Nomad Podcast

Political theologian Stephen Backhouse believes that the earliest Christians tended to see patriotism as a vice – a temptation to guard against. Now it seems most Christians assume it is a virtue. Many of us, for example, don't think twice about asking God to Save the Queen or Bless America. So we ask Stephen whether the gospel is good news for our nations, what it means for a follower of Jesus to...

Danielle Shroyer believes that more than any other idea, the doctrine of original sin has "slowly eroded our understanding of our relationship with God". Not only that, she believes it is unbiblical, and was rejected by Judaism and many Christian traditions, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church. So we ask Danielle how she understands sin, separation, and our relationship with God. Her answer? Origi...

Poet and priest Malcolm Guite helps us mark the death and resurrection of Jesus with poems from his series on the stations of the cross, and with his reflections on the Messianic Event. Nomad's David Blower responds to Malcolm’s poetry and thought in sound and song, and Kate Blower brings the Easter readings. Malcolm’s poems are published in the book Sounding the Seasons .  Used with permission by...

Professor Thomas Oord has spent years wrestling with the problem of evil. Why, if God is all powerful and all loving, is there so much evil in the world? This question has brought Thomas to the edge of his faith. In recent years, though, he has begun to consider a radical solution. Perhaps God can't stop evil? As shocking as this sounds, Thomas is careful to show how biblical this idea is, and jus...

Georgia May's parents had an open-door policy. Literally. Most of the time the front door of their home was left open, so that people would feel welcome at any time. Consequently, Georgia grew up with a house full of people who's didn't feel they had a family of their own. This radical approach to hospitality led to many lives being transformed. But Georgia also knows first hand what can happen wh...

Jayme Reaves grew up in a home and a church that weren't safe environments. This later led to a passion to study and experience true hospitality. Through her study of church history and her experiences in the former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, she discovered that the hospitality we're called to goes way beyond simply welcoming the stranger. Instead we're called to protect the stranger. Tune i...

Brad Jersak was in town recently, so we took the opportunity to quiz him about why his faith journey led him to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Despite many Western Christians being only vaguely aware of this ancient Christian tradition, it is increasingly influencing our beliefs. So we ask Brad, could the Orthodox Church be a home for spiritual nomads? Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad’s...

John Swinton is a Scottish theologian and founder of the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. After years of work as a mental health nurse, John became an academic in order to process all that he'd learnt. And my word has he learnt a lot! His book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God , and  Becoming Friends of Time are packed full of fascinating and vital ins...

Here's the final part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian  Elaine Storkey  reflects on Advent in the context of those on the margins. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams finishes the Advent readings, and David Benjamin Blower closes things out with his unique style of music and songs. If you want more Nomad Devotionals, you're in luck as we pr...

It's week three of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian  Elaine Storkey  considers how Advent might be Good News to the Poor. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams  continues to work his way through the Advent readings, with the help of Kate Blower. And David Benjamin Blower  continues to bring the music and song. So good! “So why were the shepherds...

Here's the second part of our four-part Advent Devotional series. This time philosopher and theologian  Elaine Storkey  bases her reflection around the idea of Peace Across Borders. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams  again brings the readings along with Kate Blower, and David Benjamin Blower  brings the music and songs. “In the Gospels, there’s a huge contrast between those who come i...

If you're one of our Patreon supporters, you'll already be familiar with our Nomad Devotionals. Every month we ask a guest to reflect on a topic, and we unpack it with music, song, readings, and prayers.  For Advent we thought we produce a four-part Devotional and make it available to everyone. So for the next four Sundays you can expect a reflection from feminist philosopher and theologian Dr.  E...

Dave Randall has played guitar for some huge acts, including Faithless , Dido and Sinead O'Connor . As he's reflected on his career and the industry he's been a part of, he has begun to see the huge potential of music to change society. This prompted him to write the excellent book  Sound System: The Political Power of Music . So if you're interested in pondering how the songs we sing might help u...

