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In today’s episode, I’m working through some of the top upvoted questions from my conversation with Sandy Richter at Exiles 26 about women in leadership and my new book, From Genesis to Junia. If you haven’t listened to that conversation yet, I’d encourage you to go back and start there, since this episode really picks up where that one left off.

Thanks so much for all the thoughtful questions—and sorry it took me a month to get to them. I’m grateful for how engaged you all were in this conversation, and I hope this follow-up is helpful.

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Here's the questions answered in the full episode:

• 0:46 You mentioned you have a complicated relationship with church. However, as a trained Bible scholar, what do you view your responsibility is to the local church? 
• 8:52 Is regular sexual intimacy necessary for marriage? I am thinking about a mixed orientation marriage or a marriage where one or both partners are asexual.
• 14:04 Thoughts on lay people going to seminary? If we can’t find good theological training/space to discuss from local church, where to get it in person(not online)?
• 19:03 What Bible verses would you reference when a Christian college student asks why it's sinful to have sex before marriage?
• 28:24 Most churches lack women leaders and training for women— how do we collectively get more female pov heard and taught at church?
• 34:22 What do you think of IVF and egg freezing?
• 35:40 What do you think makes a healthy church? ( from your experience being exposed to so many different churches)
• 45:37 Fiscal conservatism is a hallmark of the political Right. Is a conservative financial approach consistent with the bible as it describes how we relate to money?
• 54:20 What are your thoughts on usage of social media as Christian— with the rise of Christian contents/pastors on social media using as platform?
• 58:55 What has your experience been like or thoughts on building community or friendships— in church or outside of church/faith community that felt flourishing?
• 1:01:25 Whose job is it to gatekeep a closed communion? Should clergy stop people from taking communion, or is it up to the individual?
• 01:05:30 Thoughts, insight or advice? I sometimes feel more drawn to read about the Bible than read the Bible or more drawn to those drawn to Jesus than Jesus himself.
• 01:09:19 Matthew Vines referenced your discussion on the Hebrew word "kenegdo" in a conversational debate with David Bennet: how would you respond to his pushback?
• 01:13:58 Hypothetically, with humility about our own blind spots, what warning can we give about what Jesus might say on Judgment Day to supporters of the Gaza genocide?
• 01:17:46 Is there anything uniquely troubling to you about Trump, or do you see him as just another flawed leader of a flawed Babylon?

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Watch the full Exiles Conference On Demand and get access to the entire conference—including all breakout sessions—for just $49.

At Exiles 26, my friend Dr. Sandy Richter joined me for a panel discussion and Q&A about my new book, From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Actually Says about Women in Leadership. Once we got going, we ended up talking longer than expected and only had about three minutes left for audience questions.

So to make up for it, we’re releasing the full conversation here, along with a follow-up episode where I respond to the top upvoted questions from the event. That follow-up episode drops on Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy this conversation.

You can find more from Dr. Richter at sandyrichter.org.

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To listen to our extra-innnings conversation, where we talk about LGBTQ Pride Night at major league baseball games, become a member of the Theology in the Raw community at patreon.com/theologyintheraw.

Dr. Paul Putz is Assistant professor of Christianity and sports and director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. He's the author of The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports (Oxford University Press, 2024), and the forthcoming Jesus and James Naismith: A History of Basketball and Christianity from Origins to the NBA (Eerdmans. 2027).

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Brittany Dicus is a sales and marketing director for a beverage company, a master's student at Talbot School of Theology, and serves on the teaching team at Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, MN. With one foot in the corporate world and another in the church world, Brittany has thought a lot about viewing her work as mission. 

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Fares Abraham is a Palestinian Christian and Daniel Klein is a Jewish Christian. Both Fares and Daniel grew up minutes from each other in the West Bank, and yet they were worlds apart—Fares lived in occupied Palestine and Daniel live in an Israeli settlement. Both of them share about their very different journies, which end up in similar places, culminating in a friendship, which offers a glimpse of what peace between Israelis and Palestinians could look like: not through politics or slogans, but through the reconciling power of Christ, honest truth-telling, mutual dignity, and a shared commitment to justice, mutual flourishing, and peace for all who call the Holy Land home. Daniel is the author of My Freedom from Zionism and Fares leads Levant Ministries.

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To listen to the extra innings portion of this episode, where David discusses why it's okay for faithful Christians to identify as gay, head over to https://patreon.com/theologyintheraw to become a member of the Theology in the Raw community.

Dr. David Bennett (DPhil, Oxford) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Associate Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall. He is the author of the bestselling memoir A War of Loves --the story of his journey from atheistic gay activist in Sydney to celibate gay Christian—and a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s College of Evangelists. His Oxford doctoral thesis, Queering the Queer in Contemporary Theology: An Augustinian Ethics of Same-Sex Desire and Gay Celibacy, is in press with T&T Clark/Bloomsbury (2027), as is his second popular-level book, Beyond Compromise: Reclaiming a Biblical Vision of Love, Sexuality, and the Kingdom of God (Tyndale House).

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To watch my Extra Innings segment with Lecrae, join my Patreon community. You'll also get bonus episodes, Zoom meetups, Q&A's and more!

Lecrae Moore is an American hip-hop artist, author, entrepreneur, and social activist. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in Christian hip-hop (CHH). He has accumulated over a dozen Grammy nominations and is a multi-Grammy Award winner, alongside numerous GMA Dove Awards, Stellar Awards, and Soul Train Music Awards. In 2014, his landmark seventh album, Anomaly, debuted at No. 1 on the mainstream Billboard 200 and the Top Gospel Albums chart simultaneously—a historic first. This episode is a raw conversation with Lecrae—his journey with Christ, music, and the evangelical church—a journey with many twists and turns, as you’ll see. In the extra innings portion of this episode, Lecrae opens up about his current place in Christian church—is he conservative, liberal, right, left, evangelical, or whatever.

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Dan Chung is the Executive Director of Crossing Borders, an organization that brings the gospel to North Korean refugees. Dan is one of the foremost experts on the North Korean refugee crisis, with relationships with both organizations and scholars researching the ongoing developments of the Korean Peninsula. Dan’s book, A Hard Freedom: The Dreams and Trauma of North Korean Refugees, chronicles his insights and observations in his work with Crossing Borders.

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Preston's book From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says about Women in Leadership has been out for 3 months and has received many positive reviews--but also some critical ones. In this episode, Preston responds to some of the critiques he's received, focusing largely on John Whittaker's critical response. Preston has responded to John's review on his blog.

Learn more about the NLT here

Read John Whittakers Blog here

Read Preston's Response here

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