German theologian and dissident anti-Nazi
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In this first session of "The Rise of the Nones" online class, I am joined by Ryan Burge, Tony Jones, and Sarah Lane Ritchie to introduce findings from the largest survey ever conducted on religiously unaffiliated Americans—over 15,000 participants. The research, funded by the John Templeton Foundation's Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative, used machine learning to identify four distinct categories of "Nones": NINOs (Nones In Name Only, who are actually quite religious), Spiritual But Not Religious (the largest group), the Disengaged (content secular individuals far from any religious or spiritual practice), and Zealous Secularists (a small but vocal group actively encouraging others to leave religion). The conversation explores what these categories reveal about American religious identity, why traditional survey methods may be undercounting Christians, and the surprising finding that many "happy atheists" report life satisfaction comparable to religious Americans. Join us for the remaining sessions of this class, where we'll dive deeper into each category with special guests—registration is donation-based, including $0, at www.AmericanNones.com. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tad Delay came on to talk about his lecture from the Democracy in Tension summit, and we got into political philosophy and why democracy keeps sliding toward tyranny. Tad teaches Plato's Republic in his intro philosophy classes, and he makes this compelling case that Plato basically had us figured out - the fundamental problem is why do people desire their own servitude as though it were their salvation? We traced the history of democratic movements from the French Revolution through the revolutions of 1848 (which most people know nothing about), and Tad connected it all to our current moment with Gaza, Zionism, and how both parties seem to have lost any sense of shame about lying. The conversation got pretty dark but also weirdly hopeful - we talked about social media as a performance of fake happiness, the need to bring back shame about lying and abuse, and how billionaires like Peter Thiel don't even understand the basics of how power works. Plus we ended with the cheerful speculation that Trump could probably admit to his crimes and people would respect him more for it. Like I said, cheery stuff. You can get access to Tad's lecture and the entire Democracy in Tension series here. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This conversation took place at Theology Beer Camp 2025 on artificial intelligence, moderated by Michael Morelli with Ben Chicka and Noreen Herzfield, and it's one of the most grounded conversations I've heard about AI from a theological perspective. Noreen has this incredible background in computer engineering before becoming a theologian, and she's not buying the Silicon Valley hype. They talked about how AI trained on human feedback becomes sycophantic and biased, how the whole AGI-by-2027 promise is already falling apart, and why the AI bubble is probably about to burst. But the hopeful part is this: they argued that AI can't replace the actual human connection that changes lives - the teacher who hands you the right book at the right time, the older person who shares a cassette that transforms you. Ben made this beautiful point about how we're all here because of little encounters that were mustard seeds, and AI can't replicate that kind of formation. Plus there was a computer programmer in the audience who basically said "there's no intelligence here, it's just yes/no questions" and everyone was like, exactly. It's neither artificial nor intelligent - it's just code. Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hey everybody, this is a special Christmas episode where I'm joined by Michael Morelli (Personalist Manifesto podcast) and Paul Hoard (professor at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology) for a live conversation about what the Incarnation has to say to our algorithmically-mediated moment. We get into Advent as a season of waiting in a world obsessed with immediacy and prediction—drawing on Lacan's understanding of desire, Hartmut Rosa on resonance, and Byung-Chul Han's "hell of the same" to explore how our devices have trained us to be unable to tolerate longing. We talk about incarnation versus ex-carnation (yes, we went there), why smoothness is a trap, how the manger subverts our fantasies of a powerful God, and what Bonhoeffer's Christ-reality hermeneutic might offer disciples trying to encounter genuine otherness in a world of narcissistic loops and NPC-ification. Paul brings the psychoanalytic heat on disgust, love, and why intimacy requires being changed by the other, and Michael reminds us that the cosmos hasn't actually been hijacked by Silicon Valley—despite appearances. We also talk about Black Mirror, The Good Place, board games, and whether Star Trek is secretly fascist. It's nerdy, it's hopeful, and it's exactly the kind of thing you need while driving to Christmas gatherings with sleeping family members in the car. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What happens when the person preaching on Sunday morning believes something completely different than the folks sitting in the pews? Well friends, that's exactly what we're digging into today. My buddy Ryan Burge brought the graphs—including some brand new data that hasn't even dropped on his Substack yet—and let me tell you, it's a real deal predicament for Mainline Protestantism. Turns out about 60-70% of mainline clergy identify as liberal, but only about 25% of the people in the pews do. That's not a gap, that's a canyon. We're talking ELCA, UCC, PCUSA, Episcopalians—the whole crew. And look, Ryan and I are both mainline folks, so we're not throwing rocks across the river here. We're throwing rocks at our own faces. We get into why this disconnect exists, what the "silver tsunami" of aging Boomers means for these congregations, and why young progressive folks aren't joining our churches even though we thought we built them a home. It's honest, it's a little uncomfortable, and yeah, we also talk about Zion Williamson and Christmas movies because that's just how we roll. If you want to go deeper on where American religion is headed, join me and Ryan along with Tony Jones for our upcoming class The Rise of the Nones this January at www.AmericanNones.com. Come on. You can WATCH the conversation and see the graphs on YouTube Dr. Ryan Burge is a professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author or co-author of four books including The Nones, The American Religious Landscape, and The Great Dechurching. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and POLITICO. He has also appeared on 60 Minutes, where Anderson Cooper called him, “one of the leading data analysts of religion and politics in the United States.” Previous Visits from Ryan Burge Gen Z Revival?: The Next Chapter in American Religious Life The 2024 Election & Religion Post-Mortem Distrust & Denominations Trust, Religion, & a Functioning Democracy What it's like to close a church The Future of Christian Education & Ministry in Charts The Sky is Falling & the Charts are Popping! Graphs about Religion & Politics w/ Spicy Banter a Year in Religion (in Graphs) Evangelical Jews, Educated Church-Goers, & other bits of dizzying data 5 Religion Graphs w/ a side of Hot Takes Myths about Religion & Politics Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I am SO excited about this episode. I got to sit down with Rian Johnson to talk about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and honestly? This might be my favorite conversation I've had all year. Not just because it's a blast of a film (which it absolutely is), but because Rian brought so much theological depth and personal wrestling to this project. I'm always looking for that sweet spot where great storytelling meets profound questions about faith, power, community, and what it means to be human. This film? It's the jackpot. I literally told Rian I now have an excuse to show a movie I genuinely enjoy in class and call it “movie day.” You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube The Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix. Watch it. It's spectacular. Rian Johnson is an acclaimed writer-director best known for creating the Knives Out mystery franchise, including Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025). His work is characterized by genre-bending storytelling that weaves together intricate plots with deep thematic exploration. Johnson's other notable films include Brick (2005), a neo-noir set in a high school; Looper (2012), a science fiction thriller; and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). He also directed several critically acclaimed episodes of Breaking Bad, including the Emmy-winning “Ozymandias.” Raised in the evangelical church, Johnson draws on his formative religious experiences to explore themes of grace, moral complexity, and the tension between reason and faith in his work. He cites influences ranging from G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries to Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell's work on storytelling and myth. Known for his meticulous approach to storytelling—he still writes his screenplays longhand in notebooks—Johnson creates films that function as both wildly entertaining genre exercises and thoughtful examinations of contemporary moral and social questions. Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people. But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful. Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Germany's Reformation church, Hitler's regime co-opted the church under Mueller, while Bonhoeffer and Niemöller resisted, showing moral courage and warning that true faith demands standing for truth over conformity.
