In this minisode, Amanda explores threads of continuity throughout her faith journey. The presence of God and the stories of those who have drawn on that presence for strength in difficult times have been interpreted and reinterpreted, but their power has remained.

Without refugee narratives, the entire essence and logic and plot of the Bible ceases to exist. Ignore them and we lose our religion. In this episode Sam looks at how being forced out of their country impacted the Biblical authors, and really created the Bible. And he takes a glimpse at the dark husk of a Scripture we're left with if the refugee voice is ignored.

The Bible was made up of Songs, poems, prose, letters, narratives, genealogies. . . all kinds of different media. So! If the Bible were made today, it certainly would not be a book! Amanda and her husband Jim go through the Bible and figure out how best to present a modern Bible. Revelation is a music video. Proverbs are a bunch of memes. This episode is totally delightful.

The idea that God is control of absolutely everything is incredibly common. That is because all of the universe is bound by its own existence, and it is incredibly easy to turn existence into its own God. Unfortunately this God is insanely problematic, and insanely real.

Judah is finished. The temple is destroyed. The old God conception failed. The prophet Ezekiel tries to make sense of everything that's happened. And he seems to go insane. And in this process, he discovers a new God conception. A deadly and sensible and true and awful God conception. Ezekiel may be the most intellectually appealing of all the prophets, which makes him the most dangerous. Also! Flying machines!!!!!!!!!

Amanda shares one of the great introspective legends of Deuteronomistic History. The prophet Elijah has just saved his country from drought, and scientifically proven the existence of God. But soon his victory turns on its head, and Elijah flees for his life. Everything has fallen apart, and Elijah sinks into despair. But then God makes an appearance. Or does God make an appearance? How we perceive God is so confusing.

God is a disembodied voice. God is a rock. God is a person. God is a weather phenomena. God is Lady Wisdom. God is love. God is a whole mess of different kinds of objects. But the Western Theological tradition likes to paint God as consistent, having one dependable form. in this minisode, Sam uses the Bible to rant against the annoying God of the Philosophers, and dorks out over the crazy shapeshifting bizzaro God of Scripture. He was drinking rum at the time, so it gets pretty fun!

Gideon illegitimate son tries to declare himself king. Lots of innocent people die in the process, and we get to hear a very trippy sermon about evil anthropomorphic plants. The central gist is that it's a very very very very bad idea to have a king.This is the direct sequel to Gideon: When God just wants to be Famous episoe, so we suggest you listen to that one first.

Gideon is a rationalist skeptic douchebag. God is an ultra absurdist diva with massive jealously issues. Together, they fight Midianites, as we explore one of the craziest and funniest moments in the saddest part of the Bible.

Meet us! Amanda describes growing up having fun with a strong Christian faith. She talks about how good Christian education led her to doubt certain teachings, so she eventually became agnostic. Sam describes growing up as a kinda sloppy Christian, and how good Christian education led him into Bible love.

P.S. If this recording is too quiet, we are sorry! If it's really hard to listen at this volume, you may want to skip to Gideon, Episode 6, at which point we have fixed this issue.