Impolite Conversation: Religion and Politics

Impolite Conversation: Religion and Politics


#36: Sex in the Roman Empire and the Bible as a Political Weapon

July 02, 2018

In this month's Impolite Conversation, we talk to David Wheeler-Reed about his new book, Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians. And then Dan and Tim chat about what it means when politicians quote Scripture to make a political point. And in One Last Thing, Dan has been doing some reading of his own about the ancient world, but Tim just wants to strut his summer away.

Some of the things we talked about on this episode:

This was an unusually Bible-heavy episode: we discussed I Corinthians 7, I Corinthians 13, Romans 13, and this passage from Exodus.

Dan's OLT was Alberto Manguel's book Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey: A Biography.

Tim's OLT was a little bit Slow Burn but mostly The Stunning's new album Twice Around the World.

0:00-1:58: Introduction

2:02-29:38: Wheeler-Reed interview

29:42-45:00: Bible in politics discussion

45:04-47:43: Dan's OLT

47:44-50:55: Tim's OLT

50:56-52:15: Credits

52:18-52:33: Outtake