In this episode of Chasing Leviathan, PJ talks with Dr. Jens Zimmermann about Christian humanism and what it means to understand humanity through Christ.Their conversation explores the dualism that often divides faith and reason, how Neoplatonism shaped Christian thought, and why Bonhoeffer saw the incarnation as the key to recovering a truly human life. Zimmermann examines the limits of modern science and technology, the tension between individual freedom and the common good, and how education can better reflect the embodied, holistic nature of human existence. He also highlights the church's role in embodying the new humanity Christ represents and the value of engaging deeply with philosophy and theology.Whether you're interested in Bonhoeffer, theology, Christian humanism, or the intersection of faith and culture, this discussion offers a rich invitation to think more deeply about what helps—and hinders—human flourishing.Make sure to check out Dr. Zimmermann's book: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism
Look, we all have that person in our life who won't stop talking about Motlmann or keeps “accidentally” bringing up liberation theology at Thanksgiving. Maybe that person is you. No judgment. I'm right there with you. That's why I brought in my friend Rev. Dr. Thomas Hermans-Webster, acquisitions editor at Orbis Books, to help us figure out what books belong under the tree this year. We each picked 10 books that will make your theology nerd feel seen, challenged, and deeply grateful you know them so well. HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS: Orbis put the whole collection on sale. Use code ZESTY at checkout and get 30% off. The code is good through the 12 days of Christmas and all the way to Mardi Gras—we're being liturgical about this.
Matthew 11:2-11When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. “Don't get your hopes up; it sounds too good to be true.” Tp.hat's what Katelyn said to me as I waved the gift card in the air. It was March of 2020 and we had just bought our first home. We were overjoyed and broke. But then one day shortly after moving in, a very official looking piece of mail came from what sounded like a reputable company.Curious I opened it up and to my delight there, in the letter, was a $150 gift card. “Congratulations on your new home. Here is a small gift from us.” It didn't exactly cover our new mortgage but I was stressed about money and suddenly here was a small token of relief! The letter simply said to call this number to activate the card. So I pull out my phone, call the number, and someone actually picks up; not a machine! This is good I think. Then I hear what are either other call center workers or a TV in the background… That's odd, but, ever the optimist, I say, “I got your letter and I'm calling to activate the card.” The person on the other end said “Great! I just needed your social security number and”... Before she could finish the sentence I hung up; irate, and embarrassed. Katelyn turned to me and said those four words you hate to hear, “I told you so..” She was right. The gift card was indeed too good to be true. Yet, isn't that how scams, or just marketing in general, work? Preying on folk's needs, desires, and insecurities by promising something that fixes their problems. You've been there or felt that way. Stressed about money when suddenly you get an email saying you've won the sweepstakes. Struggling to do all that needs to get done in a day when you see an influencer taut a new device or appliance that promises to give you hours back. Or you're lonely, feeling like you've got no one there for you when you see an online ad that promises your loneliness will go away with this new app.We want to believe these things will work, that they'll do what they say, and offer relief, if even temporarily. I imagine John the Baptist was in search of some relief too as he sat in prison. He's in there because he told Herod not to marry his own brother's wife, that's against Jewish law. Herod did it anyway and then threw John in jail. We don't know how long John had been in prison. But if it were me, it wouldn't take long at all before I felt alone, afraid, and desperate to get out. So I can only assume John felt the same way.But then comes the news of all that Jesus was doing. Over the last few chapters in Matthew, Jesus was on the move, doing all sorts of miraculous deeds:Healing the sick, calming storms, casting out demons, giving sight to the blind, voice to the voiceless, and even raising a young girl from the dead. All of this spread through the towns, the countryside, even to the dark prison where John sat, growing more desperate with each passing day. I can't help but think John heard these reports and remembered Isaiah's promise — the blind seeing, the lame walking, the deaf hearing. John knows the world is full of false hopes and empty promises. People have claimed to be the messiah before — but could this one be real? Could this be the One who brings a new kingdom, who sets the captives free, who fulfills everything I've prayed, preached, and prophesied? Hope rises, but doubt remains. … so he sent some of his disciples to ask the question… “are you the one? Or are we supposed to wait for another”.Notice John says we, not I… meaning his concern isn't only about himself. Even though he's in a terrible situation, he worries about all the other people who are struggling too. It's as if John asks, “Are you too good to be true Jesus, I need to know not only for me but for everyone in need of relief from the darkness they endure.” Hopefully I'm not the only one who's asked that question — or wondered, especially in Advent, if it's all too good to be true.That God would leave heaven and become human, be born to poor, unwed parents, live under occupation, suffer betrayal, and willingly die a terrible death, all so that he could forgive you and me and all the world, and we could live with the assurance of his grace, a grace that we could never earn but is freely given, with no strings attached? That certainly sounds too good to be true.Jesus responds by saying: “Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead raised, and good news brought to the poor”. It's not exactly a straight answer. It would have been so much easier for John, his disciples, and even for us, if Jesus gave a direct answer and said “yes, I am the one you've been waiting for. I am the Messiah”. But he didn't.And to complicate things further, John's disciples didn't only see miracles. Pain and suffering, oppression and death were all around them — just as they are in our own time. Look at what's happened in the last 24 hours…We never know if John received this answer from Jesus or if he was satisfied with it. But what about you? Does it satisfy you? We, like John, sit in our own prisons. They may not have bars, but they entrap us just the same: a quiet house filled with loneliness, a mind crowded with worry at 2 a.m., grief that quietly overwhelms, a world that feels too heavy to bear.From that darkness, we ask the same question, “Are you the one Jesus? Are you the one who's come to set all this right? To set me right? How can we know? Well this may come as a shock, but we can't know, at least not on our own.Luther puts it this way, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ” but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, leads me to faith, and keeps me in faith.” It is a gift, not something we come up with on our own, thanks be to God. And because of this gift, we can trust in the promises of Jesus.When we doubt, when we struggle, when we feel overcome by suffering in the world, the Holy Spirit helps us trust that God is at work in places we wouldn't expect! That's what Jesus tells John and his disciples. Jesus says to them, “If you want to come to believe that I am the One, look at the places where there is suffering, in your own life and in the world around you. That's where I am at work.”Jesus is the one — not because everything feels fixed, but because he is already at work in the darkness. Faith gives us not certainty, but trust in that promise.I love what Bonhoeffer wrote to Maria, his fiance, while sitting in his prison cell during Advent in 1943. He wrote: “Just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, succor in abandonment.”Christmas, the promises of Jesus, grace… it all sounds too good to be true. But the truth is, it's even better. Amen.
