A God We Could Believe In

Tom and Simon explore the vexed question of ‘What is left of God after deconstruction?’. He shares the story of his own deconstruction journey and why love is the central idea that has shaped his faith ever since. About Tom Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is a best-selling and award-winning author, having written or edited more than forty...

Back in March, we welcomed Revd Dr Helen Paynter to the Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds to question just how Jesus would ‘Unite The Kingdom’, a reference to the rallies held in London by Far Right figurehead Tommy Robinson, the second of which took place just this weekend. In this talk she explores the ways that groups are fusing Christianity with nationalism, ethnic identity, and anti-immigration rh...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. In particular, this episode includes discussion of sexual assault, rape and drugging in the context of the recent ‘online rape academy’ story. That section lasts from 6.20 until 19.30. As always, please look after yourselves. We’re picking up your questions in response...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. In our last full episode of the series. we’re taking stock of all our conversations from the last 8 months and exploring what a positive and inclusive Christian sexual ethic might look like today. Coming up Next up is our final Q&A which w...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. How toxic is traditionalist teaching on gender, and is there a nuanced way to navigate the conversation around trans-inclusion in church spaces? Also, how did we end up recording an episode twice without realising?! Coming up Our final epi...

We take a deeper dive into the Bible to look at how gender and sexuality is talked about in scripture and its interpretation. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. The dominant viewpoint within many church traditions is that there are two genders, male and female, and that men...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. The dominant viewpoint within many church traditions is that there are two genders, male and female, and that men should play the leading role. If this is the hierarchy God intended, why do so many people not fit the mould? Can church comm...

We're responding to your questions on our latest episode, 'Do christians just need a good wank?' Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. Can sex toys and pornography help people to become more confident, empowered and sexually aware? And should churches be encouraging congregati...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. Now that the average age of marriage in western societies north of 30, is sexual purity really worth two decades of bottled up urges and internalised shame? If I never get married should I just pretend those bits aren't there? And what abo...

We’re responding to your questions on our latest episode, ‘Why do abusers thrive in church?’ Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. What does safeguarding look like in practice? What are the signs that a pastoral relationship has become abusive? And how should communities respo...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. We discuss how theology, patriarchy and Christian cultures conspire to create the conditions that silence victims and expedite redemption for abusers. What does this modelling say for abuse within our own relationships and has the theology...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. Can God-talk ever be redeemed from patriarchy? Where have we seen patriarchy at work in our lives and are there any positive principles for relationships we can derive from the Bible in spite of its patriarchal context? Coming up Episode 6...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. We get to the heart of the matter, exploring patriarchy and what it means for the Christian worldview. Did God really put men in charge? Is God even male? Can Christianity be redeemed from a hierarchy that consistently privileges and place...

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. We’re picking up your questions on marriage since Biblical times and tying up loose ends from our last few episodes. We explore Jesus’s teaching on divorce and how we should read that today. We’ll be unpicking ideas like ‘soul ties’ and ‘b...

If not the Bible, where do our ideas about marriage come from? We take a jog through 2,000 years of church history, charting the evolution of Christian marriage to the institution we know today. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. Has the Church always cared about marriage?...

In this special bonus episode we meet Lauren Jackson, a sex educator who shares her experiences of preparing our young people to navigate the world of sex and relationships positively and safely. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. Lauren shares her valuable insights into wh...

We wrestle with your questions in response to our latest episode, Marriage in the Bible is a binfire. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. If the depiction of marriage in the Bible is so chaotic then what are we supposed to do with it? Does God bring anything important to mar...

A binfire? Bit harsh? Not unless you’ve read the thing… Here Dr Charlotte Naylor Davis takes us on a tour of the Bible to see if we can find an example of a marriage we’d actually want to emulate. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. In particular, this episode contains references to sexual violence, rape...

After two full episodes of A God We Could Believe In we take stock and address some of your comments and questions on sex, relationships and the Church. Should we be affirming the “traditional” view of marriage and are we just making excuses to justify our own wants and desires? Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion i...

So what does the church actually teach about sex? We unpick the widely held view within Christianity that sex is only morally acceptable when it takes place within a marriage, and how this view is reinforced. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. We discuss how, for all the ch...

In this episode, we share what we remember of church teaching on sex and what that meant for us in our earliest relationships. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, including some references to sexual violence in this episode at around 34 minutes in, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves. We dig up memories of vivi...

Introducing A God We Could Believe In , a frank and honest look at Christianity as we find it today. In this episode you’ll meet the team and find out what brought us together and why, for our first full series, we’ve decided to dive headlong into the thorny topic of sex and relationships. Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse,  gender and identity so listener d...