Muhanad Al Qaisy's grandfather, grandmother and seven children were driven from their home in Palestine and into a refugee camp in 1948. Nearly 70 years later, the family is still struggling to make a life in the same camp. So we ask Muhanad what he sees as signs of hope. “It was a very hard situation for [Palestinians]. Because I’m telling you, they never imagined one day someone will come and ju...

Well, this is it, Dave Ward's final episode. After six years of podcasting, he's decided to go on to other things (probably something to do with horses...).  In his final episode, we're chatting with Nick Spencer , the Director of Research at Theos Think Tank, and author of The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values . And we're asking him, what difference has Christianity re...

A recent report into human trafficking revealed that the problem is significantly worse than previously thought. In fact, it is believed that in the UK alone, every large town and city will have trafficked people in it who are effectively enslaved, and many of us are unwittingly coming into contact with trafficked people every day. So we speak with three people - Ruth Dearnley, Julia Pugh and Hann...

Elizabeth Edman  believes she has learnt more from the LGBTQ community about what it means to be a Christian, than she has from the Church. Why? Well, she believes the church has forgotten what it means to be scandalous, to struggle for identity and to expand its boundaries to include the marginalised. And so the Church needs to learn from the gay community - and other marginalised groups - that h...

Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest and theologian. Years of inhabiting these roles has led him to the belief that we're relying far too much on reason and thought in the formation of our faith, and are overlooking the significance of the 'poetic imagination'.  He believes that we can find deep truth in the imagination and that poetry can bring our faith alive in a way that nothing else can. It's a fa...

I know, we only just interviewed  Walter Brueggemann ! But he's just brought a book out entitled  Money and Possessions and we've still got unresolved questions after our chat with  Justin Welby  on that subject. So why not spend another hour in the digital presence of one of the great biblical scholars of our time?! And as you'd expect, it was an hour chock-full of wisdom and insight. “Money regu...

Walter Brueggemann is widely considered to be one of the most influential theologians of our time. So who better to help us get a handle on the idea of the Sabbath. Especially as he wrote the fascinating and insightful Sabbath as Resistance . That's right, Sabbath is so much more than simply taking a day off, it's an intentional and creative act of resistance.  “We have forgotten who we are, and w...

Shane Claiborne has been an inspiration to many ever since his book The Irresistible Revolution  came out, with its 'What if Jesus really meant what he said' message. For the last 20 years Shane has been trying to live out Jesus's message in a deprived area of Philadelphia, where he founded the new monastic community, The Simple Way . This journey has led him to a commitment to non-violence, 'from...

It's pretty clear what Jesus was about. Love you neighbour (and if that's not challenging enough, love your enemies) was at the top of his manifesto. So why do we find it so hard to follow his example? Professor of Psychology at Abilene University, Richard Beck , doesn't think the issue is a lack of understanding. We know what we're meant to do. Instead, Richard thinks the issue is a psychological...

In many ways Brian Zahnd is like many of Nomad's guests in that he deconstructed (although he doesn't like that term) what he came to see as a very narrow faith, and reconstructed something much deeper and broader. The difference with Brian, though, is that he went through this process while pastoring a mega-church. So we asked him, how can you lead a church, or indeed be a member of a church, whe...

Every now and then we like to interview a fellow podcaster who, like us, is creating a space for an open and honest exploration of the Christian faith. And Justin Brierley is one such person. Over the last 11 years he's been producing Unbelievable? , on which he moderates conversations between Christians and people from others faiths and none. So firstly I took the opportunity to see if he suffers...

As much as we love some good old fashioned theological cut-and-thrust, we're increasingly aware that if this journey is going to be sustainable, it's got to be an holistic one. So each month we'll be producing Nomad Devotionals, through which we'll be experimenting with readings, prayers, liturgies and songs. We're making the first one free to everyone, so you can decide whether you're interested...