So here's what we're wrestling with in this episode: What if economics isn't just a topic theology comments on, but actually the bigger framework that shapes what's theologically possible? That's the question that sent Brian McLaren searching, and it's what led him—and us—to the Japanese philosopher Kojin Karatani and his game-changing framework about modes of exchange laid out in his book, The Structure of World History We're talking about how nation, state, and capital work together as these integrated energies, and how if you try to critique just one without seeing the others, you end up reproducing the very thing you're trying to escape. The biblical narrative becomes this fascinating case study—starting with naked hunter-gatherers in a garden with no religion, state, or market, and ending with the New Jerusalem coming down with no need for a temple. And maybe, just maybe, understanding these modes of exchange—the symbolic, the coercive, the economic—helps us see what kind of future we're actually moving toward. It's the kind of conversation that makes you realize the church's learned ignorance about economics might be the source of its greatest spiritual crisis, and you know what? That's worth paying attention to. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube You can find the YouTube playlist of videos outlining Karatani's work here. Joining me for this conversation is... Guillermo Bervejillo is an economic geographer and community organizer who bridges critical theory and social movement practice. If you missed our previous conversation, where we introduced Karatani's work check it out - Kojin Karatani's The Structure of World History. Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. Don't miss his AMAZING new book, The Last Voyage. Dawson Allen is the movement manager at the Center for Action & Contemplation. Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City! ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What is up, Theology Nerds! This one's a banger. At Theology Beer Camp 2025, I got to sit down with an EPIC braintrust of Bonhoeffer scholars—Jeff Pugh, Lori Brandt Hale, Reggie Williams, and Andy Root—for a panel that went deep into Dietrich's life, his communities, and why his witness matters more now than ever. We wrestled with how Bonhoeffer's critique of stupidity as a sociological force, his understanding of Christ as the center that opens us to the other, and his call to prayer and righteous action speak directly into our current moment of rising nationalism and the masquerade of evil. These scholars didn't flinch from the hard questions: What do we do when the church has failed? How do we resist without contempt? And what does a faithful community look like when you might be hiding people in your house? If this conversation lights a fire in your theological belly, then you need to be with us at Theology Beer Camp 2026—October 8-10th in Kansas City. Head over here and grab those pre-sale tickets. This is what we do: beer, community, and theology that matters. Come join us. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
You're anxious — not because you're weak, but because you're carrying a weight God never built you to hold.In this video, we break down the real reason you're anxious…and why the cure Jesus gives is shockingly simple.Most people think anxiety is just emotional.Bonhoeffer said it's theological.A belief system.A quiet sermon the anxious heart preaches:“God won't come through for me… so I must save myself.”In this breakdown of Matthew 6, we uncover:
Well, we kicked off our Advent Against Empire series with Diana Butler Bass diving deep into Matthew's birth narrative, and wow—it did not disappoint. Diana brought her three signature lenses (anti-imperialism, non-violence, and eco-wholeness) to the most Jewish of all the gospels, and things got delightfully nerdy. We explored how Matthew's genealogy isn't just a boring list of "begats"—it's a subversive royal document packed with scandalous women and outsiders that announces Jesus as the true king in direct confrontation with Rome and Herod. Diana walked us through a brilliant two-act structure: Act One is all about the birth of Wisdom and Joseph (a dreamer who winds up in Egypt—sound familiar?) receiving divine announcements. Act Two gives us the Apocalyptic clash between the World as it is and the World to come, with the Magi's cosmic rebellion against Herod, the horrific violence that follows when the empire doesn't get its way, and the holy family's return. We also geeked out on Jesus as the embodiment of Sophia—Wisdom incarnate—and how Matthew's five-discourse structure mirrors the Torah itself. If you've always thought of Matthew as the "Christmas pageant gospel," prepare to have your assumptions lovingly dismantled. Want to go deeper? Join Diana and me for our full four-week Advent journey, The Beginning of Another World: Advent Against Empire. Each week we're letting a different gospel speak its revolutionary word—no harmonizing, no smoothing over the rough edges. The class is fully asynchronous so that you can participate on your own schedule or join us live for our recordings. Sign up HERE and contribute whatever you can (including 0). Come get nerdy with us! You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube here Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America's most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality. Previous Episodes with Diana & Tripp How the Lectionary Kept Me Christian: Diana Butler Bass on Practicing the Year Two Books, One Night: Finding Beauty in What We Can't Control Religious Liberty & Violence – Unpacking the First 100 Days of Trump 2.0 The Interlocking Crises of Religion & Democracy Faith in a Toxic Public Square The Resurrection of Jesus 2024: The Sequel The Christology Ladder ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
N.T. Wright returns to the podcast for round three—no Malibu rooftop this time, but plenty of theological fireworks. We dig into Tom's new book on Ephesians, starting with why he thinks the scholarly consensus dismissing Pauline authorship is more about 19th-century German liberal Protestant hangover than good historical work. From there, we get into the real meat: Ephesians isn't answering the question "how do I get to heaven?" It's painting this massive cosmic picture of God's plan to unite heaven and earth in Christ—and the church's wild vocation to be what Tom calls "a small working model of new creation." We talk about how Western Christianity has shrunk Paul's vision into individual soul-sorting when the text is way more interested in what it looks like when formerly irreconcilable people come together as one new humanity. Tom pushes back on how both conservatives and liberals read their politics into the text, and we wrestle with the marriage passage in chapter 5 as the theological climax of the letter (not the culture war flashpoint we've made it). We close with a beautiful reflection on Ephesians 6 as an Advent text—the church holding the line between Christ's victory and his return. Plus, Tom's grandson sings in the New College Oxford choir, and honestly, that's the kind of intergenerational beauty Ephesians is pointing toward. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Prof. N.T. (Tom) Wright is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He is one of the world's leading Bible scholars, with expertise in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, the New Testament, and Biblical Studies. He is also Emeritus Professor at the University of St. Andrews and the former Bishop of Durham. Tom's Previous Visits to the Podcast Devilpalooza NT Wright Talks Jesus and the scholars who discuss him UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This morning, as many of us will, I'll open the first door of my Advent calendar. I'm fascinated that this tradition has endured, even as much else about Advent has been overshadowed by all-things Christmas. We owe the origins of the Advent Calendar to 19th- and 20th-century German Lutherans, who also bequeathed us Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most striking writers on the Advent season. Bonhoeffer, famous for his resistance to fascism, loved this season, but his vision of it was far from gentle festive ease. Bonhoeffer's sermon for the first week of Advent in 1931 addressed a culture at a turning point, a culture he described as ‘an age of worldviews.' He wrote that how a person dresses, eats, speaks, and even exercises was now being read as evidence of worldview, worldviews clashing with increasing violence. At the root of these disagreements about worldview was the struggle to define human value: who has value, who decides on the terms of human value? Bonhoeffer said he was afraid of a culture that answered that question by equating human value with mastery over ourselves, the world, and other people. He warned us against desiring leaders – political or religious - who promise such an impoverished vision of mastery and triumph. He was afraid of an impatient culture, tempted by easy answers that turn out to be very costly. Bonhoeffer finds in Advent a better story of what it means to be human, a story that teaches us expectant waiting. He preaches it as a season of restless desire and liberation from the substitute, counterfeit gods that get in the way of a more just future. He thinks those who are powerless and restless in spirit often grasp best what Advent is. Advent rewards those who yearn for a new world, but who will wait until it is one capable of being good news for all; one which will come as a child for whom there was no room. His model of those closest to the spirit of Advent is the prisoner, which he himself became, and the pregnant woman.The Church lights a candle on its Advent wreath for each of the four virtues of the season: hope, peace, joy, and love. In an age of worldviews in which rival visions of the future once again abound, these remain candles worth lighting in the darkness.
