Theology in the Raw

Dr. Caryn Reeder (Ph. D. Cambridge) is professor of New Testament at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California. Her research focuses on questions of gender, the household, women's lives, slavery, and violence in the biblical worlds. In this podcast, we discuss her book The Samaritan Woman's Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo . Caryn offers a fresh and more historically accurate interpr...

Jason Woodruff is the founder of The Pour Over, a Christian news organization with over half a million subscribers. The Pour Over is both a podcast and Newsletter that focus on providing limited news content that is not partisan or aimed and telling you how you should feel about the events they're reporting on, but simply tells you what's going on while reminding us of our allegiance to Christ and...

Dr. Elizabeth Phillips (Ph. D. Cambridge) is Director of Education and Engagement at the Woolf Institute, an interfaith institute in Cambridge, England. She teaches political theology and conflict transformation. Her latest book is Apocalyptic Theopolitics: Essays and Sermons on Eschatology, Ethics, and Politics, and her earlier book, Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed, is an introducti...

In this bonus Q & A episode, I respond to loads of questions sent in from my Patrons, including: What are my thoughts on the rapture? Is it better for people to be an affirming church than in no church at all? Does my stance on non-violence prevent me from using force to rescue those in human trafficking? What are my thoughts on the "he gets us" ad from the Super Bowl? How can faith communitie...

In this second episode on Kephale, I begin by looking at how Paul uses Kephale in Ephesians 1:22 and then 4:15, before jumping into its use in 5:23. I think go into great detail about the genre of "household codes" in the ancient world and how Paul is participating in this kind of conversation. I finally look at Eph 5:21-33 in light of the household code genre and examine several features in this...

Sandra Glahn is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and the author most recently of Nobody's Mother. She's also the general editor of the fascinating book: Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible (Kregel Academic), which forms the basis of our conversation. We talk about the Samaritan Woman, the wealthy women who funded Jesus' ministry (L...

I've been researching the meaning of the Greek word  kephale  ("head") for the last several months and I've been blogging about my findings over at   theologyintheraw.com  This podcast episode is the first (quite long) summary of how I understand the meaning of  kephale  in extra-biblical Greek literature; namely, the LXX, secular Greek literature, and the early church fathers. In the next episode...

In this conversation, we talk all about Brandon's previous work in an Orphanage in Moshi, Tanzania, and how he came to realize that Orphanages are doing more harm than good when it comes to caring for orphans and their families. Brandon Stiver is an advocate, educator, and practitioner on behalf of orphans and vulnerable children with a special emphasis on seeing children grow up in families globa...

In this podcast conversation, we take a deep dive into the Greco-Roman world and look at things like Rome's transition from a republic to an empire, the marriage laws of Caesar Augustus, the rise of Christianity and some of the struggles they had with the broader Roman environment, classism in the ancient world and how Christianity when against it, the background of 1 Cor 11 and what Paul was deal...

This unique episode covers the release of Preston's book 'Exiles, The Church and the Shadow of Empire', the journey of Theology in the Raw podcast, the planning and execution of the Exiles in Babylon conference, and the concept of living as exiles in the modern world. The conversation emphasizes the importance of embracing a Christian political identity and living out the principles of God in a wo...

My book Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire releases tomorrow! (3/5). In this podcast conversation, my good friend Ed Uszynski interviews me about my book. As always, we get pretty raw and real--and drive off the road quite a bit. When it comes to the Bible, I feel pretty confident about what I believe about politics. And Exiles is primarily a book about the Bible. But when I wonder into mo...

Originally from Australia, Dr. Darren Whitehead has lived in the United States for over 25 years.  He is the founder and Senior Pastor of Church of the City with several locations across Nashville. He earned his Doctorate from Capital Seminary and Graduate School. Darren lives with his wife, Brandy, and their three daughters in Franklin, TN. Darren recently released his book The Digital Fast: 40 D...

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Bonus Q&A episode, part of the Theology in the Raw premium subscription.  In this Patreon-only episode, you'll get a sneak peak into my responses to some criticisms I've received over the last few months, such as: why am I having an open and affirming speaker at the Exiles conference? Do I really believe that gay people don't need to repent? Am I a heretic for be...

