The Dig In Podcast with Johnny Ova
The Dig In Podcast is a weekly long-form conversation with the world's leading biblical scholars, archaeologists, theologians, historians and skeptics. Johnny Ova asks the questions most Sunday sermons skip, and the people who have spent their careers in the text, the manuscripts and the dirt answer them.
- 20Years in pro wrestling
- BJJJiu-jitsu coach
- PastorSound of Heaven Church
Latest episode
- Dr. John Walton
- Dr. Jodi Magness
- Dr. Dan McClellan
- Dr. Amy-Jill Levine
- Dr. James VanderKam
- Dr. Greg Beale
- Dr. Craig Evans
- Dr. James Tabor
- Dr. Nathan MacDonald
- Dr. Gary Rendsburg
- Dr. Joan Taylor
- Dr. Henry Ansgar Kelly
- Dr. Beverly Gaventa
- Dr. Dirk Jongkind
Two ways
to dig in.
Watch the full conversation in the morning, then join the live breakdown in the afternoon. Here is what happens and when.
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Monday, 6:15 AM ETNext one in 5d 06h 22mThe full episodeA new Dig In interview goes live
About an hour with a scholar, archaeologist, theologian or skeptic, released on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify at the same time. Subscribe and tap the bell so it hits your phone the minute it drops.
Subscribe and ring the bell -
Monday, 4:30 PM ETNext one in 5d 16h 37mThe live breakdownDig In Live
Johnny and sound engineer Steve Ciatto go live to talk through the episode that dropped that morning: what landed, where Johnny agrees, and where he would push back. Bring your questions and prayer requests to the chat.
Recent episodes
Pick a
rabbit hole.
Every episode is filed by subject, so you can follow one question through every scholar who has taken it on. Start with the question you care about most and hear how different scholars answer it.
Dead Sea Scrolls and the Lost Books
Enoch, Jubilees, the scrolls from Qumran and the Jewish books Jesus knew that never made it into your Bible.
Start digging 2 episodesSatan and the Devil in the Bible
How the accuser in Job became the Devil of medieval art, traced through the actual texts.
Start digging 5 episodesWomen in the Bible
Mary Magdalene, female apostles, synagogue leaders and the women early church history pushed aside.
Start digging 4 episodesBiblical Archaeology
What the dig sites, inscriptions and excavations say about the world of the Bible.
Start digging 4 episodesGenesis and Creation
Eden, the cosmic temple debate, and how the ancient world read the first pages of the Bible.
Start digging 6 episodesIsrael and the Ancient Near East
Babylon, Egypt and Assyria, and how Israel's faith in one God took shape among them.
Start digging 2 episodesRevelation and the Fall of Jerusalem
Revelation read through the Old Testament, and the Roman war that ended the Temple in AD 70.
Start digging 3 episodesTemple, Sacrifice and Purity
The Tabernacle, the sacrificial system and the purity laws most readers get backwards.
Start diggingWho has sat
at the table.
Dig In guests come from Cambridge, Oxford, Notre Dame, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Rutgers and Bar-Ilan. They have edited the Dead Sea Scrolls, built a new critical edition of the Greek New Testament, and excavated in Israel. Some are believers, some are not, and every one of them gets the floor to make their case.
- Dr. John WaltonProfessor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wheaton College
- Dr. Jodi MagnessEarly Judaism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Dr. James VanderKamProfessor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
- Dr. Nathan MacDonaldOld Testament, University of Cambridge
- Dr. Dirk JongkindTyndale House, Cambridge
- Dr. John DayEmeritus Professor of Old Testament, Oxford
- Dr. Amy-Jill LevineUniversity Professor Emerita, Vanderbilt University
- Dr. Henry Ansgar KellyDistinguished Research Professor, UCLA
- Dr. Gary RendsburgDistinguished Professor, Rutgers University
- Dr. Edward GreensteinProfessor Emeritus of Bible, Bar-Ilan University
- Dr. Joan TaylorProfessor Emerita, King's College London
- Dr. Matthias HenzeHebrew Bible and Early Judaism, Rice University
Over fifty scholars so far, with a new one every week. Scholar or author with a story to tell? Get in touch
Meet every guestHe asks
the follow-up.
Johnny Ova has spent 20 years in professional wrestling. He coaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu and pastors Sound of Heaven Church on Long Island, New York.
Every week he sits across from someone who has spent a career on one question, lets them make their case in full, and then asks the question you were waiting for. The conversations run long on purpose, because the context is where the answers live.
- HostsThe Dig In Podcast
- PastorsSound of Heaven Church
- WroteThe Revelation Reset
- CoachesBrazilian jiu-jitsu
- Pro wrestling20 years in the ring
Subscribe
before Monday.
Subscribing on YouTube is the best way to help the show reach more people who are asking the same questions you are. New episodes land every Monday at 6:15 AM Eastern, and the Monday email brings each one straight to your inbox.
Prefer audio? Find the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.