jonathan_foster

7:6 People I'm Listening to - Keith Giles by jonathan_foster

It was a great to be with one of my favorite people today, Ilia Delio. Ilia has a lot to say about evolution, A.I., science, fear, consciousness, and love. And now you know why she's one of my favorite voices. Ilia currently holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University She holds PhDs in Pharmacology from Rutgers University and in Theology from Fordham University and is the author of more than 20 books. You should read them. All of them. Find out more about her at https://christogenesis.org. -If you're a super nerd join us at Ilia's Whitehead/Teilhard conference. Info can be found here https://christogenesis.salsalabs.org/whitehead-teilhard-conference/index.html -Music for today's episode is either me or a tune called “Sunkissed” by Daniel Fridell from epidemicsound.com. -Hey, why not leave a cool review or share with a friend? Peace everyone.

Here's me and my friend, Andre Rabe, talking about Girardian inspired things. It was a GREAT conversation. -Find out more about Andre at https://alwaysloved.net and if you're listening to this in August of '23, sign up for our online conference by clicking or copying and pasting rb.gy/izadv. If you're listening after August of '23, well, it sucks to be you. -Hope you've joined the substack newsletter at https://fosterj.substack.com

Good to be with Brian Zahnd again today! Brian's a pastor and author. My favorite book of his is probably "Beauty will Save the World." And he'll be a part of our online Girardian Intersections online conference. Copy and paste following URL to get tickets rb.gy/izadv. (And BZ's website is www.brianzahnd.com.) -Some of today's music can be found at epidemicsound and the opening little tune is by Coma Svensson. -Like, subscribe, review and also make sure to subscribe to my substack newsletter by going to jonathanfosteronline.com and well, click on the substack newsletter link!

Great to be with Dr. Jennifer Garcia Bashaw. Jennifer will be one our presenters at the upcoming "Girardian Intersections online Conference." Copy and paste following URL to get tickets https://rb.gy/izadv -Jennifer teaches at Campbell University, works with the Bible for Normal People, and has a book out entitled, Scapegoats: The Gospel through the Eyes of Victims. -Some of today's music can be found at epidemicsound.com. This tune is called “Sunkissed” by Daniel Fridell. -Hey, why not leave a cool review or share with a friend?

-Here's my conversation with the always kind and interesting Peter Rollins. And if you want to find the video rather than the audio, check it out on substack.com/jonathan_foster or patreon.com/jonathan_foster -Find out more about Pete, his writing, film making, conferences and all the really interesting stuff he's up to at peterrollins.com. I've learned a lot from his work over the years and was really grateful he joined me again as we talked loosely around themes that connect thinkers like Jacque Lacan and René Girard. -And hey, speaking of Girard, for only $19.99 you can get in on the Girardian Intersections Online Conference Thomas Jay Oord and I are hosting in August. That price, as of this posting, is only good for another month. Here's the shortened link: https://rb.gy/izadv -Peace,

An audio file from my weekly newsletter which is really my substack publication which is really my patreon publication. Find me at fosterj.substack.com Peace

An audio file from my weekly newsletter which is really my substack publication which is really my patreon publication. Find me at fosterj.substack.com Peace

An audio file from my weekly newsletter which is really my substack publication which is really my patreon publication. Find me at fosterj.substack.com Peace

An audio file from my weekly newsletter which is really my substack publication which is really my patreon publication. Find me at fosterj.substack.com Peace

An audio file from my weekly newsletter which is really my substack publication which is really my patreon publication. Find me at https://fosterj.substack.com Peace

Hey everyone, I believe this will be the last of season five! Unless I change my mind. Then it won't. Thanks for hanging out with me this season. It's been a lot of fun. --Feel free to review, like, star, thumbs up and more if you've found anything helpful here. Sign up for my newlsetter at jonathanfosteronline.com and as always, find videos with my full conversations like the one I had on this episode with Dana at patreon.com/jonathan_foster. --Speaking of Dana... Dr. Dana Hicks is an Amazon best-selling author and has written a new book, the one we'll talk about today called "The Knot: How to Secure Healthy, Modern Relationships While Not Being Tied to Marriage's Past." I've read it. It's good. It's not like anything you've probably read alng the lines of marriage and relationship. Which is one of the reason's why it's good! --Dana has been a church planter, pastor, professor, and leadership developer for over 30 years now and his doctorage from the Beeson Pastor Doctoral Fellowship at Asbury Theological Seminary. --Peace everyone!

