Mid-faith Crisis

We talk about disagreement within the church. Are the ideas we adopt in Mid-faith Crisis really new, or merely rediscovered? And in this new way of thinking, how do we respond to people who want to ‘bring us back into the fold’? Joe talks about paradigms. Nick has some surprising financial success. And to think we were trying to do a shorter podcast…

Order! Order! It’s a mid-faith crisis look at politics - or political debate and discussion to be precise. How can we disagree well with one another? How do we deal with criticism and difference? Can we resist the urge to fight fire with fire? Does Nick listen to the podcast just to hear his own opinions? Many crucial questions. But what the people really want to know is…

We’re back from our holidays with a bumper bag of feedback, including reaction to the Steve Chalke interview, questions about the Badly Behaved Bible and whether we have to go through lots of mid-faith crises, rather than just one. Also there’s an alarming amount of quotes from female pop singers. So, business as normal, then.

A wide-ranging, powerful, thought-provoking (and quite long!) interview with Steve Chalke. Steve talks about his new book, The Lost Message of Paul and how his message has been misunderstood. The result, claims Steve, is that 'although Paul has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, he was the very opposite. He was the great includer; a revolutionary who saw a new inclusive world dawning and gave his life to help bring it in.'

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