Jana Riess: “He has the rare ability to explain legitimate biblical scholarship to ordinary people.”
More than a quarter-million followers enjoy Dan McClellan’s unusual combination of deadpan humor and solid biblical scholarship.By Jana Riess | Religion News ServiceBiblical scholars don’t normally get recognized by fans in public. Most labor in obscurity, pumping out academic monographs every few years and puzzling over ancient languages only a handful of people can read.
He has the rare ability to explain legitimate biblical scholarship to ordinary people. McClellan has several Bible-nerd publications to his credit, includingand articles in academic journals such as the Journal of Biblical Literature and Biblical Interpretation. Followers are sometimes surprised to learn that McClellan is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In fact, his TikTok moniker, @maklelan, stems from his missionary days in Uruguay 20 years ago. When Spanish speakers struggled with the Scottish name “McClellan,” he began spelling it phonetically as Maklelan to help them out.
“This is not about being on anybody’s team,” McClellan said. The point of his TikTok channel is not to promote one religion over another or even to promote religion at all. He gets critical feedback from all corners — he’s been accused of being anti-religion and of being too Christian.
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