Ravel

We're finally asking the question! On a definitional level, who gets to call themselves a Christian? Because, as you may know, there are a lot of different ideas out there. Josh is ready to say that anyone who claims to be a Christian is one. Emily insists we must define it without the institutional church getting in the way. And Stephen is calling himself an Evangelical again?! Mentioned in the E...

Perhaps the divine right of kings was invented by the kings and not a gift from the gods. In human cultures based on hierarchical power-over structures, is it any wonder that the church became the same? Truth wielded like a hammer where every doubt looks like a nail and power used to keep people in line. It seems designed this way, potential born of the Creeds themselves. Listen in as we contempla...

Is humility the opposite of shame? And could shame serve any good purpose? This is what we ponder as we name stories from the bible involved shame and discuss the efficacy of anonymous donations. Mentioned in the Episode: Humble Thyself Hymn Support us: Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo! Order coffee and other merch at highline.network/sho...

Open your bibles to the Hebrew Bible, class, today we're talking about mythology. Stephen wonders if there is a sliver of truth to the old stories and wants to know what to do with that. Emily informs us on the types of myths that are told and how they help scaffold our understandings of the world and humanity. Josh says the only thing that keeps him remotely Christian is the mythical nature of it...

We cannot completely negate the harm we can cause. But what we can do is mitigate with intention. For instance, it is a widely accepted position in the scientific community that we are beyond avoiding the effects of human-caused climate change, but we ought to keep working to mitigate the harm done. Josh says we should be thinking of church in the same way. Mentioned in the Episode: safegatherings...

Perfection. How do we even begin raveling out conceptions of perfection from Greek and Roman philosophy, through Hebrew theology and Christian expectation? We seem to be called to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. But how does that change when we understand the Hebrew "Tov" and the Greek "Tellios"? Do we live, striving to be Good? Are we already Good? Mentioned in the Episode: Matthew...

What do Samwise Gamgee and Superman have in common? What about Gandalf and Aslan? Emily brings a discussion about the "Christ figures" found in works of fiction, why they resonate with us, and whether we can name Christ figures in our own lives. We discuss the difference between a narrative Christ figure and an IRL person acting Christ-like, while also pondering the unique meta-narrative of the cr...

Is Stephen really trying to say going to a metal show is the same as going to church? Yes, yes he is. And while he might still think that by the end of this, he's ready to take the risky leap of faith into trying out a new church soon. Josh struggles to come up with an answer as to why he doesn't want to go back to church, while Emily asks us to consider, "what the heck did you expect?" Support us...

Would you care to join us for a discussion on the Bible and what it may or may not endorse? Josh is curious to know where we land and finds out that Stephen is having a hard time even showing up, making it a perfect role play in how to have conversations in which both sides clearly disagree and don't approach the topic within the same paradigm. Mentioned in the Episode: Miracles by CS Lewis Suppor...

Welcome to Ravel! If you're new around here, we understand that looking at a backlog of over 100 episodes can be daunting, so we recommend starting here. Get to know your hosts and where we're coming from as embark in conversation around theology and life as we pull on the thread of our own pressing questions in real time. Whether you are deconstructing, reconstructing, de-converting, converting,...

It honestly feels surreal to us that we're crossing the 100 Episode milestone. It feels like we're just getting started! On this first-of-its-kind mailbag episode, we asked the community to share what's one belief or idea they've been raveling in the last year and we received great responses! Here's to one hundred questions and hundreds more to come! Mentioned in the Episode: The Problems We Have...

Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, as the catechism goes. But what does that even mean? What does it look like to glorify God? Perhaps we're making Jesus famous or Christ beautiful. Or we're conveying honor to the Creator Being. Or we're reminding ourselves of the vastness of God and security we find within. Mentioned in the Episode: Voxology Podcast with Mike Erre The Divine...

Grief shows up in many forms and Emily is wondering what it can teach us. Whether we are mourning the death of a loved one, or experiencing a void through loss of a job or item, or feeling the lost potential future of how we thought life would go, grief is here. And perhaps it can teach us to love more. Or maybe it helps to know God has grieved too. In the end, we're here to say "thank you, grief"...