Here's a bit about AI (artificial intelligence), technology, evolution, post-humanism, and what religion (Christianity specifically) probably needs to change in order to assist AI (and all of us) in learning values. //I mention Ilea Delio a couple of times in this episode. If you're interested in this subject matter, you should certainly check out her work, including “Re-Enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion.” Also, my stuff about amipotence can be found in Thomas Jay Oord's really helpful book “Pluriform Love.” I also reference “Nature Technology and the Sacred” by Bronislaw Szerszynski, “Religion in the Making” by Alfred North Whitehead, and “How We Became Post Human” by Catherine Hales in this episode. //Search for MidJourney on Discord to partner with AI to “create” your own images. // Don't forget to join me and my friend, Dr. Sheri Kling having a conversation at www.Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. You can find out more about Dr. Sheri at https://www.sherikling.com. I'm currently reading her book, “A Process Spirituality,” and enjoying it very much! //Music for today's show is a bunch of stuff from me and/or Landr.com as well as the theme song for this season which is called “Losing It” by Velveteen. It can be found at epidemicsound.com. //Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review and share it with a friend.

Episode 11 is me hanging out with my man, Shay Foster who is the co-executive director at www.lovehaiti.org. If you don't have a non-profit to plug into, you should check it out. -We talk some theological change, church stuff, and life, but mostly we talk about Haiti, it's history, our involvement, and why humans in the Global North should be aware of what's happening there. -Don't forget to join me with authors, theologians, pastors, doctors, and licensed counselor friends over at www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster. There's a bunch of good resources happening there. -Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com.

Big day today: Theology of Consent-Mimetic Theory in an Open and Relational Universe is out everywhere. It's the culmination of almost 3 years, or almost 8 years, or almost 50 years depending on how we quantify these things.  Pick up a copy. Leave a review. Join the party! -Here's the Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3Db7rOB -I kinda like the tune I use to open and close today's episode. It's called “Sunrise in El Born” and it's by Matt Large from epidemicsound.com. Other music and samples are by me or stuff I've snagged from Landr.com. -You should share this show with someone. Go for it. And while you're at it, just give it some stars, or likes, or thumbs up, or whatever your podcasting platform asks for.

Questions about parenting within the paradigm of uncontrolling love is the theme of this episode. It's a super important subject. I hope to bring a few ideas to the conversation, and a bit of my time with Ryan and Jess Lambros, but also point you to the full zoom dialogue I had with (as well as my conversation with Libby Tedder-Hugus) on my patreon page. Just search for www.Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. What all these young parents are talking about is important. I hope you'll check it out. -Ryan is a life coach with www.thetablecoach.com and working through his doctoral dissertation in open and relational theology and Jessica, LPC, is the owner and clinical director of Stories Counseling. www.storiescounseling.com. -This week's open and relational/process book I want to highlight is Rob Bell's “Everything is Spiritual.” It's true, Bell isn't necessarily an ORT theologian, however, this book as much or more than any other he has written, fits really well with ORT themes. It's my favorite Rob Bell writing. -Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review and/or share this with a friend. Meanwhile, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The main music for this season's show is from an artist known as Velveteen. The song is called “Losing It.” It comes by way of www.epidemicsound.com. And a bunch of the samples and other music comes from landr.com or me.

On this episode I respond to questions by going next level. That's right, I'm bringing in one of my mentors, the Dr. Thomas Jay Oord to answer questions about the bible, the validity of different religions, sexuality, and finding personal meaning. Plus, at www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster I continue the conversation by talking to Tom about randomness, God controlling the future, love, and bonus topic: The Princess Bride. All you gotta do to hear the rest of the talk is to subscribe to my patreon page for as little as 3$ a month. What a deal! -To find out more about Tom, his books, his doctorate program, his blog, please check out www.thomasjayoord.com. -Feel free to leave a review on your podcasting platform, share the episode with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The open and relational resource I want to highlight this week would have to be something by the aforementioned TJO, so I'm going with “Uncontrolling Love." It was a really helpful book for me and I've referenced many times over the past five years. -The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen and is called “Losing It." It comes to us by way of www.epidemicsound.com. Other samples and music are provided by me or stuff I found at www.Landr.com.

