Like, seriously, could you tell us without listening to the episode first? It seems as though "gnosticism" is a Christian boogeyman term used to slander anyone thinking outside of orthodoxy! It's been used to denigrate other denominations, deconstruction, mysticism, other religions. Can we please define our terms?! And once we do so, can we spot it in the modern world?

Mentioned in the episode: 

• Google's word usage of Gnosticism graphic
• John 1 - John's Preamble

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

STARTER PACK: We Clearly Disagree

Have you ever wondered if life is somewhere out there among the stars? Maybe even looking back at us? How would your theology change? Emily brings us many questions about alien life and the impacts to our structures of belief.

Mentioned in the episode: 

• Josh's TikTok
• YHP to Consider Quakerism and Panentheism (God = Universe + Something) #12
• Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
• YHP to Think Theologically about Aliens (Seriously) #3
• Mysterious Universe Podcast

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

The Patreon group spoke and got us to consider biblical marriage in all it's forms. What does the bible describe about marriage versus prescribe? Was Paul potentially a marriage abolitionist at the end of the day? And why does it make us uncomfortable to consider the (likely) possibility of Jesus of Nazareth being married?

Mentioned in the episode: 

• The Mason Mennenga Marriage Tweet
• 69. Let's (Finally) Talk About Sex! Ravel Episode

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

How do you deal with change? Do you consider it inevitable? Do you not like change because a pocket full of coins is annoying? Jokes aside, Emily is asking today why it's so hard to affect change in certain church communities and why some changes in personal beliefs come with such high contrast. And Stephen goes on a fiery rant against "thoughts and prayers", fulfilling his role as the shows' angry atheist.

Mentioned in the episode: 

• Sorites Paradox Wiki
• Black Mirror: Bandersnatch IMDB
• 141. I'm An Atheist Now AMA Ravel Episode

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

A grandmother is sitting with her grandson and says, "In life, there are two wolves inside of you that are constantly in battle. The good wolf represents things like kindness, love, and joy while the bad wolf represents things like greed, hatred and fear." The grandson thinks about it for a moment then looks up at his grandmother and asks, "But grandmother, which one wins?" The grandmother answers with, "The one you feed."

We think about the Self and our relationship with it. In addition to the parable, we ponder the ideas of Self embedded in concepts like the Inner Child, Internal Family Systems, personality typologies. Bonus questions include: is it possible to be codependent on God in the worshiper/divine relationship.

Mentioned in the episode: 

• The One You Feed Podcast
• Matthew 7:12 - The Golden Rule
• The Artists Way by Julia Cameron
• Codependent No More by Melody Beattie
• John 14:6 - I Am The Way
• Luke 10 - The Prodigal Sons

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Threads, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

Let's dive into some psychoanalysis and "get heady" with our good friend Lacan. Josh offers a new angle on the ravel metaphor by introducing us to the "quilting point", all leading to the question: how do we avoid the Arrival Fallacy? Be sure to play along and tap through the links here in the show notes!

Mentioned in the episode: 

• What Is The Quilting Point? Article (with referenced photo of red couch)
• The Son of Man painted by Rene Magritte
• Quilting Point Youtube video
• Lacan's Concept of the Phallus
• 152. The Gang Writes A Creed Ravel Episode

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

We're asked to interrogate the sentiment behind "I don't know, I'm not God" when a listen calls in (601-557-2835) with a bit of feedback from our recent episode on the Trinity. So we dig into the limits of human knowledge, where we believe there may be true unknowables, and discuss the implications of the first story of sin in the bible being humanity eating of the Tree of Knowledge.

Mentioned in the episode: 

• The Bechdel Test
• 91X. Love Makes Room with Staci Frenes Ravel Episode
• 150. Trinity: Paradox, Bullsh*t, or Some Secret Third Thing Ravel Episode
• "What is the function of the human appendix?" Scientific American article
• NASA on Pluto artice - Planet to non-planet to dwarf planet 
• "Memory storage space" of the human brain is believed to be around 2.5 petabytes (2.5 million gigabytes) Scientific American article
• Synaptic Pruning Neuroscience News article
• Genesis 3 - Our first sin is knowledge
• Luke 10 - The Prodigal Sons
• The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach
• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
• The Lorax by Dr. Suess

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Follow the hosts on social: 

• Josh Twitter: @joshlieuallen
• Stephen Twitter: @stephenghenning
• Emily Instagram: @RevRettinghouse

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

So you may have seen this making the TikTok rounds in recent weeks... The "Sparkle Creed" is a radical take on Christian inclusivity that got some folks fired up! Emily has spent some time dwelling on it's contents and it's message and has some thoughts. We ravel through the language of the Sparkle Creed, comparing and contrasting to the Creeds of tradition, and by the end of it all, we end up crafting our own!

Mentioned in the episode: 

• Article on The Sparkle Creed
• Apostles Creed Wiki
• Nicene Creed Wiki
• Mark 9:23-24 - Help My Unbelief
• So Will I (100 Billion X) by Hillsong
• Stephen Reviews So Will I on the Worship Review Podcast
  • Part 1 "Stephen from Ravel and Know Normal People"
  • Part 2 "So Will I (100 Billion X) Review"

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Follow the hosts on social: 

• Josh Twitter: @joshlieuallen
• Stephen Twitter: @stephenghenning
• Emily Instagram: @RevRettinghouse

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

Who belongs at the table that is called Christianity? Stephen feels like the vast majority of Christianity today and through the ages would say he does not any longer. Emily and Josh have different convictions. We wrestle with God and our fellow men today as we enter this dialogue.

Mentioned in the episode: 

• 109. Who Is A Christian? Ravel Episode
• You Have Permission Podcast with Dan Koch
• 6. The Heretic In Our Midst Ravel Episode
• Jeremiah 29:7 Make the City Prosper
• The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Follow the hosts on social: 

• Josh Twitter: @joshlieuallen
• Stephen Twitter: @stephenghenning
• Emily Instagram: @RevRettinghouse

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv

Hard to know where to even start with this one, to be honest. The Trinity is one of the most paradoxical, "accept on faith" concepts in all of Christianity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All-in-All, Three-In-One nature. While being careful not to slip in modalism or tritheism, we attempt to work on this theological idea that has stumped Christians for thousands of years. 

Mentioned in the episode: 

• The Holy Hell Podcast
• Matthew 3:13-17 - The Baptism of Jesus
• Genesis 1 - The Trinity At Creation
• The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach
• The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach Librivox Public Domain Audiobook FREE
• The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr
• Isaiah 9:6 - Wonderful Counselor

Support us:

• Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo!
• Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557-2835) or submit a voice memo to the inbox at [email protected]! 
• Take a minute to drop us a 5-star rating and a 1-2 sentence review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! 
• Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at @ravelpod!

Follow the hosts on social: 

• Josh Twitter: @joshlieuallen
• Stephen Twitter: @stephenghenning
• Emily Instagram: @RevRettinghouse

Credits:

• Theme Song: In Full Color by Louie Zong on Spotify and Bandcamp
• Artwork: Yarn and Ravel by Dixie Lee Henning @dixieleedraws
• Editing/Sound Design by Stephen Henning
• Social Media by Josh Lieuallen
• Certified Organic benediction by Reverend Emily Rettinghouse, MDiv