Nate Petersen, Daniel Cloud
Have a Backbone
When it comes to the Christian faith, there are certain things that are foundational to our belief system, and it's essential that Christians believe them in order to actually be "Christian" - these things are the "backbone" of our faith. Bible teachers and theology nerds, Daniel Cloud and Nate Petersen discuss these "backbone" items, and then point out the things that aren't necessarily vital to agree on, but are really just fun to discuss (and maybe debate a little bit).
Author
Nate Petersen, Daniel Cloud
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Apr 21, 2026
Where to listen?
Podcasts in the app Replaio Radio Coming soonPodcasts are coming to the app soon. Install now and be the first to see a whole new take on podcasts
Episodes
Episode 20 - The Doctrine of the Church (Part 3 - Baptism) 21.04.2026 48:46
Welcome back to the Have a Backbone Podcast! In today's episode, Daniel and Nate talk about the doctrine of baptism. Ever since the beginning of the church, baptism has always accompanied the believing of the Gospel. So what is essential to believe about baptism? Is it essential for salvation? If it's just a symbol, is it wrong to not get baptized? What kind of baptism is best - full immer...
Episode 19 - Can Women Be Leaders in the Church (Part 3 - Featuring Dan Lewis) 20.02.2026 1:03:49
In this final part of the series on women in church leadership, Daniel and Nate once again enlist the help of scholar, pastor, teacher, Dan Lewis to unlock both the Greek language and cultural context of passages like 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14. What they discover is that in doing so, it appears likely that these passages are not, in fact, forbidding women to be pastors. And once again, the...
Episode 18 - Can Women Be Leaders in the Church (Part 2) 10.02.2026 56:33
In this episode, Nate and Daniel respond to some listener questions and feedback following the initial episode on this topic. The main question addressed? Does the Bible explicitly prohibit women from being pastors? If we were to find that the verses that are so often used to imply that they cannot aren't actually addressing the issue of women being leaders/teachers/pastors at all, then what e...
Episode 17 - The Christmas Episdoe 17.12.2025 1:02:08
Merry Christmas everyone! In this episode, Daniel and Nate tackle some of the issues that are NOT really backbone things surrounding the holidays. It's probably best to not yell at your barista for saying "Happy Holidays", and your Christmas tree is probably not a pagan idol.
Episode 16 - Can Women Be Leaders in the Church? (w/ Jennifer Wilson) 07.11.2025 58:53
The Backbone crew continues working through the doctrine of the Church by addressing the issue of leadership in the Church - specifically whether it's ok for women to hold positions of leadership. Jennifer Wilson, wife, mom and founder of the Counterculture School of Apologetics joins Daniel and Nate and shares what she's learned about the love and empowerment that the Gospel brings to wom...
Episode 15 - The Doctrine of the Church (Part 2 - Communion) 21.10.2025 1:00:57
In this episode, Daniel and Nate talk through the first of the two Christian sacraments, communion. They look at the history of the sacrament and its connection to the Old Testament. While it is a backbone issue for Biblical churches to participate in communion on a regular basis, is communion required for salvation?
Episode 14 - How to Deal With Church Hurt 29.09.2025 1:01:53
In this episode, Daniel and Nate take some time to address an issue related to the doctrine of The Church. Oftentimes, while Christians are called to be a part of a local church body, that local church body and its leaders can be the source of great pain and abuse. How should we deal with abuse of power within the church? When is it time to move on and find a new church? What are some red flags to...
Episode 13 - The Doctrine of The Church (Part 1) 17.09.2025 57:09
Welcome to the first episode on the topic of Ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the Church. Daniel and Nate work through what the church is (invisible and visible aspects) and the backbone things that each church should have in order to be a Biblical church. While attending a church is not essential to our salvation, it is essential to growing in our faith. Join the conversation! Email: haveabackbon...
Episode 12 - The Doctrine of Salvation (Part 2) 09.09.2025 1:02:41
Daniel and Nate continue working through the backbones issues of the doctrine of salvation (soteriology). This week they get into the topic of "subjective soteriology" attempting to tackle the questions of: How are we saved by Christ's sacrifice? Who receives the blessing of salvation? Are there any works involved? How does the Calvinist debate factor in? Join our conversation: Email...