At a Mar a Lago wedding for his friend Mike Wilkerson, President Trump suddenly walked into the reception, saw Eric, and told the bride and groom, “This is the guy who is going to get me into heaven.” The clip went ultra viral, and a wave of online critics accused Eric of failing to share the gospel in that moment. In this episode, Eric explains what really happened in the noisy, chaotic room, why he answered the way he did, and how the reaction exposed what he calls a growing Pharisee spirit and an idol of evangelism in the church. He also responds to a recent Tucker Carlson comment about Bonhoeffer and clarifies why Bonhoeffer acted as he did from a Christian ethical framework. Later, Eric talks with groom Mike Wilkerson about the wedding itself and then with Kevin McCullough about Christian Solidarity International and how viewers can help free real slaves in Sudan.Sponsors:Christian Solidarity International: https://csi-usa.org/metaxas/MyPillow — Save BIG with code ERIC: https://www.mypillow.com/ten Boom Coffee— Save 10% with code ERIC: https://tenboom.coffee/Legal Help Center - Get Free Legal Help Today: https://www.legalhelpcenter.com/⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro2:23 Trump Heaven Comment Explained22:29 Mike Wilkerson Joins Show25:21 Inside The Wedding Moment34:08 Kevin McCullough Joins Show
Alright Tolkien Heads, this one's important. Dr. Craig Boyd joins us to dig into Tolkien's political philosophy and—look, we gotta talk about how the alt-right has been trying to claim Tolkien as one of their own, which is just... no. Craig offers a much-needed corrective by actually reading what the man wrote and believed. The heart of the conversation is this contrast between Gandalf and Saruman as two models of leadership: one rooted in service and humility, the other in domination and control. And yeah, this feels pretty relevant right now. We get into why the easy path of controlling people is so seductive, and why the harder road—actually loving and respecting the folks you're leading—is what builds real community. Saruman thought he could use the enemy's tools for good ends; spoiler alert, it doesn't work that way. Power-hoarding corrupts everything it touches. Gandalf shows us another way: sacrifice, humility, genuine care for human flourishing over accumulating influence. Whether you're a Tolkien nerd, into political philosophy, or just trying to figure out what faithful leadership looks like in this moment, this one's for you. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Drop us a text message to say hi and let us know what you think of the show. (Include your email if you'd like us to reply)In which John and David reflect on Jonah's five-word sermon, the prophet's half-hearted obedience, and the surprising repentance of Nineveh. We explore how the narrative exposes Israel's own reluctance to hear God, and how—even through flawed preaching—God's word still brings life. Along the way we draw Bonhoeffer into the conversation on faithful proclamation.Episode 222 of the Two Texts Podcast | Jonah Beyond the Whale 18If you want to get in touch about something in the podcast you can reach out on podcast@twotexts.com or by liking and following the Two Texts podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you enjoy the podcast, we'd love it if you left a review or comment where you're listening from – and if you really enjoyed it, why not share it with a friend?Music by Woodford Music (c) 2021________Help us keep Two Texts free for everyone by becoming a supporter of the show John and David want to ensure that Two Texts always remains free content for everyone. We don't want to create a paywall or have premium content that would exclude others. However, Two Texts costs us around £60 per month (US$75; CAD$100) to make. If you'd like to support the show with even just a small monthly donation it would help ensure we can continue to produce the content that you love. Thank you so much.Support the show
This is an audio essay from my Process This substack. In it, I reflect on Alfred North Whitehead and what he can teach us about religion in our time. You see, Whitehead didn't see religion as just doctrines or institutions—he understood it as a creative force that connects our deepest ideals with the passion that actually moves us to act in the world. And here's what's beautiful: he shows us that the divine isn't a force that dominates or controls, but a gentle invitation woven through all of reality, calling us toward truth, beauty, and goodness. We're not passive recipients of this, we're active partners, and every act of kindness, every moment of genuine connection actually adds something real to the universe that wouldn't exist without us. The real transformation in history, whether it's been the Civil Rights Movement or the climate movement today, happens not through force and domination, but through the slower, harder, more beautiful path of persuasion—changing hearts and minds one person at a time. And here's what gives me hope: nothing we do in love is ever lost. It all becomes part of this larger story of the universe moving toward wholeness. So in this post-religious age, we desperately need this capacity to be moved by beauty and called by goodness. The question isn't what we believe, it's whether we'll let ourselves be caught up in this larger movement of love. To join the Whitehead reading group, become a supporting member of the Process This Substack. In addition to Zoom invites to the reading group and archives of each session, you will get an ad-free podcast feed of the podcast and invites to all the other live streams with friends like Diana Butler Bass & Ryan Burge. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What is up, Theology Nerds! So this episode we got my friend Diana Butler Bass back in the house to talk about her brand new book A Beautiful Year and this open online Advent class we're doing together over the next four weeks. Here's the deal: Diana's gonna walk us through how the Christian liturgical year—especially the lectionary—actually saved her faith during the pandemic when the church doors closed. She unpacks the lectionary as a real deep, anti-imperial, feminist, creation-care kind of reading that shows how Jesus is literally challenging Caesar through the gospel accounts. We break down why that matters for how we read the four Gospels and their unique takes on the Incarnation, and this is the crucial part: how all of this ancient story stuff actually orients us for what's happening right now with Christian nationalism and all that ugliness. The Advent class is donation-based (yeah, pay what you want), and you can catch it live each week or grab the video and audio later. Head to homebrewedclasses.com to sign up. Trust me, you're gonna want in on this conversation. Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America's most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textWhat if the kingdom of God becomes visible not in our theories but in our steps? Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology reframes discipleship as embodied obedience—showing up in prisons, sharing real mutuality, and trading religious privilege for humble responsibility. In this episode, Bishop Wright has a conversation with The Rev. Dr. Jenny M. McBride, Associate Rector of All Saints' Atlanta and president of the International Bonhoeffer Society. Jenny shares how reading Bonhoeffer at an urban house of hospitality opened a door from evangelical ideas to lived formation. That path led her into prison classrooms where fashion small talk mingled with raw theological questions, and where “helping” gave way to being helped. They discuss Luke 10's sentness, why belief grows when we go where Jesus intends to go, and how visiting the incarcerated unmasks our craving for superiority. Responsibility becomes the antidote to Christian nationalism's power hunger, and repentance becomes a daily practice that forms courage and tenderness. Listen in for the full conversation.The Rev. Dr. Jennifer M. McBride (Ph.D. University of Virginia) is Associate Rector at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Previously she served as an Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and held the Board of Regents Endowed Chair in Ethics at Wartburg College in Iowa. After a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Religious Practices and Practical Theology at Emory University, McBride directed a theology certificate program for incarcerated women through Emory's Candler School of Theology.McBride is author of You Shall Not Condemn: A Story of Faith and Advocacy on Death Row (Cascade, 2022), Radical Discipleship: A Liturgical Politics of the Gospel (Fortress, 2017), The Church for the World: A Theology of Public Witness (Oxford University Press, 2011), and is co-editor of Bonhoeffer and King: Their Legacies and Import for Christian Social Thought. In addition to book chapters and scholarly articles, her work has appeared in popular publications like The Christian Century and CNN.com and has been featured in the New York Times.McBride is the recent past president of the International Bonhoeffer Society – English Language Section, an organization made up of scholars, religious leaders, and readers of German pastor-theologian and Nazi-resister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. She serves as co-editor of the T&T Clark book series, New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Theology and Ethics.She is married to Dr. Thomas Fabisiak, who is the co-executive director of the Georgia Coalition for Higher Ed in Prison and Associate Dean at Life University, where he runs a college degree program for women in Georgia prisons. Support the show Follow us on IG and FB at Bishop Rob Wright.
