The Progressive Christians Podcast

Abdul El-Sayed is running to become the first Muslim U.S. Senator in American history — and he says his faith is a big part of why. In this full interview, the Michigan Democrat breaks down what "love your neighbor" actually looks like as public policy: how Christians can fight Islamophobia, why he champions Medicare for All, and what gives him hope heading into November 3. Please note that this i...

Dr. Khyati Joshi grew up within the small Hindu community in Cobb County, Georgia, and the only Christianity she knew was the kind that told her she was going to hell. She's a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, author of White Christian Privilege, and host of the new podcast series Mixed from Axis Mundi. Her husband is a white Episcopalian, and they chose to raise their son in both tradi...

Is the death penalty anti-Christian? In this episode, we examine the Christa Pike case and discuss why state-sanctioned violence always fails Jesus' terms. Tennessee tried twice to execute Christa Pike on September 30th and failed. A week later, Pete Hegseth said he wanted the next military execution livestreamed. State violence is the throughline. We analyze the biblical arguments often used to s...

Tim Tebow's presentations at Life Surge events felt more like prosperity gospel tent revivals than "Christian" wealth seminars. This helps explain why so many people felt scammed. In this episode, we unpack how a $30 all-day event leads to a $97 class and then $10,000 to $50,000 tiers - often on stacked credit cards - all sold as "Kingdom Impact." We dismantle the theology behind it by unpacking t...

The theology of Christian Nationalism is light on CHRISTian and heavy on Nationalism. This framing empowers Theobros like Joshua Haymes to claim that "it is not inherently evil to own another human being," and still claim to be a Christian.  So where is Jesus in all of this? In this week's episode, we go through the four pastors named in Bob Smietana's  @ReligionNewsService essay "The Rise of the...

After deconstruction, how do you find a church that won't hurt you again? In the final episode of our series, Christian Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Finding Faith Again, we describe the journeys we each took to find belonging in a progressive church community. Deconstruction can leave you lonely.  You lost your old church, and perhaps you even lost your community. How do you find community a...

After deconstruction, what's left? In Episode 3 of our series, Christian Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Finding Faith Again, we describe the faith we're actually building. We discuss why we understand God as love itself, not control and punishment. We explain why we read the Bible as revealing people's experience of God and why wrestling with interpretations in community matters, rather than s...

What's the difference between the religion OF Jesus and the religion ABOUT Jesus? A lot, and for those deconstructing Christianity, the difference means so much. This is Episode 2 of our 4-part series, Christian Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Finding Faith Again. The religion OF Jesus is a spiritual path of radical compassion. It emphasizes love of neighbor, welcoming the outcast, questioning...

Is deconstructing Christianity the end of your faith — or the beginning? This is Episode 1 of our 4-part series, Christian Deconstruction and Reconstruction: Finding Faith Again. If you grew up in church and something started feeling off — like the Christianity around you didn't match the Jesus you read about — this is for you. In this episode, we share when our questions began, why doubt isn't fa...

It feels like the end times - Christian Nationalism, war in Iran, and we can't even trust that our food is safe to eat anymore. A lot of people are carrying summertime sadness and doom-loop anxiety. Given this, what does eschatology actually teach, and how does bad end-times theology fuel fear? In this episode, we unpack eschatology (the study of the end times) beyond Left Behind theology. We map...

In this episode, we unpack the Texas Senate race between State Rep. James Talarico and State Attorney General Ken Paxton as a theological case study, rather than a political race. Both say they were sent by God - they're reading the same Bible, and yet, two very different Christianities emerge. In their own words: "I truly believe that God just delivered me, not because I'm a great person because...

Is wellness culture actually spiritual, or just another consumer trend? If you identify as spiritual but not religious, there is no shortage of wellness trends promising peace and health without the "baggage" of religion. But when you remove the religious meaning from practices like yoga, you are left with a pretty shallow spiritual practice. This week we sit down with scholar and author Liz Bucar...

We're celebrating 100 episodes 🥳 and marking it with a book giveaway! And by discussing the kind of accusation that led us to start this podcast in the first place. If progressive Christians disagree with conservative Christians about what the core of the faith requires, does that make us not Christian?  A new report from Religion News Service shows Republican politicians questioning whether Demo...