I think the truest thing we can say of God is that S(H)e is love. And the fundamental characteristic of love? It's consent. It feels week, but I suspect it's the weakness that makes it strong. The weakness of consent is the strength of love. And it's the thing that can help us move from a negative to positive dominant mindset in the church. -Some resources I reference on this episode: Mary Douglas - Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, https://www.amazon.com/Purity-Danger-Routledge-Classics-93/dp/0415289955 Richard Beck - Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality. Negative Bias - http://www.wisebrain.org/media/Papers/NegativityBias.pdf Cultural Psychology: Essays on Comparative Human Development https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9wxc-Xs78Q8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA205&dq=Nemeroff+Hitler+sweater&ots=1VcZ2cFk4r&sig=bNLDU1MJrRNykOXyBv7iWvR3xAM%2523v=onepage&q=Hitler&f=false -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The Girardian resource I want to highlight this week is the online site http://girardianlectionary.net. If you teach or preach, it is an indispensable resource. -The tunes “Losing It” and “Part of the Game” by Velveteen are both used on this episode. You can find those at epidemicsound.com. Other samples and music are provided by landr.com or me.

On this episode I respond to questions about moving forward with the church. One young person put it this way: “What is even the point? Given how many people have been hurt, is church even helpful any longer?” So I give some open and relational theological thoughts, some stuff that's been influenced by those who are influenced by Bill Hegel, some stuff to rethink omnipotence, mystery, and the misguided but oft-parroted phrase, “everything happens for a reason.” I also talk a bit about my own personal journey of trying to figure out theology and ecclesiology (i.e., church) after we went through the intense event of losing our daughter. Yeah, that event pretty much colors everything in my life. -And then I take the discussion about church further with my friend, the Rev. Libby Teder Hugus. She's a pastor at https://www.thetablecasper.org in Casper, WY. (Sorry, I think I said Idaho in the podcast!) There's a couple minutes with Libby here, but then I talk longer with her on my patreon page which is at… - https://www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster For as little as three bucks a month you can get access to that interview, others, and a whole bunch of other helpful stuff. So, check it out. -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The open and relational resource I want to highlight this week is “Face of the Deep” by Catherine Keller. Dr. Catherine might label herself more process than ORT, and for sure, she would call herself a feminist theologian, but either way, I love this book and all her writing. She says more in one sentence than I do in a whole chapter. -The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen and is called “Losing It." It comes to us by way of www.epidemicsound.com, though, strangely, I didn't use it on this episode. Instead, I went with some stuff I made and/or downloaded at www.Landr.com.

On this episode I took a group of questions I got recently about church and boiled ‘em down to one: How did we get here? There are a handful of different topics to work through in order to answer that question well, but here's a bit of my take filtered as it is through mimetic theory, open and relational theology. So, we'll talk about Omnipotence some, plus the scapegoating mechanism, some evangelicalism and Donald Trump, control, sacrifice, immutability, and a bunch of other super fun topics! -And don't miss my conversation with my friend, Rev. Dr. Letiah Fraser on the subject of the church at https://www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster -Helpful sources and/or things I cite… -Paper on Panentheism and Panexperientialism for Open and Relational Theology https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9783957437303/BP000019.xml?language=en -Open and Relational Theology https://www.amazon.com/Open-Relational-Theology-Introduction-Life-Changing/dp/B096WM4PQN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1UT60AGDLIUDA&keywords=open+and+relational+theology&qid=1660654400&sprefix=open+and+relational+theology%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1 -R,.T. Mullins Podcast Page: https://www.rtmullins.com/podcast - Kristen Du Maze John Wayne and Jesus, https://kristindumez.com/books/jesus-and-john-wayne/ -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. -The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen, entitled, “Losing It,” and on this episode there's a tune from OTE called “Riding Lower.” Both of those songs come to us by way of epidemicsound.com. And then a bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me.

