Episodes

Gender: Adam, then Eve (1 Timothy 2:11-15)

Part 6 in a series on gender, power and hierarchy. Nate and Tim wrap up the discussion on 1 Timothy 2, discussing Paul’s reference to Adam being created first and the concluding line about women being saved through childbirth.

Gender: Authority over a man (1 Timothy 2:11-15)

Part 5 on Christianity and gender. Nate and Tim begin to tackle 1 Timothy 2 by considering the context of the letter, the significance of the goddess Artemis, and the Greek word translated as “exercise authority”.

Gender: Silencing women (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)

Part 4 in a series on gender. Nate and Tim discuss some of the more infuriating ways complementation theology affects Christian women and explore the frustrating passage where Paul seems to tell women to sit down and shut up.

Gender: Husbands and slave masters (Ephesians 5:22-6:9, Colossians 3:18-4:1)

Part 3 in a series on Christianity and gender. Nate and Tim discuss two more key passages related to gender, trying to understand why Paul grouped husbands & wives, children & fathers, and slaves & masters.

Gender: Authority over her own damn head (1 Corinthians 11:2-16)

Part 2 in a series on gender and the Bible. (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) Nate and Tim discuss the first of six key New Testament passages pertaining...

Gender: Jesus ended hierarchy

Part 1 in a series on Jesus and gender: Nate and Tim discuss some prerequisites to looking at New Testament texts pertaining to gender. Jesus explicitly taught that his disciples were to follow his example and abandon all sense of status, power and hierarchy. This was Christianity 101 to the apostles and early church and therefore any interpretation of the gender passages that today seem so offensive to women must acknowledge this overarching Christian ethic. If Jesus said there weren’t even supposed to be positions of status in the church, and Paul believed every Christian was to lay down their power over others, how could the New Testament possibly “teach” that men are supposed to have authority and women are supposed to submit?

Let’s start talking about gender

Get ready for some episodes talking about gender. The church has a long history of oppressing and silencing women, and using the Bible and Paul to justify that.

Connecting #churchtoo, Kaepernick and Christian nationalism

What is the connection between rampant pastoral abuse in evangelical churches and evangelicalism’s collusion with conservative politics?

Jesus and self defense

Tragically, school shootings happen seemingly every week in America these days, and every time they do a debate breaks out over guns and the right to bear arms.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: Slaveholder Religion

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove reflects on the painful reality that much of white American Christianity is more akin to slaveholder religion than the Christianity of Christ. He discusses how to distinguish between the two and shares some of his own journey of reconstructing the gospel.

The risk of believing differently

Is it worth losing the certainty you once had to pursue a better picture of God? What if God becomes harder to believe in? Tim and Nate talk about doing better and deeper theology and how that might make for a harder story to believe.

Brian Zahnd – Making Christianity possible again

Brian Zahnd joins us to talk about how to make Christianity viable for this generation and generations to come. Check out his latest book, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God.

Rachel Held Evans: Faith, Doubt & De-Weaponizing the Bible

Rachel Held Evans joins us to discuss the Bible and what to do with it.

The myth of the slippery slope

If you start believing things outside your faith circle you might fall down a slippery slope... Should you be afraid of that? According to the ancient Christian tradition, the slippery slope might be the way to true spiritual maturity.

Wrath and Liberation

How does getting crucified liberate anyone? Is liberation the central driving force behind the gospel? And is the wrath of God something we need to be liberated from or instead something that liberates? This week Nate and Tim examine atonement through the lens of liberation.

God isn’t the problem

Jesus saves us from ourselves, not from God. Today we look at 10 different ways to think about the atonement that are key in the Bible.

I used to be terrified of God

Nate shares why he used to be afraid of God. We explore why penal substitution is worth fighting back on.

Mako Nagasawa – Beyond penal substitution

Is Penal Substitutionary Atonement really the gospel? Is it even true? And what other options are there for making sense of Christ's death? This week we're joined by Mako Nagasawa to kick off a series of conversations all about atonement. He breaks down the problems with penal substitution, discusses an alternative "medical" view of atonement and explain the need to discern between retributive and restorative justice.

Give up power like Jesus (Part 4)

Contrary to popular evangelical practice, the call to follow Jesus is an invitation to relinquish power over others. Part 4 in a series on the Bible as a story about power.

Power for the powerless (Part 3)

If you want power, you probably shouldn’t have it.