In this conversation, Preston and Josh talk about his latest book (release date: March 5) The Party Crasher: How Jesus Disrupts Politics as Usual and Redeems our Partisan Divide, which is an incredible book about political discipleship and how followers of Jesus can faithfully engage the political world around us. Joshua Ryan Butler is a pastor and the author of The Party Crasher , Beautiful Union...

Amy Ford is the Founder and President of Embrace Grace , a nonprofit that equips churches to love and encourage women with unexpected pregnancies by providing spiritual, emotional, and practical support. Over 1,100 groups are active in churches around the world who utilize the Embrace Grace curriculum and host support groups to help those impacted by unplanned pregnancies in their community. She h...

In this podcast conversation, we begin by wrestling with some innocent questions around AI but end up exploring some darker parts of this topic, including the reality of sex robots and cloning dead loved ones to ease our pain--and how this might destroy humanity. Christopher is a Tech Analyst and Industry Advisor and Chief Learning Officer at ChenMed. He's also the host of the podcast: Future-Focu...

Gregory Coles is the author of Single, Gay, Christian , No Longer Strangers , and the recently released dystopian-ish novel, The Limits of My World . He holds a PhD in English from Penn State and lives in Boise, Idaho, where he works as a writer and speaker. Greg is a Senior Research Fellow at The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender.  In this podcast conversation, we talk about his book The L...

Dr. Austin Knuppe has a Ph. D. in political science from The Ohio State University and currently serves asan assistant professor of political science at Utah State University. Prior to Utah State, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. His research interests include civilian survival during wartime, Middle East politics, and the role...

Ellen Radcliff, a therapist and the author of the forthcoming book: Love Covers Over: A Guide for Christian Parents Raising Kids in an LGBTQ+ World . Ellen channels her love for God, her clinical expertise, and her experience as a former lesbian to walk alongside individuals, couples, and families as they navigate the nuances of sex, sexuality, and gender in our modern world, while remaining roote...

Joshua S. Porter is pastor of teaching and creative vision at Van City Church in Vancouver, Washington. He is also a former member of the experimental art-punk band, Showbread, and the author of the novel Punk Rock Vs. the Lizard People. His most recent book is With All Its Teeth: Sex, Violence, Profanity, and the Death of Christian Art, which examines a biblical theology of art. Find out more and...

JR Woodward, PhD (University of Manchester, UK) is a catalyst, author, and teacher. He is the national director of the V3 church planting movement. See jrwoodward.com . He's also the author of The Scandal of Leadership , which forms the backdrop of our conversation.  We discuss the need for polycentric leadership, the problems with hierarchical leadership, the temptation for church leaders to buil...

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Bonus Q&A episode, part of the Theology in the Raw premium subscription.  In the full episode, we discuss: 0:00  Introduction 2:02    My wife has recently become affirming and I am not. I'm concerned about how she reads the Bible and what to do? 11:30  How important is it that you and your wife Chris are in step in your theology? 16:08  How would you counsel a yo...

Dr. A.J. Swoboda (Ph. D., Birmingham) is an associate professor of Bible and Theology at Bushnell University and lead mentor for the Doctor of Ministry Program on Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Friends University. He is the author of many books, including The Gift of Thorns (Zondervan), After Doubt (Brazos), and the award-winning Subversive Sabbath (Brazos). He lives and works on an urban fa...

Dr. Daniel Lee Hill (Ph. D. Wheaton) is an assistant professor of Christian Theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. He, his wife, and his young son live in Waco, TX with a jar of sourdough starter and a persistent jug of kombucha scoby. In this conversation, Daniel and I wrestle with a Hauerwasian approach to political theology, and while we find ourselves in much a...

Dr. Kevin Grasso (Ph. D. Hebrew University) lives in the Atlanta area and is the founder of Biblingo : an innovative and effective way to actually learn biblical Greek and Hebrew. Dr. Grasso is a biblical scholar, author, linguist, and a husband and father of 4. In the academic space, he applies theoretical linguistics to exegetical problems, such as the pistis Christou phrase and the interpretati...