Episode 11 - The Doctrine of Salvation (Part 1) 03.09.2025 57:00
The guys start to tackle to topic of soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation. They start with what is often known as "objective soteriology" - what did Christ accomplish on the cross? Was it the payment of a ransom for sinners? Was it a substitutionary sacrifice? Was it a moral example? Or was it a bit of all of those in one beautiful portrait of God's saving love? Contact us! Email: haveabackbo...
Episode 10 - The Doctrine of Christ 27.08.2025 53:53
In this episode, Daniel and Nate chat about Christology, or the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth and lived a life as fully man and fully God. While this is hard to understand, it's not a contradiction, and it IS a backbone, essential belief to the Christian faith. Contrary to modern accusations, Jesus very clearly states in the New Testament that he was fully God, and this is backed u...
Episode 9 - The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part 2) 19.08.2025 1:02:58
Daniel and Nate continue the discussion on the Backbone beliefs about the Holy Spirit by going over the debate between Cessationism (the belief that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit ceased at some point in history) and Continuationism (the belief that those gifts are still operating in the Church today). Are these gifts still around today, and what should they look like? All that and more on t...
Episode 8 - The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part One) 08.08.2025 52:54
The Holy Spirit can be a bit of a hot topic within Christian circles these days, particularly regarding the ongoing gifts of the Holy Spirit. Daniel and Nate share their personal journeys in discovering who the Holy Spirit is, and how he works in our lives as believers, as well as stories of people who have abused certain beliefs about the Holy Spirit. The guys also get into what the Bible actuall...
Episode 7 - The Doctrine of God (Part 3) w/ Dan Lewis 29.07.2025 57:43
In this episode, the guys bring in Dan Lewis, a pastor and a professor from the great state of Michigan. Dan walks us through the topic of the Trinity. From its old testament roots, to the immediate usage of trinitarian theology and language in the early church, to modern day misunderstandings and heresies, our hope is that this episode helps break down what can otherwise be a confusing, but essen...
Episode 6 - The Doctrine of God (Part 2) 23.07.2025 52:34
The guys continue the discussion on the Christian backbone beliefs about God by getting into the sometimes-confusing and beautiful doctrine of the Trinity. Belief in a triune God is a distinctly Christian doctrine. God is three in persons, but one in essence. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all three distinct beings, but they are all equally God. They work together through their disti...
Episode 5 - The Doctrine of God (Part 1) 15.07.2025 46:28
After establishing the authority of Scripture, Daniel and Nate dive into the bottomless pool of study that is Theology Proper, or the doctrine of God. God is above and beyond anything we can comprehend, yet He has chosen to reveal aspects of His character to His creation. While God shares those characteristics with humans made in His image, He alone will carry these attributes in a holy manner. Be...
Episode 4 - The Authority of Scripture (Part 2) 07.07.2025 1:08:50
Daniel and Nate continue talking about the backbone issues regarding the authority of Scripture. Yes, Scripture is completely true, but in order to truly understand it to the best of our ability, we need to strive to understand things like culture, context, language and genre. They also address extra-biblical writings during the time of the early church (are they on the same level of authority as...
Episode 3 - Generalizations, Scripture and Fasting 27.06.2025 48:05
In this episode (the REAL episode 2), Daniel and Nate talk about how harmful broad generalizations can be within the Christian communities. They also kick-start their discussion on the authority of Scripture, and wrap up their talk on fasting.
Episode 2 - The Authority of Scripture (Part 1) 19.06.2025 59:47
In this episode, Daniel and Nate get into the first major doctrinal backbone issue - the authority of Scripture. What does it mean to believe that Scripture is inerrant? What about inspired? What about infallible? What is vital for Christians to believe about the Bible?
Episode 1 - Welcome to Have a Backbone 11.06.2025 58:47
Welcome to the Have a Backbone Podcast! Host Daniel and Nate kick the show off by introducing themselves and explaining the purpose and the heart of this podcast. The episode wraps up with a conversation about fasting - what constitutes fasting, how should Christians go about it, and if you tell someone you're fasting...did you just ruin it? Join in on our conversations! If you have questions...
Similar podcasts
Replaio is not a podcast publisher; show names, artwork and audio belong to their authors and are distributed through public RSS feeds.