Almost Heretical

What if many of the texts are written in order to place us at a crossroads between two valid interpretations? And how does understanding the Bible as a mosaic of texts help us deal with troubling passages in the OT? Nate and Tim reflect on why reading the Bible is more complicated than taking it “literally” or not. LISTEN TO THE PARENTING EPISODES HERE. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does the Bible justify or permit exploitation? While some passages condemn it, others raise difficult questions about ancient biblical laws and power dynamics. In this episode, Nate and Tim explore the David and Bathsheba story, examine key Bible verses, and discuss how these texts have been interpreted over time. LISTEN TO TIM'S LIST HERE. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did David abuse his power over Bathsheba? In this episode, Nate and Tim take a closer look at one of the most debated stories in the Bible. This is the first part of a conversation on difficult narratives in Scripture, exploring power dynamics, consent, and how we interpret ancient texts. They discuss the David and Bathsheba story, the role of troubling accounts in the Hebrew Bible, and why context matters. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At some point we have to ask ourselves do I really want to be free? Freedom is no longer caring whether we’re crossing the lines that other people are creating for us. Nate and Tim sit down with renowned scholar Dr. Christena Cleveland. They discuss getting free from toxic Christianity, finding sustenance for a life of activism, what the gospel really is and much more. Dr. Cleveland also shares what she believes the gospel is for black trans women. It’s brilliant and beautiful! Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did God really define marriage? Or is it just something people have often done? And what did Jesus really say about men and women? Nate and Tim continue the conversation about whether the Bible ever asserts a divine ideal for marriage. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the Bible even about a return to original ideals? Or is the idea that of a forward march through history where humans partner with God to usher in new and unknown territory? Nate and Tim begin a discussion on sexuality and gender, asking whether the so-called divine ideal for marriage is really a good argument in defense of traditional views. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We ask Rob Bell what it felt like to hear "Farewell Rob Bell" by John Piper after writing Love Wins and what he wants to be remembered as when he's gone. Plus, we get to lots of our Patron's questions, like what does Rob think the word "Christian" means? (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In memory of Rachel Held Evans. Woman of Valor. #becauseofRHE #SaintRachel Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bible’s cosmology can be weird and hard to believe. What is there for us if we can’t get excited about ruling over angels? Nate and Tim wrestle with this question, discussing the profound and practical strategy that Paul and the early Christians took from all this craziness, which is the ethic of relinquishing power. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is where things start to get weird. Nate and Tim look at the Bible’s strange hope that humanity would one day come to rule not only on earth but over the gods in the heavens. And to Paul, for that to happen, we’ll need bodies fit for inhabiting both heaven and earth simultaneously. This one got so nutty and went so long that it had to be split into two parts, so look out for the second half in the next episode. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

God will one day lead a revolution to overturn the power structures of the world. The biblical writers call this "heaven." Those at the bottom will be put at the top and vice versa, and it may have nothing to do with how good or righteous we are. The conversation leads to more questions and even some concerns, which Nate and Tim begin to address. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you used to picture flying away to be in heaven? Or, maybe you've thought of new creation as what heaven is. After spending 3 episodes talking about hell, Nate & Tim work to complicate the conception of heaven, in keeping with the biblical writers. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if Matthew and Luke imagine life after death differently? And why don’t Paul or John ever mention anything like Hell? And lastly, if there is no consensus on a singular notion of Hell, then how the hell ought we to think and feel about all this? In Part 3, Nate and Tim further examine the complexity and inconsistency in the so-called “Biblical worldview” on Hell. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where did "hell" come from? What is Sheol? Hades? Gehenna? And who goes to these places (or are they are even places?) In Part 2, Nate and Tim look at several passages in the scriptures to begin analyzing how various authors conceived of what we’ve come to call Hell. We’ll see how our idea of Hell is actually an amalgam of various concepts related to multiple different questions. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us are terrified of Hell, but should we be? Is Christianity supposed to ease our anxieties around death or exasperate them? And is Hell really about torture? In this first conversation in a series on Hell, Nate and Tim ditch the Bible and traditional ideas for a bit to try to imagine the theoretical possibilities for some sort of future judgment. (More) Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim interviews Wade Mullen (@wad3mullen), a professor who researches the ways evangelical churches and organizations try to cover up abuse and protect their image. In a conversation that hits a little close to home, Tim and Wade discuss why both abuse and the cover-up of abuse are so prevalent in evangelical churches and how to know if your church and its leaders are lying to you. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It took Brandi ten years of following Jesus as a Black woman to realize that her theology was whiter than a North Dakota snowstorm. Nate and Tim talk with writer and minister Brandi Miller about pursuing racial justice within evangelicalism, what the gospel really is, how American Christianity trains people to be controlled, and much more. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Piper, Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition say things like "Marry the Bible". Have we made an idol out of the Bible? In the third segment of question and response, Nate and Tim discuss whether the story of the Exodus ought to be taken literally, whether Christianity has made an idol out of the Bible, and more. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it your responsibility to call out your racist uncle? Does God heal people and is it helpful to believe that? Are the women heroes in the Bible messiah figures? Nate and Tim continue responding to your questions. Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should we try to get as many people to be Christians as possible? This week we respond to listener questions about evangelism and the great commission. Also, what churches did they work for? And beyond penal substitution, what are more positive ways to share the gospel? Thoughts, questions, stories? Please email almostheretical@gmail.com Become a member and get: 1. Bonus episodes of Utterly Heretical (our private podcast) every month 2. All full-length episodes 3. Access to our private community of 350+ listeners Become a member: almostheretical.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices