Tent Talks with Dr Stephen Backhouse

David A. Ritchie is a pastor from Amarillo, Texas and the author of Why Do the Nations Rage: the demonic origin of nationalism and he joins us in the tent to discuss how nationalism—in whatever form it takes—creates a competing religion and way of life that demands our allegiance over following after Jesus. Our conversation relates this to gun control and America's blindness to violence as well as...

Dr. Jemar Tisby is an historian, speaker and author (amongst other books) of "How to Fight Racism: Young Readers Edition". He talks with Chris Marchand about his ongoing work confronting racial injustice within the church and general culture. Links! Here is Jemar's website , subscribe to his newsletter , listen to his podcast Pass the Mic , learn about The Witness, support his organization helping...

The fourteenth and final episode in our series on the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 7:15-23. False prophets, happy hometowns and shifting sands! Download more Tent Courses and Resources HERE .  Has anything we make been interesting, useful or fruitful for you? You can support us by becoming a Fellow Traveller on our Patreon page HERE .

Louise Davies is the Director of Christians on the Left, a network primarily for the support and resourcing of Christians involved on the left of politics in the UK, but who now also has members all over the world. As you will hear, Lou knows where she fits on the political spectrum, but is not infected with factional or partisan thinking. A real breath of fresh air, Lou is committed to renewing p...

The thirteenth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 7:12-14. Christians are trained to think of salvation and destruction in terms of spiritual places we go when we die. But what if the broad way that leads to destruction is happening now? What if loving our neighbours as ourselves is the narrow way that leads to life? Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for a...

Dr Eve Poole joins the Tent to talk about "The S**t We Taught At Business School" and the toxic ideas underpinning capitalism. Eve taught leadership for Ashridge Business School, and was the first female Chairman of Gordonstoun School in Moray from 2015-2021. She also served as Third Church Estates Commissioner for England from 2018-2021. She is the author of a number of books on leadership cultur...

The twelfth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 7:7-12. Is it true? Are we really to be asking God for everything we want all the time? And what does it mean if those prayers aren't answered? As our series on the Sermon begins to draw to a close, Jesus offer us a statement that sums up the whole of his message. Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for allowing...

A preview of a conversation between Tent co-hosts and colleagues Natasha Beckles, Chris Marchand and Sean McCoy about their personal experiences with racism, god, guns and patriotism. The full conversation is available on the Patreon page. Just one of many, many, high quality bonus episodes available to patrons. Become a Fellow Traveller today to access them all! You can support the Tent and get h...

Join Natasha Beckles and Natalia Nana in conversation with Christena Cleveland. Dr Cleveland is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. She is the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal as well as its sister organization, Sacred Folk, which creates resources to stimulate people’s spiritual imaginations and support their journeys toward liberation. An award...

In light of current events, we are re-releasing the conversation Stephen had with Virginia Linzee and Andrea Lippke in August 2021 about Abortion, Adoption and Down Syndrome. This is the second of a two part conversation. LifeUni can be found HERE . Download more Tent Courses and Resources HERE .  Has anything we make been interesting, useful or fruitful for you? You can support us by becoming a F...

In light of current events, we are re-releasing the conversation Stephen had with Virginia Linzee and Andrea Lippke in August 2021 about Abortion, Adoption and Down Syndrome. This is the first of a two part conversation. LifeUni can be found HERE . Download more Tent Courses and Resources HERE .  Has anything we make been interesting, useful or fruitful for you? You can support us by becoming a Fe...

Don't judge and don't throw pearls to swine. We explore Matthew 7:1-6 in today's episode on the Sermon on the Mount! Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for allowing us to release these recordings. You can find out more about them HERE . LifeUni can be found HERE . Download more Tent Courses and Resources HERE .  Has anything we make been interesting, useful or fruitful for y...

Natasha Beckles sits down with Natalia-Nana, who is a specialist in equity, diversity, inclusion and liberation. They discuss incarnation, the bible and the church, misogynoir and Child Q, as well as their wider work in EDIL, decolonisation and anti-racism and the task advising organisations and supporting leadership in hosting Safe Spaces for People of Colour and marginalised ethnic identities. ...

