{"podcast":{"title":"After Class Podcast","slug":"after-class-podcast-766974","podcast_index_feed_id":766974,"rss_url":"https://afterclass.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://afterclass.libsyn.com/website","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/6/8/9/1/6891adf7ec70713d88c4a68c3ddbc4f2/ACP-Podcast-Logo-Square.jpg","author":"Samuel Long","episode_count":413,"summary":"What happens when you lock an Old Testament, New Testament, and Theology professor in a room to discuss provocative topics related to bible and theology? Find out as you listen to the podcast of three professors from Great Lakes Christian College engage the sorts of questions students ask ... after class. Featuring (from left to right in the logo) Samuel C. Long, Ronald D. Peters, John C. Nugent","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/after-class-podcast-766974"},"episode":{"title":"8.48 - Christmas and Critics","slug":"8-48-christmas-and-critics","published_at":"2025-12-22T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/after-class-podcast-766974/8-48-christmas-and-critics","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/after-class-podcast-766974","url":"https://afterclass.libsyn.com/848-christmas-and-critics","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/afterclass/ACP_8.48_Christmas_Episode.mp3?dest-id=712182","summary":"\"Jesus wasn't born on December 25th!\" Are you mad? Faith shattered? Christmas ruined? May it never be! With the actual birth date of Jesus a mystery, why did Christians gravitate toward December 25th? Did we rob and reface a Roman holiday? Are we coopting the winter solstice? Is it just a borrowed holiday from some other pagan religion? And what about... the tree? Are the critics right? And does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? What are we actually celebrating as Christians at Christmas? Tune in to today's episode as we dig into the reason for the season—and maybe embolden your faith for the holidays. Merry Christmas! 🎄","meta_description":"\"Jesus wasn't born on December 25th!\" Are you mad? Faith shattered? Christmas ruined? May it never be! With the actual birth date of Jesus a mystery, why…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2870,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/after-class-podcast-766974/episodes/8-48-christmas-and-critics/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/after-class-podcast-766974/8-48-christmas-and-critics.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}