On today's episode, we're talking with investigative journalist Ross Halperin about his new book Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land. Ross takes us on a fascinating journey from academic research on impunity—the unsolved homicides plaguing American cities—to Honduras, where he discovers an unexpected solution. We dig into why the US solve rate for murders hovers around 60% compared to over 90% in other wealthy democracies, and spoiler alert: it's not about more surveillance or militarization. The real issue is witness testimony, and that requires trust. Ross introduces us to Kurt and Carlos, whose charity work proves that community trust, built through years of genuine service and investment, is the key to bridging the gap between communities and law enforcement. We talk about how faith animates their work without being preachy, the humility required to stay open to criticism, and why top-down solutions often miss what actually moves people to speak up. It's a conversation about what it means to bear witness—not just to tell a story, but to show up and be trusted. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Ross Halperin is an investigative journalist and author of Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land. A Harvard University graduate, he worked on Wall Street before transitioning to research on criminal justice, where he worked under Mark A.R. Kleiman, one of the world's leading criminal-justice scholars. His interest in unsolved homicides and systemic violence grew from this research, which revealed that the United States has dramatically lower murder solve rates than comparable wealthy democracies. That research led Halperin to a presentation by Kurt Biehl at a summit organized by criminologist David Kennedy, sparking a years-long investigation into how one community in Central America tackled violence through trust-building and faith. Bear Witness is the result of his embedded reporting in Honduras, exploring how real change happens not through top-down mandates, but through patient commitment to community relationships. Halperin's own commitment to community building is evident in his work closer to home as well—he led a campaign to reconstruct the library in his hometown, reflecting his belief in the power of institutions and gathering spaces. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hey Theology Nerds! On this episode, we're wrestling with one of those questions that'll mess with your theology AND your politics - Vincent Harding's knockout punch of a question: 'Is America possible?' I'm talking about the REAL America, not the one on your uncle's Facebook feed, but the wild, beautiful, messy dream of a multiracial, multi-ethnic, pluralistic, egalitarian democracy that actually, you know, WORKS. We're getting into all of it - how democracy and capitalism are duking it out, what Christianity has to say when it's not too busy blessing the status quo, and why asking better questions might just save us from ourselves. This is about imagination, the kind that gets people in trouble with empire. We're talking solidarity that actually costs something, conversations that require actual courage (not just Twitter courage), and why your algorithm might be more theologically problematic than that praise band you love to hate. If you've ever wondered whether faith communities could stop playing defense and start building the world we actually need, or if you're ready to imagine America as something more than a 250-year-old experiment in barely not falling apart - this one's for you. We're bringing the theological fire to the most urgent questions of our time, because apparently that's what we do around here. Corey D. B. Walker is Dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University. As a scholar, he's committed to a broad vision of human flourishing. His research, teaching, and public scholarship span the areas of African American philosophy, critical theory, ethics, and religion and American public life. Bill Leonard is the Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Wake Divinity. Leonard's research focuses on Church History with particular attention to American religion, Baptist studies, and Appalachian religion. He is the author of over 25 books, including The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Church History: Flaming Heretics and Heavy Drinkers. Previous Episodes Bill & Corey: Theology in the Age of Anxiety and Algorithms Bill & Corey: Losing Sleep Before God Welcome to the Post-Christian Century the Fundamentalization of American Religion Listening Beyond the Times The History and Transformation of American Christianity Faith and Politics Through Church History ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wow, do we have a conversation for you! My filmmaker-theologian friend Sarey Martin Concepción and I sat down with director Lofty Nathan about his wild new film "The Carpenter's Son"—and let me tell you, this isn't your Sunday school Jesus. We're talking Nicholas Cage as Joseph (yes, he's a national treasure), FKA twigs bringing something totally unconventional to Mary, and demon snakes that literally made my phone start searching when I mentioned them. The film pulls from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas—one of those apocryphal texts that didn't make the canonical cut but the Coptic Orthodox Church has preserved—and asks the question nobody really wants to ask: what was it actually like for Jesus to figure out he was, you know, God? Nathan, who grew up Coptic Christian himself, doesn't sanitize anything here. We dig into all the big stuff: identity crises, divine vocation, the problem of suffering, and what happens when your kid can perform miracles but doesn't quite get the whole "with great power" thing yet. Fair warning: I watched this alone in the dark and those demon snakes freaked me out. But underneath the horror elements, there's this sincere, thoughtful wrestling with what incarnation really means. November 17th, folks—see it in theaters where you can properly freak out with other people. Sign up HERE to stay up to date on Theology Beer Camp 2026 & get EARLY ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, Andrew Johnson, Michael, and Matt Till engage with Dr. Steve Bezner, exploring the implications of Bonhoeffer's theology for contemporary church leadership. They discuss the importance of maintaining a distinct Christian identity in a politically charged environment, the role of pastors in shepherding their congregations, and the need for … Continue reading "Episode 214: Bonhoeffer the Pastor with Steve Bezner"
Hey Theology Nerds! What an absolute banger of an episode we've got for you - two live conversations straight from the wild and wonderful chaos of Theology Beer Camp 2025 in St. Paul. First up, I sit down with the incomparable Diana Butler Bass and my co-host Sarah Heath to dive into Diana's brand new book A Beautiful Year - and let me tell you, it's peak DBB, friends. We're talking about seasons and spirituality, finding God in the everyday rhythm of time, and how the church might just be walking away from us while we're walking toward it (trust me, it makes sense when Diana explains it). Then we pivot to my friends Andy and Kara Root who share killer insights from their new book A Pilgrimage into Letting Go: Helping Parents and Pastors Embrace the Uncontrollable - basically how to not completely screw up raising kids in a world that's accelerating faster than we can keep up with. Both conversations get real about control, confession, and finding those holy moments we can't manufacture but desperately need. So do yourself a favor: grab both of these books, and while you're at it, get on the list for Theology Beer Camp 2026 - because where else are you gonna find 600 theology nerds singing Bohemian Rhapsody together? Head over here to sign up for all the info. Trust me, you don't want to miss what we're cooking up for next year! You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Sign up HERE to stay up to date on Theology Beer Camp 2026 & get EARLY ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Vielmehr zeigen solche Orte, “was passieren kann, wenn wir uns nicht respektieren”, sagt Jörg Skriebeleit, Leiter der KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg.