Today our topic de jour is deconstruction. I don't even scratch the surface of this subject, but I imagine you'll get some stuff here that you might not with most low budgets podcasts. Ha, cuz that's what this is! Yeah, we talk a bit about Girard and deconstruction as well as some of my frustrations with the church's approach in general (surprise, surprise) all while giving some input regarding deconstruction when it comes to the bible and prayer. -And… the best thing is, I take the discussion further with my friend and intellectual, Tim Suttle. Tim is a great resource in this area. But, you'll have to go to www.patreon.com/Jonathan_foster to find that video. It's worth it! You can also find out more about Tim at timsuttle.com. -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. -The open and relational resource I want to highlight this week is “Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes” by Charles Hartshorne. It's a small but good one. And I suppose I should start highlighting Girardian works as well. Since “Theology of Consent,” which gives a nice overview of mimetic theory is not yet out, I'm going to suggest you head over to ravenfoundation.org. There's a lot of great Girard stuff there. -The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com. A bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me.

Welcome to the relationship episode where I do my best to offer a response to the question, “How do I be in relationship without being judgmental?” And also, “How do I be in relationship when I'm the one being judged?” Idk if I give great answers or not, but I definitely give some things to consider. -Don't forget about my follow up conversation on my Patreon page (search for jonathan_foster to sign up). This week's video is with my friend Derrick Logan who's doing some good work helping folks process change, grow in love, and be better human beings. -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. -Some resources or sources I cite… *Quantum Fields: The Real Building Blocks of the Universe https://youtu.be/zNVQfWC_evg *Brene Brown and Russell Brand https://youtu.be/SM1ckkGwqZI *Summa Theologica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_Theologica *And this week's Open and Relational book I want to highlight is Uncontrolling Love by Thomas Jay Oord. -The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com. A bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me.

Episode 2 is all about meaning making. In most of Americanized Christianity, it's too often just assumed that once you pray the prayer (e.g., get God inside of you, get saved, do the thing, drink the juice, or whatever) that meaning will just naturally show up. Turns out, meaning making is much more difficult. And I personally don't think God is just going to fix it for you. Because God is a relational God, which among other things, means S(H)e's not going force anything upon you. God is love. And love doesn't control. Don't forget to join me with my licensed counselor friend, Lauren Kilber over at www.Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. If you don't find what she says helpful, email me, so I can reply with a shocked face emoji. Resources and some sites that I mention on this episode… -PEW Research on Meaning: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/11/20/where-americans-find-meaning-in-life/ -Christopher Nolan's film, The Prestige. As I mention, if you're looking for a director that brings mimetic thinking into his shows? Yeah, Nolan is your man. -For more on the Girardian neologism, “individuality” see, The Genesis of Desire by Jean-Michel Oughourlian -This week's open and relational/process book I want to highlight is Process-Relational Philosophy An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead by Robert Mesle. -Some philosophical/psychoanalytic people I try to listen to/read include my friend Tim Suttle. Check his stuff out at timsuttle.com. I also read Peter Rollins, and yeah, I think I'll just include Peter as a friend. I mean, he was on my podcast once. Why not? Also, I try and learn as much as I can from The Why Theory Podcast with Todd McGowen and Ryan Engley. Neither Ryan nor Todd is my friend. Sad. -And my new book is coming out in October of '22 with SacraSage Press called A Theology of Consent: Mimetic Theory in an Open and Relational Universe. Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com A bunch of the samples and other music comes from landr.com or me.

This is episode 1 of a new season we're calling F.A.Q.'s! It's all about the copious amounts of questions I received recently... questions about meaning, church, relationships, parenting, deconstruction, and more. I'm taking these questions and running them through my brain, which has most recently been saturated with my dissertation work on open and relational theology as well as the work of Rene Girard. Yeah, it's going to be good. It comes out in Oct of '22, so mark your calendars now. That's right, just mark the whole month. You can't be too prepared for these things. On this introductoin episode I'm introducing the season, setting up how I think things are going to go, and making sure you know about how I'm taking some of the conversation onto my www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster page. You'll wanna be a part of that! It's great to be back. I'm having fun with the music, our voice over talent, and in general, these really interesting themes and concepts. (Oh, and my therapist, pastor, spiritual guide type friends on Patreon.) Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. The main music for this season's show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com A bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me.

