Homebrewed Christianity Podcast

I got an email from a retired university chaplain who'd hit a wall - after decades of ministry, he felt so culturally alienated from undergrad students that he didn't think he could do the job anymore. It made me think about my friend Nicole Torbitzky, who serves as both philosophy professor and university chaplain at Lindenwood University in Missouri. We dove into how she navigates the shifting religious landscape on campus, from students deconstructing their faith to the rise of the "nones," and what it looks like to facilitate interfaith dialogue when half your student body reports no religious affiliation. Nicole shares how she brings together student leaders from different faith traditions, handles the tension between Christian nationalism and Jesus's actual teachings, and creates spaces where people can find common ground across difference. We also explored how the burden of meaning-making has shifted from tradition to the individual in late modernity, and what that means for campus ministry in an incre

What if everything we think we know about trauma and healing is backwards? Today I'm talking with Aizaiah Young about his incredible new book "Trauma and Renewal" and honestly, this conversation blew me away. Isaiah survived a near-death motorcycle accident right after passing his PhD comprehensive exams (talk about terrible timing), and during a 16-hour surgery, he had this profound mystical encounter with Jesus that completely reshaped how he thinks about transformation. But here's the thing - this isn't some individualistic "I found healing and so can you" story. Instead, Aizaiah argues that real healing is relational, communal, and intercultural, and he's doing something really brave by including his parents' voices throughout the book as they process this traumatic journey together. We dive deep into contemplative tradition, Internal Family Systems therapy, the vision he had of sitting in silence by a river with Jesus (who apparently has a great sense of humor), and how the whole Western approach to self

In this episode, Tim Whitaker from the New Evangelical joined me for one of those sprawling conversations that somehow manages to connect Christian nationalism, the Democratic Party's moral cowardice, process theology, and whether buying burritos on payment plans signals the end of civilization. We started with our upcoming "God of Justice" class and quickly dove into the bewildering reality of watching people worship a brown-skinned immigrant named Jesus on Sunday, then cheer for the deportation of brown-skinned immigrants on Monday. Tim shared his jarring experience at the DNC, where he found himself more aligned with the leftist protesters outside than the military-industrial complex celebration inside, while I vented about Democratic senators who can't figure out why state-run grocery stores aren't communist plots. We wrestled with that familiar ex-evangelical dilemma of trying not to recreate the same purity culture dynamics we escaped from, just with new villains and shibboleths. The whole thing was anc

What if everything you thought you knew about why evangelical Christians became politically active was completely wrong? Today I sit down with one of America's greatest historians of religion, Randall Balmer, to do some serious myth-busting. We dive deep into what Balmer calls "the abortion myth" - the widely believed but false story that evangelicals mobilized politically in the 1970s over Roe v. Wade. The real origin story? It's much more uncomfortable - it was actually about defending racial segregation in Christian schools when the IRS threatened their tax-exempt status. Balmer takes us through this hidden history he discovered firsthand at a 1990 gathering of religious right leaders, where architect Paul Weyrich admitted abortion "had nothing to do with" their political mobilization. We trace how a religious community that once championed prison reform, women's rights, and abolition transformed into today's Christian nationalist movement, and explore what this means for the future of American religion. F

So I got pulled into this fascinating email exchange with Brian McLaren about Kojin Karatani's The Structure of World History, and it turns out there's this whole crew of organizers and academics who've been quietly working with these ideas to rethink everything from social movements to economic theory. My guest Guillermo Bervejillo—who went from being a disillusioned neoclassical economist to writing his dissertation on Chinese imperialism using Karatani's framework—breaks down this mind-bending approach to history that shifts from Marx's "modes of production" to "modes of exchange." We're talking about how gift-giving nomads, tribute-paying states, commodity markets, and the possibility of free exchange (think: exile Judaism, early Christianity) have shaped literally everything about how power works. It's one of those conversations where suddenly all these questions you've been carrying around about why organizing feels so hard, why capitalism feels so totalizing, and what actual alternatives might look lik

