Beer Christianity

Symon Hill made headlines when he was arrested for shouting: 'Who elected him?' during the proclamation of Charles Windsor as King in Oxford. Symon is a Christian, historian and peace activist and he is our guest for episode 70. Symon shares his surprise at being arrested, his concerns over free speech and democracy in Britain, and the deeply uncomfortable experience of being on the same side as P...

TW: Monarchists and marmalade sandwich enthusiasts are probably not going to enjoy this episode. Queen Elizabeth II has died and Beer Christianity has great sympathy for her family, some sympathy for strangers who loved her and very little sympathy for those cynically emulating or prescriptively enforcing mourning. Join us as we try to understand what's behind the love and criticism for both the f...

What are the five stages of the spiritual life (as identified by Brian McLaren)? Do we dilute the Gospel by starting with the bad news? And have you ever peed on a frog? These important questions all come up in this, our second episode from Greenbelt festival 2022. Greenbelt was wonderful this year. You should go to the next one.  BeerChristianity.co.uk About Beer Christianity Beer Christianity is...

A festival review is only a sort of festival, as Graham Greene sort of said. Everyone's experience of Greenbelt, in particular, will be different. This episode shares our thoughts about the best parts we experienced of Britain's best and most inclusive festival, but we'd love to hear what your highlights were. So please get in touch! Here's us while recording this episode in the Greenbelt beer ten...

Is Greenbelt festival a guilty pleasure for evangelicals, a Church without the hassle of 365day pastoral care or a breaking through of the kingdom of God? We talk to Paul Northup, Creative Director (aka Big Dog) of Britain's best festival about the inclusion of Richard Dawkins at a Christian festival, what inclusion means and what makes Greenbelt a special space for so many people. Paul takes time...

It should have been a shot of Amarula. Or good Cape wine. But in this short sharp shot, Jonty sips on some terrible sweet bubbly and tells you about all the animals that have tried to attack his wife recently - as well as an encounter of sorts with another religious in South Africa's Kruger National Park .    Glories of creation, all things not so bright and beautiful, coming to you from South of...

It's the clash of cultures! It's a battle royale between two podcast hosts of different faiths! It's a competition to see which religion is better! (It's none of these things.) It IS a joint episode, published in slightly different forms, by both Beer Christianity and the Amreekies podcast , hosted by the lovely Ehab who you have heard on our show before. So Amreekies listeners and Beer Christiani...

Is anyone else a little alarmed by how quickly so many people have begun singing off the same jingoistic and bellicose hymn sheet? Is anyone a little freaked out by how the rhetoric around the evil happening in Ukraine right now seems to ignore very similar things 'our side' has done? Is Jonty the only one who worries about critical thinking when everyone seems to be parroting 'He's insane / evil'...

All Boris do is eat hot chip and lie. So we talk about that. As well as following up on listeners' letters, including more thoughts on what defines a Christian; slapping compassion into Tories; Boris Johnson's general awfulness and what we look for in a leader. We also cover Geordie Kieffer (peace be on his house), whether it's better for some churches not to call themselves inclusive and what the...

Who is the law for? Why do the police get called for some wrongdoing and not other, usually 'white-collar' crimes? Can I call the police if my boss doesn't pay me on time? And if not, why can they call the cops when I take my salary out of petty cash? In this short episode, Jonty asks if we are conformed to the thinking of this world in accepting who the police and law truly serve.   About Beer Ch...

Patriotism, prayer for the Big Sad and a port-flavoured man-toe.

What do you consider to be the definition of a Christian? Jonty talks ponders the dangers in making statements about what 'Christians believe' and the foolishness of pretending that there is only one type of Christian (or one way of being a Christian).  He also ponders the orb. But if there are many ways to follow Jesus, where are the boundaries? Where does a different approach become heresy, or j...

Happy Halloween!  Can Christians like Halloween legitimately? Is there something wrong with the 'glorification of darkness' that is inherent in dressing up as a fictional Transylvanian? Or are Christians who hate Halloween actually being kind of insulting and damaging their witness? Jonty discusses with a spooky Goth voice in this special Beer Christianity Halloween episode.   About Beer Christian...

