Religion on the Mind

In an episode topic that should surprise no listeners of this show (ha!), Lore Ferguson Wilbert joins me today to discuss her book "A Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask, and We Wish Someone Would Ask Us." Lore (pronounced “Lori”) aims to champion curiosity, especially in faith settings where doubt and asking questions aren't often encouraged or even allowed. She says, “Curiosity is kind...

Co-authors and sisters Elaine Heath (former guest) and Janine Heath McGlynn join me to discuss their co-authored memoir "Loving the Hell Out of Ourselves." They start the book with a statement of purpose, "Our heartfelt hope is that this book helps you, our readers, to know that love, not shame, not fear, not hate, not damnation, love is God's meaning." We cover subjects like poverty & neglect, pa...

Josh Porter (Showbread) joins me today for one of our "Worries About Deconstruction" episodes to talk about his book "Death to Deconstruction: Reclaiming Faithfulness as an act of Rebellion." Despite some agreement, this conversation delves into our fundamental disagreements around objective truth claims, personal doctrines, and Christian orthodoxy. Northwind Open & Relational Theology Center: htt...

*This episode is not about trauma-focused music therapy, but rather the language festival-goers use around trauma and healing* In today's dual-feed release (also on my Pretty Good Vibrations Podcast), ethnomusicologist and author Nathan Myrick (Ph. D., Baylor University) joins me to discuss his research project studying the community surrounding Furnace Fest, a faith-adjacent heavy music festival...

Diana Butler Bass and Tripp Fuller join me today to discuss "Empty Altars," their 6-Week Lenten Exploration of little-known American “saints.” Diana asks, “What spiritual practices, what theological languages, what kinds of stories are motivating people in a multicultural, religiously pluralistic society?” and "How can we find goodness, beauty, and justice?" Through a lens of heroism, we cover how...

Joining me today is author Amy Frykholm to discuss her research on rapture culture and the future of mainline Protestantism. Amy suggests questions like "How do we not get attached to our forms?", "How do we continue to be willing to experiment?" and "How do we focus on what really matters?" We discuss embodied religious expression, the alienation doubt can bring, and the Left Behind Series' effec...

Tony Jones and I are joined by Jeff Green (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Daryl Van Tongeren (Hope College) to ask the vital question, "How can we get the benefits of religion without the potential dangers of religion?" Together we investigate what factors contribute to religion's positive and negative outcomes. Through this lens, we discuss ideological homogeneity, our need for certainty,...

My guests today are Shelby and Nate Hansen, co-hosts of the Almost Heretical Podcast, to talk Biblical canonization. Shelby says, "Scripture is supposed to aid us in making the world better, and it's not an end in and of itself." Driven by canon-specific patron questions, this conversation covers things like inspiration, orthodoxy, the Apocrypha, and more. https://almostheretical.com/ Almost Heret...

Today I'm joined for a rare in-person chat with author and long-time friend Sara Billups to discuss her new book "Orphaned Believers: How a Generation of Christian Exiles Can Find the Way Home." Using the text to structure our conversation, Sara shares about the impact of being raised Evangelical in the 80s and 90s. We cover consumerism, sensationalism, fear, exceptionalism, and more. Sara’s Websi...

My guest today, Meredith Ann Miller, is an author, pastor, and parent with over 20 years of experience in children's ministry and curriculum. Well-steeped in empirical research, Meredith's work offers ideas like "Your faith questions are wonderful and worthy; Nothing needs to be solved today," and "You are connecting your good kid to the God that made them so." We also cover listener questions add...

I am joined today by my friend Zach Bolen, vocalist and songwriter of the band Citizens. As long as he’s writing songs about his faith, Zach feels that he must “write songs that are bringing people to a table, rather than trying to push people further away." We discuss Christian music industry pressure, Zach's experience working at Mars Hill Church, cultivating diverse ideological relationships, a...

Today I'm joined by three friends and collaborators — Sarey Concepción, Myron Penner & Kristen Tideman — to discuss the findings of a survey we conducted for leaders in the Post-Evangelical world. We asked questions like "What is the most helpful thing the post-Evangelical community can do for its own community members?", "What do you see as the top redeeming qualities (if any) of mainstream evang...

