Almost Heretical
Are you ready to rethink the Bible and challenge easy answers? Join guests like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Marianne Williamson, Tim Mackie (BibleProject), Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Rainn Wilson (The Office), and Rob Bell as we dive into complex conversations about faith, moving beyond conservative and liberal camps. If you don’t fit neatly into either space, you’ll fit in just fine here. Hosted by Nate Hanson (former Crazy Love pastor) and Shelby Hanson (MA Biblical Studies & Dead Sea Scrolls), Almost Heretical invites you to explore Christianity without subscribing to tribal ideologies. With over 2 million downloads, this is a space for those asking tough questions and seeking honest answers. You’re not alone.
Join 1,000+ others for bonus episodes and our private community: almostheretical.com/subscribe
101
#67 – Christena Cleveland: Toxic Christianity
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!
66 min
102
#66 – LGBTQ: Why do people marry?
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.
66 min
103
#65 – LGBTQ: The so-called Divine Ideal
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.
59 min
104
#64 – Rob Bell - Outside the camp
We ask Rob Bell what it felt like to hear "Farewell Rob Bell" by John Piper 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?
69 min
105
#63 – Rachel Held Evans tribute
In memory of Rachel Held Evans. Woman of Valor. #becauseofRHE #SaintRachel Please donate to Dan and her two children here: https://www.gofundme.com/supporting-rachel-held-evans
75 min
106
#62 – The Heaven Ethic
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.
37 min
107
#61 – Bodies for Both Worlds
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.
45 min
108
#60 – Heaven as a Revolution
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.
63 min
109
#59 – I'll fly away, old glory
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.
59 min
110
#58 – Who the hell knows (Hell Part 3)
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.
70 min
111
#57 – To hell with hell
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.
60 min
112
#56 – Scared to Death (Hell Part 1)
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.
74 min
113
#55 – Wade Mullen - Church abuse and cover-up
Tim interviews Wade Mullen, 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.
89 min
114
#54 – Brandi Miller: Racial Justice and Evangel...
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.
61 min
115
#53 – John Piper says to marry the bible
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.
42 min
116
#52 – Is divine healing real?
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.
36 min
117
#51 – Why do Christian's evangelize?
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?
47 min
118
#50 – 1 year in
In 2018, we launched the podcast and recorded 49 episodes. Nate and Tim reflect on what they've learned.
68 min
119
#49 – Making Hezekiah Great Again
Have you ever thought about Hezekiah as one of the main characters in the Old Testament? And what if we told you that the child named Immanuel spoken of in Isaiah referred not to Jesus but to Hezekiah (at least at first)? Nate and Tim look again at the literary technique of “snowballing” and discuss how biblical characters and even biblical texts are presented as disappointing failures that will have to be recycled and repurposed in the future.
27 min
120
#48 – Old Testament jerks
Ever notice how all the “good guys” in the Old Testament turn out to be jerks? Tim and Nate talk about a narrative technique Tim calls “snowballing”, where the Biblical authors intentionally try to get us excited about each new hero figure, only to let us down in the end. It is this pattern that allowed Jesus to look back and say all these stories pointed to him.
36 min
121
#47 – Tim Mackie: Homosexuality and the Bible (...
Dr. Timothy Mackie (The Bible Project) talks about LGBTQ and the bible, and continues talking with Nate and Tim about the Bible and ethics. Does the Bible end conversations about ethics or start them?
29 min
122
#46 – Tim Mackie - Deconstructing Christianity ...
Dr. Timothy Mackie (The Bible Project) talks with Tim and Nate about the often missed literary designs in the Bible. What kind of patterns and repetitions do we often overlook? And what does it mean that the Bible contains riddles and texts with multiple meanings?
24 min
123
#45 – Why Seams & Stitching Matter
All the talk about stitching and literary complexity got Nate and Tim talking about why this stuff even matters. What does thinking of the Bible as a literary mosaic change? How does paying attention to redaction and arrangement affect our views of Christianity and how we relate to one another?
25 min
124
#44 – Ancient Scroll Technology
Ancient scroll technology led to literary binding techniques evident in the Bible. Collections of texts were stitched together through canonical seams and enclosed within literary introductions and conclusions. This seam work is how we got a Bible.
30 min
125
#43 – Literary Layers & Ananias and Sapphira
Collectively, the Bible consists of complex literary layers stacked atop one another. Stories and motifs are recycled and re-used. When we read any individual story, we must read it as a single layer of a greater whole. The strange story of Ananias and Sapphira, for example, is written in conversation with a series of Old Testament stories as well as at least one other Ananias story in the Book of Acts. We aren’t reading it well unless we learn to read it as a literary layer.
30 min