Theology in the Raw

Latest Episodes:

S2: Bonus Episode! Responding to Some Critiques: Preston Sprinkle Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Bonus Q&A episode, part of the Theology in the Raw premium subscription.
In this Patreon-only episode, you'll get a sneak peak into my responses to some criticisms I've received over the last few months, such as: why am I having an open and affirming speaker at the Exiles conference? Do I really believe that gay people don't need to repent? Am I a heretic for believing that same-sex attraction itself is not a morally culpable sin? Do the terms gay and trans always have to convey a thick ontological view of human nature? Is it a sin to say "gay Christian?" Do my political views make me an isolationist? Do I "put right and coddle left?" Do I believe that Christians should never be involved with politics? I address these and other questions.
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S2 Ep1156: How Jesus Disrupts Politics as Usual: Josh Ryan Butler Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

In this conversation, Preston and Josh talk about his latest book (release date: March 5) The Party Crasher: How Jesus Disrupts Politics as Usual and Redeems our Partisan Divide, which is an incredible book about political discipleship and how followers of Jesus can faithfully engage the political world around us.
Joshua Ryan Butler is a pastor and the author of The Party Crasher, Beautiful Union, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, and The Pursuing God. Josh loves shifting paradigms, to help people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith by confronting popular caricatures and replacing them with the beauty and power of the real thing. He and his wife, Holly, along with their three children, live in Portland, Oregon. They enjoy spending time with friends over great meals and exploring the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
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S2 Ep1155: Embracing Grace in the Pro-Life Movement: Amy Ford Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

Amy Ford is the Founder and President of Embrace Grace, a nonprofit that equips churches to love and encourage women with unexpected pregnancies by providing spiritual, emotional, and practical support. Over 1,100 groups are active in churches around the world who utilize the Embrace Grace curriculum and host support groups to help those impacted by unplanned pregnancies in their community. She has authored several books including, Help Her Be Brave: Discover Your Place in the Pro-Life Movement and frequently speaks nationally on how the church can change the world with love. Amy has been married over 25 years with 4 kids plus a daughter in law and lives in the Dallas area.
In this conversation, Amy talks about some of the social factors that surrounding unplanned pregnancies and what kinds of care and love the church can offer to single moms as an alternative to abortion.
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S2 Ep1154: Artificial Intellegence, Sex Robots, Cloning Dead Loved Ones, and the End of the World: Christopher Lind Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

In this podcast conversation, we begin by wrestling with some innocent questions around AI but end up exploring some darker parts of this topic, including the reality of sex robots and cloning dead loved ones to ease our pain--and how this might destroy humanity.
Christopher is a Tech Analyst and Industry Advisor and Chief Learning Officer at ChenMed. He's also the host of the podcast: Future-Focused. Christopher is a devoted husband and father of 7 under 12, and is a bit of an expert when it comes to questions related to AI and transhumanism.
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S2 Ep1153: The Truth of Fiction and the Limits of My World: Dr. Greg Coles Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

Gregory Coles is the author of Single, Gay, Christian, No Longer Strangers, and the recently released dystopian-ish novel, The Limits of My World. He holds a PhD in English from Penn State and lives in Boise, Idaho, where he works as a writer and speaker. Greg is a Senior Research Fellow at The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender.
In this podcast conversation, we talk about his book The Limits of My World, which includes themes around the philosophy of language, anthropology, gender, and the nature of reality. This leads to a broader conversation around fiction vs. nonfiction literature (including the Bible), the role of genre for determining meaning, and the possibility that fiction helps us see the truth more than non-fiction.
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S2 Ep1152: Terrorism, ISIS, and Understanding the Israel-Hamas War: Dr. Austin Knuppe Feb 12, 2024

