The Pulling The Threads Podcast investigates how dominant political, economic, technological, and religious narratives are constructed and defended. Hosted by investigative journalist Jeramiah Giehl, it applies structural analysis to power, incentives, and history shaping accepted truth. With a focus on early Christianity, Second Temple Judaism, and New Testament redaction, the show challenges sanitized narratives and equips listeners to recognize power, question assumptions, and think with clarity and intention.
Pulling The Thread Podcast: Tracing Jesus Before Christianity Emerged, Jesus the Jew within Judaism!
Claim This Podcastby Jeramiah Giehl
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27 episodes
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Podcast Overview
The Pulling The Threads Podcast investigates how dominant political, economic, technological, and religious narratives are constructed and defended. Hosted by investigative journalist Jeramiah Giehl, it applies structural analysis to power, incentives, and history shaping accepted truth. With a focus on early Christianity, Second Temple Judaism, and New Testament redaction, the show challenges sanitized narratives and equips listeners to recognize power, question assumptions, and think with clarity and intention.
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Publishing Since
5/22/2023
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Recent Episodes
July 28, 2025
Reclaiming Primitive Christianity Part 2: Exploring the Historical Jesus with Dr. James Tabor: Season 2 Episode 5
<p>Join host <strong>Jeramiah Giehl</strong> and renowned scholar <strong>Dr. James Tabor</strong> for a powerful 90-minute follow-up conversation, we explore the <strong>historical Jesus</strong>, the <strong>Ebionite tradition</strong>, the leadership of <strong>James the Just</strong>, the influence of <strong>Paul</strong>, and the real-world dangers of <strong>apocalypticism and Christian nationalism</strong>. </p><p>🔍 <strong>Episode Themes:</strong></p><p>Dr. Tabor responds to critics who claim this approach is “anti-Christ,” affirming it is, in fact, <strong>pro-historical Jesus</strong>. Using the <strong>historical-critical method</strong>, he shows how redactions in the Gospels altered Jesus’ words and message. He explains the <strong>Q source</strong>, the <strong>Hebrew Gospel of Matthew</strong>, and examples like (“Why call me good?”) edited in Matthew to support later theology. The aim: <strong>recover Jesus’ original voice</strong> before it was reshaped by church doctrine.</p><p>The discussion dives into the <strong>Ebionites</strong>, early Jewish followers of Jesus who:</p><ul><li><p>Viewed him as a <strong>human prophet</strong> (not divine),</p></li><li><p>Rejected animal sacrifices,</p></li><li><p>Practiced vegetarianism,</p></li><li><p>And <strong>challenged Paul’s theology</strong>, especially the Eucharist.<br />Tabor explains their beliefs using Isaiah 66 and highlights how <strong>church fathers later branded them heretics</strong>. He suggests they may represent the <strong>earliest and most authentic form</strong> of the Jesus movement.</p></li></ul><p>Tabor shifts focus to <strong>James the Just</strong>, leader of the Jerusalem church and likely the <strong>beloved disciple</strong>, not John. Referencing <strong>Acts 15</strong> and his upcoming book A Lost Mary (releasing Sept 30, 2025), he argues that Jesus passed leadership to James—not Peter or Paul—indicating a <strong>dynastic, family-based leadership structure</strong>, or “caliphate.”<br />The <strong>Clementine Homilies</strong> support this by urging followers to confirm doctrine with James himself.</p><p>Tabor discusses Paul’s genuine letters (Galatians, Romans, etc.) as full of <strong>urgency and expectation of the end times</strong>. Paul advised believers not to marry or work, expecting the world to end soon.<br />While some theorists suggest Paul may be fictional or linked to <strong>Simon Magus</strong> or even <strong>Josephus</strong> (via Marcion), Tabor argues Paul was a real, charismatic apocalypticist.<br />He draws comparisons to <strong>modern doomsday movements</strong>, referencing his work on <strong>Waco and the Branch Davidians</strong>, noting that <strong>apocalyptic predictions have a 100% failure rate</strong>.</p><p>Jeramiah raises the rise of <strong>Christian nationalism</strong> and movements like the <strong>New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)</strong>. Tabor warns against merging religious belief with state power, drawing from <strong>Why Waco?</strong> and historical persecution of dissenters.<br />He calls for protecting <strong>religious freedom</strong>, citing <strong>Jefferson’s Bible</strong> and <strong>John Huss</strong>, both of whom focused on Jesus’ ethical teachings while rejecting dogma and authoritarian control.</p><p>Tabor shares how his book Restoring Abrahamic Faith represents his vision of <strong>ethical monotheism</strong>, grounded in the Hebrew Bible. He affirms a belief in divine purpose. </p><p>Rather than clinging to literalism, Tabor proposes a <strong>post-Christian, Jesus-positive Hebraic faith</strong> that values justice and righteousness over dogma or salvation formulas.