Hey friends! In this introductory session for our "Religion in the Making" reading group, Andrew Davis and I dive into why Whitehead's 1926 lectures are the perfect entry point into process thought—way more accessible than slogging through Process and Reality's 40-page tangents on numbers! We explore how Whitehead was in this exciting third phase of his life, finally getting to work out his philosophical ideas after leaving Cambridge for Harvard, and how this book captures that fresh energy of someone discovering how religion isn't just about beliefs but about the habits and ways we orient ourselves toward value and meaning. Andrew shares how Whitehead flips modern philosophy on its head by showing that our clear sense perceptions emerge from a deeper "iceberg of related connectedness," making room for those moments when the depth dimension of reality breaks through into consciousness. If you want to join us for the next four weeks as we work through each lecture, become a supporting member at ProcessThis.Substack.com and let's explore together how religion is about finding "that side of the universe we can care for" that flows from the very nature of things! Andrew M. Davis is an American process philosopher, theologian, and scholar of the cosmos. He is the academic and research director for the Center for Process Studies where he researches, writes, teaches, and organizes conferences on various aspects of process-relational thought (Whitehead and Beyond). Andrew's Previous visits to the podcast Whitehead's Universe: a Guide to Thinking Process Mind, Value, and the Cosmos. the Power of Love & the Experience of God UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com Sign up HERE to stay up to date on Theology Beer Camp 2026 & get EARLY ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Still stuck, even after all the journaling, affirmations, and mindset hacks? You're not alone — and you're not crazy.I used to live and breathe self-help.I woke up at 4AM, visualized my dream life, repeated affirmations, lit the candles…And still felt empty.Then God told me something that shattered me — and changed everything:“You're not broken because you're not working hard enough. You're broken because you're working without Me.”This video is for every Christian caught in the trap of performance, hustle, and spiritual burnout.It's not about self-improvement. It's about self-surrender.You'll learn: - Why the self-help movement leaves you feeling hollow - How Jesus and the gospel completely flip self-help culture upside down - What Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw coming decades ago - Why surrender, not striving, is the key to transformation
In this audio essay, I explore why Alfred North Whitehead's "Religion in the Making" might be exactly what we need in 2025—especially if you're someone who's done with traditional religion but can't shake the feeling that something sacred is going on. I share Whitehead's remarkable story: a Cambridge mathematician who didn't even start teaching philosophy until he was 63, who lost his son in WWI, and whose wife Evelyn taught him that beauty and love aren't decorations on philosophy—they are the philosophy. Writing in 1926 amidst post-war trauma and scientific revolution, Whitehead saw past the tired warfare between science and religion to something more generous: What if the universe isn't dead matter but alive with meaning? What if we're not weird exceptions in a meaningless cosmos but examples of what the universe has been doing all along? I explain why this matters for anyone deconstructing faith, loving science, seeking justice, or simply hungry for a spirituality that's intellectually honest and alive to mystery. Most beautifully, Whitehead reminds us that religion isn't about safety or certainty—it's an adventure of the spirit, and maybe it's time we said yes to that adventure again. To join the Whitehead reading group, become a supporting member of the Process This Substack. In addition to Zoom invites to the reading group and archives of each session, you will get an ad-free podcast feed of the podcast and invites to all the other live streams with friends like Diana Butler Bass & Ryan Burge. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com Sign up HERE to stay up to date on Theology Beer Camp 2026 & get EARLY ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textDietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and resistance figure, once observed: “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. Stupidity, not evil, is the greater threat. Not because it's more powerful, but because stupidity is unreachable. You can expose evil, you can argue with it, you can shine a light on it, you can resist it, but stupidity just does not respond. It does not engage. It just is, and it spreads.”Though written in the context of political oppression, Bonhoeffer's words resonate profoundly within dentistry today. The challenges our profession faces—insurance restrictions, reimbursement struggles, regulatory burdens—are not merely fueled by malice or greed. More often, they are perpetuated by what Bonhoeffer described: a surrender of independent thought and discernment.In this article, we will examine how Bonhoeffer's warning applies to dentistry, dental insurance, dental association leadership, and dental teams. More importantly, we will explore how liberation—not simply instruction—is the only antidote.Support the show
Proverbs 16:9 says this: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” One of the great encouragements for us as believers is to know that God is providentially orchestrating all the events of our lives for His glory and for our good. Ultimately, that's good to know, although it is not always easy to embrace. Faithfulness to God and his mission requires that we as Christians hold our plans loosely and be prepared for unexpected and often sudden changes in the direction of our lives and our ministries. This may happen on a grand scale when some large-scale political or economic change happens that redirects a Christian's location or vocation. It may include a job transfer or a significant health change. It can also happen on a small scale in just daily disruptions to what we had planned for our day or our week. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps—reading the Bible.” Bonhoeffer's warning is good for us. The posture of every believer is a humble submission to all the possible changes and interruptions that God sends our way for our good and for the good of His mission in the world. It's His mission. God directs His people and orchestrates their lives for His good and perfect plans in this world. How are you doing with this? Do you possess the kind of teachable flexibility that allows you both to be joyful and available when God leads us in unexpected ways? Our sermon this Sunday will be taken from Acts 16:6-15 and it is called “The God who Opens Doors and Hearts.” This is a super helpful and encouraging passage of Scripture.
Join me and the Theology Beer Camp All-Stars as we debrief the beautiful chaos that was camp this year! We're talking 600 people, ages 8 to 96, with highlights including: Jared Byas secretly being a Magic: The Gathering wizard who destroyed everyone, a volunteer named Tor who flew in from Norway and became everyone's bestie, an opening theological wrestling match, and yours truly singing karaoke in a bunny suit because someone has to lower the bar for everyone else. But here's the real deal—as much as we love talking nerdy theology stuff, what makes Beer Camp special is the permission to just be yourself. Whether you're pouring coffee at 6 AM, filling beer steins, or revealing your secret nerd hobbies, it's about people showing up as people. Big thanks to our volunteer coordinator Bren (Camp Gandalf) and her 40-person crew who made it all happen. Already can't wait for next year, and that's saying something since I usually need two weeks of sleep before I can even think about it again. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube. Sign up HERE to stay up to date on Theology Beer Camp 2026 & get EARLY ACCESS to the cheapest tickets. UPCOMING ONLINE ADVENT CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wow, this conversation with Natalie was something else - one of those episodes where you start talking about a brain injury from cleaning a closet (seriously, turn the lights on, people!) and end up in the deep end discussing psychedelics, embodiment theology, and what happens when your brain decides to play tricks on you for two years straight. Natalie's journey through losing her ability to read, write, and even walk properly while being a theologian who studies embodiment is just wild - like, the irony isn't lost on anyone here. We went from talking about her accident (metal rod straight between the eyes, could've been way worse) to functional neurological disorder, to ketamine therapy and psilocybin journeys, with stops along the way for discussions about academic labor, memoir writing with amnesia, and why she finally got a dog after swearing she never would. The whole thing was this beautiful mix of vulnerability, theological nerdery, and real talk about how our bodies and minds can betray us in ways we never saw coming - and somehow we still managed to end with lawyers probably appreciating our thorough disclaimers about not giving medical advice. Classic. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Dr. Natalie Wigg-Stevenson is Associate Professor of Contextual Education and Theology at Emmanuel College, where she directs the MDiv and Contextual Education Programs. Her current research delves into how ethnographic methods could help create theological conversations across church, academy and everyday life. She is also interested in liturgical, feminist and queer theologies, cultural theories of practice, aesthetics, pop culture, and in decolonizing pedagogies. An ordained Baptist minister, Natalie is particularly passionate about preaching and worship, and about adult education in church settings. You can check out her previous visit to the podcast here: From Transgressive Devotion to Snuggle Puppy. UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS w/ Diana Butler Bass Join us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism. Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire's time and into God's time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything. This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world. What will we experience? Each week, we'll hear one gospel's unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they're in control. We'll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis. This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.com This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this bonus episode, we keep the mics rolling with Kelly Latimore as we discuss icons, Bonhoeffer, and subversive religious practices.
