Spiritually Incorrect

Purity culture. It's one of the most divisive topics you can bring up. For many Christians, it is a bastion of hope against the sex-crazed state of our pop culture and college campuses. For others, it has been repressive and harmful to youth, and the horror stories are everywhere to be found. Some now even claim it isn't even a truly Christian sexual ethic.

So which is it? Is purity culture a good thing with some fixable quirks? Or is it something that is so fundamentally flawed that it ought to be abandoned altogether? In the first of its kind, Seth and Jonathan each defend both sides of the issue. If you're wanting an answer one way or the other, you'll be disappointed, but if you're looking for a nuanced and deep take in an entertaining form, this is the episode for you.

Happy Halloween! It's the best time of year for Spiritually Incorrect since we love to cover topics ranging from the bizarre to the paranormal.

And this year, we have a special treat for you:

Joining us is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Deborah Blum to discuss the topic of ghosts and the supposed scientific evidence the top scientists in the world gathered at the dawn of the 20th century. While nearly forgotten today, there was a time when the study of ghosts was a serious academic discipline, and the results they came up with were... astonishing.

If you don't want your beliefs to be challenged, please consider skipping this episode. For the rest of you, buckle up.

Purity culture once dominated the American church scene, and the book at its center was I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. Now, over 25 years later, Joshua and Shannon, his wife, have divorced. Joshua has renounced Christianity, and, most recently, Shannon has released a new, different perspective, in a book called The Woman They Wanted, giving us a behind-the-scenes view of what really went on in their church and their marriage.

Now, in an exclusive interview, we talk to Shannon to hear all the hard truths of what really happened and what we can learn from the whole affair.

This is an episode you cannot miss!!!

Without a doubt, the subject of ghosts is an insanely popular one. Shows, movies, and ghost tours are a billion-dollar industry. But it's all fun and games. None of this has any basis in reality, right?

According to a new study, there may be something to it. Believe it or not, over 4 in 10 Evangelicals believe they have been contacted by a dead relative over the past year. And that number is below the overall percentage of the population.

What are we to make of this? Is contacting the dead real? Is it something we ought to pursue? Just in time for Halloween, we tackle the question of ghosts and how communication with the other side touches on our faith.

We all love a good story. We watch movies, listen to friends talk about their last vacation, or listen to podcasts (this one included) just to hear an entertaining and provocative tale. But one story trumps them all: the story of how we have arrived at our modern world.

With technology evolving every year, drugs lessening the effects of illness, and possibilities undreamt of just a few decades ago, it's easy to imagine that the story of how we got here is one of triumph. We've conquered the stone age, overcome every obstacle, and now the march of progress of inevitable.

Yet with lessening resources, dying environments, and threats of war and crises flavoring every news broadcast, it's time to ask, is the story we tell ourselves real? Or have we been lying to ourselves the whole time? Are we really progressing?

Here to help us through this tricky issue is Dr. Ryan McDermott, who runs the Genealogies of Modernity project. If you've ever felt not at home in the modern world, this is the episode for you.

In the first of its kind, Jonathan and Seth investigate some of the top news stories that have likely gone under your radar. With their normal irreverent attitude, they dissect some of the most important events through a theological and philosophical lens. One part humor, another part cutting critique of the modern world, it's an episode you won't want to miss.

This episode includes:

-Congressional hearings on UFO retrieval programs

-Invasion of the self-driving car

-Confessions of an ex-churchgoer

-The rise of homeschooling

-Much, much more!

While psychedelics seemed to have had their heyday in the 1970s, when hippies and the counterculture were all the rage, they now appear to be having a remarkable comeback. However, unlike the 70s, this revolution is being felt not just by the common person but also within the hallowed halls of academia. Psychedelic research is bigger than ever, and it's revealing some remarkable things. Could it be that these experiences, which often lead people to believe in the religious and supernatural, actually have some truth to them?

Here to help us through this thorny issue is Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie, an expert on both theology and the research into these drugs.

We've all heard it before: God in the Old Testament just seems to be a different character than the one portrayed by Jesus. In the New Testament, God is loving, patient, and forgiving. In the Old, He sometimes appears vindictive, violent, and remarkably harsh. He commands the destruction of nations, kills countless people, and even floods the earth.

How do we reconcile the two images of God? Here to help us out with this age-old question is Dr. Matthew Lynch, who has recently published a work on the topic entitled Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God.

And, as usual, our Patreon subscribers get bonus content left out of today's interview!

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We do a lot of serious topics on Spiritually Incorrect, but sometimes, we like to have a little fun. And on this episode, we going to have a lot of it. But for some people, the topic of Bigfoot isn't just fun. In fact, there are many active scientists who believe the evidence warrants belief in Bigfoot.

And we got to talk to one. On this week's episode, we are lucky to have Dr. Jeff Meldrum, a primate anthropologist and the world's foremost expert on Bigfoot. He's appeared in dozens of documentaries and been a part of many famous discoveries concerning our legendary hairy friend.

Does Bigfoot exist? If he does, does that have any impact on our faith or our view of the world? We answer these questions and so much more on this episode!

Perhaps the most heated, contentious, and difficult topic in Western World today is the topic of abortion. For those in favor of it, it is a part of basic reproductive rights and necessary for ensuring full equality of women. For those against, it is the slaughter of unborn life on the altar of convenience.

Which position is right? Stereotypically, the church has sided with the pro-life camp, and many today continue in that tradition.

Dr. Calum Miller is one such person. In this second part of our two-part episode, we ask Dr. Miller to defend the stance that human life does, indeed, begin in the womb.