Hey, welcome to a little “in-between” episode as we say. I snagged this one from some of the stuff I've done on the Wisdom app. It's all about open and relational theology. ORT has been super helpful for me. I'm actually working on a dissertation right now where I'm attempting to bring Mimetic Theory and ORT together. Yes, super interesting! You should make sure you know all about how that is playing out by subscribing to my patreon page at www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster and/or my newsletter, which you can do at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. But, now that we're talking about it, I have no idea why you wouldn't just do both! Anyhow, work on the dissertation has meant I haven't been able to podcast in a while. Or do anything in a while! I'll be back in a couple of months, but man, it's a lot of work right now. Thanks for listening to this one. As always, reach out with any comments and questions. I hope you are doing well!

"The Reconstructionist" with Quoir Publishing comes out TOMORROW. (Unless you're listening to this after Dec 6 then it's ALREADY OUT.) The first 100 people during launch week who purchase – and hopefully leave a review – then email me at jonathanunderscorefoster@gmail.com will get a copy of my cartoon book, “Mimetic Cartoonery” FREE. I know, I'm outta control. LOTS of people are dealing with deconstruction. Understandably. Stuff needs to be deconstructed. But, wouldn't it be great if we could reconstruct? Yeah, tear some stuff down, but figure out how to build something deeper, more gracious, more substantive. Our world needs it. So, go for it. Search for Jonathan J Foster or the book title tomorrow on Amazon. Thanks everyone!

We're wrapping up season 4 with a conversation with my friend, Mark Karris. Mark is a therapist, best selling author, and a musician. Make sure to stick around to the end of the episode to hear Mark's latest single, which you can also find at https://youtu.be/IM6hg27pQyM. Find out all that he's involved in at www.markgregorykarris.com. Subscribe to the e-news at www.jonathanfosteronline.com and if you're really crazy, go to www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Thanks everyone!

We're talking about my chapter in the book, "Partnering with God," as well as hearing from its editors: Thomas Jay Oord, Tim Reddish, Fran Stedman, and Bonnie Rambob in this episode. If you're looking for a fresh way to process biblical ideas (and life) I would highly encourage you to be aware of the "Partnering with God" book and open and relational theology in general. Like, star, thumbs up, follow, whatever it is you do on your podcasting platform and don't miss out on the JF newsletter. You can sign up at jonathanfosteronline.com and for a limited time I'll be giving copies of my latest book away for free to those who sign up for the newsletter. Crazy. Also, thanks to all the patreon folks at patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Peace!

Search for The Hope and Melvin of Humanity and Other Surprising Short Stories at all digital retailers. You could even do it while you are listening to this episode. It'd be the classic multi-task move. Thanks everyone! And if you're cool with it, leave it a decent amount of stars. https://smile.amazon.com/Melvin-Humanity-Other-Surprising-Stories/dp/1737664909/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=hope+melvin+humanity&qid=1631505530&s=books&sr=1-1

Hey, everyone, today shall be fun. My guests are my friends, Bonnie and Rajeev Rambob. As exvangelical, unfundamentalists, Bonnie and Rajeev draw from their backgrounds to co-lead several outreach ministries to spiritual travelers who are migrating out of fundamentalist Christianity. They are co-hosts of HaystacksPodcast.com - A Podcast for Fringe & Former Seventh-day Adventists & along with three friends, co-host Irenicast, a progressive Christian podcast. If that wasn't enough, they co-pastor Parkside Community Church in Sacromento, CA. Rajeev is a graduate of Berkeley School of Theology and Bonnie is a graduate from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkley. And most importantly, they are partners in ministry and in life. They have two young adult sons, Julian and Nik. If you haven't signed up for the newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com, now is the time. There is some fun stuff coming down the pipe (or is it down the pike?). So, you'll want to jump in on the e-news so you know what's up. Thanks everyone!

