Untangling Christianity Podcast

In this episode John and Gregg follow-up to last week’s episode “You’re Wrong Unless You Have the Right Emotional Response” which discussed a popular post by Dr. Everett Piper’s titled “This is not a daycare. This is a university.” John kicks this episode off by expressing concern that Dr. Piper’s letter so strongly emphasizes the view that […] The post Being Right Might be Wrong (116) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss an open letter by Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. The letter concerns Dr. Piper’s response to a student who felt “victimized” by a sermon on 1 Cor 13, a chapter of the Bible devoted to explaining the nature of love. (NB: Gregg has created two […] The post You’re Wrong Unless You Have the Right Emotional Response (115) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John, Gregg, and Charlie continue their discussion from the previous episode on the problem of evil. John notes his frustration that hard topics like evil are sometimes brushed away or avoided by appealing to God’s mysteriousness or our inability as humans to understand God’s ways. Gregg counters this idea strongly.  In his view […] The post The Christian Easy Button and Evil (114) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg are again joined by John’s good friend Charlie, now from Portland OR.  During this meeting Following their previous discussion Gregg expresses his excitement about how Charlie experienced more self-awareness, a greater sense of connection with others, and a greater sense of connection with God through his time in San […] The post Do People Grapple with the Problem of Evil? (113) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg are joined by John’s good friend Charlie, now from Portland OR.  Charlie describes his current sense of feeling disconnected with God, something that John quite resonates with. Charlie describes his experiences with Christianity, from his upbringing in a conservative church, through spending a term studying at L’Abri in Boston, […] The post Charlie’s Story | Connection With God (112) appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss some feedback by listener “Anna.”  Anna re-posted a Face Book post by Mick Mooney where he offered some views on what the gospel is. Mick writes: “The truth is that we all have our interpretation regarding what the gospel actually is, what promises it contains, what power it […] The post 111: Inspiration and Interpretation appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss some of Gregg’s ideas about sin.  John sets the discussion in the context of N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Joy, which John is reading along with his parents. John notes how N. T. Wright’s emphasis on Jesus’ bodily resurrection is an indication that the kingdom of God has (partially) […] The post 110: What is Sin All About? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the topic of Christian apologetics.  John contextualizes the discussion by explaining how he goes through various rhythms of being more and then less engaged with the podcast, and how listener feedback is often a stimulus to rekindle John’s interest. Specifically, John remarks on Lynette’s contention that he (and […] The post 109: Making It Real appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the focus article of the September 2015 edtion of The Atlantic magazine: “The Coddling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Gregg wonders about the hyper-sensitivity that seems to be dictating how we are (or better, how are not) to interact with each others. Particularly, […] The post 108: Facing Uncomfortable Topics appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss one of Gregg’s recent blog posts where Gregg lays out his approach to others, both Christians and non-Christians, in preparation for examining (and as distinct from) how Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias (and other Christian apologists) engage with non-Christians. Gregg notes that he is very excited by this blog […] The post 107: Being Your Best Self appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the difference between dialogue and debate, focusing on a number of distinctions between the two that John found on-line. John notes that while he generally agrees with the definition of dialogue, he also preferred some of aspects of debate.  Gregg notes that how Christians view and present their knowledge […] The post 106: Debate vs Dialogue appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss their thoughts on two podcast episodes from The Whitehorse Inn (“Sustainable Churches” and “Consumerism, pragmatism, and the triumph of the therapeutic“) which listener Amy linked to in the Untangling Christianity Facebook group. John explains how he found the first podcast rather inaccessible. Specifically, he had trouble relating to […] The post 105: A Trip to the White Horse Inn appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg begin by discussing John’s experience of explaining the Untangling Christianity podcast to co-participants at Podcast Movement 2015 and from this they consider when and how to tell someone that one is a Christian. John notes that, while briefly explaining the Untangling Christianity podcast, he was asked if he was […] The post 104: Are You A Christian? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss books that they have been recently reading. John explains that he has been reading N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope with his parents.  Given that this is the first book by N. T. Wright that any of them have read, John notes that the absence of fuller explanations […] The post 103: Has Apologetics Run Its Course? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg go further with offering the benefit of the doubt: the idea of viewing others as generally “doing their best” in a given situation. John is hesitant about commenting on the experience of Gregg’s father and brother being killed (this discussion last focused, and which raised some doubts for John), […] The post 102: Giving the Benefit of the Doubt appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss some questions about versions of the Bible, the book of Job, and the upcoming discussion group / gathering that Gregg is facilitating. In the book of Job, John notes that Job’s friends also take the perspective that Job has done something to cause God to act against Job.  Gregg responds […] The post 101: More About Job | Church Discussion Kickoff appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Today John and Gregg celebrate–and reflect on–100 episodes of the “Untangling Christianity podcast!” John begins by mentions how he and Gregg have met their goal of publishing 100 episodes in (at least) 100 weeks, and by keying on a listener’s question, from Amy, about whether the podcasts have changed over time.  He notes that his perspective […] The post 100: What’s Next for Untangling Christianity? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss the idea that being a Christian should be “easy,” a notion with which Gregg largely disagrees. As part of doing his own work John has been making slow progress in his reading of a Chronological Daily Bible, with commentary by F. LaGard Smith.  John has been in Genesis […] The post 99: Is Christianity Easy? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this podcast John and Gregg once again return to “the Eagle” in order to discuss the notion of experience and, particularly, to contrast everyday experiences with exceptional experiences. Gregg begins by explaining how he wants to relate exceptional experiences, and particularly experiences of God, to something called Speech Act theory (by J. L. Austin). John […] The post 98: Examining Exceptional Experiences appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg welcome Dan Dailey, author of the blog post that’s been the subject of the last two podcasts–Episode 96 and Episode 95. Dan’s posts, The Sin of Forsaking Fellowship, is here: https://danieldailey.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-sin-of-forsaking-fellowship/ . John and Gregg talk with Dan to get a better sense of the intentions behind his blog post […] The post 97: Talking Church with Dan Dailey appeared first on Untangling Christianity.