The Bible in (Ancient) Pop Culture

About this episode

Helen and Lloyd explore how ordinary people in the ancient world engaged with the Bible, featuring insights from Prof Lucy Grigg.

When we think of the Bible in the ancient world, we tend to think of bishops, priests and monks. But what did 'ordinary' people make of the Bible – and how did they engage with it? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Prof Lucy Grigg, an expert on ancient popular culture. Lucy Grig is Professor of the History of Late Antiquity at the University of Edinburgh. Among her many publications, she is the editor of ‘Popular Culture in the Ancient World’ (CU...

People in this episode

Hosts: Helen Bond, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Guest: Prof Lucy Grigg

Topics covered

• ancient popular culture
• Bible engagement
• ordinary people
• Late Antiquity
• history of the Bible

Keywords

• Bible
• ancient world
• popular culture
• history
• Late Antiquity
• ordinary people
• engagement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Edinburgh

Books & works: Popular Culture in the Ancient World

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• Reading Luke as a Cultural Elite · May 17, 2026 · 47 min
• Erotica... In the Bible? · May 4, 2026 · 39 min
• Signs in the Gospel of John · April 27, 2026 · 37 min