Theology in the Raw

Helping believers think Christianly about theological and cultural issues by engaging in curious conversations with a diverse range of thoughtful people.

Religion & Spirituality
Christianity
201
#836 - Recovering from Sexual Abuse and Rape: M...
Monica Zuniga
42 min
202
#834 - Where Did the Purity Movement Go Wrong?
Jason Soucineck
57 min
203
#833 - Understanding the Book of Judges: Dr. Mi...
Dr. Michelle Knight
61 min
204
#832 - Discipling Teenage Girls, Modesty, and t...
Jessie and I met way back in college and have been friends for more than 20 years. Jessie is an author, speaker and the resident “big sis” at LifeLoveandGod.com, a Q&A website for teen girls. She’s passionate about helping girls embrace the God who loves them, and to help them apply His truth to their everyday lives.In this episode, we talk about some of the challenges that teen girls face today, from social media to body image issues to porn and other sexual challenges. We then wade into the controversial area of the so-called “Billy Graham rule” and the issue of modesty.
55 min
205
#831 - The Annihilation View of Hell
In the previous episode, I talked about the 3 different views of hell that have been taught throughout church history. In this episode, I briefly discuss why I used to hold to the eternal conscious torment view of hell but have come to believe that the annihilation view of hell is the most biblical. You don’t need to agree with me! But, if you claim to be a Christian, you do need to make sure your view of hell is based on Scripture and not just your church’s doctrinal statement or your tradition.
46 min
206
#830 - 3 Christian Views of Hell: Part 1
Most people assume that “hell” means “eternal conscious torment forever and ever.” But the doctrine of hell has actually been widely disputed throughout church history. There are actually three quite different understandings of hell that have been believed and taught in the historic, orthodox Christian church: eternal conscious torment, annihilation, and ultimate reconciliation. 
44 min
207
#829 - A Conversation about Race and Evangelica...
BJ Thompson
37 min
208
#828 - An Impossible Marriage: Laurie and Matt ...
Laurie is attracted to women. And Matt is also attracted to women. Both Laurie and Matt love Jesus. They’re in what’s called a “mixed orientation marriage” and they talk about how that “works” in this fascinating episode. Their marriage is incredible. Not perfect. No marriage is. But their marriage truly does exemplify the honesty, difficulty, beauty, and meaningfulness that every marriage is supposed to embody.
58 min
209
#827 - Evergreen College and the Evergreening o...
In this episode, Benjamin and I talk about what happened at Evergreen and some of the cultural implications of these events. We then talk about the so-called “evergreening of America.” In many ways, what went down at Evergreen in May 2017 has become a proleptic microcosm of what’s going on today in 2020. 
85 min
210
#826 - Voting, Politics, Kingdom of God, Inerra...
Greg and I discuss how Christians should think through issues of voting, politics, Christianity, and how to view fellow believers as...fellow believers, even if they vote differently than us. We also talk about his most recent book: Inspired Imperfection: How the Bible’s Problems Enhance Its Divine Authority. Greg doesn’t believe in “inerrancy” (a certain brand of it, anyway) but absolutely is committed to the Bible’s infallibility and authority. We talk about the difference in this episode.
61 min
211
#825 - The Ethics of Medical Interventions for ...
In this episode, we talk about her work at ReIME, the facts about puberty blockers and cross sex hormones, current problems with how trans* identified kids are being treated, and how we can best care for trans* and gender non-conforming kids.
64 min
212
#824 - Understanding the LGBTQ+ Community: Bill...
Bill Henson is the founder and president of Lead Them Home, creator of Posture Shift, and author of Guiding Families of LGBT+ Loved Ones. Bill trains national, regional and local ministry teams across America to extend Christ to LGBT+ persons within a biblical framework. Bill guest lectures at Gordon College and has presented Posture Shift at Denver Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theo­lo­gi­cal Sem­i­na­ry.
68 min
213
#823 - Trans* and Christian: Lesli Hudson-Reynolds
Lesli has been a great friend and mentor over the years. We talk about all things trans*, gender, church, Jesus, pronouns, and all that fun stuff. Lesli is the Gender Identity Ministry Director for Posture Shift and a contributor to the highly acclaimed resource "Guiding Families."
53 min
214
#822 - Purity Culture, Sexuality, and Why Chris...