This episode is for all of our book lovers! We're big readers here, and we're always getting questions about what we're reading and what we would recommend. Join our biggest readers: Rev Blair, Dr. Carter, and Julia - as we discuss our faves from fiction to nonfiction, political to fluff, old and new. And drop your faves in the comments! (*Frequent listeners will know that Julia's 'pastor' status...

What does the Bible say about billionaires and wealth accumulation? Quite a bit, actually! In this episode, we discuss economic inequality and the rising demand for wealth taxes, and explain why hoarding wealth is a sin and what Christians should do about it. Dr. Carter is a fan of Gary Stevenson  @garyseconomics and his documentary "How to Get Filthy Rich" helped inspire this episode. During our...

If you've been involved in political discourse at all over the last month, you've doubtless heard the panicked predictions or joyous celebrations (depending on who you're listening to) about the Democratic Socialists of America. But who are these Socialists? What do they stand for, why is it surprisingly Biblical - and what does this mean for the future of the Church? We actually have a few DSA me...

Bethany Christian Services, the nation's largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency, has decided that all staff, board members, foster families, and adoptive families must sign a belief statement defining marriage as "a covenant between one man and one woman." The change takes effect in June 2027(happy pride!)   Obviously, this is unacceptable. But somehow, Bethany Christian Services is de...

What if the story of Jacob wrestling with God has always been a story about identity, transition, and transformation — and we just didn't see it? In this episode, Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter brings a queer theological lens to Genesis 32, unpacking what happens when Jacob refuses to let go of a divine being until he receives a blessing. At the center of this story isn't just a wrestling match; it's...

The Southern Baptist Convention just voted 6,028 to 2,026 — a 3-to-1 margin — to advance a constitutional ban on women serving as pastors or preaching to their congregations. Dr. Carter and Rev. Blair responded to this news with a theological and biblical analysis of the SBC's arguments, and unsurprisingly, came to a vastly different conclusion. In this episode, we discuss what the SBC actually vo...

Join us this week to celebrate 70 YEARS OF WOMEN'S ORDINATION in the Methodist Church! Rev. Blair and Dr. Carter are joined by their boss, Reverend Molly Vetter, and everyone's boss, Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank, to discuss their experiences during different eras of women's rights in the church. One of the most common hate comments we get is from people claiming that women can't be pastors - so ju...

HAPPY PRIDE! We have another special guest this week: Representative Leigh Finke! The first openly transgender Representative in Minnesota's history, she is a founding member and current chair of the Queer Caucus, and she helped to pass the "Trans Refuge Bill," protecting access to gender-affirming care for Minnesotans.  Leigh Finke is also a practicing Christian, and an author that wrote "Queerfu...

This week, we are honored to be joined by the one and only Dr. Abdul El-Sayed! As he loves to remind us, Dr. Carter is from Michigan, and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is currently running in a three-way Democratic primary to be Michigan's Senator against Haley Stevens and Mallory McMorrow. If he wins, he would not only be an unprecedented Progressive voice in Congress, but he would also be the first Muslim...

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was born from the Black church. It wasn't just a political achievement — it showed the world the courage and resilience of Black people, the theology of the Civil Rights Movement, and the conviction that loving your neighbor means protecting your neighbor's voice. SCOTUS gutting it isn't just unconstitutional — it's un-Christian. In this episode, we're breaking down t...

We are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Melissa Borja this week, to discuss her new podcast "One Million Neighbors!" The podcast follows the story of the largest refugee resettlement in American history - when Midwestern Christians resettled "One Million Neighbors." Obviously, this is very relevant to our current immigration panic, so we dive deep into the strange role that Christians have played here...

Raise your hand if you've had a clip from James Talarico come across your page in the past year 🤚 We've been following this race closely, and now that he won the Democratic nomination, we have a lot of thoughts. His unique use of Christianity and Christian language in politics has set him apart. It's brought a lot of momentum, but it's also brought a lot of hate - even from the president. We're h...