What the Bible Actually Says

About What the Bible Actually Says

What the Bible Actually Says. Join Dr Tyson Putthoff—a published scholar, college professor, conference speaker & Jesus follower, as he takes a radically fresh, thought-provoking approach to examining Scripture. Discover what the Bible actually says about critically important & relevant topics—challenging dangerous assumptions, exploring ancient worlds & examining biblical texts in ways you never imagined. By making academic tools & insights accessible, this podcast will empower you to think about Scripture like a scholar & beyond. Join us & you’ll never read the Bible the same way again!

Publisher

Dr Tyson Putthoff

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Mar 2025

Latest episode

3 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

61 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Oct 2026

   The Hungry Mouth of Death: Mot, Mawet, Sheol, and the Monster Beneath the Text

   What if the way we instinctively describe grief, addiction, depression, and despair—consuming, swallowing, pulling us under—is remarkably close to the way the Bible itself imagines Death? In this episode of What the Bible Actually Says, we go behind the biblical text into the ancient Near Eastern world to recover one of Scripture’s most vivid images: Death as the Devourer. Ancient Canaanite texts describe Mōt, the god of death, as an insatiable cosmic predator—an enormous mouth and throat that swallows everything within reach. The biblical writers knew this imagery. And once you recognize it, passages throughout the Hebrew Bible begin to look very different. Sheol enlarges its appetite and opens its mouth. Death shepherds humanity toward the grave. The cords of Death entangle the living. Sheol reaches upward from below. Death has plagues and a sting. This is not Death as a passive biological event. It is Death imagined as a hungry power that reaches into the world of the living and consumes life. We explore the ancient Canaanite figure Mōt, the biblical concept of Sheol, and texts from Psalms, Isaiah, Habakkuk, Hosea, and Jonah to see how deeply this imagery runs through Scripture. We also ask why this ancient language still feels so recognizable when people describe experiences of grief, trauma, addiction, depression, oppression, and loss. And then we turn to resurrection. If Death is the great Devourer, the tomb is its mouth. It opens. It receives. It swallows. But in the resurrection of Jesus, Death swallows something it cannot hold. In this episode: • Mōt, the Canaanite god of Death • Why the Ugaritic texts matter for reading the Bible • Death as the hungry, insatiable Devourer • What Sheol actually means—and why it is not simply “hell” • Isaiah’s image of Sheol opening its mouth • “Death shall be their shepherd” in Psalm 49 • The cords and snares of Death in Psalm 18 • Jonah’s descent into the “belly of Sheol” • Grief, addiction, depression, oppression, and the experience of being consumed • Why naming the monster can diminish its power to produce fear • The resurrection of Jesus as Death’s great reversal The biblical writers weren’t being morbid when they gave Death a mouth, an appetite, and agency. They were giving people language for something human beings actually experience: the sense that suffering can take, drain, consume, and keep demanding more. But the story doesn’t end inside the hungry mouth. The one who entered the tomb came back out. And the Gospel announces that everything Death has swallowed will not remain there forever. This episode continues Season 3: Gospel, Not Shame — Rethinking Sin, Death, and Human Nature, expanding on themes from I, Monster: A New Model for Understanding Sin, Death, and Human Nature. Lekh ulmad — go and learn.

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Death Is Not Natural: The Bible's Strangest Enemy

   What if death isn’t simply a natural part of life—and isn’t primarily God’s punishment for human sin? In this episode of What the Bible Actually Says, we look at one of the Bible’s most important—and often misunderstood—ways of talking about Death. Modern explanations tend to reduce death to biology, separation from God, or divine judgment. But Scripture gives us a much bigger picture. Paul calls Death an enemy. In Romans, Death enters, spreads, and reigns. Creation groans under its bondage to decay. And in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection of Jesus begins a cosmic victory that ends with “the last enemy”—Death itself—being destroyed. That changes the way we understand the Gospel. God is not pro-Death. Death is not simply a punishment God designed for bad people. It is a hostile power opposed to the life God intends for creation—and resurrection is God’s answer to it. We also explore what living under Death’s reign looks like in ordinary human experience: grief, loss, anxiety, trauma, and the deep awareness that everything we love can be taken from us. These experiences are not necessarily signs of weak faith. They are what it can feel like to be creatures made for life while living in a world still marked by Death. And that means the biblical response to Death is not denial or pretending loss doesn’t hurt. It is resistance—the refusal to call Death good, natural, or ultimately victorious. Jesus himself wept at the tomb. Then he entered a tomb of his own. And came back out. In this episode: • Why biological definitions of death are too small • Why “death = separation from God” doesn’t capture the whole biblical picture • Death as an enemy, invader, and reigning power • Romans 5 and the spread and reign of Death • Romans 8 and creation’s bondage to decay • 1 Corinthians 15 and “the last enemy” • Grief, anxiety, trauma, and mortality • Why grieving deeply is not a failure of faith • Resurrection as the embodied, cosmic defeat of Death This episode continues Season 3: Gospel, Not Shame — Rethinking Sin, Death, and Human Nature, expanding on themes from I, Monster: A New Model for Understanding Sin, Death, and Human Nature. Lekh ulmad — go and learn.

3. 

   12 Sept 2026

   Monsters Within, Above, and Among Us: A Biblical Grammar of Evil

   S3E10–Monsters Within, Above, and Among Us: A Biblical Grammar of Evil When something goes wrong in your life, where do you look for the cause? Inward—at your own choices and failures? Outward—at the systems, cultures, and people around you? Or upward—toward something larger than yourself? In this episode of What the Bible Actually Says, Tyson Putthoff argues that the Bible gives us a bigger framework for understanding evil and human suffering than any one of those explanations alone. The biblical picture operates on three interconnected levels: • Mythic/Cosmic — Sin, Death, principalities, powers, and the forces that disorder God’s creation. • Anthropological — Sin as an indwelling power that distorts and occupies human life from within. • Communal/Systemic — Evil embedded in cultures, institutions, communities, and structures that perpetuate harm. These aren't three unrelated problems. They're three dimensions of the same distorted reality—and the Gospel addresses all three. Jesus' death and resurrection confront the powers. The Spirit re-indwells and transforms human bodies. And God's kingdom creates a new community ordered around life rather than Death. This framework also means that not every struggle should be reduced to personal sin or spiritual warfare. Mental illness, neurological conditions, trauma, and physical disease deserve real medical, psychological, and communal care. Theology shouldn't replace science where science can help us understand what's happening. The biblical Gospel is big enough to hold the complexity of human suffering without turning every wound into an accusation. Key Scriptures: Romans 5–8; Romans 7; Colossians; Ephesians; Job; Psalms; Isaiah; Amos; Micah; John Series 3 — Gospel, Not Shame: Rethinking Sin, Death & Human Nature This series expands on ideas from my book I, Monster: A New Model for Understanding Sin, Death, and Human Nature. And grab a copy of the companion The I, Monster Journal: A 40-Day Journey from Haunted to Holy. Your suffering is real. Your wounds are real. The forces that have shaped you are real. But so is liberation.

Reach and audience

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

14 ratings