We respond to a listener’s question and wrestle with the fact that the Old Testament did not abolish slavery, but actually endorsed the slavery of foreigners. While most of the slavery described in the Old Testament was debt-servanthood, and the Old Testament law provided protections and limitations around the practice that included the forgiveness of all debts and the six-year redemption of those in bond servanthood, the Old Testament also endorsed the chattel slavery of neighboring countries and foreigners living temporarily in the land of Israel.  We discuss how the serious scholarship on this subject dispenses with many of the arguments advanced by Christian apologists, while discussing our honest confusion over the fact that the Bible does not contain an outright abolition of slavery.  At the same time, we point out that it was the very teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers, built on the legacy of the Old Testament law, that laid the foundation for our modern views related to human rights, anti-discrimination, equality, and dignity of all persons, and that ultimately to the abolition of slavery. Our goal in this episode is to demonstrate our willingness to study deeply, wrestle with troubling issues honestly, and still faithfully follow Jesus by trusting that – while our knowledge of God will always be incomplete – we are ultimately putting our trust in the person of Jesus, and not in having certainty about the answer to every question we may ever pose about the Bible. 

Americans are known for their rugged individualism.  But our value of individualism and wanting to be at the center of every narrative can derail our efforts to follow Jesus.  In this episode, we examine the ways that our culture – and even our churches – have reinforced the idea that we are the main character in our worship and in our reading of the biblical narrative.  We discuss how this focus on ourselves shows up in subtle and not so subtle ways, and our discussions seeks to show how inserting ourselves at the center robs us of the richness found in being an integral part of the united people of God.  Our affirmation is that Jesus is the main character of the scriptures and of all of cosmic history, and that finding our true place as part of His body is an important part of following Jesus as our Lord.

Recreational use of marijuana will soon be legal in a majority of states.  Is legalization the standard for followers of Jesus, or does the way of Jesus require that we exercise our freedom in favor of being sober minded? In this episode, we start with the experiences of those we know who have regularly used marijuana, and we ask whether marijuana is a form of drunkenness that we are commanded to abstain from by scripture. 

We respond to a viewer’s question about whether the verses we commonly cite from the New Testament to address homosexuality are properly translated, and whether the issue was a significant concern for the biblical authors. We look at some of the passages where the issue is addressed and review the work of several scholars to conclude that while homosexuality is addressed, this treatment comes as part of a much broader context that addresses all people and the various ways that we respond to God. Even conservative scholarship on the subject admits that homosexuality is a minor concern for the biblical authors, and that a truly biblical morality must avoid overemphasizing peripheral issues. Instead, we should be as charitable with one another – with those inside and outside the church, and with those who agree with us and those who don’t – in the same manner that Christ has been with us. Each of us is urged to remember that God’s kindness, patience and forbearance are what brings anyone to repentance, while those who are hard-hearted and pass judgment on others bring judgment on themselves (Romans 2:1-5). 

The title of our episode is one of the most frequently asked questions that pastors hear from their congregations and a topic that is often discussed in online forums.  While there is room to debate the answer, the way we approach this question – and the way we treat those who might come to a different conclusion – says more about us than it does about Jesus or the question itself.  Why has this become such a litmus test of orthodox Christian faith?  Why doesn’t the fact that we are so scandalized by the issue serve as a warning that we have become the very legalists that we often decry in the pages of scripture?

In this episode, we examine the heart of Jesus in coming close to those who needed him the most, and we contrast his actions with the Pharisees who made sure to publicly and privately keep their distance from the very same people.  We ask whether Jesus would do the same today, and point out the ways that many Christian leaders seem to more closely resemble the behavior of the Pharisees rather than that of Jesus.  We also examine the many arguments that are stated about what makes a wedding different from other public events, and we break down those arguments to better understand the motivations behind them. In the end, we want to center our answer on Jesus: if he would attend, then we should; and if he would not, then we should not.  

Studies are mixed on whether people of faith are less intelligent than the average person in the general public, or even those that have no faith at all.  Regardless, it does seem that Christians go out of their way to believe the strangest things that are not only entirely unrelated to the Christian faith, but which are demonstrably false. 

Our thesis is simple: if people can easily see that our beliefs are verifiably false about things that can readily be tested, why would anyone believe our witness about things that are unseen, like the claims of Christ, the truth of scripture, or the work of God in our life?

In this episode, we respond to one of your comments about why we believe that Jesus’s life and teachings are accurately recorded in the New Testament biographies and the letters authored by his apostles.  While acknowledging that there is no way to adequately answer this question in a short episode, our goal is to provide some of the reasons that our faith confidently rests on the answers available from scholarly resources that have addressed this question over the long history of the church.  We also contrast the ways historical narratives were written and transmitted in the first century, and we caution about relying on our own cultural biases to discredit the writings authored in another time and place.  Our hope is that our discussion models a form of engagement with this topic that remains open to opposing views, while reminding that we should be prepared to do the hard work of researching this issue further if this particular question is important to the way we view the claims of Jesus.  

Many of us have heard that faith in Jesus requires either blind faith or certainty, but it turns out that both are incompatible with the Christian faith.  Whether our perception from the outside is that belief in God requires magical thinking, or whether we have seen faith communities who shut down all questions and all doubts in favor of a blind faith, the Bible instead commends a faith that is closely examined and based on the evidence of God’s work in the world and in our lives.  True faith requires building our entire life in trust on the claims of Jesus, and we share how there is nothing blind about staking everything we value on that faith.  We also explore why there has been a tendency to push for blind faith even from leaders within the church, exposing how this paternalistic tendency has led many to feel guilt and shame over the questions and doubts they have expressed.

We also tackle the idea that the Christian faith requires certainty.  We address those outside the faith who won’t come to faith unless every question they ask has been satisfied to a level of certainty, exploring the motivations behind that need.  We consider how the angels have certainty because they see God face to face, as well as the clues we have from scripture that the angels instead wish they could have faith.  Our contention is that faith and doubt are more closely aligned than faith and certainty.  In the end, growth, wisdom and sustenance from God comes from walking in an examined faith without falling to the twin errors of either blind faith or certainty. 

As we work to untangle the influence of the American culture from the Christian faith, we respond to a listener’s question about our culture’s belief that love can never be wrong. Before we work our way toward more difficult topics about love and sexuality, we have to first determine whether we are going to prioritize the teachings of our faith or the desires of our heart whenever they don’t line up the way we expect. Knowing which we give priority to helps us determine whether we are following Jesus, the culture at large, or our own formulation of faith. We also examine one of the foundational assumptions of the Christian faith, that sin has tainted everything in this world, including our desires and our best intentions, and we talk about how strange this sounds to those of us who have grown up in spiritual traditions influenced by the language of therapeutic self-help.

The word deconstruction has become very popular over the past decade. But many young Christians who say they’re deconstructing seem to mean they’re simply leaving the faith. Is it possible to explore difficult aspects of our faith without abandoning our faith altogether?