IDK how to describe this one. Turn the mic on and talk about deconstruction and frustration with the powerful religious system and introducing the conference we got coming up in October called, wait for it... "An Interesting Conference About Sexuality." Yeah, that about describes it and yeah, you should join us for the conference! www.aninterestingconference.com is the website. Thanks everyone. Like, star, review if you dig what you're hearing. Signup for newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com if you want. Have a great day!

Questions built into answers. Countermands built into commands. Imperfection built right into perfection. That's the pattern that's always unfolding. And my friend, Derrick Logan kinda embodies all of this. One can't get any higher on the evangelical-worship-scene-ladder than Derrick was, and yet, the questions just continued to accompany him. And it's not as if you can't ask some questions in that context. As Derrick said, “It's okay to question the questions in the box. The problem is when you begin to question the box itself!) So, not surprisingly, he pulled at some threads. Knocked on some doors. Followed some trails. And got himself escorted out of the system but… he's finding life! I dare you to search for derricklogan on twitter and be aware of how his story is unfolding. And meanwhile, if you want to, give a star, a thumbs up, a like, a whatever it is your particular platform wants for this podcast that would be great. And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. Have a great day!

Hey, today's episode is all about truth, art, beauty, and story. It's inspired by something Plato said a long time ago (obviously he said it a long time ago!) "Poetry is more believable than history." Yes, I think so. Because poetry is willing to live in the gray, to blend the verifiable and the unverifiable to get to the truth. I have discovered over the last year or so that I approach this all with a very open and relational philosophical mindset. O/R is something of a subset of process theology. It's a way of understanding the world that brings together lots of different experiences. A. N. Whitehead would say something like that it's wrong to think that perceiving, knowing, feeling the world is reducible to the senses. Rather, we should be radical empiricists. We learn about truth in grieving, laughing, being skeptical, religious, new approaches to thinking, etc... they are all doorways into learning about the nature of things. So, let's do it. Let's walk through all the doorways to get at the "nature of things." Thanks for listening. Sign up for the newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com and or find me at www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster.

Grateful I was able to connect with my new friend, Linda Kay Klein on this episode. Linda (she/her/hers) is the founder and president of Break Free Together, a nonprofit storytelling organization dedicated to helping people release shame and claim their whole selves. She's also a deconstruction & purity culture recovery coach. Her work in this area was born out of 16 years of research for her award-winning book, Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free. Buy the book. Listen to the podcast. And find out more at www.lindakayklein.com If you haven't signed up for the newsletter yet, do so at www.jonathanfosteronline.com or, if you want to go next level, subscribe to patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Thanks everyone!

Hey, thanks for tuning in and supporting me on Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Also, don't forget to sign up for the newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com Today I read one of the short stories from a forthcoming collection of short stories I'm calling, "The Hope and Melvin of Humanity and Other Surprising Short Stories." It'll be out in digital stores soon. Though, obviously many of you are tuning into this later than the release date, so, by the time you hear it the book will be out! So, check it out on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple, you name it, it should be there.

Welcome back. The theme for season 4 is "story." Story is super important. The powers don't want us to think so. They'd rather us interpret all our truth by way of their facts. Thankfully story/metaphor/story all get in the way of their "facts." In the end, I actually think story truth is gospel truth. For example, did God need King Saul to wipe out the Amalekites? Or was the prophet Samuel, the guy Saul took counsel from, a grumpy old man projecting his prejudice and bitterness onto God? Story, bro. Story. It's about the story we're telling ourselves. It's startling to realize this, but the sacred text we call the Bible will read you as much or more than you will read it. (e.g., Rorschach Test) There's been some psychological work done by guys like Paul Zak and others that suggest that stories bring brains together. Apparently, stimulating the brain stirs up oxytocin that creates empathy, which is a crucial component in humans building relationships with each other. Wow, story is powerful. Thanks for listening. Reach out if you want. Lots of good things happening. Find me at jonathanfosteronline.com or patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Peace!

All right, wrapping up the mini-season four with this episode. Again, this one proved to be more difficult than I imagined it would be when I first sat down to record. I write about this stuff all the time so IDK why it's so difficult. I guess because the old "tried and true" answers are no longer applicable. So we're trying to create a new language or adapt old language. Anyhow, hope it's helpful. Track me down on Patreon (jonathan_foster) if you want to interact more. New writing is happening. We'll see where it all goes. Peace!

Contained in this episode are four reasons why I still read the Bible despite how much my faith has shifted and morphed. Whatever your reason, I encourage you to read Scripture with humility and intellectual honesty. That will make all the difference in the world. Ultimately, don't worship the words; rather, worship the one to whom the words point! Just a few of the books that have been resources for me over the past five years when thinking about the Bible: Christian Smith (The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture), Richard Rohr (What do we do with the Bible), Rachel Held Evans (Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again), Leslie Newbigen (A Walk thru the Bible), and Peter Enns (How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers - and Why That's Great News)

That's right; this episode dares to name a few reasons why I think it's still, despite all the deconstruction that many of us have been through, worthwhile to try and be a part of a church. However, I only do so if we can agree that church should first be a community of people pursuing non-sacrificial, non-violent love and second, want to be known more by what they're than what they are against! And I dare you to check out patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Thanks, everyone!

A question I receive pretty regularly goes something like, "If God doesn't control, or if God doesn't know the future, what is the point of praying?" In fact, I know a lot of people who after going through the faith deconstruction journey no longer pray at all. Well, I don't have all the answers, but maybe it'll be helpful for you to hear why it is that I still pray. Hope to hear from you at patreon.com/jonathan_foster. Thanks!

An in-between season 2 and 3 episode introducing my new Patreon page. Check it out at patreon.com/jonathan_foster. It's a new thing. Hopefully, you can subscribe, get involved, and help us all start other new things!

Hey, we're wrapping up Season 2 with this, the 10th episode! I know man, it's sad. But, surely there will be more seasons ahead. We'll talk a little George Orwell, Jacques Lacan, how similar Christianity in the West is with consumerism in the West, the hammer of God, not to be confused with the Hammer of Thor, and, yes, of course, love. Cuz if it's not about love, I'm not sure what the point is. Thank you for playing a part and interacting with this podcast. And special thanks to James, Peter, Julia, and Cindy for appearing throughout this season (and Brian and Thomas). Yes, I'm on first name basis with all of them. I hope to continue to hear from you on my Facebook page or on Amazon or wherever. I'm jumping back into some education endeavors so that'll keep me busy, along with mission church stuff, and LQVE, and my boy's college football games (hopefully there's a season this year!), and hanging out with my wife (BTW, 30th anniversary in two weeks. How crazy is that?) I'm also going to be messing around with some new music. I'm throwing it up on Soundcloud under the enigmatic name of Gransville. Ooh, I know, super interesting. Peace everyone, J

Talking with Dr. James Alison helps me consider the two dominant Christian views in the West: -We're separate from God and gotta get back. -And we're already at one with God with no need to return. I lean toward the latter, but only after I get to talk a little about what it might mean to be "at one with God." I love this whole subject, and the thoughts I share here have helped me tremendously in dealing with loss and life, but I will say that trafficking in these kinds of ideas has cost me some friendships. So, I guess, listen and apply gently and judiciously. God bless.

This is an episode where we talk a little about some of the things you may be feeling as you deconstruct and reconstruct your thinking about faith, life, and love. And to be clear, the idea is to reconstruct, to find the beauty that's been there all along. But to get to beauty sometimes you need to go through anger, fatigue, confusion and doubt.

Let's get further into some thoughts about the new atheist movement, which is billed as an intellectual movement. I'm (scratching my head now) not sure I agree. There are definitely reasons not to believe in God, but for me, most of those reasons stem from unhealthy Christian theology, not from ironclad philosophical reasoning. I don't think there's anything ironclad in this universe (or multiverse) except... love. Then again, I don't really have a problem with most atheists that I've met. At least they fight back against unhealthy theology. That's better than most Christianity in the West!

