Almost Heretical

Is Penal Substitutionary Atonement really the gospel? Is it even true? And what other options are there for making sense of Christ's death? This week we're joined by Mako Nagasawa to kick off a series of conversations all about atonement. He breaks down the problems with penal substitution, discusses an alternative "medical" view of atonement and explain the need to discern between retributive and restorative justice.

Contrary to popular evangelical practice, the call to follow Jesus is an invitation to relinquish power over others. Part 4 in a series on the Bible as a story about power, we contrast this ethic with the theology of power and submission that is rooted in American slavery and is alive and well in the American church today.

If you want power, you probably shouldn’t have it. This week we explore the relationship between the Jewish exile and power, the idea of two Jewish messiah figures and how Jesus was the key to unlocking the human problem with power.

The Bible is trying to tell a story about power. Will we let it? The Old Testament weaves together two ideas: Humanity needs to wield power in order to set things right, but everyone who seeks this power proves incapable of handling it justly. This episode explores how the prophets and the prophetic nature of the Bible play an important role in telling this story.

So much abuse and hurt is rooted in issues of power, yet power is rarely discussed in church. Though it’s been largely ignored, the danger and corrupting influence of power is a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible. Nate and Tim start a new series exploring how the Bible tells a vitally important story about power that evangelicalism desperately needs to listen to.

Last week Tim and Nate discussed why theology even matters. It matters because ideas have consequences and bad theology hurts people. This week we stop talking and listen to stories from people who have been affected by bad evangelical theology.

Nate and Tim step back from the Old Testament theology to reflect on why theology matters at all. Ideas trickle downstream. The affects of this trickle-down and the consequences of our theology matter, especially when they’re coming from the top of white evangelicalism and may be propping up some of our nation’s ugliest ideologies.

The episodes on the Fall introduced some crazy stuff about gods engaging in a battle to take over the human bloodline. Now we jump into the heated conversation on divine violence by reinterpreting the conquest of Canaan in light of this mythological worldview. Did God decree genocide or gianticide, and what difference does it make?

Rethinking the Fall (Part 5) — The reinterpretation of the Fall sparked further questions, so Nate and Tim slow down to reflect on some its implications. How does this all affect the theological debate about God being in control? And what does it imply about the Bible’s attitude toward other religions?

Rethinking the Fall (Part 4) — Nate and Tim take a fresh look at the strange story of the Tower of Babel and piece together some surprising biblical passages that tell of God giving up and delegating other gods to rule the nations.

Rethinking the Fall (Part 3) — Nate and Tim continue re-examining the Fall by piecing together clues in the Bible that point to a war for power initiated by the gods.

Rethinking the Fall (Part 2) — Nate has some good questions in response to the previous episode on the Fall and Tim tries to answer them.

Rethinking the Fall (Part 1) — Tim Ritter kicks off the first episode in a series rethinking the Biblical idea of the Fall. There’s more to the Adam and Eve story than we’ve been led to believe.

Is there just one god? Tim Ritter and Nate Hanson jump into the theological deep end as they rethink the very essence of Biblical monotheism. Buckle up as they start to uncover surprising ideas behind the story of the Bible.

How can we move forward after seeing the dark underbelly of Evangelical church world? Tim Ritter and Nate Hanson kick off Almost Heretical by starting the conversation.