Andrew DeCort joins me to explore what it means to love our neighbor — not as a vague ideal, but as a radical way of living that can heal our divisions and reshape our world. Drawing from his own story in Ethiopia and his new book Reviving the Golden Rule, Andrew shares how the practice of neighbor love dismantles fear, ends cycles of othering, and calls us into a deeper belonging rooted in the very heart of God. We talk about how love becomes courage in the face of violence, how Jesus' teaching to love even our enemies abolishes exclusion, and how the Neighbor-Love Movement is helping people embody this ancient command in practical, everyday ways. This is a powerful conversation about faith, reconciliation, and what it means to live as people who see every human being as a reflection of God's image.Andrew DeCort founded the Institute for Faith and Flourishing and cofounded the Neighbor-Love Movement in Ethiopia, which have reached over twenty million people with the invitation to nonviolent spirituality. He holds a PhD in religious ethics from the University of Chicago and has taught ethics, public theology, peace and conflict studies, and Ethiopian studies at Wheaton College, the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, and the University of Bonn. He is the author of Reviving the Golden Rule, Blessed Are the Others, Flourishing on the Edge of Faith, and Bonhoeffer's New Beginning. His words have appeared in Foreign Policy, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Economist, Christianity Today, and numerous other platforms.Andrew's Book:Reviving the Golden RuleAndrew's Recommendation:Grief is LoveConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.comGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky or YouTubeConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below Contact me to advertise: jjohnson@shiftingculturepodcast.com Support the show
Casey Sigmon joined Tim and me to wrestle with worship, justice, and what happens when we think liturgy is just the music on Sunday morning instead of the choreography of our entire lives. Casey pushed us to see worship as ascribing worth—not just to any god, but to the One revealed in Jesus who demands we care for the oppressed, which means our praise songs better match our actual practices or we're just modern-day targets for Amos's rage. We dug into how white evangelicalism has turned worship into an industry that eliminates friction—picking churches by aesthetic preference, using AI to smooth out prophetic edges, segregating by taste and theology—when the biblical tradition is all about agonistic encounter with holy otherness that disrupts and transforms us. Tim brought his years as a professional drummer in that space to ask hard questions about manipulation versus mystery, while Casey helped us think about lament, confession, and how we've lost communal accountability for systemic sin by making everything about personal purity. We also geeked out on how religion evolved from ritual and trance before language even existed, why kids should lead us in justice work, and whether God's power looks more like collaborative choreography than cosmic intervention. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Casey Thornburgh Sigmon is an Assistant Professor in Preaching and Worship and Project Director of the Pause/Play Center for Preachers at Saint Paul School of Theology in Leawood, Kan. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a PhD in Homiletics and Liturgics. Her first book, Engaging the Gadfly: Moving from Reactionary to Reflective Preaching a Digital Age (Cascade), explores how the practice of preaching can affirm and subvert norms from social media and generative AI. Dr. Sigmon is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Here you'll discover how ancient texts illuminate modern struggles, how theological reflection deepens social action, and how historical understanding opens new possibilities for faithful engagement with our world's brokenness and beauty. Join John Dominic Crossan, Peter Enns, Casey Sigmon, Aizaiah Yong, & Malcolm Foley As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at www.FaithAndPolitics.net _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full episode on Patreon Part 2 moves from Christofascist spectacle to the “mushy middle” of liberal Christianity—why it so often blesses order over justice and falters when fascism rises. Drawing on MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail, Reggie Williams's Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus, and lived experience inside white urban churches, he traces how bureaucratic piety, respectability politics, and spiritual bypassing drain the Gospel of conduct and courage—what Bonhoeffer called a “funeral wreath” laid on the culture. How do institutions become procedurally compassionate yet politically inert? Matthew weaves in memories of global South Christian art, Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montréal, and the everyday service-industry grind of parish life to show how care without solidarity becomes maintenance—while Black Jesus points to co-suffering, mutual aid, and material resistance. Touching grass means moving from abstraction to accompaniment and from decorum to defense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This was a conversation with Heath Carter, historian and author of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago. Heath walked us through his journey from growing up in evangelical Orange County to discovering a working-class theological tradition that has been largely erased from our collective memory. We explored how the social gospel wasn't born in elite seminaries but was hammered out by workers quoting scripture in union halls, threatening to leave churches that sided with their bosses, and forcing institutional Christianity to reckon with inequality. Heath traced how both Protestant and Catholic churches went from being uniformly anti-labor in the late 1800s to embracing living wages and collective bargaining by the New Deal era—not because theologians had brilliant insights, but because grassroots pressure made it pragmatically and theologically untenable to ignore the labor question. We discussed why this tradition was gutted in the late 20th century, what UAW President Sean Fain's evangelical faith reveals about what's still possible, and whether democracy can survive when we continually compromise democratic values for market demands. Heath reminded us that 1877 was also a catastrophically bad year in American history, but out of that devastation came movements that actually changed things—not through perfect strategies or ideological purity, but through small, faithful acts and found solidarity that transformed institutional incentives. It's a story we desperately need to remember right now. Heath W. Carter is associate professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he teaches and writes about the intersection of Christianity and American public life. Carter is the author of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago, which was the runner-up for the American Society of Church History's 2015 Brewer Prize. He is also the co-editor of three books: The Pew and the Picket Line: Christianity and the American Working Class, Turning Points in the History of American Evangelicalism, and A Documentary History of Religion in America, 4th Ed. ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing Join John Dominic Crossan, Peter Enns, Casey Sigmon, Aizaiah Yong, & Malcolm Foley As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at www.FaithAndPolitics.net Theology Beer Camp is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this first installment of Antifascist Christianity: Black Jesus, Matthew revisits Dietrich Bonhoeffer's journey from the theological classrooms of Berlin to the Black churches of Harlem — where he encountered a Jesus entirely unlike the imperial figure of his upbringing. Bonhoeffer arrived in New York a servant of white European Christendom, and left transformed by the radical, suffering, and liberatory presence of Black Jesus. Matthew connects Bonhoeffer's awakening to today's spectacle of white nationalism in worship — from the triumphalist religion on display at Charlie Kirk's memorial to the enduring cultural power of “white Jesus” as theology for empire. Drawing on Reggie Williams's Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus, Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism, and Jeanelle Hope and Bill Mullen's The Black Antifascist Tradition, the episode traces how colonialism created a Christ built to bless domination, and how the Black church reclaimed him through solidarity, suffering, and resistance. The contrast between the fortress hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God and the spiritual Were You There becomes the turning point in Bonhoeffer's faith — from triumph to trembling, from power to empathy. Part 2, out Monday on Patreon, explores how liberal Christianity tried to stand between these poles, and why it failed. Show Notes Hope, Jeanelle K., and Bill V. Mullen. The Black Antifascist Tradition. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2023. Robinson, Cedric J. Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition. Revised and Updated Third Edition. Foreword by Robin D. G. Kelley. Preface by Damien Sojoyner and Tiffany Willoughby-Herard. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Williams, Reggie L. Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Drew Hart joined me to dig into questions from our God of Justice class about his lecture on the black church and American experience. We covered a lot of ground—from Drew's own journey as a preacher's kid who found his tribe in the prophetic tradition of the black church and Anabaptism, to why James Cone's confrontational theology is actually necessary for real liberation (not just comfortable reconciliation). Drew pushed back hard on white progressive Christianity that performs solidarity without changing oppressive structures, explaining why gradualism is always justice denied. We talked about enslaved people adapting (not just adopting) Christianity into something radically different from what slaveowners preached, the messy reality of violence and peacemaking when your back's against the wall, and what a reparations God actually means—hint: it's about healing, not just debt calculation. If you want theology that takes the crucified Jesus seriously, rather than abstracting him into universal principles that leave power structures intact, this conversation delivers. Drew G. I. Hart is a public theologian and professor of theology at Messiah University. He has ten years of pastoral ministry experience and is the recipient of multiple awards for peacemaking. Hart attained his MDiv with an urban concentration from Missio Seminary and his PhD in theology and ethics from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences, campuses, and churches across the United States and Canada. His first book, Trouble I've Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism, utilizes personal and everyday stories, theological ethics, and anti-racism frameworks to transform the church's understanding and witness. Hart lives with his wife, Renee, and their three sons in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This conversation was a wild ride through some of the most challenging questions facing progressive Christians today. Malcolm Foley—reverend, scholar, and all-around theology nerd—walked us through his journey from studying Greek church fathers to researching lynching and the Black church's witness to America. We dug into his book's central thesis that greed (not just ignorance or hate) is the root of racism, explored why Christians keep trying to serve both God and Mammon despite Jesus being pretty clear about that either/or situation, and wrestled with what it means to pursue justice with moral clarity, fierce perseverance, and nonviolent love. Malcolm challenged us on everything from our electoral anxieties to our tendency to spiritualize away material commitments, reminding us that the church is supposed to be an alternative political-economic community, not just a gathering of people who think the same things. We talked about David Walker's abolitionist fire, Ida B. Wells' relentless anti-lynching work, and MLK's theological commitment to enemy love—and why progressive Christians especially struggle with that last piece. It's the kind of conversation that makes you simultaneously want to holler "amen" and also maybe go hide because actually following Jesus is way harder than voting for the right candidate. