Welcome to The Weird Episode of The Apologetics Podcast! “Wait a minute!” some of you are already saying. “Isn’t every episode of The Apologetics Podcast weird? I mean, just this season, they’ve already featured a phoenix, a magical veil, a holy prepuce, and Timothy.”

If that was your first thought when you heard that this episode had been christened as "The Weird Episode," you are not wrong, dear listener.

And yet, this episode is going to be even weirder.

A lot weirder.

“Wait a minute!” a few of you are now saying. “Is that even possible?”

The shocking answer is, “Yes.”

The weirdness begins with the episode that Timothy and Garrick refer to as “Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History.” This week, Timothy brings one of the weirdest items ever to make an appearance on The Apologetics Podcast: Antonello, a pet trout from the fifteenth century who was raised from the dead after being fried by the friars. But then Garrick shows up and stabs Antonello with the Lance of Destiny. In the end, the dynamic duo concludes that Antonello is no match for the Lance of Destiny, though perhaps Antonello might survive longer against the Lance of Destiny's Child, which is a spear that sings "Survivor" before stabbing you.

And, by the way, “Lance of Destiny” and “Pet Trout” would both make great names for bands.

After that, it’s on to the magical unicorns! Yes, that’s right: unicorns. As it turns out, unicorns show up rather frequently in the King James Version of the Bible. Eight times, to be exact (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9-10; Psalms 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isaiah 34:7), which is exactly eight times more than red pandas are mentioned in the Bible, which is a real editorial oversight in the Word of God, if you ask Timothy or Garrick.

In any case, this is the point at which Dan Kimball from Vintage Faith Church joins your intrepid cohosts to discuss unicorns, anti-shrimp laws, and other weirdities from the Bible that could only be discussed on a weird episode. But neither a magical unicorn nor a pet trout turns out to be the weirdest animal-related aspect of this weird episode. That’s because Dan also wants to discuss the legality of donkeys in bathtubs. Along the way, Dan talks about his most recent book How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture.

ABOUT THE GUEST AND HOSTS

Dan Kimball, Ph.D., is the author of several books on leadership, church, and culture. He was one of the founders of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California where he still serves on staff. He is also a faculty member at Western Seminary and leads the ReGeneration Project, which exists to equip and encourage new generations to think theologically and participate in the mission of the church. Check out Dr. Kimball's website, dankimball.com, for more information.

Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.

Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.

LINKS TO CLICK

How (Not) to Read the Bible (book by Dan Kimball)

Why Should I Trust the Bible? (book by Timothy Paul Jones)

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CLOSING CREDITS

Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).