34. The Bible Says!- With Dr. Dan McClellan
Flipping Tables
Monte Mader
5.0 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2025
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is brought to you buy Ground News. Get 40% off their Vantage Plan at groundnews.com/tables
One of my favorite people alive, and my favorite public scholar. I've been considering graduate school and this conversation has me deeply considering going back to school. There's so much to know.
Dr. Dan McClellan is a public scholar of the Bible and religion. He has a PhD in theology and religilon from the University of Exeter where he wrote his dissertation on the the conceptualization of deity and divine images in the Hebrew Bible through methodological lenses of cognitive linguistics and cognitive science of religion. Translation: REAL SMART and knows his shit.
Since 2021, he has been making scholarship more accessible and confronting misinformation on social media related to the study of the Bible and Religion. He also has an incredible podcast with Dan Beecher called Data over Dogma. He now even offers online classes like Biblical Hebrew.
In this conversation we really approach cultural issues and arguments being made about the Bible, especially about biblical history, and the ways in recent years its been used to ostracize and demonize groups of people and the burning question- is that what the Bible really teaches?? Check out his bestselling book "The Bible Says So!"
This was a dream conversation for me- hope you enjoy!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | A scholar is defined as a specialist in a particular branch of study, especially the humanities, or a distinguished academic. |
| 0:06.9 | And no one fits that bill more than my most requested guest here on flipping tables, Dr. Dan McClellan. |
| 0:14.4 | Dan is a public scholar of the Bible and religion. He received his PhD in theology and religion from the University of Exeter, |
| 0:20.6 | where he wrote his dissertation on the conceptualization of deity and divine images in the Hebrew Bible. |
| 0:25.9 | Now, since March of 2021, he's been confronting misinformation on social media related to the academic study of the Bible and religion. |
| 0:33.3 | He has been dedicating full-, working full time to combat this misinformation |
| 0:37.6 | and increased public access to scholarship |
| 0:40.7 | around the Bible and religion, |
| 0:42.6 | which is now includes offering online classes |
| 0:45.3 | in things like biblical Hebrew. |
| 0:47.2 | His recent book, The Bible Says So, |
| 0:49.1 | became an instant bestseller and is so approachable |
| 0:52.6 | with modern current event issues and what the Bible actually says. |
| 0:56.7 | It's maybe in the top five books that I would recommend every single person have. |
| 1:00.6 | And Dan's mission of data over dogma is so, so important. What's the truth versus what serves |
| 1:06.7 | powerful people and demonizes others? And also, I just want to say that when you meet someone who |
| 1:12.2 | is this qualified and this intelligent, even if you're deconstructing or even if you've researched, |
| 1:17.4 | you learn something new. And it's great to learn something new and realize, oh, I thought it was this way |
| 1:22.0 | and that was wrong. And I can course correct because that's what scholarship is. And I love his |
| 1:26.8 | message. I love his mission. I'm so |
| 1:29.0 | deeply honored to have him on the podcast today. The author of the book The Bible says so, |
| 1:33.9 | host of Data Over Dogma with Dan Beecher, my most requested interview, the TikTok scholar award |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Monte Mader, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Monte Mader and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.