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Rev. Dr. Malcolm Foley earned a PhD in religion from Baylor University in December 2021. His dissertation investigated Black Protestants responding to lynching from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Before coming to Baylor, Dr. Foley earned a BA in religious studies with a second major in finance and a minor in classics from Washington University in St. Louis. He subsequently completed a Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School, focusing on the theology of the early and medieval church. Malcolm also serves as a co-pastor at an intentionally multicultural, nondenominational church, Mosaic Waco. He is the author of The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why The Love of Money is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create A New Way Forward . ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I had an incredible conversation with Cynthia Moe-Lobeda about her book Building a Moral Economy (the first in a six-book series!). We dug into how most Christians experience a profound disconnect between their faith and their economic lives—knowing intellectually that our consumer choices connect us to exploitation and ecological destruction, but feeling powerless to change systems that seem inevitable. Cynthia shared her own journey from despair to action, grounded in a mystical encounter that helped her hold both grief and hope simultaneously. She laid out a compelling vision for what a moral economy actually looks like: ecological, equitable, and democratic—three criteria that radically challenge financialized capitalism. The heart of our conversation was her framework of "10 fingers on the hands of healing change"—specific forms of action like living lightly, moving money, changing rules, and building a bigger "we." What moved me most was her insistence that our current economy isn't inevitable; it was built by human decisions and can be rebuilt differently. She reminded us that we're not isolated moral agents but a "we"—the body of Christ with diverse gifts for different kinds of action. If you've ever felt torn between providing for your family and the knowledge that our prosperity is connected to the crucified people of our world, this conversation offers a path forward rooted in resurrection faith and practical action. Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda is a Lutheran theologian, ethicist, and author who has dedicated her career to exploring the intersection of faith, economics, and justice. Her work focuses on building what she calls "economies for life"—economic systems that are ecological, equitable, and democratic. She is the author of Resisting Structural Evil and Building a Moral Economy. With decades of experience in ecumenical work and student ministry, Cynthia brings both academic rigor and pastoral wisdom to her writing, grounded in her conviction that the current economic system is not inevitable but can be transformed through collective action. ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing Join John Dominic Crossan, Peter Enns, Casey Sigmon, Aizaiah Yong, & Malcolm Foley As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at www.FaithAndPolitics.net Theology Beer Camp is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ryan Duns is back on the podcast to talk about his provocative new book exploring horror and theology, and boy does he deliver some counterintuitive insights. He argues that horror is actually the most conservative film genre—and that's precisely why it works so well for theological reflection. Think about it: to be scared, you first have to believe there's something worth protecting. Ryan walks us through how horror films function as underground spaces where transcendence has been displaced and distorted, creating what he calls "frag events" that shatter our comfortable assumptions about reality. From The Purge and mimetic desire to The Black Phone and eucatastrophe, he shows how these films operate as photographic negatives of divine transcendence, revealing both our metaphysical vulnerability and our deep hunger for meaning. We dive into concepts like the "dark transcendent," the porosity of being, and why feeling horror is actually a sign of soul. Plus, Ryan shares stories from his Theology of Horror class—including angry parent emails and a student who ended up joining the Jesuits. If you've ever wondered what a philosophical theologian is doing teaching about chainsaw massacres and demonic possession, this conversation will blow your mind while making you rethink everything about faith, fear, and what it means to be human. Check out the book, Theology of Horror: The Hidden Depths of Popular Films. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Ryan G. Duns, SJ, (twitter) is a Jesuit priest and an assistant professor of theology at Marquette University. His locates his work the intersection of philosophy and systematic theology and is interested in regarding theology as practice or “way of life.” He has published on Karl Rahner, Jean-Luc Marion, René Girard, and his most recent work has involved a sustained engagement with William Desmond's metaphysics. His monograph “Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age: Desmond and the Quest for God” argues that, when read as a form of spiritual exercise (Pierre Hadot), Desmond's philosophy can re-awaken a sense of the Transcendent. Previous Podcasts with Ryan Thinking within the Catholic Tradition Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age. of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dr. Hanna Reichel returns to the podcast to discuss their timely devotional For Such a Time as This, which emerged from student questions about how theological wisdom applies to our current political moment. Drawing parallels between Trump-era America and the Weimar Republic, Reichel explores the muddy complexity of resistance, the dangers of purity politics, and why they chose the devotional form to address rising authoritarianism. We dive deep into the power of language, the difference between authoritarianism and totalitarianism, Bonhoeffer's concept of vicarious representative action, and how ancient liturgical practices can help us navigate political chaos without getting swept away by fear or rage. This conversation tackles everything from surveillance capitalism to the loneliness epidemic, offering a theological framework for discipleship in dangerous times. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Hanna Reichel is Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Reichel is an internationally recognized Barth scholar and constructive theologian. UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Here you'll discover how ancient texts illuminate modern struggles, how theological reflection deepens social action, and how historical understanding opens new possibilities for faithful engagement with our world's brokenness and beauty. Join John Dominic Crossan, Peter Enns, Casey Sigmon, Aizaiah Yong, & Malcolm Foley As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at www.FaithAndPolitics.net Theology Beer Camp is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this conversation with Aizaiah Young, we dove deep into what it means to live a contemplative life in our hyperaccelerated culture. Aizaiah, who works at the Collegeville Institute and draws from thinkers like Raimon Panikkar and Howard Thurman, made a compelling case that contemplation isn't passive navel-gazing—it's about bringing your full self to every moment, whether you're protesting injustice or wiping your kid's bottom. We talked about how the monastery's vow of stability offers a radical alternative to our culture's obsession with speed and productivity, how Internal Family Systems can help us dialogue with different parts of ourselves instead of just trying to fix what's "broken," and why swimming upstream with elegance might be the key to sustainable social action. Tim and I both confessed how drawn we are to this approach, even as we wrestle with the tension between needing to combat misinformation online and recognizing that real transformation happens in those slower, face-to-face conversations where we can actually see each other's humanity. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Aizaiah G. Yong is an ordained Pentecostal Christian minister and practical theologian who has served in leadership roles in religious and higher education for over a decade, devoting his energy to healing and advocacy work that centers on QTBIPOC communities. His recent book, Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: a Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences, received the internationally acclaimed 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize. ONLINE CLASS - The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Longing This transformative online class brings together distinguished scholars from biblical studies, theology, history, and faith leadership to offer exactly what our moment demands: the rich, textured wisdom of multiple academic disciplines speaking into our contemporary quest for justice. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What's up theology nerds! On this episode, I had the absolute privilege of sitting down with Dr. Grant Wacker, one of America's preeminent historians of religion, and man did he deliver. We dove deep into his fascinating "Bushman test" - the idea that when writing history, you should do so with the understanding that you might someday encounter your subjects in heaven. That framework of being both critical and sympathetic really animated our whole conversation. But here's the kicker - I asked Grant to reflect on the defining moments in American religion as we approach our 250th anniversary, and he came back with 11 (not 10!) pivotal moments that have shaped who we are religiously as a nation. From the expansionist impulse of colonization to the power of renewal movements, from the subjection of Native Americans to the role of reform theology, Grant unpacked these threads with the wisdom that only comes from decades of wrestling with this stuff. We also got into his work on Billy Graham, the birth of Pentecostalism, and how technology has revolutionized religious movements. This is the kind of conversation that helps you understand not just where American religion came from, but where it might be headed. Grab your coffee and settle in - this one's worth savoring. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Dr. Grant Wacker is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Christian History at Duke Divinity School and the author of Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture, America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation, and One Soul at a Time: The Story of Billy Graham. He is a former president of the American Society of Church History and has served as a senior editor of the quarterly journal Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. Theology Beer Camp is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! Get info and tickets here. _____________________ This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices