This week’s guest is Josh de Keijzer, PhD. Josh writes at After God’s End: Fragments of a Post-Christian narrative Josh grew up in an evangelical home in the Netherlands. He knew his family was “set apart,” different from the mainstream Dutch culture. “I realized…I had been brought up as an evangelical…We were always part of a minority.” As a teenager, Josh took his faith seriously, so he had a hard time with the adults in the church. Their actions did not line up with what they believed, and the hypocrisy was rampant. Josh always wanted to visit the US and was able to attend university and seminary in the States. In seminary, the questions really began. “[I was at] a solidly evangelical seminary but there were plenty of people who did a lot of questioning. I have to credit them for opening my eyes…” Josh’s questions led him out of the Christian church, but he hasn’t given up on spirituality. He gives meaning to his life by living with compassion and love for others, and what a beautiful thing to behold. Links Substack https://joshdekeyzer.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aftergodsend/ Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/05/14/josh-de-keijzer-after-gods-end/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is author Jo Lloyd Johnson. Jo grew up in a “non-denominational charismatic commune”. She spent her adolescence in various churches, but they weren’t as “Spirit-filled” as she was taught they could be. She married young and the first years of marriage were difficult. There was alcohol abuse, church shopping, and the difficulties that come with having young children. She and her husband needed the church to be a place of deep and meaningful relationships, but it wasn’t. “When we started seeing church as a social club [with no depth], we were like, ‘No. This is not what we thought it was…’” By 2018, Jo realized the Church was steeped in Patriarchy. She had been fine with “a woman’s place” until she wasn’t. Now Jo has used writing as a way to process the trauma and emotions she’s experienced and her book, Silenced in Eden, is helping others along their own journeys. Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jolloydjohnson/ Silenced In Edenhttps://amzn.to/3nBRBYy Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/05/07/joanna-johnson-silenced-in-eden/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Cat Delmar. Cat grew up in a nominally Seventh-day Adventist family. The SDA churches, however, were anything but nominal. They had all the rules, from no caffeine to no pierced ears. “There’s a lot of control of the body [in Seventh-Day Adventism].” At sixteen, Cat took ownership of her faith and started going to church on her own, but she never quite fit in. By her twenties, she realized that the difficult questions in adulthood don’t have easy “Biblical” answers. Before she knew it, she’s figured out that the SDA church doesn’t have the answers and that perhaps no one does. Today, Cat doesn’t need solid answers. She finds peace within herself and in her connection with nature. Cat’s story is one you’ll want to hear! Links Instagram https://www.instagram.com/catmangrove/ Link Tree https://linktr.ee/catdelmar Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/04/30/cat-delmar-former-seventh-day-adventist/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Stephanie, a Deconversion Anonymous group member. Stephanie grew up in the Assemblies of God church as a Missionary Kid for most of her childhood. Her younger years held all the trappings of white American evangelicalism, from conservative Christian school curricula to a paralyzing fear of going to hell forever. “The ‘hell belief’? It’s a sticky one.” Stephanie’s beliefs, however, had been set on precarious foundations: Christians are good and everyone else is bad; the Bible is true and inerrant; the Earth may look old, but it is only thousands of years old. Stephanie made friends outside the church as a young adult, and these new relationships plus great documentaries and books cracked open the bedrocks of her faith. It’s been a long time since she deconverted, and she is living a life she loves by loving others without reservation. This is true secular grace, Humanism 2.0 Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/04/23/stephanie-deconversion-of-an-mk/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Kelly. Kelly was raised as a daughter in a traditional evangelical household, “indoctrinated from diaperhood.” They grew up perfectionistic, depressed, timid, and anxious, given Christian cliches about ‘God always being with them’ through their depression. Who they really needed were queer, whole, mentally healthy adult mentors. “There was a dizzying array of mental exercises I had to engage in to keep the faith.” Today, Kelly is living their truest life with wisdom and compassion. It’s been said that we become the person we would have felt safe with as a child, and Kelly has done that beautifully. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/04/16/kelly-you-are-enough/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is Bart D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His new book is Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End. Is the book of Revelation a prophecy of future catastrophe? Is it a book of hope? Or is it a book of violence and wrath? In Armageddon, Bart delves into the most misunderstood—and possibly the most dangerous—book of the Bible, exploring the horrifying social and political consequences of expecting an imminent apocalypse and offering a fascinating tour through three millennia of Judeo-Christian thinking about how our world will end. Bart’s work has been a part of many of our deconstructions. In my interview with Bart, we get to hear his faith transition. We learn from his New Testament expertise. But most surprising of all, we learn what a nice guy he is. Links Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End https://amzn.to/3KjLW0i Website https://www.bartehrman.com/ Blog https://ehrmanblog.org/ Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman Podcast https://www.bartehrman.com/podcast/ Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/04/09/bart-d-ehrman-armageddon/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

TW: sexual violence; intimate partner violence; postpartum PTSD This week’s guest is Grace. Grace was fortunate not to grow up in the church, but when she became a Christian in high school, she—in her own words—“quickly became the quintessential insufferable Christian teenager.” Grace was a zealous believer for years, and it wasn’t until she had her first child that the questions began coming. At first, she didn’t think she was deconstructing her faith; she saw it as spiritual growth. But then—as with many other guests—“the Pandemic hit.” While in lockdown, more than theological questions came up for Grace. With her husband’s support, online friends, and medication, Grace managed, but one thing was missing. What she needed but couldn’t find, she created. hyssopandlaurel.com is a “grassroots arts and literary magazine for religious deconstructionists.” It is a thriving community of creative minds coming together to make art and poetry, sharing their stories because their stories matter. Links Website https://hyssopandlaurel.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hyssopandlaurel/ Link Tree https://linktr.ee/hyssopandlaurel Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/04/02/grace-hyssop-laurel/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest bares his whole heart. “My story—at the moment—doesn’t end really well, but there’s hope for the future.” This week’s guest is Matt. Matt grew up in a Methodist family and after partying through high school, Matt chose to attend a Christian college and became serious about his faith. As an adult, Matt did everything he could to be all things to all people—a good husband, a good leader, a father, a friend, a mentor… He tried for years, but superhuman expectations are put on Christian men. He couldn’t do it all. No one can. Matt tells his story with vulnerability and a whole lot of grace for others. He bore heavy burdens for a long time: Cognitive dissonance, covert narcissism (in himself and others), codependency and spiritual abuse. Yet his story reveals his great optimism for the future. Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/03/26/matt-deconversion-anonymous/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week’s guest is David Hayward, also known as The Naked Pastor. David is “a pastor turned artist painting, drawing, and thinking about what it takes to be free to be you.” For over a decade, David has been creating online spaces for anyone “interested in deconstruction, spiritual journeying, freedom of thought, or looking for your authentic self.” His personal story and the wisdom he’s gained over the years continues to speak to those of us who have completely left religion and those who still believe. For more information, be sure to check out David’s website and follow him online! Links Website https://nakedpastor.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nakedpastor/ David’s Books https://amzn.to/3lm9oSr Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/03/19/david-hayward-naked-pastor/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion X-Shaped Hole In Your Heart https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/02/08/the-x-shaped-hole-in-your-heart/ Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/

This week we are celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Graceful Atheist Podcast! In this episode, you’ll meet everyone who works alongside David on the podcast, the website or the online community. Joining David are Arline, Mike T, Jimmy, Colin and Daniel. They discuss some of their favorite movies, shows and books highlighting deconversion or secular grace. It’s a great conversation that you won’t want to miss! Interact For quotes, recommendations, transcripts and more see the full episode show notes https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/03/12/four-years-of-the-graceful-atheist-podcast/ Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist Secular Grace https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/ Deconversion https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/ Deconstruction https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/#deconstruction/ Attribution "Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats https://makaihbeats.net/