Ravel

Welcome to 2021, the sequel to 2020! After speaking with a street preacher (from across the street with his own megaphone), Josh has questions about apophatic and cataphatic theology. How do we come to our knowledge of God and his attributes? AUDIO NOTE: We had a mic issue on Josh's end of our recording call and had to use a backup in a couple spots. Mentioned in the episode:  Nomad Podcast The Cl...

The birth narrative of Jesus we've grown up with is a creative combination of two different accounts in the Gospels. In this episode, we discuss the implications of the story and aspects that may be more allegorical than historical. For instance, why we find the holiday in December, how the manger scene changes with an understanding of ancient architecture, the Magi being guided by the "star", the...

STARTER PACK: Classic Theology Gone Wild Experience. Tradition. Scripture. Reason. These are the ingredients to what became known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral or the Methodist Quadrilateral. We discuss the "quad" (because stumbling through the word quadrilateral makes for bad podcasting) and how it impacts our lives through the lenses it gives us to see the world and how it keeps in a centered ex...

Emily brings the guys questions and lessons from the liturgical calendar. We discuss the pros and cons of using this tool to establish a rhythm to the year and wonder out loud about ways we could reform it. What if Christmas and Easter were only celebrated every 3 years? Or even... every 33 years? How would this change our attitudes toward holidays that have become more commercial than commemorati...

STARTER PACK: The Apologists Can't Hurt You Here When it comes to the Bible and Christian tradition, Josh wonders if interpreting them through a lens of Originalism is best? Are we hindered by thinking we need to somehow get back there? Where should we place the standard by which we interpret modern life? Could it be that the trajectory from Eden garden paradise to new heavenly city whose gates ar...

STARTER PACK: Classic Theology Gone Wild Is a pastor allowed to not include "saving souls" in her job description? This is what Stephen was wondering and what we ravel out this episode. What is the fundamental energy that propels us to share what we have found as good news? What is your operational definition of the gospel as Good News that is worth sharing? Are we all going down in a smoking airp...

What is your experience of your body? Where do you feel anger, shame, or fear? What about love, peace, and joy? In this episode, we dig into how the Enneagram informs our mode of being and discuss the dramatic implications we think arise when we consider Jesus Christ incarnate. Mentioned in the episode: Embodiment Podcast by The Liturgists Other People's Problems by Hillary McBride Discipline and...

How do you handle disagreements among creative partners? Do we mistake agreeable postures for agreement? In this episode, Josh challenges Stephen's mode of interpretation on the podcast. Mentioned in the episode: The Road Back to You by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile The Sacred Enneagram by Christopher Heuertz The Complete Enneagram by Beatrice Chestnut The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Rich...

STARTER PACK: We Clearly Disagree Happy Halloween (or Reformation Day for you Protestant party poopers)! What do we do with spiritual beings mentioned in the Bible? Are demons actual beings, or should we treat them more as unseen forces like greed and vengeance? Is Satan a fallen angel or a personification of the Evil we fear inside ourselves? Are angels divine council members and heavenly messeng...

STARTER PACK: The Apologists Can't Hurt You Here (No elephants were touched without consent in the making of this show) How can we make sense of how Christianity relates to other religious and spiritual traditions? Why do Christians suck at debating people who they disagree with, Christian or not? Are we all just feeling up the same elephant trying to make sense of it all, but without talking? Men...

What are we waiting for when we look for the apocalypse? The End of Times, Armageddon, Second Coming. These are all names for what we've been taught to expect, but what if apocalypse is unfolding before our very eyes? Mentioned in the episode: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Whiskey Bench Podcast: podlink.to/whiskeybench...

What would you call someone who quit church, yet still holds a deep love for Christ? Post-Christian? Foolish and misled? Heretic? Mentioned in the episode: Just Faith by Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons The Septuagint Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek Everything Is Spiritual Talk by Rob Bell  Everything Is Spiritual Book by Rob Bell Inspired by Rachel Held Evans BadChristian Podcast You Have Permission Po...

Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity." Often translated as "I am because we are," or "humanity towards others." Is this what it means to be an individual inside community? Can "I" function well over "We"? Can "We" function well over "I"? Mentioned in the episode: The Tim Ferriss Show with Rabbi Sacks Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks One Human F...

A clear goal, intentionality, generosity, creativity, contribution, trust, at the crossroads of philosophical and performative identity. These are some ingredients of what we think creates community. Mentioned in the episode: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor... and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr Join the Ravel c...

We talk about the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the church in the short term and long term! Join the Ravel conversation on: Twitter: @ravelpod Instagram: @ravelpod Facebook: @theravelpod Email: theravelpod@gmail.com Follow the hosts on Twitter: Josh: @joshlieuallen Emily: @RevRettinghouse Stephen: @stephenghenning Thank you to Louie Zong for use of his song In Full Color , off his album, Here....

We play the source material that kicked off the whole Ravel podcast as a concept! Join the Ravel conversation on: Twitter: @ravelpod Instagram: @ravelpod Facebook: @theravelpod Email: theravelpod@gmail.com Follow the hosts on Twitter: Josh: @joshlieuallen Emily: @RevRettinghouse Stephen: @stephenghenning Thank you to Louie Zong for use of his song In Full Color , off his album, Here. Follow his wo...

Stephen, Josh, and Emily each spend some time laying out their spiritual and religious backgrounds! Join the Ravel conversation on: Twitter: @ravelpod Instagram: @ravelpod Facebook: @theravelpod Email: theravelpod@gmail.com Follow the hosts on Twitter: Josh: @joshlieuallen Emily: @RevRettinghouse Stephen: @stephenghenning Thank you to Louie Zong for use of his song In Full Color , off his album, H...

Introducing a podcast called Ravel, a round-table show about the complexity of faith in the age of Information. For some people, this complexity has caused the unraveling of their faith and for other people, it's been enriching. We think good theology should be an exploratory dialog, so we're going to sort through our own questions, in real time, over a couple drinks. Join us as we ravel out our f...