Helen Bond

Helen Katharine Bond (born 1968) is a British Professor of Christian Origins and New Testament. She has written many books related to Pontius Pilate, Jesus and Judaism.

Biography Bond was born in 1968 and raised in the North East of England. She attended Durham High School. She read biblical studies at the Durham University, University of Tübingen, and the University of St Andrews. At Durham, she completed her PhD on Pontius Pilate under the supervision of James Dunn.

Since 2011, Bond has served as Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins She currently serves as Professor of Christian Origins at the New College.

She is a member of the Church of Scotland (Falkirk Old Parish Church) and is married to Keith Raffan. Together, they have two children, Katriona and Scott.

In 2023, Bond began co-hosting the Biblical Time Machine podcast with journalist David Roos. The podcast discusses the social, political and theological history of the Bible and adjacent texts. Bond and co-host centre episodes under the guise that they are travelling back in time in the eponymous time machine, often to Judea in the first century CE. In 2025, historian Lloyd Llewellyn Jones joined the podcast as co-host following Roos' departure. They often invite expert guests to speak on different aspects of ancient history. Notable guests have included Mark Goodacre, Joan E. Taylor, John Cleese, James Tabor and Dan McClellan

Reception Bond's work has been praised by various scholars, including Craig Keener, Chris Keith, Joan E. Taylor, and Jens Schroter. Alan Kirk demurs with her views about ancient media.

Works 1998: Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation 2004: Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? 2007: Israel's God and Rebecca's Children: Christology and Community in Early Judaism and Christianity 2012: The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed 2018: Jesus: A Very Brief History 2020: The Bible on TV 2020: The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark's Gospel