Welcome to Uncovered: The Bible as Historical Document. Episode One sets out to explain the overall concept of the podcast, giving you an overview of the journey to come. This podcast is a follow-up, a sort of "season two" behind my first podcast which was based on my doctoral research. That podcast, "Unmoored: America Adrift in Historical Forgetfulness and Finding Our Way Back" argued that for our USA founders a crucial piece of the evidence for a flourishing society was a common moral virtue foundation.

They argued (including many Founders who were not active Christians or religious) that for citizens to participate, to "run the system," then there had to be virtue and morality. And for those Founders, the Christian faith was the crucial part of sustaining that foundation.

BUT...was their reliance and trust in the Bible well-founded? Maybe it was just a nice idea for the late 18th century, but completely unnecessary in the 21st century? Perhaps today, we have better evidence to prove that the Bible is false or maybe its just the creation of a few individuals in the 400s or the 800s. As Historian, I want to investigate the Bible because it is the foundation of the faith itself.

As our intro states, you've probably heard of the Bible, and maybe even own one. I will stress throughout that you are better off thinking of the Bible NOT as a book, but rather a library of ancient primary manuscripts. In this show, we will examine the Bible from the perspective of a Historian, to examine its historicity and manuscript strength, to see if we can uncover why the founders of the United States thought this book held value for the construction of our civic system.

During the Episode, we reference the following that you may want to check out for yourself:

Adam Savage's discussion of his credentials

The Global Flourishing Project

Global Flourishing Report in Nature

Article in Christianity Today, written by lead researchers from Harvard's program on Human Flourishing

Harvard's "Human Flourishing Program"

Defining "Human Flourishing"

2024 State of the Bible report that referenced the Global Flourishing Report, specifically see chapter 3

G. K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man can be searched at all bookstores or listening libraries