We're away on our holidays at the moment. But to keep you going, here's a supercut of the best moments from long-time contributor to the podcast, Ethel Sadoldperson (Mrs). May you all be greatly blessed.

We're going to take a short break after this episode. See you in a couple of weeks.

In the final part of our romp through Nick’s book The Badly Behaved Bible, we look at the acts of violence in the Old Testament. How are we to understand these? Also, we explore why Jesus, Paul and Matthew would all fail preaching class and how we can read the Bible more rabbinically.

• What is Cricket?
• Guardian article on Third Ashes test
• BBC, In Our Time
• In Our Time: The Talmud
• Burton L. Visotzky, Reading the Book: Making the Bible a Timeless Text
• Midrash - Wikipedia
• Midrash - Oxford Bibliographies

Continuing through The Badly Behaved Bible, we discuss the crucial role of doubt in the development of faith and how the authority of scripture actually works out in our lives. Or, to put it in the words of Saint Edwin of Starr, 'Law (huh) what is it good for?' Also Joe gets insecure about the logo and there are some amazingly good emails.

• How to Survive the Mid-Faith Crisis: Lee Abbey 8-12 June 2020
• Exploring the Enneagram with Dave Tomlinson
• Paying Attention to God: Lee Abbey 2-6 March 2020

• The Badly Behaved Bible on Amazon
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Eden.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Hive.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible at Waterstones

Continuing through Nick’s book, The Badly Behaved Bible, we have reached some of the… er… murkier bits. We look at the rough, even rude bits of the Bible and wonder why Jesus is not allowed to mention the toilet. Then we chat about how the theology of the Bible is not a fixed thing, and the dangers of unchanging and unchallenged theology. Warning: contains bongos. (And one rude bit which is unbongoed but that’s OK because its in the King James Version.)

• How to Survive the Mid-Faith Crisis: Lee Abbey 8-12 June 2020
• Exploring the Enneagram with Dave Tomlinson
• Paying Attention to God: Lee Abbey 2-6 March 2020

• The Badly Behaved Bible on Amazon
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Eden.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Hive.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible at Waterstones

Or, canons, colons, unicorns and other stories. Continuing our relentless march through Nick’s book, The Badly Behaved Bible, we look at the formation of the canon, the problems of translation and the perils of taking the Bible too literally. Also, a lot about why God gave us a story instead of a set of doctrinal bullet points and a DVD box set, and how stories invite us in and involve us. And the difference between the questions ‘Is this true?’ and ‘Did this actually happen?’ A bit of a long one, but there you go.

• How to Survive the Mid-Faith Crisis: Lee Abbey 8-12 June 2020
• Exploring the Enneagram with Dave Tomlinson
• Paying Attention to God: Lee Abbey 2-6 March 2020

• The Badly Behaved Bible on Amazon
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Eden.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Hive.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible at Waterstones

It’s the second in our series looking at Nick’s book, The Badly Behaved Bible. This time we’re looking at how the Bible was created and the importance of exodus and exile - not just in the creation of scripture, but also in our own lives. We all need foundation myths – stories about why we’re here, what has happened to us, and who God is. And it is in exile that we can most profoundly shape these tales. Also there’s a bit about drunk seagulls. No, really.

• Rood Screens
• Rood Screens in Norfolk

• How to Survive the Mid-Faith Crisis: Lee Abbey 8-12 June 2020
• Exploring the Enneagram with Dave Tomlinson
• Paying Attention to God: Lee Abbey 2-6 March 2020

• The Badly Behaved Bible on Amazon
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Eden.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Hive.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible at Waterstones

It’s the first of our series on Nick’s book, The Badly Behaved Bible. We talk about the misinformation surrounding the scriptures, whether Christians have to read the Bible at all, and how we can experience the Bible and not merely ‘study’ it.

• How to Survive the Mid-Faith Crisis: Lee Abbey 8-12 June 2020

• The Badly Behaved Bible on Amazon
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Eden.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible on Hive.co.uk
• The Badly Behaved Bible at Waterstones

How do we deal with feelings of failure? How do we change the wrong narratives that tend to trap us? We explore the power of the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. Featuring an introduction by a very special guest! (Warning: contains cricket references.)

How to run a Mid-Faith Crisis Bookgroup: Download the Complete and Utter Sheet

• Peak-End Theory

Happy Christmas everyone. For some reason Joe has decided that mid-July is the ideal time to reflect on Christmas. So grab a mince pie, pull a cracker and join us to reflect on the idea of incarnation and how crucial it is, not just to Christmas, but to every single day of our life. Also we announce the first Midfaith Crisis Book club. Sort of. Much to his embarrassment, we’re going to work through Nick’s latest book, The Badly Behaved Bible. So get hold of a copy and join us. Or not. Whatevs.

• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Eden.co.uk
• Buy on Hive.co.uk
• Buy at Waterstones

Nick’s been on a pilgrimage. (Or a pubgrimage as his wife called it). We talk about what defines a pilgrimage, and what makes it different from a hike. (It’s something to do with intentionality, a sacred destination and quality footwear.) Also lots of the usual quality feedback.

• Episode 63: On Pilgrimage with Alexander Shaia
• St Martin’s Church, Canterbury
• The Pilgrim’s Way