Helen Bond
Helen is professor of Christian origins at Edinburgh University. Her many excellent books include Women Remembered: Jesus’s Female Disciples, The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark’s Gospel, and The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed. Her research focuses on the social and political history of first century Judaea, the historical Jesus and the canonical gospels.
Born in Cefn Cribwr, south Wales, Lloyd is professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University. He has previously taught at Edinburgh University, where he was Professor of Ancient Iranian and Greek History. He has spent extensive time in the Middle East, and is a specialist in the histories and cultures of ancient Persia, the Levant, the Near East, Egypt, and Greece. He has often appeared on the BBC, Channel 4, and Netflix as well as in The Times and other media outlets. He has worked with the British Museum, the Smithsonian, and other world-leading institutions. His books include King and Court in Ancient Persia; Ctesias’ History of Persia; The Culture of Animals in Antiquity; Persians: the Age of the Great Kings; Ancient Persia and the Book of Esther; The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt; and Designs on the Past: How Hollywood Created the Ancient World. Spring 2026 will see the publication of Lloyd’s new ‘biography’ of the ancient city of Babylon. He is currently writing about the Hittites.
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
John Nelson teaches Theology & Philosophy at Haberdashers' Boys' School and writes Behind the Gospels, an academic blog which offers weekly insights into the Gospels and historical Jesus. He has master's in Theology (New Testament) from Magdalen College, Oxford and a PhD in Christian Origins from the University of Edinburgh. John's revised dissertation is Jesus' Physical Appearance: Biography, Christology, Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025).
John Nelson
Dave is a journalist and podcaster who writes for History.com and the popular podcast Stuff You Should Know. Dave has a degree in religious studies from Duke University and is the co-creator and original co-host of Biblical Time Machine.
Dave Roos
Explore the fascinating origins of the Bible and its eventful history. On Bible Odyssey, the world’s leading scholars share the latest historical and literary research on this unique religious and culturally significant set of texts. Bible Odyssey is a public outreach of the Society of Biblical Literature, the oldest and largest learned society devoted to the critical investigation of the Bible.