About this episode

The episode explores the historical perception of the Pharisees and challenges common misconceptions about them.

The Pharisees are among the most villainised groups in Jewish history. For centuries, Christians read them as legalists, religious hypocrites and bitter opponents of Jesus. But have we got the Pharisees all wrong? To find out, Lloyd takes a trip in the Time Machine with our resident expert, Helen Bond, Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. Drawing on a range of sources – from Josephus to the Dead Sea Scrolls – they construct a picture of the Pharisees bey...

People in this episode

Host: Helen Bond

Guest: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Topics covered

• Pharisees
• Jewish history
• Christian origins
• religious interpretation
• historical analysis

Keywords

• Pharisees
• Jewish history
• Christianity
• legalism
• religious hypocrisy
• Josephus
• Dead Sea Scrolls

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Edinburgh

Books & works: Dead Sea Scrolls

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• Babylon – The Mother of All Cities · June 28, 2026 · 41 min
• Imitation in Early Christianity · June 15, 2026 · 36 min

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