I'm talking with Pastor Brian Zahnd about Fred Nietzsche on this episode. (Fred sounds so much more gentle, doesn't it?)Please check out Brian at https://brianzahnd.com. He's the author of several books. I've read them all. They are all worth your time. If you haven't read him before, lets see, I'd say start with "Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God." Though my favorite is "Beauty will Save the World." So, thanks to Brian for his time and his work. Hope you all dig this. And find it helpful. And share it with a friend. Meanwhile, be strong, which I think means, be weak. Something that would drive Nietzsche crazy. (Maybe it did.) Check out LQVE.org if you don't have anything better to do. Important stuff going on there!

I interview Cindy Wang Brandt this week about parenting, shame, and embodiment this week. Please find out more about Cindy and her parenting conference and book at https://www.parentingforwardconference.com

As of this posting, it is Holy Saturday, that strange and awkward day in between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. In some ways, I think we are all "Holy Saturday People." We're all living in the in-between time. During this time, it's important to grieve what we've lost. Not to make us feel bad, but to help us see our limits, name pain, and define the reality in our lives. To that end, today's episode is a bit different. I read a chapter of "Death, Hope & the Laugher of God" about lament. It's probably some of the more important stuff I have to say, but also some of the least popular. Ha, how's that for advertisement? Grief and lament are just not fun topics. But, in the time and age we are currently in... Covid-19... a lot of people are experiencing loss. And so, this just might be the time for you to enter into rather than run away. Thanks, everyone. Blessings. Can't wait for the Resurrection of all things.

In this episode we talk about racism, scapegoating, reparations, our imitative desires, Rene Girard and more. Yes, it's a full one. I'm thankful you get to hear Peter Rollins, James Alison, and Julia Robinson Moore weigh in on these subjects. Their input here and in their writings are helping me decide what it is I'm believing. Make sure you find out more about them at their respective websites, and/or searching Amazon for them. (Btw, if you use Amazon you might as well use smile. amazon and plug in LQVE.org as your non-profit to support!) Dr. Peter Rollins, https://peterrollins.com/ Dr. James Alison, http://jamesalison.co.uk/ Dr. Julia Robinson Moore, pages.uncc.edu/julia-marie-robinson If you want, make sure to share, like, follow, and leave reviews. You can find me at jonathanfosteronline.com and also on my facebook page by searching for jonathanfosterauthor.

The title of this episode borrows yet another line from Karl Marx. We'll go further into “the texture” that is, the life and anti-life that I imagine is woven into the fabric of everything. We'll also talk about what the serpent might have been and where it came from in Genesis 3 and how defining sin is a very difficult endeavor. The highlight, of course, is hearing from Peter Rollins. He'll talk about, among other things, his idea of sin and the object of desire vs the object cause of desire. I hope you take the time to look him up at peterrollins.com. He's got a lot of great things to say and I'm thankful he's agreed to be a part of this season. (As always, he may not agree with everything I say. You'll have to read him to find out what you think.) Thanks everyone. Follow, like, share, thumbs-up, or whatever it is you feel inclined to do.

1A is a continuation of the episode 1 that begins to lay out ideas about why we feel the need to pretend but why pretending is pointless! It's the greatest news. That's right, grace wrecks the illusion we have to be better than we are. And grace wrecks those who perpetuate the condition that requires illusions. And who might they be? Sigh, mostly, the church. I know, it's wild. Thanks to my guests who appear here and on a handful of different episodes this season. They are authors, speakers, professors, podcasters and people who are doing a lot of great work. Dr. Peter Rollins, https://peterrollins.com Dr. James Alison, http://jamesalison.co.uk Cindy Wang Brandt, https://cindywangbrandt.com Dr. Julia Robinson Moore, https://pages.uncc.edu/julia-marie-robinson I hope you find time to look into each of these people. I've been reading James and Peter, if I can call them by their first names, for 3-5 years now. Their writings and talks have helped me shift and re-shift my theology toward something which I consider much healthier. I can't recommend them enough. Cindy and Julia are newer friends of mine. Cindy is an author and podcaster. She has an online conference called https://www.parentingforwardconference.com that I highly recommend. And Julia is an author, professor and speaker that you will find has keen insight. As always, like, share, review, follow, or whatever you do on your particular podcasting platform. Feel free to track me down with questions and comments you might have.