</p><li><br /></li><p>This discussion is a goldmine for:</p><ul><li><p>Spiritual seekers,</p></li><li><p>Biblical skeptics,</p></li><li><p>Post-evangelicals,</p></li><li><p>Jewish-Christian inquirers,</p><p>And anyone concerned about <strong>faith weaponized for political gain</strong>.<br />It challenges listeners to <strong>re-examine the origins of Christianity</strong> while offering a path forward rooted in wisdom, ethics, and historical integrity.</p></li></ul><li><br /></li><ol><li><p><strong>Subscribe</strong> to the Pulling the Threads Podcast on YouTube.</p></li><li><p><strong>Visit</strong> <a href="https://jamestabor.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jamestabor.com</a> for blog posts, lectures, and resources.</p></li><li><p><strong>Read</strong>:</p><ul><li><p>The Jesus Dynasty</p></li><li><p>Paul and Jesus</p></li><li><p>Restoring Abrahamic Faith</p></li><li><p>Pre-order A Lost Mary (Release Date: September 30, 2025)</p></li></ul></li><li><p><strong>Watch</strong> Dr. Tabor’s video series on <strong>apocalypticism and prophecy failure</strong>.</p></li><li><p><strong>Explore</strong> <a href="https://www.thetorah.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">thetorah.com</a> for critical biblical scholarship.</p></li></ol><p>🎧 <strong>Listen Now</strong><br />This isn’t just an interview—it’s an exploration of the <strong>real Jesus</strong>, the <strong>forgotten James</strong>, and the <strong>rise and risks of religious extremism</strong>. Join us as we <strong>pull the threads</strong> of history, faith, and ideology shaping our world today. Subscribe, share, and stay tuned for more hard-hitting conversations.</p>
July 21, 2025
Escaping Hellfire! From Mean Girls to Mensch — A Journey of Faith with actress Tassja Cadoch: S2E4
<p>🎙️ <i>In this powerful episode, Jeramiah Giehl sits down with Jewish convert, content creator, and former actress Tassja Cadoch (@JewGreekanMama) for an honest, thought-provoking exploration of religious trauma, spiritual liberation, and theological transformation.</i></p><p>Tassja’s story begins in an Anglican Christian household but takes a radical turn after a fear-based encounter with born-again Christianity. Grappling with intense anxiety, scrupulosity, and a fear of hell, she eventually discovers the work of Rabbi Michael Skobac and the Seven Noahide Laws—sparking a journey toward Jewish thought that offered peace, clarity, and purpose.</p><p>Together, Jeramiah and Tassja—both converts to Judaism—discuss their paths out of rigid dogma and into a tradition that values questioning, truth-seeking, and community. From childhood indoctrination and anxiety to the joy and intellectual depth of Jewish learning, this episode tackles the raw and redemptive process of spiritual rebirth.</p><p>🕊️ <b>Key Topics Covered:</b></p><p><b>Overcoming Religious Trauma:</b></p><p>Tassja shares her early religious trauma and the toll it took on her mental health. A born-again friend's warnings about hell created spiritual panic that shaped her youth. Jeramiah draws parallels to his own departure from Jehovah’s Witnesses, reflecting on how both found emotional freedom in Judaism’s non-dogmatic approach.</p><p><b>Conversion to Judaism:</b></p><p>From volunteer work with <i>Jews for Judaism</i> to Hebrew classes and rabbinical review panels, Tassja recounts the slow, intentional process of Conservative conversion. Jeramiah reflects on his past in Messianic circles and his final transition to Rabbinic Judaism in 2014. Their shared commitment to rigorous inquiry over blind faith stands in sharp contrast to their previous religious lives.</p><p><b>Universal Righteousness & Parenting:</b></p><p>The duo unpacks Judaism’s view that righteousness is not exclusive to Jews—a refreshing shift from exclusionary salvation doctrines. Tassja beautifully links Torah observance to parenting, describing mitzvot as divine boundaries grounded in love. They also discuss <b>Gehenna</b> not as eternal hell, but as a <i>temporary place of purification</i>, generally lasting no more than <b>12 months</b>, offering a more compassionate theology of the afterlife.</p><p><b>Paul & Early Christianity:</b></p><p>In one of the most intellectually engaging parts of the conversation, Jeramiah and Tassja scrutinize Paul’s influence on the New Testament and the evolution of Christianity into a pro-Roman faith. They question Pauline authorship, explore Marcion’s role in canon formation, and contrast it with the Torah-faithful Jesus of history. Tassja speaks candidly about the emotional work involved in separating Jesus the Jewish man from the Christian deity she once worshiped.</p><p>🔥 <b>Why Watch This Episode?</b></p><ul><li>You’ve experienced religious trauma and are searching for healing.</li><li>You’re curious about Judaism, conversion, or the historical Jesus.</li><li>You’re done with fear-based theology and want to explore ethical, universal spirituality.