The tenth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount. From Matthew 6:25-34. We have created a culture of all-pervasive fear, anxiety, and dread about "having enough." How might the way of Jesus help us escape the madness? Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for allowing us to release these recordings. You can find out more about them HERE . Download more Tent Courses and Resource...

Dr Curtis Holtzen is a professor of philosophy and theology at Hope International University in California. As well as his most recent book The God Who Trusts, he is the coeditor of Connecting Faith and Science: Philosophical and Theological Inquiries, In Spirit and In Truth: Philosophical Reflections on Liturgy and Worship, and By Faith and Reason: The Essential Keith Ward. Find out more about th...

In light of recent and apparently perennial gun violence in America we have decided to re-issue a previous Tent Talk on Buying Swords in Luke 22 from episode 45.  Other Tent episodes on this topic include: 3. What About War 5. Culture Warriors 11. Romans 13 41. Violence 43. More Violence (with Justin Bronson Barringer) 50. Shane Claiborne 103. Turn the other cheek

The ninth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount. Wealth vs Riches in Matthew 6:19-24. How do we come to terms with the fact that the god of money has shaped us much more than the God of mercy, the God of grace, the God of forgiveness? Here's the thing about gods: they always demand a sacrifice.  Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for allowing us to release these recordings....

Prof. Norman Wirzba is a leading figure in the field of fields. He cares about farming, food, our connected lives and the justice that is inherent in living at peace with the land. Along with frequent collaborators such as Wendell Berry, Robert MacFarlane and others, Norman thinks deeply about the Anthropocene - our current age of significant human impact on the Earth's geology and ecosystems. Nor...

The eighth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount. Has the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:7-15 become old hat? What if we were meant to know God's will as we pray through it daily, but understanding God's will is far more straightforward and right in front of our faces than we realized? And finally, how might we see parallels between Jesus's temptation in the desert with Satan and the structure of the...

A Tent Talks first. Listen and lean in, as we are joined by the ground-breaking womanist theologian - the Very Reverend Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. She is in conversation with our previous tent talk guest and theologian, Dr Selina Stone, and our host Reverend Natasha Beckles. They engage in a rare, rich transatlantic conversation exploring eschatology, church and the scars of Christ. The Very Reveren...

The seventh of a series on the Sermon on the Mount. The call to perfection in Matthew 5:48-6:9 and 6:16-18 is often taught as impossible, thus giving licence to Christians to ignore and even despise the Way of Jesus as irrelevant to their gleeful embrace of power, violence and nationalism. We take a closer look... Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St Luke's Church for allowing us to release...

You can find out more about the YoHo journals and purchase a copy of Rotten Institutions HERE. Use promo code TENT10 for a ten percent discount. More about Linda Woodhead HERE . More about Eve Poole HERE . Has anything we make been interesting, useful or fruitful for you? You can support us by becoming a Fellow Traveller on our Patreon page HERE .

Stephanie Drury is the founder of stuffchristianculturelikes, the go-to site for anyone who if they did not laugh would rage. Underneath the wicked humour and sharp insight is the deeper work of binding up the broken hearted and setting the captives free, especially women harmed by evangelical culture. Stephanie joins the Tent to talk about being too vulgar for Christianity Today, fighting with th...

The sixth of a series on the Sermon on the Mount. From Matthew 5:38-48, Stephen discusses how turning the other cheek is not "doing nothing," but is instead a way of resisting violence and giving the violent a new way to see reality. The way of Jesus does not allow us to take a human life to solve a problem, no matter how logical that solution may seem.  Thanks to Jon and the Dig Deeper team of St...

Sara Billups is a breath of fresh air. She is smart, funny and kind, and has lived a varied and interesting life. She is a Seattle-based writer seeking a deeper faith in our complicated world. She's been the only Christian in the room in creative spaces in the city, but of late has also found herself increasingly alienated from culturally dominant American Christianity. Sara has written about thes...