*Re-broadcast* - Habit, Virtue, Prayer & Science (#83) Bradley Wright is a Protestant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut where he studies American Christianity, spirituality, and well-being. Sofia Corozza is a Catholic phd student at Cambridge studying child neurodevelopment. Also, she is Brad’s goddaughter, which makes for a lovely interplay between the two of them. So why ca...

Joining me today is Amanda Held Opelt, sister of Rachel Held Evans, to talk about her book "A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals and Grief of Healing." After a season of multiple losses, Amanda found herself studying grief rituals. We talk about what she learned and consequently wrote about. We also cover her experience with international aid work, making meaning out of suffering, resilien...

In today's long overdue conversation, I speak with best-selling author & speaker Brian D. McLaren about his book "Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned." Brian says, "In a period of rapid cultural and intellectual change, having a religion that's set up and run by change-averse people creates an interesting set of challenges." We address some of th...

*Re-broadcast* - Why I Am (Still) a Christian (#60) I’m joined by my dear friend Ben Bishop, who is both a fantastic interviewer in his own right and a former patron-only episode guest. I asked Ben to interview me on the topic of why I am (still) a Christian. No one ever asks me, “Why are you a Christian?” Or very rarely, anyway. But pretty regularly, in the context of conversations about deconstr...

Joining me today is Rev. Dr. Brian Kaylor to discuss his book "Presidential Campaign Rhetoric in an Age of Confessional Politics." Brian overviews the book's four categories for religious political rhetoric: testimonial, partisan, sectarian and liturgical. We analyze how Evangelicalism has significantly changed the political landscape in the past 50 years. Brian's Book "Presidential Campaign Rheto...

In today's delightful conversation with author Erin S. Lane, we talk about her new book "Someone Other Than a Mother: Flipping the Scripts on Woman's Purpose and Making Meaning beyond Motherhood." Erin walks us through the book's critiques of cultural scripts around motherhood and womanhood, offering real alternatives. We also cover theological implications, biological desire, bell curves, and how...

A brief announcement about the second podcast I am launching! **You Have Permission will continue as normal, including the Patreon community.** Subscribe to Pretty Good Vibrations on... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pretty-good-vibrations/id1652779250 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TndELJwWnjJAXv92HdS10?si=1552ae80532a477a Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+9VLk2yuqI J...

Rejoining me today is author and journalist Bonnie Kristian to discuss her book “Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains Polluting Our Politics and Corrupting Christian Community.” A delight to have on the show again, Bonnie describes contributing sources to the ongoing epistemological crisis in the West. We cover topics like digital literacy, emotional reasoning, moral complicity,...

This is the first of a number of episodes focusing on child raising in and around Christianity. Author and journalist Bekah McNeel joins me today to discuss her book "Bringing up Kids When Church Lets You Down: A Guide for Parents Questioning Their Faith." Bekah says, "we need to see our children as people with emotional realities and needs, and how we communicate love has to take that into accoun...

Today I’m joined by Justin Barrett and Sarey Concepcion to discuss their TheoPsych project and book, “TheoPsych: Psychological Science Primer for Theologians". We consider 4 reasons it might be helpful for theologians to be aware of the best available psychological science evidence. We also cover morality, our sense of what science says, philosophical intuitions and more. TheoPsych Website:http://...

Joining me today is Dr. Beth Allison Barr, author of “The Making of Biblical Womanhood.” Instead of primarily discussing Dr. Barr's book, which she has done at length, we focused on more global questions: patriarchy, plausibility structures, how history has shaped faith, and more. Beth says, "The miracle of the Bible is that the story of Jesus still gets through despite how much humans have messed...

** Re-released due to an Apple Podcasts glitch ** Joining me today for a Q&A is Dr. Matthew V. Novenson, a senior lecturer in New Testament in Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. All in light of the New Testament, we discuss the apostle Paul, the resurrection, Pneuma (body & spirit), and more. Email Matthew for New Testament book recommendations:Matthew. Novenson@ed.ac.uk Matthew’s E...

One of the four answered questions for the most recent Patreon exclusive episode, focused on personal growth around egoistic tendencies. To become a patron and hear the other three questions answered, head to Patreon.com/dankochThe four questions in the full episode are:1. Could you talk about the effects on the brain (positive and negative) of things like Centering Prayer, Breath work, meditation...