</li><li>You enjoy open, intellectual conversations that blend history, faith, and personal growth.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><b>This episode is a journey—from fear to freedom, from confusion to clarity.</b> If you’ve ever questioned your faith, wrestled with doctrine, or longed for a more grounded spiritual path, this one’s for you.</p><p>📌 <b>Action Steps:</b></p><p>✅ <b>Subscribe</b> to the Pulling the Threads Podcast</p><p>✅ <b>Follow</b> @JewGreekanMama on Instagram</p><p>✅ <b>Like & Share</b> this episode to support honest conversations about faith</p><p>✅ <b>Join the Discussion</b> in the comments—your voice matters!</p><p>#JewishConversion #ReligiousTrauma #PaulineChristianity #PullingTheThreads #JudaismExplained #JewGreekanMama #HistoricalJesus #Gehenna #JewishAfterlife #FaithDeconstruction #FromChristianityToJudaism</p>
July 14, 2025
Creating Christ Revisited: Redacted Faith—New Evidence, New Claims: How Rome and Paul Reshaped Jesus
<p>In this deep-dive episode of Pulling the Threads, host Jeramiah sits down with returning guest James Valliant to unpack groundbreaking updates to his controversial book Creating Christ. The conversation traces Valliant’s evolving views on the formation of early Christianity, with a particular focus on the Pauline epistles, the destruction of the Second Temple, and Rome’s role in shaping the New Testament narrative.</p><p>Valliant challenges long-held assumptions by proposing that much of Paul’s epistolary material—especially in Corinthians—was likely written after 70 CE, in the aftermath of the Jewish-Roman War. This re-dating undermines traditional mid-first-century timelines and shifts the lens through which we interpret early Christian redemptive mechanisms. If the Temple cult was still operational, a new sacrificial narrative centered on Jesus would have lacked the existential urgency that seems present in the texts. The destruction of the Temple, therefore, becomes a pivotal moment in the emergence of Christianity as distinct from Judaism.</p><p>Jeramiah brings a skeptical eye to linguistic dating methods commonly used in biblical scholarship, arguing that language is too fluid—and too easily manipulated—to serve as a reliable metric for textual chronology. Instead, both he and Valliant emphasize the primacy of physical evidence, or the glaring absence thereof, particularly from early communities like the Nazarenes and Ebionites. They argue this void may be explained by the Temple’s destruction and subsequent Roman suppression, resulting in a loss of key materials.</p><p>Valliant also reconsiders the authenticity of the Testimonium Flavianum in Josephus’ Antiquities. Once seen as a later Christian interpolation, Valliant now believes, with support from scholars like Samuel Zinner and Ken Goldberg, that much of the passage may be original. This revision is bolstered by a stunning archaeological find: a 3rd-century mosaic referring to Jesus as God, discovered in a Roman military context. This suggests that some Christians, or at least proto-Christians, had a place in the Roman ranks before Constantine’s conversion.</p><p>Valliant explores the symbolic language of early Christianity—specifically the fish and anchor motifs. Valliant explains the anchor’s deep roots in Seleucid and Roman iconography, even tying it to Emperor Titus’ Messianic propaganda. He contends that the anchor, more than the cross, was the symbol of choice in early Christian catacombs and mosaics, a claim supported by references in Clement of Alexandria’s writings.</p><p>The two also examine the Flavian dynasty’s potential role in redacting and canonizing the New Testament in four distinct layers, each targeted toward different audiences and theological purposes. Valliant contends that the Gospels were crafted to reconcile diverging Jewish sectarian movements, while Paul’s letters laid the ideological groundwork for a break from Torah-based messianism. Jeramiah G argues that Marcion was instrumental in pushing Paul’s letters into the Christian canon, causing a rift between early Jewish followers of Jesus and the emerging Gentile church.</p><p>Hellenistic influences—including Enochian literature—also feature heavily in the discussion. Jeramiah notes that Paul’s epistles bear more in common with apocalyptic Enochian thought than with Pharisaic Judaism, indicating a theological lineage that bypassed mainstream Jewish beliefs of the time. The conversation touches on the Sadducees, the Dead Sea Scrolls community, and how each group’s eschatology may have informed early Christian doctrine.</p><p>The episode concludes with a critical look at how translation issues, missing original-language manuscripts, and interpretative biases have shaped our modern understanding of Jesus. Both Jeramiah and James agree: the historical Jesus—possibly more aligned with Torah-observant Ebionite teachings than the Greek Gospel portrayal—has been obscured by layers of redaction, theological agenda, and imperial influence.</p>
27 total episodes available
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This podcast updates monthly.
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