The Unintentional Heretic

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore how the rapture, often assumed to be ancient Christian teaching, is actually a modern theological invention that reshaped the imagination of generations of evangelicals through fear, prophecy charts, and the anxiety of being “left behind.” Instead of a Gospel of escape, we return to the deeper Christian hope of incarnation, resurrection, an...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , I sit down with Bishop Sam Rodman, the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, to explore epistemology, the deeply human question of how we know what we know. Together we talk about the lenses that shape how we see reality, how Scripture, tradition, reason, experience, community, and the Holy Spirit help us discern truth, and why humility may be...

In this brief Fourth of July reflection, The Unintentional Heretic explores how Christians can love their country with both gratitude and honesty, celebrating America’s ideals while telling the truth about its contradictions. True patriotism is not silence or triumphalism, but a faithful commitment to justice, mercy, and the dignity of every human being. Would love to hear your thoughts!

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore whether God must be understood as all powerful in the traditional sense, especially in light of suffering, tragedy, and the painful claim that even the death of a child is somehow “God’s will.” Moving through Scripture, the problem of evil, process theology, and Thomas Jay Oord’s idea of amipotence, we consider whether a more faithful visio...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore Christian nationalism as a distortion of the Gospel that confuses love of country with worship of country and replaces the way of Jesus with the logic of empire. From Pharaoh to Rome to Constantine to America’s own myths of divine destiny, we look at how sacred language has been used to justify power, violence, and exclusion, and why the ki...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore how Mary Magdalene was transformed by centuries of church tradition from the first witness to the resurrection into a symbol of sexual sin and repentance. Her story reveals how easily the church has distorted women’s authority, and how the risen Christ entrusted the first Easter proclamation not to Peter, not to Paul, but to Mary. Would lov...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore the Great Schism of 1054, when the Eastern and Western churches formally split after centuries of theological, political, cultural, and linguistic tension. It is a reminder that what we often call “orthodoxy” has always been shaped by history, power, personality, and disagreement, and that the divisions we inherit are not always as inevitab...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , I sit down with Bishop Anne Hodges Copple, a bishop in the Episcopal Church, to explore authority and the role of women in the church. Bishop Anne reminds us that the full dignity, calling, and leadership of women have been present from the beginning, woven through Scripture from Genesis 1 onward, and that the church is still slowly awakening to a tru...

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores St. Benedict and the Rule of St. Benedict as one of Christianity’s quiet revolutions, a way of life rooted in listening, prayer, work, humility, stability, hospitality, and shared community. In a culture shaped by speed, noise, anxiety, self expression, and constant distraction, Benedict invites us into a different rhythm, one that forms us slowly...

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the Inquisition as one of the most sobering examples in Christian history of what happens when faith becomes entangled with fear, certainty, institutional power, and coercion. We look at the medieval, Spanish, and Roman Inquisitions and ask how a tradition centered on the mercy and compassion of Jesus could come to justify forced conversions, tort...

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the ancient Christian idea of theosis — the startling belief that salvation is not merely about being forgiven or going somewhere after we die, but about humanity becoming divine by grace, participation, and communion with God. Drawing from the Eastern Church, Athanasius, Irenaeus, icons, the Transfiguration, and Gregory Palamas, the episode asks...

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the Crusades as one of Christianity’s most sobering examples of what happens when faith becomes entangled with empire, violence, certainty, and political ambition. It traces the Crusades through their most consequential and tragic moments — the First Crusade’s conquest of Jerusalem, the rise of Saladin, the heartbreaking Children’s Crusade, and th...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore Gnosticism—the ancient Christian movement that taught salvation comes through awakening to the divine spark within—and the profound influence of Platonic philosophy, the Demiurge, Valentinus, Marcion, and the battle for the soul of early Christianity. Along the way, we ask a question that remains surprisingly relevant today: is the goal of...

For centuries, Christianity wrestled with a profound question: are our bodies, desires, and passions obstacles to God or places where God is revealed? In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore how Greek dualism, Augustine, monasticism, and purity culture shaped Christian attitudes toward sex—and why many Christians today are rediscovering the sacredness of creation, embodiment, and...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , we explore how Christianity gradually shifted from being a movement centered on following the way of Jesus to a religion increasingly focused on worshiping Jesus and defining correct belief about him. While creeds, doctrine, and institutions have great value, their purpose is ultimately to lead us into lives shaped by mercy, compassion, justice, and l...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the history and evolution of biblical inerrancy, distinguishing it carefully from literalism while examining how modern Christianity came to equate certainty with faithfulness. Drawing on church history, biblical scholarship, theology, and personal experience, the episode argues that Scripture can remain deeply inspired, authoritative, a...

This episode explores the fascinating evolution of Satan from “the accuser” within the divine council of ancient Israel to the cosmic devil of modern Christianity, revealing how ideas about evil, suffering, and spiritual conflict developed across centuries of Jewish and Christian history. Along the way, the episode examines the serpent in Eden, Persian dualism, apocalyptic literature, Revelation,...

This episode explores the moments in Christian history when long-held “orthodox” paradigms were forced to evolve through crisis, discovery, and changing human understanding — from the fall of Rome and the Copernican Revolution to Darwin, democracy, and modern science. Rather than portraying faith as static certainty, the episode argues that Christianity has always been a living tradition wrestling...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores immigration through the lens of Scripture, history, and the teachings of Jesus, tracing the Bible’s evolving relationship with outsiders, strangers, and the vulnerable. Challenging the rise of Christian nationalism and the dehumanization of immigrants, the episode asks whether Christians will choose fear and exclusion—or recognize Christ...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the long and complex evolution of Christian doctrine surrounding LGBTQ inclusion, tracing the conversation from ancient purity codes and Greco-Roman assumptions to modern understandings of sexuality, human dignity, and the radically expansive love of Jesus. Drawing on Scripture, church history, theology, and lived human experience, the e...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the often-contentious relationship between Christianity and evolution, tracing the journey from Darwin and the Scopes Trial to the visionary theology of Teilhard de Chardin, Ilia Delio, and process theology. Rather than seeing evolution as a threat to faith, the episode reframes creation as an ongoing sacred unfolding in which God is not...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the illusion of control, humanity’s deep evolutionary longing for certainty, and why Jesus consistently offers presence instead of predictable answers or guaranteed outcomes. Drawing from Scripture, philosophy, mysticism, and personal experiences of crisis and transformation, the episode reflects on how suffering, uncertainty, and even o...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the evolution of heaven through Scripture, theology, Greek philosophy, mysticism, and church history—challenging the common assumption that Christianity is primarily about escaping earth for a distant afterlife. Drawing on the Bible, other faith traditions, contemplative spirituality, and modern near-death research, the episode reframes...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores the fascinating evolution of Christian salvation theology—from the mystical and diverse world of the early church, through Plato’s influence on Western Christianity, to the rise of the Ransom Theory, Anselm’s satisfaction theory, and modern penal substitution. Along the way, the episode asks how culture, philosophy, and history shaped th...

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic , Greg explores whether Christianity was ever meant to be an exclusive system focused on who is “in” and who is “out,” or whether Jesus was inviting humanity into a deeper way of love, union, and abundant life. Drawing on voices like Matthew Fox, John Duns Scotus, Ilia Delio and Richard Rohr, the episode reimagines salvation not as escaping punishment,...