Burnout and fatigue show up in many different ways. Stephen is feeling the strain this week as he asks to process burnout in the midst of it himself. We talk about the expectations placed on clergy and volunteers in ministry, the value of negative space to inspire action, motivation in dry seasons, and the slow work of healing with remedies that are more than a bandaid on the mind and spirit. ***A...

STARTER PACK: We Clearly Disagree It took us almost one hundred episodes to finally tackle the Resurrection. Josh shares how he's come to a place of this theology being de-emphasized in importance for him. Emily shares the Wesleyan position and makes sure that we're not talking about zombie Jesus. And Stephen struggles to let go of the physicality and/or literalness of the bodily resurrection. ***...

As we all know, Emily has recently been busy preparing for and celebrating the confirmation of her ordination, so we thought today was a perfect opportunity to entangle Ravel with our guest co-host, Cori Di Biase of the A Freedom of Ideas Podcast. Cori visits the show to ask questions about philosophical Absolutes and how a vision of process theology might be moving us to a whole new mode of think...

On this, the 6th of July, 2022, we declare our interdependence on God and decide to pledge allegiance to no flag and no king but Christ! We at least have a great discussion about what it means for us to be a part of a political system and trying to take our faith seriously amidst the complexity. Josh recites the pledges to the Christian flag and the Bible. Stephen renounces all patriotism outright...

Turn in your bibles, if you will, to both Luke 10:25-29 and Matthew 5:43-48. Inspired by his time on Trans Regret Snoopy Presents the Bible, Stephen is requesting a bible study to interrogate the question, "Who Is My Enemy?" Mentioned in the episode: Trans Regret Snoopy Presents the Bible Podcast Trans Regret Snoopy Patreon Leviticus 19:18 Deuteronomy 23:6 Psalm 41:10 Luke 23:34 Proverb 3:23-35 Ja...

STARTER PACK: Press F To Doubt Who am I to say what any of this means? When we feel like a fraud as our beliefs ravel out, it's normal to feel isolated and alone. But that's a thing with imposter syndrome, it's a lie. You are valid. Your thoughts are valid. Your beliefs are valid. Today we explore the possibilities on why imposter syndrome can sneak into our faith lives. Mentioned in the episode:...

We're joined today for a special bonus episode, in celebration of Pride Month 2022, by Staci Frenes, author of the book Love Makes Room: And Other Things I Learned When My Daughter Came Out . Staci is a singer songwriter, business woman, author, and perhaps most pertinently to today's conversation, a mother. She shares her story with us today of what it took to make room within her evangelical fai...

Why do we have so many different denominations of Christian churches? What is gained and lost with so many divisions, drawing lines in the sands? This question comes from the Patreon group as Sarah wonders why we insist on fracturing when the promise of the new heavens and new earth seems to be unity. What are we missing that we can't begin forging that unity now? Mentioned in the episode: Columbi...

STARTER PACK: Press F To Doubt How do we know what we know? And how do we know we can trust what we know? Today, we try to tease apart the twisted threads of what trust, faith, doubt, and mistrust represent as we grow into life-giving theology. Mentioned in the episode: Matthrew 25:14-30 - Parable of the Talents 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - God Breathed Scripture La Mancha Screwjob RadioLab John 20:24-29 -...

Change your mind, for the Kingdom of God is here. Like water carving canyons out of the land, our thoughts carve habits in our minds. But what inspires true change? What incentivizes repentance? What causes a shift in our minds? Mentioned in the episode: How To Change Your Mind Freakonomics Podcast Rach Angard Know Normal People Podcast Walden by Henry David Thoreau Secular Buddhism Podcast Join o...

Being part of a movement that is inherently decentralized, is this podcast being part of the deconstruction project doomed to fail? After five centuries of the protestant reformation, are we due for a reunification of the church? Or will we continue to splinter into increasingly smaller micro-communities? We're trying something new this week! We read an ad on the show for Fyfe Created at fyfecreat...

Coming to us from our topic suggestion channel in Discord, we're tackling the fruits and gifts of the Spirit today. What does it mean to grow in and live out the fruits of the Spirit as Paul calls them in Galatians 6? Do you need to experience the "bonus" gifts that come from baptism in the Holy Spirit like tongues and prophecy to be a Christian? And why does Stephen find it so hard to accept a co...