Show notes

Dr. Austin Knuppe has a Ph.D. in political science from The Ohio State University and currently serves asan assistant professor of political science at Utah State University. Prior to Utah State, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. His research interests include civilian survival during wartime, Middle East politics, and the role of religion in international politics. His first book, Surviving the Islamic State: Contention, Cooperation, and Neutrality in Wartime Iraq explores how ordinary Iraqis survived Islamic State control of their communities between 2014 and 2018.
In this conversation, we begin talking about understanding terrorism and politics in the Middle-East, the rise of ISIS in particular, U.S. intervention in Middle-Eastern affairs, and then we spend the bulk of our time understanding the history and current events surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the current war between Israel and Hamas.
Here are some links to sources mentioned during our conversation:
South Africa’s 84 page report indicting Israel of genocide:
https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2024/01/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdfn
Quotes from Israeli leaders that reflect genocidal rhetoric:
https://normanfinkelstein.substack.com/p/fighting-amalek-in-gaza-what-israelis
Evidence of Israel indiscriminate bombing of (and targeting) civilians and civilian structures:
https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/ And
https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6058/Euro-Med-Monitor-sends-UN-rapporteurs,-
ICC-Prosecutor-primary-report-documenting-dozens-of-field-execution-cases-in-Gaza
Evidence that the IDF killed (and was directed to kill) at least some Israelis:
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-hq-ordered-troops-shoot-israeli-
captives-7-october And https://electronicintifada.net/content/evidence-israel-killed-its-own-
citizens-7-october/41156
Evidence that the Netanyahu and his administration supported or helped create, on some level,
Hamas:
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict/ And
https://www.upi.com/Archives/2001/02/24/Israel-gave-major-to-aid-to-
Hamas/6023982990800/ And https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2023/10/27/netanyahus-
support-for-hamas-backfired-2/
Some books mentioned at the end of the podcast:
Khalidi, The 100 Years War on Palestine
https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Years-War-
Palestine-Colonialism/dp/1250787653
Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
https://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Cleansing-Palestine-
Ilan-Pappe/dp/1851685553
Morris, Righteous Victims
https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Victims-Zionist-Arab-Conflict-
1881-2001/dp/0679744754/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2LLCMUSIM520Y&keywords=benny+morris&qid=17067
40859&s=books&sprefix=benny+morri%2Cstripbooks%2C182&sr=1-2
See also the 6-part (30 hour) series “Fear and Loathing” and “War all the time” at the martyrmade podcast with Darryl Cooper.

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S2 Ep1151: Same-Sex Attraction, Female Sexuality, and Parenting LGBTQ Kids: Ellen Radcliff Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Ellen Radcliff, a therapist and the author of the forthcoming book: Love Covers Over: A Guide for Christian Parents Raising Kids in an LGBTQ+ World. Ellen channels her love for God, her clinical expertise, and her experience as a former lesbian to walk alongside individuals, couples, and families as they navigate the nuances of sex, sexuality, and gender in our modern world, while remaining rooted in their faith.
In this conversation, we talk about her journey in faith and sexuality, the fluidity of female sexuality, and about healthy ways to parent LGBTQ kids. Learn more about Ellen's ministries: Strength in Weakness Ministries, Home from Home Podcast, and Heart Set Above.
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S2 Ep1150: Sex, Violence, Profanity, and the Death of Christian Art: Josh Porter Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

Joshua S. Porter is pastor of teaching and creative vision at Van City Church in Vancouver, Washington. He is also a former member of the experimental art-punk band, Showbread, and the author of the novel Punk Rock Vs. the Lizard People. His most recent book is With All Its Teeth: Sex, Violence, Profanity, and the Death of Christian Art, which examines a biblical theology of art.
Find out more and connect with Joshua at joshuasporter.com.
In this podcast conversation, we talk a lot about how Christians should think through offensive themes in movies and music. We discuss the genre of horror and why it's intrinsically spiritual. We talk about Christian themes in secular movies and music, the meaning of "Christian" music and film, whether sex and nudity in films should also be rejected, the theme of nudity in historic Christian art, and some problems with contemporary "Christian" worship music.
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S2 Ep1149: The Leadership Crisis in the Church: Dr. J.R. Woodward Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

JR Woodward, PhD (University of Manchester, UK) is a catalyst, author, and teacher. He is the national director of the V3 church planting movement. See jrwoodward.com. He's also the author of The Scandal of Leadership, which forms the backdrop of our conversation.
We discuss the need for polycentric leadership, the problems with hierarchical leadership, the temptation for church leaders to build their own kingdoms, why it seems like so many leaders are failing (or are they?), and how to make sure our churches are more focused on the kingdom of God than sustaining and building their own brand.
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S2: Patreon Q&A Preview: January 2024 Jan 31, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to a sneak peek of the Bonus Q&A episode, part of the Theology in the Raw premium subscription.
In the full episode, we discuss:
0:00 Introduction
2:02 My wife has recently become affirming and I am not. I'm concerned about how she reads the Bible and what to do?
11:30 How important is it that you and your wife Chris are in step in your theology?
16:08 How would you counsel a youth pastor to incorporate LGBT kids into a youth group setting?
22:13 Would you ever do a podcast again like you did with Jared?
25:08. Christians don't have to follow OT Law. Why are the Ten Commandments different?
32:25. All scripture is inspired by God. How do we know the NT writers considered their writings to be scripture?
39:52. Hebrews 4:15--does this mean Jesus experienced every kind of specific temptation or is it referring to general human temptation?
41:10. Why does John include Jesus' ""I AM"" statements and the synoptics do not?
43:42. Any updates on taking the EXILES conference to different cities?
43:59. What are some disarming ""in-love"" questions that can get friends who disagree with pronoun hospitality to stop and think and not just give knee-jerk reactions?
53:44. How do we reconcile the story of Jonah with the historical evidence that the Assyrians ever repented of their atrocities?
59:01. What does Jesus mean when he says, ""The eye is the lamp of the body."" If the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness?
1:02:57. Rapid Fire!"
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