It's spooky season! Aka Goth Christmas. Aka The (real) Most Wonderful Time of the Year. In honour of that, we're talking monsters, horror and,, the Bible? Horror movies are deeper than you think - and more Christian! Dr Brandon Grafius , Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit, joins Malky, Jonty and Laura to talk monster theory, the Bible and Horror. We...

It's spooky season! Aka Goth Christmas. Aka The (real) Most Wonderful Time of the Year. In honour of that, we're talking monsters, horror and,, the Bible? Horror movies are deeper than you think - and more Christian! Dr Brandon Grafius , Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit, joins Malky, Jonty and Laura to talk monster theory, the Bible and Horror. We...

If baptism means dying to sin, what does sin mean for progressives? And how is our treatment of people we deem sinful any different from the judgemental Christians we don't want to be? Jonty meditates on this as well as the TV dramas The North Water and Midnight Mass. About Beer Christianity Beer Christianity  is a left-leaning, evangelical-adjacent Christian discussion podcast that often features...

IS it irresponsible to confidently promise God's healing from the pulpit? Is it unfaithful not to? Is there a better way than damaging optimism or modern day Sadduceeism? Jonty and Laura chat on the way to go bowling. Beer Christianity SHO(R)TS are shorter episdoes of Beer Christianity sharing thoughts on issues of religious, political or social interest.  About Beer Christianity Beer Christianity...

A short sharp shot of an episode, talking about the petrol crisis in the UK and judging panic buyers. Jonty drives his car around to talk about petrol shortages. Never knowingly not on brand.  Here's a more chill explanation . With less road rage.  About Beer Christianity Beer Christianity  is a left-leaning, evangelical-adjacent Christian discussion podcast that often features interviews and alwa...

Three Christians and a Muslim walk into a bar... They get along famously. The end.  Ehab Jalal is the producer, director, host and editor of The Amreekies podcast - a show about being Arab, Muslim and American. It has a very similar vibe to Beer Christianity (but with significantly less swearing and a LOT less drinking). Ehab talks to us (over a kombucha) about being 14 and recently returned to th...

White supremacy, the assumption of white superiority and white normalcy, as well as patriarchy and what the hell might be wrong with evangelicalism. We tackle these and other thorny topics with writer, broadcaster, Greenbelt Trustee and Christian Aid Head of Public Engagement, Chine McDonald. We also talk: 'Pretty Jesus' and the othering of God Why Margaret Thatcher wasn't great despite being a wo...

Is it ever okay for Christians to break the law? Many Christians believe it's fine in the fight against injustice. But how far can we legitimately take that resistance? And what about the Bible verses that tell us to submit to authorities? Wale Hudson-Roberts is a justice enabler for the Baptist Union of Great Britain and minister of a Church of England congregation. He joins us to talk about priv...

Holy crap! 50 episodes! Whodathunk?! In celebration, we got back with our first proper guests on the show, the amazing Harry and Chris ! Harry and Chris talk about their favourite episodes of Beer Christianity*, as well as sharing some incidents of animal cruelty, nudity and beer-based Narnia puns. This bumper episode also features a retrospective of all 49 preceding ones and a discussion of what...

Lebanese thinker and Theologian Martin Accad joins Laura, Malky and Jonty for a light conversation about heavy topics . We cover Palestine, Muslim-Christian relations, an alternative to both syncretism and apologetics, and whether Jesus calls us to be supra-religious. Martin Accad was a senior leader in the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut for many years (where he still lectures) and wa...

Music, 'Merica and marrying love and justice with power folk duo Ryanhood. Which Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd era was best? Can we 'work on ourselves' while not using that as an excuse not to confront injustice? Can the 12 Steps deepen your faith journey? Could Ryanhood be the first guests to research Beer Christianity thoroughly? These questions and more are answered in episode 48. Honestly we lo...

Is the game gone? Is there too much money in football? Is American Football kinda communist? Beer Christianity talks to sometime sports journalist and head of Be With Community, Jamie Cutteridge, about the Super League controversy, why we support sports teams and how capitalism may or may not be ruining soccer. In honour of that, here's the official Beer Christianity football jersey:   We also cov...