Untangling Christianity Podcast

In this special episode we interact with our first listener feedback: an email from Anna (who found our emphasis on authentic personal experience of God helpful) and Charlie’s comment about our motives from Episode Three.  John also underscores how much we value and welcome  listener feedback (negative and positive) while also welcoming questions on wider […] The post 16: Experience, Motives, and Agenda | Listener Feedback appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode we take a look back at 2013 and a look forward to 2014. We also talk about the different books on our desks, where they’d like the discussion to go in 2014, and what we’re hoping the podcast will be. More than ever we’d like feedback from you, our listeners on what […] The post 15: Reviewing 2013 and Anticipating 2014 appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John asks Gregg to clarify the terms “truth claims” and “truth values,” mentioned in the notes for Episode 5: When Your One Star Experience is Five Stars for Someone Else. This was in response to Gregg wondering what truth value people are attributing to the Bible’s truth claims, in the context of many Amazon […] The post 14: Why Truth Claims and Truth Values Matter appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter Five of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. They begin by wondering about whether the Christianity that Kyle Idleman is promoting is not rule-based after all, despite his claims to the contrary. John discusses how many Christians see Christianity as a set of “principles” and consider the Bible […] The post 13: Following the Rules | Chap 5 of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This week John questions what it means for Christianity to “work” and focuses the discussion using a quotation from Os Guiness’ Time for Truth: “Christianity is not true because it works, but it works because it’s true.”  So John questions the role of personal experience in arbitrating truth. Gregg makes the distinction between absolute and relative truth. […] The post 12: Experiencing Truth appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg riff on some ideas John found reading Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly (highly recommended by John).  For more exposure to Brown’s work, listen to her interview with Krista Tippet. John talks about experiencing shame as a major motivator in Christian circles and so wonders if books like Not A Fan trigger […] The post 11: Vulnerability, Shame, Fear, Love, and Family appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode John and Gregg examine the notion that Jesus dying on the cross should prompt people to love God and embrace Christianity as a result. Specifically, is Christ’s death a motivation for loving God and is the matter presented this way in the Bible? John tells how Christians in the past have speculated […] The post 10: What is Enough to Believe? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This week we discuss Chapter Four of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.  This is the book’s first mention of love, which Gregg believes has been sorely missing.  John and Gregg then both question Idleman’s use of Jesus’s proclamation that being a disciple means hating parents, siblings, and family.  Specifically, Matthew and Luke both convey this […] The post 9: Loving So Much You Hate | Chap 4 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

John and Gregg discuss Chapter Three of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.  As Idleman’s use of the Bible in chapter one and chapter two seemed shaky, they are both pleasantly surprised to find that his use of Luke 7 squares with what they find in the Bible. Gregg then dives into a discussion of “knowledge” […] The post 8: Knowledge or Intimacy | Chap 3 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Today we talk about love and being loved by God.  Should we think that “Jesus died for me, so the least I can do for Jesus is love and obey him”?  Gregg suggests that we compare this view with someone what might be a realistic response if you believed that someone had saved your life or the […] The post 7: Responding to God–Guilt, Experience, or Understanding? appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode looks at Chapter Two of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. In light of Kyle Idleman’s view that Christianity must “cost us” and that authentic Christianity is marked by Jesus “interfering” with our lives, John opens the question of what constitutes Christian commitment. So we explore Idleman’s view that Nicodemus, while being impressed by Jesus’ love, […] The post 6: Deciding or Commiting | Chap 2 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

Returning to part of our discussion in Episode #3, we delve deeper into John’s question about why people’s experiences differ.  Specifically, while John and Gregg have been mostly negative about Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman, the vast majority of Amazon reviewers have given it 5 stars (the highest review possible). How can so many people consider the […] The post 5: When Your One Star Experience is Five Stars for Someone Else appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this episode we discuss Chapter One of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Idleman asserts that Jesus pushes us to “define the relationship” (DTR) that we have with him.  Idleman argues that a core distinction of being either a fan or follower of Jesus, is the need properly to resolve this crucial question: What if […] The post 4: DTR With Jesus | Chap 1 of Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this podcast John and I discuss how the Bible can be read from a devotional perspective and from an academic perspective, and that both have advantages and disadvantages.  This led into a discussion of how he and I should reconcile the fact that we have taken a dimmer view of Kyle Idleman’s Not a […] The post 3: Ways We Read the Bible appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

This episode kicks of our in-depth discussion of Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.  We start in the Prologue and begin discussing Idleman’s core message–question of whether your are a “Fan” or “Follower” of God.  Neither of us is convinced that these are the best categories.  We also discuss Idleman’s loose handling and use of the […] The post 2: Prologue | Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman appeared first on Untangling Christianity.

In this first episode John and Gregg talk about how this podcast came about and what’s behind it’s name and how it grew out telephone conversations Gregg and John have had over the years. Often these conversations explored aspects of Christianity that John found puzzling or problematic and wanted to clarify. Somewhere along the way John […] The post 1: Introducing the Untangling Christianity Podcast appeared first on Untangling Christianity.