Almost Heretical

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? 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.co

Episode 1 of the Gender series. The church has a long history of oppressing and silencing women, and using the Bible and Paul to justify that. We are going to push back on that and show that Paul thought the opposite. Tell your friends, tell you dad, tell your mom. 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

Last week Jeff Sessions used the Bible to justify kidnapping children, separating families, and continuing one of the cruelest immigration policies in US history. We're sickened, so we put out an impromptu episode calling BS on that. Our theology matters because it can lead to death or life. Which will you choose? 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 is the connection between rampant pastoral abuse in evangelical churches and evangelicalism’s collusion with conservative politics? Nate and Tim discuss how American slaveholder religion instilled a reverence for authority that is the root of both these issues. Listen in as they touch on #churchtoo, Colin Kaepernick, protecting the status quo, the notion that we’re all just supposed to be grateful for authorities, 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

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. Many believe it’s “a God-given right” to own and use a gun, and many think that Jesus affirmed and even commanded armed self-defense. Others insist that Christianity is inherently pacifist and that following Jesus means giving up one’s right to bear arms. This week Tim finally went out to the shed to record an episode looking at where Jesus really stood on self-defense. 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

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. Jonathan's book is Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion 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

Acknowledging the truth of our history can be painful, overwhelming and even traumatic. The history itself is also one of traumatization. Nate and Tim continue the conversation about the tragic truth of American church history by reflecting on last week’s discussion with Mark Charles 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

Mark Charles retells the founding of America to expose political, social and spiritual implications. You may need to sit and process for a while after this episode. What if we're remembering Abraham Lincoln and our founding all wrong? What if the systemic issues of our national history are still unresolved today? 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 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. 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

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. 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

Nate & Tim explore the multifaceted nature of the Bible with special guest, author Rachel Held Evans. Delving into her book Inspired, we discuss religious pluralism, how the slippery slope of deconstruction is actually wonderful, and the power of questioning faith. Rachel shares her insights on the Bible and its dual-edged capacity as a weapon and a tool for liberation. Join us as we uncover the Bible's complexities and learn how to navigate its teachings responsibly in today's world. 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

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. 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

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. 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 cross 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. 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

Nate shares why he used to be afraid of God. We explore why penal substitution is worth fighting back on. Part 2 in a series of discussions on what happened at the cross, we continue the critique of PSA and the uglier aspects of Calvinistic theology and answer questions from Nate’s grandma about hell, judgment and universalism. 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 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. 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

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, we contrast this ethic with the theology of power and submission that is rooted in American slavery and is alive and well in the American church today. 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

If you want power, you probably shouldn’t have it. This week we explore the relationship between the Jewish exile and power, the idea of two Jewish messiah figures and how Jesus was the key to unlocking the human problem with power. 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 is trying to tell a story about power. Will we let it? The Old Testament weaves together two ideas: Humanity needs to wield power in order to set things right, but everyone who seeks this power proves incapable of handling it justly. This episode explores how the prophets and the prophetic nature of the Bible play an important role in telling this story. 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

So much abuse and hurt is rooted in issues of power, yet power is rarely discussed in church. Though it’s been largely ignored, the danger and corrupting influence of power is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible. Nate and Tim start a new series exploring how the Bible tells a vitally important story about power that evangelicalism desperately needs to listen to. References: Bergsma and Hahn’s: Noah’s Nakedness and the curse on Canaan Naked Bible Podcast episode 159: Noah’s Nakedness, the Sin of Ham, and the Curse of Canaan Gen 6:1-5 4.Gen 9:20-27 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