“It’s incumbent upon me, as someone who has lived such a privileged life to leverage those privileges…to go into the fray where others may not. I can’t sit on the sidelines anymore.”

It’s generally wise, I’d argue, to heed the old adage of avoiding conversations about religion and politics around the dinner table. Dan McClellan, the American Biblical scholar, may obey that rule at home, but on the biggest social media platforms — increasingly known for being toxic environments — he throws caution to the wind.

With a combined million+ followers on Instagram and TikTok, McClellan has established himself as a prominent destroyer of Biblical misinformation. His patented catchphrase “Alright, let’s see it” launches his videos where he presents a claim being made about the Bible and then deploys academic expertise to add additional context or flatly rebuke the information. His massive following attests to both his skill set and the rabid online appetite for the content he offers. The demand is such that his online work is now his full time job.

McClellan’s role as a public intellectual is backed by solid academic bona fides. He obtained his Master’s in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford in 2010, a second Master’s in Biblical Studies at Western University in 2013, and then, in 2020, at the University of Exeter, he completed a Ph.D. on the cognitive science of religion and the conceptualization of deity and divine agency in the Hebrew Bible. McClellan’s supervisor was Francesca Stavrakopoulou, – whom I interviewed recently.

Unlike Stavrakopoulou, who is an atheist, McClellan is a Mormon and an active member of the Church of Latter-day Saints. His faith is something he prefers to keep out of his academic discourse, but he’s constantly attacked for being biased and for attacking the Bible in service of the Book of Mormon, all of which McClellan emphatically denies. His motto is “Data over Dogma,” and McClellan says that’s the logic he applies to both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

McClellan’s latest project is a book called ‘The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues’. It’s an in-depth look at the eternal debates about what many Christians say The Bible says vs what the evidence actually shows. Questions tackled in the book include: homosexuality, hell, the Bible’s divinely inspired nature, and much more. With the continued rise of Christian Nationalism, and Donald Trump back in office, Biblical misinformation is spreading rapidly online and off. McClellan’s book is timely and desperately needed.

As someone raised in the Church and still deeply inspired by elements of the Bible, I’m often frustrated by dangerous misinterpretations and misuses of the book. I find McClellan’s work to be utterly critical. I caught up with McClellan via Zoom from his home in Utah.

There is much I WANNA KNOW from one of the U.S.’ preeminent Biblical scholars. From his new book ‘The Bible Says So,’ to his Mormon faith, to Donald Trump and Christian Nationalism in the United States, we cover it all.

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For more from Dan McClellan:

1. Follow him on Instagram or TikTok @maklelan
2. Buy his new book, ‘The Bible Says So‘