on their faces is fear...as it should be. I have been listening to your show for the last month or so (starting from the oldest podcasts) and you have managed to take an already confused Bible reader and opened him up to a completely new way of looking at it all. Before your show I thought the Bible could be harmonized, but after some listening and studying I have come to see that I can't go that route any more. "I once was lost, but now am found, Hallelujah!" Thanks for the work you do. You have stated that it isn't financially the best, but I tell you, you are changing lives and people. THANKS!

Chris Thompson


Thank you for your Bible Geek podcasts. They are both fascinating and highly entertaining. I rarely make it through a Bible Geek episode without cracking up. Your sense of humor always brightens my day.

Russ O'Shea


First of all let me just say how much I have enjoyed your podcasts since I discovered them a few months back. It is both a delightful and fascinating to listen to them. Anyway, I come from a fundamentalist (Southern Baptist) background. I have been an atheist for about 8 years now; however, I still struggle with some of the scars that I received from such a strict upbringing. For instance I have been trying to deal with the anxieties of hellfire and brimstone images that still can pop into my head. Your podcasts have actually been one of the tools I can use to find myself more relaxed, and they make it easier for me to view the Bible for what it is, mythical and allegorical stories, and nothing more.

Jonathan


On the December 11th Geek, one of the blessed disciples of Your Holiness mentioned his conversion to Jesus mythicism. Although I have no conversion story (from one religion to another, or to atheism), I do have a long and complicated conversion to Jesus mythicism, although I will condense the conversion from 50 emails to one. (One Email To Rule Them All)

I approached Christianity, like its step-sister Islam, from the ultra-conservative viewpoint (since that is where I am coming from in my own emunah/faith). I did this in the interest of fairness - I felt that liberals in our society made a mockery of the New Testament just like they mocked Leviticus. I therefore held hands with the likes of Dr. James White, in not only believing Jesus was historical, but that most of the NT was true, the only false parts being any that contradict the Prophets. I was one of the numerous Jews and Muslims today that did not see the virgin birth, or even the resurrection, as indicative of divinity. I understood the Trinity -- and once again agreed with the likes of Dr. James White that the NT is full of Trinitarian verses. Here's the "ultra" part in conservative: I believed the Gospels were all penned before 60 CE, and the NT as a whole was no later than 70 CE. When I came across scholars bringing up "late dates" (such as 90 CE for Revelation), I was surprised. How could intelligent scholars believe this nonsense? Is it not obvious that the talmidim (students) of Yeshu wrote the Gospels?

Then one day - while reading the Epistle of Barnabas (and previously reading all of Bart Ehrman's works), I had an epiphany. How the She'ol did this not make it into the New Testament? The next day, I tuned into Dr. White's Dividing Line, and he had mentioned abruptly that the majority of scholars do not believe the Pastorals are from Paul. I already knew this, but the way he said it made me reconsider: is it possible that Paul really did not write them? So I began research into textual criticism. I listened to lectures, read books and internet articles. Almost immediately I became an adherent of the 8-Epistle view (the true 7 + Colossians). I rejected 2 Peter as genuine, and began to question whether John Zebedee really wrote the Gospel of John. At this point I was basically a carbon copy of Bart Ehrman.

I began to discuss my views with Christians online, and with some Atheists. An Atheist friend of mine mentioned Your Holiness. When he told me you were one of those DENIALISTS! I quickly ignored you and your works for about three months. Dr. White then mentioned you on the Dividing Line, and I felt it was safe to listen to you and read your works. So I did. After a total period of 2 years, I went from Ultra-Conservative to Bart Ehrman to being a DENIALIST!

So that is my story. Thank you for liberating me.

Reuven


Thanks Bob - you truly bring the Bible to life. I wanted to let you know that your podcast is extremely informative and enlightening, and your approach to critical thinking is refreshing. It has allowed me to re-examine not only what I think, but how I think. Your prodigious output has had the effect of pushing many of the other podcasts I subscribe to into the "I guess I'll listen to this one because I'm all caught up on the Bible Geek" category. Not that it is a bad thing--quite the contrary! You and your work are a fantastic inspiration to my life.

Christopher Garrett Sanders


Your analysis has helped free me from superstitious fears. Thanks.

James


Thanks for the great podcast! Starting with the first episode I downloaded, something unexpected happened: I became interested in the Bible. I never gave it much consideration before. The whole thing felt so cruel and unfair to me as a child that I avoided it whenever possible, and only read it when commanded to. Now approaching forty; I find it fascinating from a cultural, social, and literary standpoint. I feel like I’ve missed out all those years. What a difference it makes when literalism and inerrancy don’t take precedent over content.

Chris


I've had the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Price personally, and let me tell you this: He is just as helpful and gracious in a one-to-one conversation as he is with all of us in the mass medium of the podcast. He is a man who has in his 50 some years collected not just two doctorates and a wealth of knowledge beyond the halls of the institutions from which they were obtained, but a sense of wisdom and grace about imparting that knowledge in a way that makes me proud to be one of more than one hundred literary patrons, and one of his many friends. You should be, too.

Ricky James Moore II


I love Robert M. Price! He is such a character, and so full of ideas and knowledge. He's incredible.

Thaumas


I think that Dr. Bob's upcoming book on Paul is going to be an even bigger explosion than Christ mythicism; Robert M. Price is not man, he is dynamite.

Ricky James Moore II


I've listened to countless hours of Dr. Price on his The Bible Geek podcast. He's honest, diligent, decent, brilliant, and entertaining. If anything, some of his work has made it harder for him to "make money" because of the misleading "mythicist" label.

Andy


Whenever I hear debates like this one I'm struck by how weak and easily debunked the apologist case is. I was also impressed with Bob's debating approach. He was humble , rational and friendly, then swooped in for the kill. Disarming in every respect. The other guy didn't know what hit him.

Greg Phipps