Dr. Sean McDowell
57 min
215
#821 - Deconstruction, Progressive Christianity...
Dr. A.J. Swoboda
75 min
216
#820 - Critical Theory and Race Relations in Am...
My buddy Ed joins me on the show to talk about Critical Theory and race relations in America. Ed has a Ph.D. in American Cultural Studies from Bowling Green University and basically spent most of his doctoral work interacting with Critical Theory. Ed also has lots of thoughts about the race conversation and race relations inside and outside the church. Heads up: this conversation is super raw, super honest, and a bit of a "rough draft."
101 min
217
#819 - An Expert's View on Covid-19, Masks, and...
John is back for the 3rd time to give us an update on where we're at with all things Covid-19. Wearing masks, the future vaccine, what should churches do, where will this whole thing end up? 
46 min
218
#818 - Is the Bible Reliable? Evidence from Its...
Whenever people consider the reliability of the Bible, they usually look to historical or archaeological evidence. And indeed, I covered that in the previous video. But in this final video of our 3 part series on the reliability of the Bible, I want to consider the message of the Bible itself as evidence for its authenticity. The Bible critiques power, humanizes women (compared it its surrounding culture), has a deep concern for the poor and marginalized, and exhibits many other values that go against the views of its surrounding culture.
40 min
219
#817 - Is the Bible Reliable? Evidence from His...
Does archaeology prove or disprove the Bible? What about ancient historical records? Do they correlate or conflict with the biblical account? Is the Bible historically accurate or inaccurate? In this talk, I discuss the reliability of the Bible in light of ancient historical and archaeological records. As we'll see, the Bible actually has a very good track record when it comes to history and archaeology.
43 min
220
#816 - Where Did the Bible Come From?
The Bible didn't just fall from heaven. There was actually a rather complex and sometimes messy journey from writing the biblical books to putting the "Bible" into your hands. In this episode, I discuss the so-called Canonization of the Old and New Testaments, asking questions like: why are these books included in the Bible--no more, and no less? What about the Apocrypha? What about other books like the Didache or the Gospel of Thomas--who decided that those books shouldn't be in the Bible? And what was the criteria for determining (or recognizing?) which books should be in the Bible? And, why does all of this matter?
37 min
221
#815 - Same-Sex Attraction, Deconstruction, and...
Tony is attracted to other guys and is married to a woman. How does that work? We talk a lot about this in our conversation. Their marriage is actually one of the most vibrant and healthiest marriages I've ever seen. Because marriage is so much more than a place to satisfy your sexual desires. We also talk about his journey in and out and back into Christianity, how he's had to restructure his view of God and the world around what the Bible actually says, and we discuss the perennial problem of evil. This is where we get super raw and real about our own struggles with the faith.
63 min
222
#814 - Does the Old Testament Dehumanize Women?...
Dr. Sandy Richter is LEGIT!! In this fascinating conversation, Sandy helps us understand the alleged "marry your rapist" law in Deuteronomy 22:28, which has been mistranslated as you'll see. She also walks us through the "marry your conquered enemy's wife" allowance in Deuteronomy 21. These texts have troubled me for YEARS and have raised questions in my own mind about whether the Old Testament dehumanizes women. Actually, it does the opposite. When you understand it in its own cultural context, you'll see that the Bible actually humanizes women much, much more than we realize.
79 min
223
#813 - Reading the Bible While Black: Dr. Esau ...
The Rev. Canon #EsauMcCaulley, PhD is a New Testament scholar and an Anglican Priest. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of St Andrews where he studied under the direction of N.T. Wright. His research and writing focus on Pauline theology, African American Biblical interpretation, and articulating a Christian theology of justice in the public square
67 min
224
#812 - The Bible and Science, Friend or Foes? D...
I asked THE Dr. John H. Walton to come on my YouTube channel and talk about the Bible and science, and I can't believe he say "yes!" This dude is LEGIT! I mean, this scholar is very qualified to speak into this topic with much wisdom and sound biblical knowledge. Anyway, in this episode, we talk about the biblical creation account and science, the historicity of Adam and Eve, the meaning of the tower of Babel, and much much more.
55 min
225
#811 - God and Guns in America: Dr. Michael Austin
Do we have a gun problem in America?
46 min