You can join the Democracy in Tension online summit and get access to all the lectures today.⁠ You can WATCH this conversation on YouTube Dr. Matthew Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher and teacher who applies process philosophy to various natural and social sciences, including consciousness. He is also an  Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. Make sure you check out SubStack Footnotes to Plato, his YouTube channel and recent book. Previous Podcasts with Matt the Meaning Crisis in Process Processing the Political  Cosmology, Consciousness, and Whitehead’s God. Science, Religion, Eco-Philosophy, Etheric Imagination, Psychedelic Eucharist, Ecological Crisis and more… Aaron Simmons is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Furman University. You can f⁠ollow his Substack ‘Philosophy in the Wild.’ UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS - ⁠⁠⁠The God of Justice: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Con

Well, Ryan Burge is back with a bunch of graphs about religion. We covered the supposed "Gen Z revival" (spoiler alert: Ryan's data says it's not happening), dove deep into some philosophical sociology about why people are leaving religion, and I went on my usual tangents about Charles Taylor and Hartmut Rosa, while Ryan kept bringing us back to earth with actual numbers. We also spent way too much time discussing whether teenagers will ever figure out how to ask someone on a date without an app, why Ted Cruz's theology is embarrassingly bad, and how both sides of the political aisle are united in their moral outrage over protecting children - whether that's the Epstein stuff or what's happening in Palestine. Classic Friday afternoon with Ryan. Want the full conversation? This is just a taste of what we covered in over two hours of completely unhinged discussion. If you're a member of either ⁠Graphs About Religion (Ryan's substack)⁠ or ⁠Process This (mine)⁠, you get access to the entire unedited conversation

Another epic live stream from our Democracy in Tension summit! Aaron Simmons and I dive deep with theologian and community organizer Aaron Staufer about how sacred values and vulnerability shape our political life together. We wrestle with the big questions y'all have been sending in - can mainline churches recover a compelling sense of the sacred while staying committed to critical thinking? How do we navigate prophetic witness without falling into the therapeutic Christianity trap? And why does good theology always seem to come with absolutely terrible music? Aaron drops some serious wisdom about radical democracy, relational power, and why humans are lovers who care deeply about things. We get into the weeds about vulnerability, value, organizing, and whether multiculturalism can actually work in practice. Plus, we tackle the hard stuff - what happens when someone's sacred values make them unreasonable participants in democracy? It's theology, politics, philosophy, and a healthy dose of complaining about

What's up Theology Nerds! We're diving deep into one of the most powerful sessions from last year's Theology Beer Camp in Denver - a conversation that honestly left me speechless. Brian McLaren kicks us off with a gut-punch keynote on ecological crisis and the power of lament that'll challenge everything you think you know about faith in our current moment. Then Jacob Erickson responds with some brilliant eco-theological insights that had the room scribbling notes like crazy. We're talking about overshoot, oligarchy, the impotence of religion, and what it looks like to let nature save us instead of the other way around. Plus, there's this incredible discussion about "rebellious mourning" that I'm still pondering. Fair warning - this is raw, honest, and necessary conversation about faith in the face of climate crisis. And hey, if this gets you fired up, there are still about 100 tickets left for Theology Beer Camp 2025 in St. Paul this October. Trust me, you don't want to miss what we're cooking up this year!

Hey y'all, so this was our first live stream kicking off this online democracy summit we're doing - basically a bunch of us nerds getting together to wrestle with why everything seems to be falling apart politically and what the hell we're supposed to do about it. Kevin Carnahan and Aaron Simmons joined me to dig into Kevin's lecture about Christian citizenship, which traces this fascinating line from Jesus through Augustine to Luther to Bonhoeffer, showing how Christianity actually offers an alternative to totalitarianism rather than supporting it. We got into some pretty heated but friendly disagreement about whether you can have real democracy without religious reasons motivating people (Kevin's take) versus whether we need to secularize our arguments to avoid the fundamentalist trap (Aaron's pushback). The whole thing was this beautiful mess of trying to figure out how to love your MAGA neighbor while also maybe needing to put them in timeout, whether God prevents totalitarianism or enables it, and why Ch

