Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We've talked a lot on this show about issues like scribal errors, where a scribe copying a text gets one little thing wrong, and changes the meaning of something forever. But how can we know when something like that has happened? Especially if it happened almost two thousand years ago, and we don't have any older source texts to compare it to?
This episode of Data Over Dogma, we welcome Lincoln Blumell, a scholar who has made a fascinating argument about 2 John. A single short, confusing passage from the translated writings of a first century theologian launched Blumell on a wild hunt for a long-lost understanding of the Johannine epistle, and now we may all have a vibrant new take on the work!
Blumell's book, Lady Eclecte: The Lost Woman of the New Testament takes the reader on a fascinating journey through just how this kind of scholarship is done. It explores the twists and turns that a scholar's mind takes when exploring a new idea that, if true, would overtune centuries of thinking. It follows his meticulous step-by-step process of analyzing grammar, looking at ancient papiri for similar constructions, and forming a theory that is not only plausible, but looks more and more like the best possible explanation for what we see in the text.
____________________________________________________________________________
Check out Blumell's work here
fortresspress.com/store/product/9798889834243/Lady-Eclecte
____________________________________________________________________________
For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:
patreon.com/DataOverDogma
Follow us on the various social media places:
facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod
twitter.com/data_over_dogma
Have you ordered Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book The Bible Says So yet???
Buy at this link: static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466
_____________________________________________
Chapters:
0:00 The Discovery: A Hidden Name in 2 John
0:34 Intro — Why Tiny Details Matter in Biblical Scholarship
1:24 Meet Lincoln Blumell and His New Book
2:39 Clement of Alexandria and the “Elect Lady”
4:09 Studying Papyrus Letters and Ancient Correspondence
6:02 The Mystery of the “Elect Lady” in 2 John
8:46 Scriptio Continua — Reading Ancient Greek Without Spaces
11:11 How Ancient Letters Followed Fixed Formulas
14:00 Why the Grammar of 2 John Doesn’t Work
16:17 Is “Eclecte” Actually a Woman’s Name?
19:45 The Missing Letter That Changes Everything
23:56 Scribal Errors and How Letters Disappear
26:02 Reconstructing the Original Reading
29:29 Manuscript Evidence for the Variant
35:02 Textual Criticism: Shorter vs. Harder Readings
41:14 What If the Letter Was Written to a Woman?
44:36 Women and House Churches in Early Christianity
47:30 Eclecte’s Possible Role in the Early Church
51:33 The “Elect Sister” Ending Explained
54:42 Wordplay and Naming in the New Testament
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#podcast #oldtestament #bible #biblestudy #biblestories #biblereading #bibleteaching #religion #Jesus #jesuschrist #god #adonai #athiest #athiesm #faith #faithjourney #podcasting #podcastclips #podcastlife #podcasters #podcastshow #skeptic #skepticism #judaism #hebrew #hebrewbible #christianbible #christianity #newtestament #christian #christianity #christianityexplained #holybible #doubt #believe #believer #belief #utah #saltlakecity #lds #mormon #scholar #middleeast #israel #religious #church
We've talked a lot on this show about issues like scribal errors, where a scribe copying a text gets one little thing wrong, and changes the meaning of something forever. But how can we know when something like that has happened? Especially if it happened almost two thousand years ago, and we don't have any older source texts to compare it to?
This episode of Data Over Dogma, we welcome Lincoln Blumell, a scholar who has made a fascinating argument about 2 John. A single short, confusing passage from the translated writings of a first century theologian launched Blumell on a wild hunt for a long-lost understanding of the Johannine epistle, and now we may all have a vibrant new take on the work!
Blumell's book, Lady Eclecte: The Lost Woman of the New Testament takes the reader on a fascinating journey through just how this kind of scholarship is done. It explores the twists and turns that a scholar's mind takes when exploring a new idea that, if true, would overtune centuries of thinking. It follows his meticulous step-by-step process of analyzing grammar, looking at ancient papiri for similar constructions, and forming a theory that is not only plausible, but looks more and more like the best possible explanation for what we see in the text.
____________________________________________________________________________
Check out Blumell's work here
fortresspress.com/store/product/9798889834243/Lady-Eclecte
____________________________________________________________________________
For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:
patreon.com/DataOverDogma
Follow us on the various social media places:
facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod
twitter.com/data_over_dogma
Have you ordered Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book The Bible Says So yet???
Buy at this link: static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466
_____________________________________________
Chapters:
0:00 The Discovery: A Hidden Name in 2 John
0:34 Intro — Why Tiny Details Matter in Biblical Scholarship
1:24 Meet Lincoln Blumell and His New Book
2:39 Clement of Alexandria and the “Elect Lady”
4:09 Studying Papyrus Letters and Ancient Correspondence
6:02 The Mystery of the “Elect Lady” in 2 John
8:46 Scriptio Continua — Reading Ancient Greek Without Spaces
11:11 How Ancient Letters Followed Fixed Formulas
14:00 Why the Grammar of 2 John Doesn’t Work
16:17 Is “Eclecte” Actually a Woman’s Name?
19:45 The Missing Letter That Changes Everything
23:56 Scribal Errors and How Letters Disappear
26:02 Reconstructing the Original Reading
29:29 Manuscript Evidence for the Variant
35:02 Textual Criticism: Shorter vs. Harder Readings
41:14 What If the Letter Was Written to a Woman?
44:36 Women and House Churches in Early Christianity
47:30 Eclecte’s Possible Role in the Early Church
51:33 The “Elect Sister” Ending Explained
54:42 Wordplay and Naming in the New Testament
____________________________________________
#podcast #oldtestament #bible #biblestudy #biblestories #biblereading #bibleteaching #religion #Jesus #jesuschrist #god #adonai #athiest #athiesm #faith #faithjourney #podcasting #podcastclips #podcastlife #podcasters #podcastshow #skeptic #skepticism #judaism #hebrew #hebrewbible #christianbible #christianity #newtestament #christian #christianity #christianityexplained #holybible #doubt #believe #believer #belief #utah #saltlakecity #lds #mormon #scholar #middleeast #israel #religious #church
