Episodes
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Audrey Assad: Psilocybin, Christian Music and Parenting
What does it feel like to change your beliefs? What can we teach our children when we’re not sure what we believe? Nate talks to Audrey Assad who was part of creating and then leaving the evangelical culture through conservative Christian…
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Dr. Mario Livio: Galileo and science deniers
Why is science denialism more prominent in the Christian church? What are the consequences of suppressing scientific curiosity in the Church? How do we have conversations with friends and family who deny scientific findings and new information?
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Krispin and D.L. Mayfield: Mister Rogers, Dave Ramsey and Attachment Theory
Why is Mister Rogers’ message to children better than Sunday school? How did Dave Ramsey make the accusation of money a christian value? How can Attachment Theory shine a light on shame-filled messages we often hear in the church? Nate sits…
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Julie Anne Smith: Covering up problems in the Church
In light of the scandal involving Ravi Zacharias, Nate talks with Julie Anne Smith about Lori Anne Thompson’s survivor story and power structures in the Church that allow for both spiritual and .
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John Wayne and Jesus with Kristin Du Mez
How’d we get from John Wayne and Jesus to Trump in Evangelicalism? Learn why Kristin Du Mez thinks so many are deconstructing Christianity.
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What happened to Almost Heretical in 2020
Why did we take a break from the show for almost a year? Nate and Tim share about what happened to them personally in 2020 and talk about what is coming next for the show.
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Unequally yoked
What does it even mean to be unequally yoked? And does any part of the New Testament actually forbid Christians getting married to people who aren’t Christian? And if so, why?
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The Disappointment of the Spirit
God’s spirit living inside of our bodies. That is the central, climactic idea of the New Testament. But what if this grand climax also turned out to be a little disappointing? And what if much of the New Testament actually seems…
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Sacrifice after Jesus
How did the early church think about the Levitical system and sacrifices after Jesus? Nate and Tim discuss this common and problematic question while seeking to avoid antisemitic supersessionism and find a more sensible understanding of things.
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Shower First, Spirit Second
Is baptism really just a bath? Does God really only forgive ignorant people? What is the order of operations related to atonement? Nate and Tim respond to a few more listener questions.
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Atonement must be Universal
Nate and Tim respond to a few listener questions, discussing how forgiveness itself is tied to liberation as well as why universal atonement isn’t just a possibility but a necessity.
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What Does Ransom Mean?
What does holiness and chemical atonement have to do with liberation and ransom? Did Jesus pay a ransom price, and if so, to who? And how might we better synthesize these various ways of describing what Jesus accomplished?
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Chemistry and Scapegoats
What do ancient science, the “scapegoat” of Yom Kippur, and holy tree branches have to do with Jesus’ death? And what does resurrection have to do with everything? Nate and Tim continue discussing how the contagious nature of holiness undergirds much…
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Did Jesus have to die?
Did Jesus have to die, or is that not even how we should think about it? And why is blood both a source of holiness and defilement? Also, what do menstruation and “nocturnal emissions” have to do with each other in…
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Holiness is the Gospel
Holiness and purity were two of the central concerns of the entire Levitical system. Neither were moral categories, but rather had to do with something like chemical states. In this episode, Nate and Tim discuss the idea of holiness and how…
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Hillary McBride: Getting healthy
Many of us are rethinking faith and leaving old beliefs behind, but how do we get healthy? Nate and Tim talk with Dr. Hillary McBride about what it actually takes to build new community, how to deal with the trauma our…
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Why blood?
Why the blood? There is actually an important bit of ancient science underlying the whole idea of sacrifice and atonement. Also, what happens if we just can’t believe that science?
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Contagious
Why sacrifice animals? Why send some people outside the camp? Why all the rules? Nate and Tim discuss how the threat of viral contagion is the primary principal underlying the Levitical system, and how that is why the Torah talks so…
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Cosmic campout
What all is required in order to camp out with God? And what is holiness anyway? Nate and Tim discuss all this and more, including why there are so many long lists of detailed instructions in the Torah and how to…
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg: Forgiveness and Pharisees
What constitutes a good apology? How do we appreciate both forgiveness and justice at the same time? And what can we learn from the Jewish tradition about how to disagree, change our minds, and embrace both the old and the new?…