In this episode, I am joined by Josh Scott, a minister at GracePointe Church in Nashville and author of the new book Parables: Putting Jesus Stories in Their Place. We discuss the book's exploration of Jesus' parables, focusing on their historical context and contemporary relevance. Josh shares insights into how these parables challenge both ancient and modern assumptions about power, empire, and community. We also talk about the unique nature of GracePointe Church, its mission to be a safe space for those questioning their faith, and the importance of community in navigating theological and existential questions. Additionally, they highlight the role of the Post-Evangelical Collective in connecting faith leaders and congregations who seek to foster more inclusive and justice-oriented communities. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube ONLINE SUMMIT:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Democracy in Tension - NAVIGATING THE INTERLOCKING CRISES OF DEMOCRACY AND RELIGION ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Democracy today faces profound challenges – pola

So Andy and I just got back from this wild week in Berlin where we taught 25 folks about Bonhoeffer right there in his actual house - like, we're sitting in his bedroom, walking the same streets, the whole deal. And wow, this trip was different from the others because everyone kept asking the question that used to make me roll my eyes: "Is this our Bonhoeffer moment?" But after spending time with clergy who are dealing with ICE raids in their neighborhoods and congregations split over whether you can even mention certain realities from the pulpit, I'm not giggling at the Protestant saint thing anymore. We delved into the concrete messiness of what it meant for Niemöller and his congregation actually to resist, not just talk about it, and how Bonhoeffer's vision of a religionless Christianity might help us think through what happens when the entire Christian infrastructure starts to crumble. Plus, we got into some heavy stuff about whether the ethical gifts Christianity gave to Western civilization - you know,

In this conversation, I got to catch up with my friend Jacob Erickson, who's doing some inspiring work at Trinity College Dublin, where they've just launched a new Master's in Theology and Social Justice. What struck me most was how Jake and his colleagues are embodying this broader transformation happening in theological education - moving beyond those traditional disciplinary boundaries to create genuinely interdisciplinary spaces where theology isn't just talking aboutother fields, but actually thinking with scientists, activists, and practitioners. We dug into how this shift has happened over the last couple decades - from philosophers bracketing God to study religion as a phenomenon, to theologians like Tillich doing theology of culture, to the changing student body that's bringing questions that don't fit neatly into traditional confessional boxes. Jake's insights about wisdom versus knowledge really hit home - how religious traditions offer this "porous knowledge" that comes with demands and can't be s

What's up, Theology Nerds! So I had my buddy Matt Novenson on to talk about what's happening on the cutting edge of New Testament research these days, and let me tell you, it's way broader than you might think. We covered five major areas where scholars are doing really fascinating work: first, bringing Jewish studies into conversation with the New Testament (like Matthew Thiessen's work on how Jesus actually dissolves ritual impurity rather than abolishing purity systems); second, looking at the broader ancient Mediterranean world beyond just "Jewish vs. Greco-Roman" contexts (Heidi Wendt's brilliant stuff on Paul as a "freelance religious expert" competing for influence); third, studying how the Bible has been interpreted not just in academic commentaries but in art, music, and everyday life (Lisa Marie Bowens' archival work on African American readings of Paul is mind-blowing); fourth, examining how biblical themes have unconsciously shaped modern cultural discourses like immigration policy (Yii-Jan Lin's

Just got back from three and a half weeks in Europe (still not sure what time zone I'm in), and Aaron Simmons and I dove straight into the deep end of why democracy feels like it's falling apart. We're wrestling with this massive question: what do you do when reason-giving just seems to fail completely - when people either dismiss everyone who disagrees as morally bankrupt, or assume their own views are so obviously correct that any pushback must be irrational? We wandered through everything from whether I should keep eating at this barbecue place covered in MAGA signs (still haven't decided), to how 81% of white evangelicals support the least Christian president we've ever had, to whether Western civilization can survive without its Christian roots, with a delightful detour into heavy metal pit ethics because apparently that's how we process political theory now. The whole conversation convinced us we need more voices thinking about these tensions together, which is why we're launching this Democracy in Tens

