Text us your questions!

We wrap our discussion of evil and suffering with a look at some other sorts of responses to the problem and a reflection on where we land personally. If you haven't heard part 1, start there first.

Due to the subject and the tone of this conversation, these episodes do not include a beverage tasting.

Content note: this conversation includes discussion of evil and suffering and is probably not suitable for children. Though we try to avoid explicit extreme examples where possible, there is mention of specific instances of harm, including to children.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

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Text us your questions!

How can people who believe in a good God account for the existence of pervasive suffering and evil? This is the oldest and most powerful objection to both belief in God's existence and religious practice, and it has been the subject of philosophical discussion and theological speculation spanning many religious traditions for thousands of years. We've run into it in several previous episodes and each time said we'd eventually focus on it. Here we are. This is part one of a two-part episode introducing the problem and some of the major responses to it (called theodicies), as well as how we think about it personally.

Nothing we say here should be considered definitive or even very confident, and we're certainly not done talking about it. We're barely scratching the surface of an unimaginably vast complex of issues, and we approach it with fear and trembling. We hope that comes through in the discussion.

Due to the subject and the tone of this conversation, these episodes do not include a beverage tasting.

Content note: this conversation includes discussion of evil and suffering and is probably not suitable for children, though we make every effort to avoid explicit extreme examples where possible.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Text us your questions!

Elliot has a few more questions about AI following our conversation with Derek Schuurman. Is AI a Tower of Babel moment? Is there any real reason for concern? Will it go so great that it makes us all soft? If you could live forever, would you? What about the end of the world?

Big questions! We do our best for answering on the fly. If you'd like to ask a question about a recent episode to be featured on one of these bonus segments, email us at [email protected].

Content note: this episode contains profanity.

The transcript of this episode can be found here.

[Note: episode image generated with AI.]

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Text us your questions!

The rise of artificial intelligence has happened at a startlingly rapid rate, and it seems like it's only accelerating by the month. Whether it's AI writing (plagiarizing) college papers and lazy pastors' sermons,  potentially curing horrific diseases, making fake humans, or taking over the world, we all have an endless amount of questions when it comes to what to expect from AI.

Dr. Derek C. Schuurman is a computer science professor at Calvin University and has written extensively on the rise of AI and what a Christian's proper response to it might be. In this episode, we talk to Derek about all of those questions and more. Cheers!

In this episode, we tasted Fortaleza Anejo Tequila. To skip the tasting, jump to 8:27.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Cheers!

Text us your questions!

Our friend Jeff Cook joins us for a new Q&A segment to reflect on our conversation with Rob Schenck (see parts 1 and 2 of that conversation here and here). This is our second installment of what will become a regular bonus segment with Jeff unpacking the content of certain episodes. You can hear the first installment, on LQBTQ affirmation and the church, at our Patreon (free for everyone!) here.

If you'd like to ask a question about a recent episode to be featured on one of these bonus segments, email us at [email protected].

Content note: this episode contains profanity.

The transcript of this episode can be found here.

[Image credit: Camylla Battani]

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Text us your questions!

In the second part of our interview with Rob Schenck, a former Washington insider and heavy hitter in the evangelical pro-life lobbying industry, we discuss gun culture among American Christians and how asking questions about it ultimately cost him the organization he built and led for decades and led to him being ostracized by longtime friends and colleagues. Why are so many Christians so obsessed with guns to the point that they're unwilling to even question their centrality in their lives or their consistency with their stated pro-life convictions? Why are they seemingly unconcerned about the dangers guns pose or opposed to sensible gun legislation? How should we understand the soundbites that often get bandied about in these conversations? Rob patiently and powerfully takes us through his experience with these issues. We also discuss a bit of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's influence on Rob's trajectory.

The beverage featured in this episode is Bowmore 18. Jump to 3:51 to skip the tasting.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

Content note: This episode contains discussion of gun violence.

=====

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Cheers!

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Season 4 is here! To kick it off, we've got a 2-parter for you with Rob Schenck, a former Washington insider and heavy hitter in the evangelical Christian lobbying industry. Rob was an influential voice in the pro-life movement for decades, but lost his position, and his funding, when he began to question the consistency of the evangelical position on guns with their stated pro-life convictions. His story is featured in the Emmy Award-winning 2016 documentary The Armor of Light. In Part 1, we speak with Rob about his background, his anti-abortion activism, and how his views have evolved on that issue. Part 2 will focus on evangelical gun culture and its consistency with a pro-life ethic.

The beverage featured in this episode is New Glarus Pilsner. Jump to 7:29 to skip the tasting.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

Content note: This episode contains graphic discussion of abortion.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Text us your questions!

We speak with Dr. Bradley Onishi, a religion scholar whose latest book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next, explores the rise of the extremist religious right in America and its evolution from the 1960s through the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

We discuss his personal transformation from conservative Christian to scholar to unbeliever, his insights into January 6 and why he believes he could have been one of the insurrectionists, why evangelicals embrace conspiracy theories, the role religion played (and didn't play) in shaping the Republican party, and several interesting tidbits about everyone's favorite Family Man, James Dobson. We also delve into the American Redoubt, a survivalist and prepper movement that dreams of a Christian society within the United States, and its earnest preparations for a looming civil war.

Dr. Onishi offers a stark and unsettling warning: the distrust in our civic spaces and the readiness for religious violence could indeed be harbingers of our future.

The beverage we tasted in this episode is Penderyn Legend single malt Welsh whisky.

To skip the tasting, go to 5:33.

You can find the transcript for this episode here. Please note that it was auto-generated by an artificial intelligence and has not been reviewed by a human. Please forgive and disregard any inaccuracies, misattributions, or misspellings.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Cheers!

Text us your questions!

Many Protestants don't understand or appreciate how transformational Vatican II was for the Catholic Church and the whole global Christian Church in general. Our friend and Catholic theologian Shaun Blanchard co-wrote a book called Vatican II: A Very Short Introduction. In this episode, we chat with Shaun about the size, scope, and impact of Vatican II in the 1960s, and we wonder about when the next changes at the next Vatican Council might be.

In this episode, we tasted a barrel select of Eagle Rare from our friends at Story Hill BKC in Milwaukee, WI.

To skip the tasting, go to 9:21.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

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The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.

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Cheers!

Text us your questions!

If you're an American evangelical or used to be, there's a good chance you've heard of the Enneagram. You may have even run into it in another context or heard about it from friends who are really into personality tests. We've discussed it briefly on the show before, and we've wanted to eventually give it its own episode because Randy has found it really beneficial and Kyle is a bit of a skeptic.

Lo and behold, one of our Patreon supporters, Jeff Cook, is, like, the Enneagram guru, in addition to having a background as both a pastor and a philosopher. Go figure. Jeff reached out and proposed a conversation about what the Enneagram is, what its particular strengths are, and some of Kyle's objections to it. He's joined by TJ Wilson, his co-host of Around the Circle and two other Enneagram-focused podcasts.

It's a fun, serious, personal, and respectful conversation about a topic that a lot of Christians today care a lot about. An argument, in the best sense.*

Some resources mentioned in the conversation are:

• Around the Circle podcast
• Start Here podcast
• Movie Typing podcast
• What’s Wrong with the Enneagram (Kyle's article)

The beverages sampled in this episode are:

• Glenmorangie Signet
• Whiskey Acres Straight Rye
• Founders Brewing Co. Breakfast Stout

To skip the tasting, go to 3:38.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

*Note: in philosophy, arguments are good things.

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Cheers!