Beards & Bible Podcast

There are a number of Christian traditions (Mennonites, Quakers, Adventists, Moravians, etc.) who hold to a position of non-violence/Christian pacifism and say that owning a gun for self-defense isn’t a Biblically supported position. They’ll quote verses like Matthew 26:52, where Jesus says “put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Or Matthew 5:39 w...

Leaders within the church are called by scripture to live and lead in a way that is above reproach- that doesn’t mean that they must be perfect (or we’d have no leaders), but it does mean that someone who leads must practice personal integrity, character, and godliness. The little things in life reveal character- and character matters in church leadership more than talent, ability, appearance, per...

In March of 2023, Tennessee Pastor Greg Locke released a documentary film entitled Come Out in Jesus Name. The film chronicled the ministries of deliverance ministers such as Alexander Pagani, Isaiah Saldivar, and Mike Signorelli. The movie features footage from real life “deliverance” services, where individuals allegedly manifest demonic spirits while screaming, retching, falling, shaking, and w...

Howdy listeners! This week's episode is a bit different with Gabe traveling to Israel, but with a little bit of international date line maneuvering, we're still able to make things happen.   So join us as Gabe checks in from Israel, Josh answers e-mail questions, and Jason Aldean dares you to try that in a small town...(whatever "that" may happen to be). 

In the year 325 at the First Council of Nicea, leaders of the early church adopted a very important statement of belief in response to a false teacher named Arius. Arius was an Egyptian presbyter from Alexandria who introduced a new theology that stated while Jesus was the Son of God, He wasn’t really God- he was a created being who had been given some divine attributes. The early church responded...

In 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo fell into a persistent vegetative state after suffering cardiac arrest. A fierce highly public battle took place between her parents and her husband, who wanted to disconnect her feeding tube. Terri's husband argued that his wife would not have wanted her life artificially prolonged, with no hope of recovery. Terri Schiavo's case spurred an emotional nationwide a...

In the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, there stood a statue near a city park of Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, who himself was a native of St. Bernard Parish and grew up in New Orleans. The statue was placed there in 1915. Beauregard was an early proponent of equal rights in Louisiana, serving as the outspoken leader of the short-lived and ultimately failed unification movement. The movement w...

Amazon Prime recently released a limited docuseries exposing the truth beneath the wholesome Americana surface of reality tv’s favorite mega-family, The Duggars, and the radical organization behind them: The Institute in Basic Life Principles.  The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is a nondenominational Christian organization that serves as an umbrella organization for several ministries...

Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, and it usually communicates some sort of message within that medium. Art can be painting, sculpture, literature, music, dance, drama, and it can be film. Film (motion pictures, television shows, streaming series, etc.) is a work of visual art that tells a story that simulates experiences and communicates ideas, perceptio...

In American Christianity especially, there is much confusion on the doctrine of eternal security (sometimes referred to as “once saved, always saved“). Some circles of Christianity, for example, might teach that one can lose his/her  salvation and fall into the error of trying to keep his salvation by personal effort. According to scripture, this is a serious error (Gal. 3:1-3). On the other hand,...

John 10:34 “Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said you are gods’? If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’- and the Scripture cannot be broken- do you say, You are blaspheming to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world because I said: I am the Son of God?”   Jesus’ point is this: you charge me with blasphemy based on my use of the title “Son of God”;...

Purity culture was/is a movement that started in the 1990s primarily within Evangelical American Christianity which emphasized individual "purity," generally associated with female chastity.  Purity culture places a strong emphasis on abstinence before marriage. In some circles, dating was discouraged entirely to avoid pre-marital sex (the book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Josh Harris promoted ab...

In today's episode, we want to take time to answer some of YOUR QUESTIONS on topics like the age of the earth, the difference between the Christian and Muslim Jesus (or, Isa in Islam), if AI systems that resembled humans could be "saved", and as many more as we have time to get to in one episode!    

We’ve examined deconstruction and its current influence in the church at large. We’ve explored some of the possible reasons for why someone would deconstruct. And we’ve heard a few personal stories of folks who have taken that journey. So what if we actually do need to reexamine the faith we grew up in or have held to for a long time? What if the traditions and teachings of religion have become so...

Deconstruction is trending. And many are simply struggling to make sense of it all.  But what if we deconstructed a person’s reasons for deconstructing? In other words, what if weren’t so quick to assume that someone who is deconstructing Christianity is doing so because they’re genuinely interesting in finding truth? What if perhaps they’re looking for something else? In psychology, moral licensi...

In this episode, Josh sits down with his friend Jesse and talks through Jesse's journey of deconstructing and deconverting from the Christian faith. 

Deconstruction is trending. And many are simply struggling to make sense of it all. But what if the existing structures and culture of the American Church at large share some of the blame for this rise in deconstruction amongst the younger generation? Many young people have come up through churches that were swept up in the “seeker sensitive/Church growth” movement in the 90s/early 2000s. For the...

On today's episode, Josh shares his story on deconstructing the Christian faith in his early 20's. 

Deconstruction is trending. And many are simply struggling to make sense of it all. In July 2019, popular Christian writer, speaker, and pastor Joshua Harris announced that he and his wife were separating due to "significant changes that have taken place in both of us". Subsequently, Harris revealed that he no longer considered himself to be a Christian. Harris cited primarily personal and relatio...

The temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship and national identity in ancient Israel. The people of Israel have built two temples to God in Jerusalem, and both have been destroyed- the first by the Babylonians, and the second by the Romans. But it seems as if the Bible suggests that there will be a third temple in Jerusalem. The desire for the Third Temple is sacred in Judaism, and particular...

Happy New Year, Beards & Bible listeners! On today’s episode we want to take time to answer some of your questions on topics like the Biblical ethic for microdosing psychedelics for PTSD treatment, the show “the Chosen” and its supposed connections to the Mormon Church, Israel’s role in the end times, and if there will be literal 3rd temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, and anymore we can possibly squeeze...

We'll be answering listener questions that have been sent in to us throughout the year, so if you have any topics, issues, questions, or ideas that you want us to do our best to answer and comment on, send them over to us- beardsandbiblepodcast@gmail.com or reach out to us via the FB page. We will narrow it down the ones we think we might be able to do justice to and address and release our From t...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past five years, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about cryptocurrency. In 2008, Bitcoin became the first established virtual currency, and remained that way in 2011. But now, more than 12,000 cryptocurrencies are available, and that number more than doubled in the past year (2021-2022). Some economists believe cryptocurrencies are the world’s stronge...

When the origin story of the Word of Faith movement is examined, some very interesting things get uncovered. Such as the influence the New Thought movement and teachers like Phineas Quimby, E.W. Kenyon, and Mary Baker Eddy. Or the father of the word of faith movement Kenneth Hagin’s blatant plagiarism of new thought/mind science practitioners. One of the ugly secrets most word of faith teachers do...

What is faith? The Bible says in Hebrews 11 that without it, we can’t please God and that it’s the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen. But does that we can “speak our tomorrow” into existence because of this force called, “faith”? The Word of Faith movement is a mainly Pentecostal movement that came up in the late 20th century. Word of Faith teaching states tha...