Nicholas Spencer joins us for a fascinating conversation about the complex relationship between science and religion, moving far beyond the tired warfare narrative that dominates popular discourse. As a senior fellow at Theos and author of several important books including the recently released The Landscapes of Science and Religion: What Are We Disagreeing About?, Nick brings both historical depth and contemporary insight to these conversations. We dive into how the real tensions between science and religion often center on competing claims about what it means to be human and who gets to make authoritative statements about human nature. From Darwin's legacy to AI ethics, from mental health to consciousness studies, we explore how these disciplines can engage more constructively when we recognize them as complex, shifting landscapes rather than fixed territories in conflict. Nick's research with both academics and the general public reveals surprising nuances in how people actually think about these relations

Ethicist and organizer Dr. Aaron Staufer returns to the podcast to tackle one of the most pressing questions facing progressive Christianity today: how do we move from feeling overwhelmed and powerless to actually building meaningful change in our communities? Aaron brings his experience as both a theologian and organizer to help us understand why mainline Protestantism has struggled to find its public voice, and more importantly, what we can do about it. We delve into the historical trajectory from the social gospel movement to today's challenges, exploring why building strong community relationships is essential for any genuine social change, and discussing how initiatives like Solidarity Circles are helping faith leaders develop the skills they need for movement work. This conversation gets into the weeds of democratic practice, theological imagination, and the practical work of organizing—all while trying to figure out how the church can be a force for justice in an increasingly complex world. In the con

In this episode, I am joined by the eminent historian of science and religion, Peter Harrison. We examine how we've inherited a distorted narrative about the relationship between science and religion. Rather than the conflict narrative we're accustomed to, Harrison reveals that science and religion are not historical foes, and that modern Western sciences are actually built on theological assumptions. The real game-changer comes from tracing how Protestant reforms—notably the attack on allegorical readings of scripture and the demand for each individual to justify their belief— fundamentally transformed how we read both Scripture and nature, eventually leading to our impoverished, utilitarian view of the natural world. Harrison shows how concepts we think are timeless - like "belief," "supernatural," and even "religion" itself - are modern inventions with specific histories, and how understanding these genealogies can help us see that many of our contemporary problems in science-religion dialogue are artifact

In this episode, Aaron Simmons stepped up to host this conversation with Robert Talisse while I'm leading the Bonhoeffer travel-learning trip. They unpack one of the most pressing issues of our time - this wild paradox where the very thing democracy needs (us banding together with like-minded folks to get stuff done) is also the thing that's slowly destroying our ability to see people who disagree with us as actual human beings worth listening to. Rob brilliantly unpacked how we've gotten to this place where our political identities have become so central to who we are that we'd rather our kids marry someone of a different faith than someone who votes differently, and how belief polarization turns us into these echo-chamber dwellers who can't imagine that reasonable people could possibly disagree with us. But here's the beautiful thing - they didn't just diagnose the problem; they talked about hope, about finding spaces where we can be human together without politics being the main event, like Aaron's MAGA-fl

This was our final Q&A session wrapping up Grace's lecture series on the Holy Spirit (you can get here), and what a fantastic conversation it turned out to be! Grace shared how spending time with pneumatology has shifted her focus toward the practical, embodied aspects of faith - moving beyond the academic exercises of graduate school toward understanding how the Spirit calls us to live sustainably and care for all of creation. We dove deep into how dualistic thinking has harmed both our relationship with the earth and our understanding of ourselves as whole beings - body and spirit together. Grace beautifully connected this to everything from climate justice to prayer practices, showing how recognizing the Spirit's presence in all aspects of life breaks down those false sacred-secular divisions. We also tackled some great practical questions about helping congregations develop Spirit-awareness and discerning authentic spiritual movements from cultural trends. Grace Ji-Sun Kim ⁠is a professor of theology at